All right, I've been searching for the last few days and can't really find what I'm looking for. I'm planning some maintenance this weekend but wanting to make sure I'm getting everything done. I picked up my 2000 with a little over 96,000 miles and I really don't know what has been done until then. I've changed the spark plugs and just cleaned my K&N filter. I'm doing a Oil change and planning on replacing the PCV valve. I was planning on changing out the tranny fluid, but my Amsoil won't be here in time. From what I understand the fuel filter is in the gas tank, so no changin it. What else am I missing?


Oh, changed the MAF last year, but think the K&N oil might have messed up the new one.


Ideas?????

 

With 96K miles on the car, I'd inspect the two drive belts (the serpentine and alternator belts) for wear, pull a front wheel and check the brake linings, check the brake fluid level, test the coolant...hoses too, and if you're really ambitious, replace the power steering fluid...in addition to what you already mentioned. Oh, I'm **** about checking the spare tire pressure BEFORE you have a flat and need to put it on the car.

 

Oh, forgot to mention that I have replaced the belts. Snapped one day on the way home from work, so I had to replace both belts and the tensioner pulley.

Oh, saw soonerfan thread about seafoam, if I can find it at a local parts store I will add it to the list.

 

Change the coolant. If you don't want to do a complete flush, just drain it and refill it with new coolant. Make sure that the mix of water and antifreeze is 50-50. You can buy pre-mixed coolant that lasts for up to 150K miles. Don't forget to drain the reservoir too. You should replace the radiator cap too. Good luck.

 

Also change the fuel filter...

 

driving belts, radiator flush, throttle body cleaning, fuel injectors cleaning which is part of the TB cleaning. seafoam is optional too. other than that transmission flush on every 30k to keep your transmission well for life. spark plugs with NGK irridium if you used the bosch throw them away, pcs valve etc which you already have replaced. get the OEM air filter and dont worry about the oil going in to the maf anymore.

 

check the air pressure in your tires and rotate them as well, check to make sure all your lights are working, if you have the factory stereo run a cd lens cleaner thru it once or twice and put the car on a lift and do a physical inspection of everything under it, such as the cv joint boots, brake lines, and the total exhaust system. Lastly, I would steel brush all rusted bolts and then hit them as well as the parking brake cable and mechanisms with some WD-40.

 

Yeah, I'm planning a tire rotation and alignment too! I will add the tb cleaning to the list. But can someone recommend a good fuel injector cleaner. I assume you are talking about a fuel addative, right? Or is there another process that I don't know about that will allow you to clean the injectors?

 

Fuel filter is in the tank, right? I saw that on a post in one of the other forums. If its accessable I will add it back to the list.

 

Yes, it is accessible. It is under the back seat. There is a write up on how to do it.
Here is the How-To http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=314172

 

..........................

 

TBCleaning and Injector cleaning are 2 very different services.

A true injector cleaning requries running the solvent under the pressurized fuel rail (as your normal gas does) to unclog and flush the injectors. OK, many ppl on this board believe this is waste of money, not me.

The TB cleaning is just spraying the solvent into the TB throat and cleaning the plate with a toothbrush or so.

Bottom line - flush all fluids....anything liquid must go......usually ppl miss brarke fluid and power steering fluid.....

 

as far as specs go for the fluids, i know this has been argued to death on what type of fluid to use but this is what i think the board comes to a consenseus on

- Redline MT-90 GL-4 Gear oil for manual trannies

- Nissan Factory coolant due to its chemicals.

- I think its Dexron III for the powersteering fluid?

- DOT 3 Brake Fluid

- and dont forget the blinker fluid


im not saying EVERYONE is using what is listed above, but thats what ive read and it seems like the popular choice for most.

 

Whatever you use for tranny, you can use for the PS as well. I am currently running Mobil-1 ATF in the PS.

 

aren't you forgetting about the fuel filter thats located on the fire wall to the left of the brake booster?

 

If we have one under the hood I will be happy to replace it. My last Maxima and the three 240's I've owned have had one in that location. But I was reading in some other threads and they said that the fuel filter under the hood had been moved to the tank.(Not sure which year)

I haven't popped the hood to check, but other 5th gen people were complaining about it.

 

Link..... http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=260358

 

There was not a fuel filter in that location in my 5th gen... IIRC, the only filter was in the tank...

 

when i took my car to mechanic i asked him to provide me the fuel injection service and the package deal was for cleaning the injectors and the throttle body. these could be 2 diffrent svcs but are done at the same time. and the brake flush and steering flush is optional too but should only be done if the car has hell of a miles. i myself dont think that getting the fuel injection service done is a waste of money because you might gain some MPG. anyway TB cleaning is pretty easy and is DIY procedure but i have never cleaned the injectors before so have no idea how the service is performed.

 

Ok, here's the deal. I've been working on my car tonight and I was doing the seafoam treatment. I ran 1/3 of the bottle through and everything was cleaning out great. I started again to make sure everything was good and clean and when I did I sumberged the vaccuum hose for a little to long and the Max died. When I started her back up to continue with the treatment, my check engine light came on. Should I be worried that I screwed something up? I disconnected the battery to let it sit overnight, to try and reset the ECU.

Should I be concerned????

 

My friend, we all learn with time.

If you put a BG44k in fuel tank, it is expected to clean injectors as well - but it is not the same thing as running chemicals under pressure in a closed loop. These 2 methods are vastly different in approach, the process, and results.

So next time you go to your mechanic, ask how they intend to clean the injectors ? - the key word is "Pressurized Fuel Rail Flush". In this method, the fuel pump is cut, the fuel line is disocnnected at the fuel rail, a pressurized can with the solvent (under pressure) is then fed into the fuel rail inlet and the engine is run for 30-45 minutes under varying pressures on the can with the solvent.

Generally running 10-15 Psi over the normal pressure is the key to push out contaminents from the injector pintiles (did I spell this right?). In the case where the return fuel line goes to the fuel pump/tank, it will need to be capped (you do not want the solvent going back to the fuel tank).

I am not sure about the maxima, my Q45 return line needed to be capped and loop closed for this process.

 

great explanation. i assume most of the fuel injection cleaning services are done the way you explained above. what i mean is when i goes to a mechianic shop i ask him to do the fuel injection service and he does run all those chemicals etc but i am not sure if they do perform the procedure called (Pressurized Fuel Rail Flush) i only paid $40 for the FIC last time i believe the full flushing and cleaning is a totally diffrent method and also cost extra bucks.

 

Anyone??????

 

the light came on because the car died
it will go away

 

Yeah, I took it to the shop this morning for an alingment. And the light never came back on. Cool, just got a little worried.

Well, I did my oil change (went with mobile synethic oil and filter), replaced the PCV valve, rotated tires, got an alingment and did the seafoam treatment.

Next weekend when my tranny fluid comes in I will be replacing fluid with Amsoil Gl-4 and possible cleaning the TB. I was going to clean the TB last nigh but I got tired and didn't want to take the air box and all that other crap out to get to it.

 

did you get alot of smoke out during the cfoam tm? i dont think it would make any diffrence in mpg.

 

Yeah, I got a ton of smoke during the seafoam treatment. That's why I went 2 rounds.

 

Doesnt the stuff that the seafoam clears out along with the smoke getstuck in the cat converter?

 

the seafoam dissolves it and it burns off (thus the smoke)

 

The light came on probably because you did not keep the car at a high enough rpm to work the sea foam through. If you do not hold the rpms up then all the treatment gets caught and will cause the car to ping if too bad or die. Then your o2's get a bad reading being clogged and the check engine comes on sometimes even if not enough to stall the car.

Just fyi most of the smoke you see is actually the treatment it self burning not carbon, gum, or varnish. It does work but not too the extent everyone believes it does.

 

Ok 2 new issues. First of all, I finally got my Manual transmisson fluid in, but it doesn't look like the product on the website. Can someone who has changed the fluid lately, shine a light on this for me? Did the packaging change?





This is what the websit shows: http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/mtg.aspx


Next. Since the maintanence last week my car has developed a new issue. After driving a while (I don't have seem to have a problem on cold start up) when I shut the car off and restart. The car stalls everytime. I crank it over and it starts up and then dies. The only way I can keep the car run, is to keeping tapping the gas and then it will stay started and drive as usually. Any ideas???

 

Anyone?????

 

Is it GL-4?

 

It's suppose to be Gl-4. The recepit for the order shows Gl-4 and the weight is the same but the bottle looks different.

 

Rotate your tires can't forget that

 

Yeah, rotated my tires frist thing last weekend.

 

Still. Bump for the questions.

 

Add change your cabin filter to your list as well. If you don't have one I would recommend you get one, they are a big help with keeping your windows from becoming real foggy during heavy rains.

 

Take a picture of the back of the bottle

 

I'll try to get a pic up in a little while.