pkrainert

Hey guys,

This could be a leak coming from somewhere else but I couldn't tell. Is this common? I have been losing coolant. It's between the Trans and the motor.

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Look @ the rear of the heads please, you have the heat/coolant distribution assy and alot of coolant lines.....get your mirror and flashlightto veiw the bottom of the hoses....it's right above the tranny!!!!!

Love_00_Max

Don't waste ur time on this -- nearly every maxima has leaks including mine.
U need a new rear valve cover, mine leaks too but I have stopped thinking abt it since I am too old to do it myself and cannot phatom to spend $700 to replace a $20 gasket...

Good luck.

VQP0WER

Valve cover or head gasket? Bad valve covers leak oil, not coolant.

pkrainert

I will pick up a mirror since I don't have one and check them out a soon as I can.

pkrainert

I don't understand how it could be a valve cover gasket either? It would just be oil, although it did seem that there was some oil down there. I also noticed oil on the outside of my oil filter...

Love_00_Max

VQPOWER: Good pair of eyes and attn to detail.

True there is something cooking in the cooling system, there is some oil with coolant in the pictures. Buy some UV dye and dump it into the coolant and track if it is engine (drain oil after running the UV dye in the coolant for a week).

Did you have any mishaps with over heating? BTW head gaskets don't fail just like that, I would check the water pump.

pkrainert

The car runs fine, highest I have seen it is maybe half way between cold and hot.

pkrainert

I have had a decent amount of problems with my Max so far :/ hopefully I can fix them all soon and not break my bank account lol.

pkrainert

Does anyone have pictures or a diagram of what I should be looking for behind the head?

Love_00_Max

Maximas are a real joke on long term reliability (even worse are the 2000 models -- they really really suck).. My last Maxima and Nissan!!!

I am a true believer in Toyo quality now having driven my wifes highlander.. Just oil changes until now 60K miles, no brakes, ignition coils issues.. Overall great quality.

pkrainert

My first Max was fine. This one has been ok I guess. I drive a 2008 Corolla put 70k on it and the only thing I have done is scheduled maintenance. Its not the funnest thing to drive but its damn reliable, and gets 37 mpg average.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

^~Correct.

~Your leak is probably from a coolant line. How many miles are on the car?

~The proper way to check for a coolant leak is to visually inspect everthing, the area it's leaking from will appear 'washed'. As in, cleaner, no dust/dirt, but will be damp. Look for the 'clean spot'. Gravity works, that coolant in the pic is coming from above and leaking down.

Then, clean everything off (wash it down), and pressure test it. That's the PROPER way to check after visual checks.

If you don't have a pressure tester/don't want to buy one/or pay a shop to test it, then I guesss you can just do the following:

-You can run the engine until hot, that will create some pressure, obviously enough for it to leak somewhat. So watch it right after you start it. Look at the top, look around the lines and all connections that come from the rad to the block, etc.
Clamps/lines are the most common, and considering the amount of coolant leaking, that's my suspicion.

pkrainert

I have 120k on it.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Yeah I very much doubt it's anything internal.

Rad, lines, fittings are what you want to look at mainly.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

this...in reply to the OPs question...i'm willing to bet its either your water pump, or its your oil cooler lines...depends where you are in the US that its more possibly your lines than the pump

VQP0WER

That's not really logical. How can you base the quality of a whole manufacturer based on the one Maxima you had? Before my accident, I never had any problems with it and had almost 100k miles.

ALL vehicles with have issues come up and does not mean it's a reflection of a the whole company. You say you are a believer in Toyota, but haven't they had almost every single one of their new cars recalled? Just sayin.....

pkrainert

I agree with VQPOWER my previous max was awesome! The one I have now is probably just victim of no maintenance. I had 170k when I sold the 96 and had very minimal problems. The girl who bought it from me drove it for 5 years and sold with with well over 200k and she said the only thing she changed were the brake pads and normal maintenance items.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

i've had toyota and i've had nissan...nissans are POS. i've had more problems w/ my maxima than i did w/ my toyota in the entire time i had my toyota. toyota>nissan. nissan has alot to live up to in regards to toyota.

i have 200k on my maxima, reliable......smh

i had my toyota pickup w/ close to 300k miles on it..i changed the water pump once, clutch once and battery once. other than that no problems....this maxima...*** this car, seriously. i wont buy another nissan or maxima, period. i thought i was done on maintenance w/ this car for a while, pfft not likely...i still have to do my rear valve cover, which isnt necessarily an easy job, extremely tedious. like i said

toyota > nissan

pkrainert

Oh well I have this maxima so I have to work with what I have got lol...

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Toyota> Nissan in reliability.
Nissan>Toyota in Performance/torque, appearance, comfort, originality, and don't forget, we have the greatest forum there is (although lately I'm starting to question that).

Nissan is near the worst Main stream Japanese made automobile company when looking at reliability. That's a hard pill to swallow for some of us, but it's true.
I always think of Nissan as the Chrysler of Japanese Vehicles. They are very innovative, try things most competitors are scared to, and push the limits of style. They didn't make cookie cutter cars like Toyota, Honda, etc.
That independance and originality has its price though, and it's reliability.


They still Far surpass most European, and Domestic vehicles, and IMO they used to make the best looking cars on the road, if you were comparing the whole line-up.

Now-a-days, they're nothing special. As of now, I don't have any interest in any Nissans after 2004, except the 350/370Z.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

i'd rather have reliability, period

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

The 09 + Max is good, but would be great if it had a traditional auto and manual set up.........Also our great Maxima from 04-06 primarily helped in a big way to put Nissan in a more "unreliable" state, the 07 and 08 they improved it some.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

LOL oh this is going to get rough.

~You lower your car, That drastically decreases reliability
~You Change your lights, That decreases reliability
~You modify wiring, That decreases reliability
~You modify the exhaust, That decreases reliability

I could go on all day man. If all you want is reliability, period, then buy a Toyota Corrolla or a 4cylinder Honda Accord, or a Civic.
Leave it 100% stock, just maintain it, and NOTHING else.

I don't think you really meant what you said.

kukx30de

iTrader: (4)

Coming back to the topic posted by the OP
I had a wierd coolant loss once. I was just losing coolant and it really had me in panic mode.
It turned out to be broken clamp on the hose going from the radiator to the t-stat.
The clamp appeared fine but had cracked on the bottom causing the leak. Due to the age it had kind of been stuck to the rubber. New clamp and nothing as of now.
I'm about 600 miles from 200k.
As for Toyota talk, let's just say I'm glad my car stops whenever I want, doesn't speed up when she wants and has a properly designed floormat.

Love_00_Max

This is uneducated BS.. The SoCal family that died becoz they were on a courtesy Lexus where someone had misplaced the floor mats from another vehicle into theirs.. Sad they died the way they died, my sympathies to the lost ones.

Toyota is better when it comes to quality than anyone else in the price range they sell their products. Lets not keep harping on it!!!

My 00 maxima was a heartburn atleast for me. This is what I have done..

Item changed -- miles on odo -- cost

Plugs 45500 120
Changed Front Rotor and Pads 61500 280
Changed Ignition Coils 64000 450
Ignition Switch Failure 77500 200
Changed drive belts 97650 115
Changed Front Struts, tokico 99830 210
Changed O2 sensors 100100 330
Changed rear struts, tokico 110000 150
CV boots 110500 330
Replaced Radiator, Cap and OEM flush coolant 111500 450
Plugs 120500 120
Changed Tie Rods and Sway endlinks 129300 120
Changed Alternator 131170 300
Changed LBJs 131700 125
Wheel Bearings 137150 180
Changed Tranny gasket and magnets + 4Q 139000 80
Changed Water pump, tensioner, drive belts 147800 680
Changed Motor mounts 162000 320
Side Motor mounts 176000 175
Rotors+pads+calipers 180000 410
One ignition coil 189000 90

schmellyfart

iTrader: (46)

Then keep your car stock and go drive a Toyota

kukx30de

iTrader: (4)

@lovemax
It's funny reading you doing plugs at 45k. I just looked up my history and the first tune up on my car was at 128k.
My first alternator was at 167k.
My motor mounts were at 173k.
The car has had 3 sets if brakes in the front I.e pads+rotors in the 199400 I hv had her for.
You def seem to hv issues! Sorry abt it.

While Toyota might has the sales... After driving their cars I would still pick up the keys to the maxima.

As for the extended list of service items... You really don't want to see my 3 series history.

MAXC

iTrader: (7)

If its that bad why do you still have it? Sell it and be done. Hell all manufacturers have problems including Toyota. If I recall, they had one of the largest recalls in history For the the accelerating on its owne problems. And comparing a car with a truck is not an equal comparison FWD vs RWD. Add in how do you drive both autos? or Were you the only owner? Like i said before if its so much of a problem car, GET RID OF IT

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

Toyota has the least of issues...i did all of what i did to my car to my Toyota, and still, more reliable. if i cant do what i want to it and its not reliable, its still fail. people who maintain a stock nissan still have massive issues with it. as i mentioned ive only did a fraction of required work on my toyota than what i had to do w/ my nissan. its fail, period. only thing lowering my car does that 'reduces' reliability is my axles, which are toast and im not blaming the car on that, i'm not dumb, im talking about things as far as my motor and having to replace a flipping manual transmission in a car w/ only 200k miles, that is absolutely retarded. to top it off, nissan is still having transmission issuses

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

200k miles on a tranny and you are complaining? The bulk of the cars on the road will need serious transmission work before that.

Granted, Toyota makes about the most reliable equipment there is. Anyone who is arguing that is wasting their time. The recalls were due dilligence, there have been way more serious issues, the Toyota ones just got media attention. They handled it better than ANY company before them EVER handled a recall. They get mad Cudos from me for that, if anything, I'd buy one FOR THAT REASON, customer service like that? They just say, yup, we messed up, we'll fix it for free.

And you all know the part that messed up was made in the USA right? They did ridiculous testing, as well as NASA's strict testing, and they found that the US built components were the ONLY problem.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Oh I know we're way OT, but I just want to make sure you're aware:

Lowering/raising your car (modifying stock ride height) does more than just comprimise axels. Granted, that's usually the first thing to go, but definitely not the only thing.

Diff bearings, Wheel Bearings, sway bar and links, struts, mounts, tires, etc. Which effect fuel mileage, yadda, yadda. It's a domino effect.
Being that the car is FWD designation, this means that when that diff wears out, you're into tranny work. Oh,,,, you're into tranny work? Everything in your car is attatched somewhere, it's just a question of how major that connection is.
Certainly not saying you're dumb bro, don't take it wrong. All I'm trying to do is clarify some stuff. You're right, you can drop a Toyota and have WAY less issues then dropping your max, they have better components and build quality. BUT don't think that you haven't shortened the life span of those components too, the difference is, the projected life span is longer from the starting point.

And I won't bother getting too deep into how vibration destroys EVERYTHING in a vehicle, but know that lowering increases vibration, bumps, etc, which affects EVERY component of the car in a negative way.

Love_00_Max

Sorry folks I stirred the passions out here with my -ve comment. There are passionate folks who say just sell it and move on and buy a Toyo. That isn't the point, my car is fully paid off and even now if I spend $700 (monthly payment for a luxury car) my maxima will go another 10K miles. So dump and move on is an uneducated argument though it is a nightmare to keep a unreliable car it is worth every penny since I am in no mood to spend $700 for another 60 months.

metalpiotr

iTrader: (1)

I recently ended up having a coolant leak and it was the oil cooler line that rusted through. I hear they have a tendency to rust and it's a good part to replace ahead of time as insurance if you live in a place with snowy winters and a lot of salt on the roads (since the part itself is fairly cheap, but could leave you at the side of the road if it actually goes).

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

my tranny went to shiznit before i dropped it with coilovers, tires, axles etc dont count in the reliability category with me when modified...im talking engine/transaxle...i was only 2" dropped absolutely no stress on the components...and my trans went out at 183k...i know someone w/ a stock 6th gen her trans went out...nissan maxima..nissan in general = fail.

but for the OP...check to see if its teh water pump. im thats going to be ur issue, IF you dont live in the northern states

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

^Yeah if it's a 'real winter' car, then I suspect the Cooler lines.

Otherwise, likely the WP yup, but I highly doubt the WP is toast at his mileage.

And Any drop puts undue stress on, anything over 1" is considered high stress on our suspension set up. I don't care, I'm dropping mine too, I'm just sayin'. But Yup Nissans are just not as reliable as any other major Jap company.
Like I said though, still way better than Domestics.

2000_MAXIMA_KING

iTrader: (30)

Ok so you mod the crap out of your max causing all types of extra maintenance then you compare it to a stock toyota and compare reliability?

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

His car isn't 'modded to crap'. And he's comparing it to an equally modded Toyota.

He's absolutely right that a modded Toyota> Modded Nissan for relibility.

2000_MAXIMA_KING

iTrader: (30)

And where did you get this info from exactly? I don't see it posted anywhere.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

^