Hello, I've had my 2000 Maxima for a little under 3 months and it has a little under 124k miles. In the past three months I've replaced the serpentine belt and the MAF sensor. The other day, my SES light came on out of nowhere, and apparently it was throwing a P0160 code. The friend who checked it for me told me that it was related to the oxygen sensor being dead, and told me "your car is driveable technically up until your next smog check." However today on the way home, the car started to shake violently whenever I'd go below around 30 mph and the SES light started flashing. I got off the freeway and called AAA and Nissan to ask if I could make it the 13 miles home to avoid the per-mile towing fee, and they both pretty much said "try it if you want, but if you die it's on you." I made it home but the light was flashing the whole way and the car still shook violently. From my research on here I see people saying it might be ignition coils. Is it possible that that's what it is even though the code says it's the O2 sensor? Are those expensive to buy and have replaced? I really don't have more that about $300 to spend on it right now, unfortunately. Thanks so much for any help!

 

The P0160 is an O2 sensor, bank 2 sensor 2. But I don't think that this is causing the engine to shake. The SES light flashing usually means an ignition problem, I wonder id something else has gone wrong. Take your car to an auto parts store such as autozone. Unless you live in California, most parts stores will read the codes for free.

Regarding the O2 code, the "5th Gen General Information, Maintenance, and Common Issues" thread has some good info for you. Scroll down about 3 screens to the photo of the exhaust system.

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...king-help.html