I've searched a lot of threads here at Maxima forums and still can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I have a friend that has a 2000 Maxima with the 3.0 in it. He was explaining to me what was wrong and I can't seem to get a grasp on it. Hoping maybe one of you could help.

He said that during the summer, when it was hot out and the traffic would be stop and go, the car would start to rev higher than normal. This would be with the AC on as well. As a result driving was jerky because once you let off the brake, now you have a higher revving car that wants to lurch out from underneath you.

Also, the cars temp would elevate not to the point of overheating, but higher than normal.

Couple of things we noticed or did.

- The fans only seem to spin when the AC is on in engine department.
- Replaced the coolant with fresh coolant after a distilled water flush
- pulled the coolant again because of this and wanted to see if the radiator was clogged. Coolant flowed fine. Strained and put it back into the system.
- Started to look for vacuum leaks

As far as the last one, where do you guys start looking? There is a diagram under the hood that we can see and we started around the throttle body and moved towards the intake manifold.

Lastly, the car starts hard. To the point where you have to feather the gas to get it to start, hot or cold most times.

Just looking for some past experiences or advice as I'm sure some of you had to go through this. Thanks

 

I'd start looking at a coolant temp sensor as a possibility. They have been known on occasion to make a car run odd. They also tell the fans when to come on when the A/C is not on. A/C on usually overrides that.

 

Ok, I'll have to check/replace that. Is that the sensor right off the top hose from the radiator into the block?

 

You are in the right spot, but you should be seeing 2 sensors in a row there. The first one, with one wire on it, runs the temperature gauge in the dash. The next one, with 2 wires on it, is the temperature sensor that the ECU uses. This is the one that can cause problems.

 

Ok. So I am looking at Rock Auto for which one I need to order. The double prong one I assume is more expensive right? The pictures aren't the best.

 

I think I have the right one on order, we'll install and get back. Unfortunately it's getting colder in Minnesota so the heating element will be hard to replicate now that it's colder. Guessing running the AC will get the engine the hottest, any other tips to get the engine to heat up?

 

The sensor with the 2 wires is the ECTS, the one you want.

Do you know anyone with an OBD code reader? The mid-range priced ones will display the coolant temperature reading as reported by the ECTS.

There is also a resistance check you can do the the sensor to see if it is good. You don't necessarily have to remove the sensor to do this for a quick test. Do this when the engine is cold and all you need to know is the outside temperature.

See page EC-192 - http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/2000/EC.pdf

 

Have any links? I work on my own stuff and really should have one. Not sure which ones are better than the others. I know some now are bluetooth and can pair with your phone. The only code readers I'm familiar with are the DRB scan tools for Jeep ($$$) and the VAG-COM cables for VW/Audi vehicles which aren't the same.

 

So I checked the resistance of the sensor last night. Car had been sitting around for more than 4 hours and I felt the coolant from the radiator and it was not hot whatsoever. Checked the resistance which said that the coolant temp should be around 130°F. So I'm going to go on a limb and say it's probably bad. The actual resistance value was something like 1.4K ohms which I interpolated given the data of the link you guys gave me.