Hey All, never reached out much like this before but I figured that I'd have better luck talking with people who actually understand these things. I purchased a 2001 Nissan Maxima 20th anniversary edition a few years back and have had struggles trying to keep the dang thing running. The problem I'm having now is, the rare occasion it starts and drives it seems like it just wants to die. The last time I drove it, it was driving fine then all of a sudden my foot went to the floor and the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and it all shut off and the steering and brakes became cement. So it hasn't been driven since, and I struggle to even get it to start half the time. I'm about to be attending college, and was hoping I could get at least another year out of it but if not that's fine. Any help would be greatly appreciated, or even if it could be bought by somebody on here to help me out some. Thank you, And have a Good day.

 

The first thing you need to do is connect an OBD code reader to the car and read codes. The engine doesn't have to be running, but the ignition key has to be in the ON position.

Then come back and tell us what those codes are.

 

Thank you for the quick and speedy response; I will get it read asap, And will get back as soon as I do. All the auto stores are closed around here, so I gotta wait for my neighbor to get home.

 

You could buy a Bluetooth scan tool to use an app on your phone to read codes and do other cool stuff. From what you wrote it sounds like this would be useful if you keep the car. It's handy even if you don't keep this car. You can use it on any OBDII vehicle. I'd recommend having your alternator checked.

 

Want to make a pool on whether it's cam, crank or maf sensor?

 

Not sure if it sent or not because it didn't post on here, but I scanned it today with my neighbors Actron Autoscanner ® Plus and it showed up with no codes. Now online I've seen some people say that if it shows no codes it could be the battery or alternator, Any thoughts about that? And I charged my battery before I had put it in and when I unplugged the scanner, I try to start it and it all shutdown again. But when I took out the key, the door lights were still on. So I'm leaning towards it may have something to do with the battery or alternator, or even if the alternator has been bad for awhile even with a newer battery, wouldn't it slowly Kill the battery itself?

 

 

Gotcha. How would I go about doing/checking that? And Yes, It was the weirdest thing. Was driving fine and then all of a sudden when the dash lit up there was no pressure behind the gas pedal which made my foot go to the floor, and then the steering and brakes were like cement to move.

 

All the dash lights on combined with the brakes and steering being hard means the engine stopped running.

Start by getting the battery tested. Once you have a known good and fully charged battery in the car, start the engine. Once the engine is running, use a voltmeter to measure the battery voltage. The voltage should be between 13.8 and 14.2. If the reading is not in that range, you need to replace the alternator.

If the engine won't start, unplug the wire connector from the MAF and see if it will start that way.

 

i have never had any codes for my CPS sensors, and your symptom of dying and loosing power steering and power brakes is simalar to what happened to me on the freeway when the CPS sensors crapped out. again no codes at all, i even had a dealership visually inspect the sensors and they said they were good, still had problems, replaced with OEM (very important) and havent had one issue since.

also once the sensors were really bad, the car wouldnt want to start but cranked. had to use throttle to help it start, and it barely puttered to the mechanic shop 1-2 miles away.

 

the dash lit up because the car shut off on you while driving, sounds like CPS sensors, replace w OEM

 

Are Hitachi sensors good enough for crank and cam, or just get them from the dealer?

 

 

Works great and I use it while driving