Hi,

I was wondering if your car is fixed finally? I have no evidence yet but I'm pretty sure I'm having the problem now as well. Not sure when it started but I've been suspicious for about 2 weeks now. I just thought I was being paronoid. Yesterday I did some runs to verify and I had to do a double take while winding out 2nd becasue it was taking forever (compared to normal) and basically wasn't pulling after 5,500. Like you said it felt like there was no reason to wait until redline to shift because it felt like it was making less and less power as the revs approached redline. Just like the 4th gen does! I'm done with Nissan if this thing is shot, it will be for lack of a better phrase, "the straw that breaks the camels back". I dynoed my car a while back so another dyno pull will basically prove if mine is f***ed as well. My old curve is essentially the same as your old one.

I'm extremely put out that I have to spend more time to get this POS checked out for something else and drop $75 on a dyno that I wouldn't need if Nissan had their $hit together. If it turns out that mine is bad I will ask the dealer to fix, if they refuse I'm dumping this car. I will relentlessly make it known on this msg board and to anyone that will listen that Nissan sucks and only buy one if you like taking it up the a$$.

My car has 34k miles on it and I already had the rotors and pads replaced under warantee at 15k and they're warped again (JUNK), have had a noise from my front right strut since 6 months (dealer could never duplicate, gave up wasting my time with them), power seat motor replaced under warantee, the fuel cut issue which made no improvement after the ECU was flashed, the interior rattles like a 15 year old Ford, the paint seems to chip from the wind, and in the last 4 months I occasionally get a strange ticking noise from under the hood when accelerating hard from a roll. All I have left is for the coils to go bad and the VIAS to quit (which I'm fairly sure it has) and I will have had every problem associated with the 5th gen Max and then some.

You can email me at max2ksprung@yahoo.com

I would really appreciate to hear any comments or suggestions you may have regarding this. Sorry for the long msg, I'm all fired up!

-Mike-

 

I know what your feeling. My VIAS isnt working also. I also have had my rotors turned twice due to warping. My car has been in numerous times, heres what i can remember off the top of my head.
-New Tachometer....tach was lazy
-Rattles....Bose Sub/Rear Deck and Dash
-Manual gearbox, differential, and bearings....all replaced due to manufacturing defect. My car sat on a lift for 3 weeks waiting for parts/shims.
-Warped Rotors. Replaced with new rotors first time, Turned the second.
-Rear Bumper(missing 1 clip) was loose causing rust on trunk.
-Brake light was out which was caused by malfunctioing harness. Had to take it in 2 times for genius mechanics to diagnose. I told them what the problem was, they replaced the bulb!
-VIAS isnt enganing internally....havent taken to dealer yet.

I know I am forgetting stuff!!!

Do you think my car qualifys as a lemon? My car has 30k miles on it and i have owned it since late July of 2000.

 

Right now, Nissan has refused to fix my problem under warranty. They have, however, agreed to fix it as "customer goodwill." The service manager allegedly ordered a new vias and I hope he'll replace mine next week when he returns from vacation.

Although I'm not particularly happy with that position, I'm willing to accept it.

If you have any hope of getting your fixed, you better have more than just "I think my VIAS is not working," because they can't diagnose the failure I believe I have.

Here's a summary of what I had to present to them to even get this far. Keep in mind that I have acted professionally throughout this matter.

1. You should test drive your car with the VIAS disconnected. Just disconnect (pm me and I'll tell you how) and drive around. There is a noticable difference - more so on a 5spd I'm sure. If you notice no difference, then you may have a VIAS problem. If you do notice a difference, then your VIAS is likely ok.

2. Confirm that the VIAS system APPEARS to be working. This is the only test that the dealer will do. This test may show a problem with your VIAS - hope that it does, they'll fix it. (see my other post for instructions - link at end or follow diagnostic Nissan uses.) Otherwise, follow the rest of these steps to confirm you have a problem and to create proof for Nissan.

(courtesy of 2k2demax): VIAS Diagnostic

3. Mod free car. If you bring it to them with a y-pipe, I'll guarantee they won't fix it.

4. Before and after dynos of your car. I have been told that Nissan won't formally accept these as proof of a problem. However, I believe they are very good persuasive evidence that a problem exists. There are other benefits to the dynos - they would be proof in arbitration or litigation.

5. You should test drive your car against a comparable vehicle prior to going to Nissan. Find someone who has the same car in your area and is cool enough to help you with all this testing (thanks madmax2k). Because the problem will only show itself over 5000 rpms, 1st and 2nd gears are deceptive because of the short time you are in them. 3rd and 4th really show the difference. Because of speedlimits and the like, 3rd is the best test gear.

6. Test drive with VIAS on and off. First run with both vias on to see if there is a difference. Then, if there is a difference, run with your vias on and the comparo car's off. When we did it with mine on and madmax2k's off, the cars were dead even. When his was on and mine was on, he walked away from me. THIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT TEST AS FAR AS NISSAN WAS CONCERNED.

7. Schedule a visit to the dealer . When you bring your car in, they won't have any idea what you are talking about. So, I would only deal with the service manager from the start. That would have saved me two days. The first step is to get them to do the diagnostic. After that, they'll tell you nothing is wrong. You will then have to get them to schedule a test drive between you and your comparo car. You should do the vias on/vias off test with them.

This is a lot of work. Don't bother taking it to Nissan unless you've done the tests above. If you don't do these things (aside from the dynos), you won't really know if your vias is malfunctioning (In fact, I still don't know for certain). Nissan also won't fix your car.

There's a lot more detail in this thread:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=99861

 

Max_Gator... im new in this forum and i think i have a problem in my VIAS.. i wanna check it out and see if there is a problem or there isnt.. i own a infiniti i30 equivilant to a maxima 30GV here is my country(bahrain).. so basically, was wonderinf if u can better explain to me how to disconnect the VIAS and check it and everything.. u can PM me or send me an email on m_power_m_power@hotmail.com...


thanx and hope to hear from you soon...

 

Wow, you dug up an old thread! Go to my cardomain site (link below)

Page 5 tells you everything you need about the VIAS.