This is the Nissan number 8 over the past twenty years and my first with problems. I bought my car in late Feb this year and two months later with, 1800 miles on it, the ABS system failed. I am talking TCS, Antilock, brake, every light for the braking system was illuminated on the dash. I was scared as hell when I hit the brakes. I took it to the dealer and explained to them after I drove it 3 miles from my house all the warning lights came on. I took my intake off because I knew they would say it caused the ABS system to fail, and then I took it to them and they told me the ABS control unit was bad. My first strange feeling was when I got it from the dealership the first day. I took off fast when I got around the block and the front wheels were spinning upon take off and the TCS light never came on. My previous Max (2005 SE), the TCS light would come on when it detected wheel spin, this car it didn't do it. The parts alone the sales manager stated cost over a grand. They have never heard of a complete ABS failure, even in old Nissans, mine was the first. Immediately after I picked it up, not even two miles later, all my brake lights came on again. I was so mad. I drove home and parked the car. The next morning, no lights at all. I tested it driving fast on take off to see if the TCS light would come on upon wheel slip and it did like it's supposed to do. A week later, the wheels would spin again and no TCS light flashing on a slippery surface. The dash didn't illuminate with warning lights either. I am assuming at this point everything is ok.

Barely two months later (this Sunday with 3,300 miles on the odometer), the lights reappear. I take my car to the dealer and tell them I have the problem with the brake warning lights again plus the service engine soon light appears. They call me back this evening and told me the rear ABS sensors are bad (possibly) and my after market stereo system is the cause for my brakes to go out! And to top that off I may have to pay for it! Have any of you heard of any Bull Sh*t like this before?? Some way to treat a loyal customer of twenty years with nonsense. They must think I fell of the short yellow school bus.

 

Search using google for magnuson site:forums.maxima.org
Folks have posted notes about the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=371534 for how to escalate problems to NISSAN.

Send formal complaint letters to the dealer, now to report this 'life threatening' defect and also after its fixed. Make noise, politely. Tell the service rep. manager or NISSAN you are about to call NHTSA to report a design flaw that may cause accidents. Pile it on. Lemon law. The art of complaining.

TITAN forums have a bunch of posts about this. Many said to add brake fluid.

 

Brake fluid levels are normal. Prior to starting the car when all the lights are lit before starting, you can feel a slight vibration and a little noise then the ABS lights, TCS and brake lights come on all at the same time. Warning to all, take off any after market parts when you have a major car problem. They will swear the problems come from your aftermarket items to avoid fixing the problem. Brake failure associated with an amp and stereo install is about the craziest thing I have ever heard. I will find out what they are going to do tomorrow. If I hear some BS. I will research into what you said above, thanks Madmik.

 

I wrote up a thread about this exact problem. My ABS actuator went at about 40,000mi. (right after the 36,000 mi warrently was up, go figure) What happened was all of the sudden my abs would activate all the time when I hit the brakes...then, it just gave out and I had brake and SES lights on. First diagnosis: replace right rear sensor. THey did, problem was still there, they call me, quote me $1,400 for the fix (plus the $200 or so for the sensor and $80 for the diagnosis)

Well lemme tell you, I was there raising hell for about 1 hour with the sales manager and service manager telling them I have been jipped and lied to and I want this garbage taken care of for free as I have been misled and told pay this, and this is the solution...and then told otherwise. To my delight they called me back the next day and fixed the problem as goodwill by the dealer (Not nissan, they basically told me to drop dead).

Basically, yes this is a VERY expensive fix...and I dont have any aftermarket stuff on my car, but boy id be kicking myself if I were you (considering the milieage on the car). Go through the warrenty and see if it is completely at the dealeres discretion whether or not to honor your warrenty after you have had any aftermarket devices put on your car. Remember, we are talkign about electronics here, and it might be hard to argue that they are unrelated. Both you and I know it has nothing to do with it...but its going to come down to how much they value you as a customer.

 

by the way.....TCS is Traction Control System....Nothing to do with your ABS.

 

It all somehow works together with the braking system. The TCS detects wheel spin and brakes the wheel that is spinning according to what I was told.

The dealer called me this morning and said I needed to take the aftermarket stereo system out before they would do further diagnostics. I agreed and it was taken out by the installer. I am talking a brand new Pioneer AVIG N-1 with Nav that I had custom installed with 6 Pioneer Rev series speakers to replace the factory garbage. I also had two Rockford amps, one mono for my sub (rockford Stage 2 10" subs in a band pass box) and a 4 channel for the other speakers. Definitely over 3 grand worth of equipment that is now sitting in my house that I cannot use. Maybe I can find a buyer to eat up some of my loss.

Tomorrow my car goes back to the shop to find out if they can fix it. Two sensors where replaced the first time along with the actuator assembly and now they say the rear sensors are shorted out. I just wanted to cry when I heard this. After tomorrow I will post the sentence imposed on me. It looks like an 07 is in order.

 

Yeah, it kinda does. TCS uses ABS sensors to indicated slips, when wheels are not spinning at the same speed; the uses ABS controller to apply brake to the wheel that is slipping. If both front wheels slips, then TCS reduce the engine power by adjust the throttle position.

 

Is there another dealer you can take your car to? They do have to prove that your audio system caused ABS controller to fail.

 

One thing he said that made sense, they have to do the process of elimination. The equipment didnt come from the factory and it could be a electrical problem because he said the sensors shorted out. They were nice about it but insisted that once the aftermarket stuff is gone they would start trouble shooting from there. They didnt want to touch it because they didnt install it. I will find out today exactly what the cause is. If its the stereo maybe I will have a huge yard sell for equipment. The 07 comes out the last week of this month and the dealer I bought the car from said they will get 13 on 26 June. I will test drive and if I like it, the 06 is history. This time, no aftermarket radio and amp for me.

 

It may not be the new stereo that is at fault but the installer that shorted out the wiring system when it was installed.

 

Here is the verdict; I had my stereo system pulled and the factory stuff reinstalled. The installer showed me a copy of the Magnuson Act like Madmik stated above. I was unhappy to get my car back and listen to the factory (non Bose) system which sounds like sh*t no matter what your listening preference is. As I was driving I looked at the odometer and guages and guess what, the warning lights were all gone. Something must have been shorting somewhere in the car. Who is to blame, the installer? Either way I cannot put my system back in and will have to get rid of it now. I feel kind of embarrassed now that I raised hell with the dealer and he seems to be right, the system somehow cause a problem with my ABS system. I just can't believe it's possible with a pro install. The stereo system wires are only connected to the wiring harness of the stereo and not connected to anything dealing with ABS. Either way I am at a loss. Definitely trading the car at the end of the monthwith that weak system I cannot tolerate listening too that doesnt play MP3's or have a good sound. Hopefully the CVT in the new Max is not like the Murano. If it is, I won't buy it.

 

The answer is "Yes", the installer is responsible IF things he did during the install resulted in a failure of the ABS system.

Keep in mind, though, that you got no warning lights once before, and they came back later. And didn't your dealer already tell you 2 more sensors are fried? They aren't going to un-fry themselves.

Also, good luck trying to get the stereo installer to take care of the repair costs. He's legally responsible, but you might have to sue him to get him to pay. At the very least, though, he should reimburse you the cost of installing - and then uninstalling - your stereo equipment.

 

The uninstall was free. Like you said if the rear sensors where "Fried" as they (dealer) said, how do they un fry themselves. I think it's a electrical short somewhere in the car and the aftermarket equipment got blamed. I have paid the royal price from all of this and I am unhappy with my factory radio sound and cannot get anything installed in fear of the same thing happening again and getting stuck with a huge bill that wont be covered under warranty.

 

DPP package the only way to go this time, BOSE system is nice i was really impressed. I work at Circuitcity and i had my old 4th gen filled with Polk Momo and all kinds of goodies, sounded great over $5k in retail equipment. When i got my 6th gen with bose i was super impressed and i kept the system the way it was. I may add a navi system thought. how much do u want for yours?

 

So, your ABS system works now eh?

 

Why would you say something like this? If you know nothing of the subject don't say anything.

The ABS sensors are used in TCS & VDC. On some cars the ABS unit and TCS exist on the same PCB.

 

From the service manual about ABS problems: " If there is a radio, antenna or related wiring near the control module, ABS function may have a malfunction or error. If aftermarket parts (car stereo, CD player, etc.) have been installed, check for incidents such as harness pinches, open circuits or improper wiring."

If it's in the manual, probably is not the first time aftermarket stereo have caused problems. If after removing the Pioneer/Rockford, the ABS returns to normal, it must be causing interferences (EMF) of some sort. If dealer only checked the DTC codes, they may have replaced good sensors. Bad ground, ground loop or overloaded stereo circuit? Maybe re-install the Pioneer and wait a while, then add mono amp and wait some more, etc if problem is caused by one specific component. Kinda sucks anyway you look at it.

Same CVT as Murano if I remember correctly.

 

Its been three days now and no warning lights. Everything is perfect. The installer will not say it was there fault. From what I heard, they think the amp ground wires were drilled into something connected with the ABS sensors. I cant imagine how they did this because I know my Max is not the first they did an install with. They said the error codes pointed towards the rear of the car where my amps were located if that makes any sense. I know it wasnt the headunit and possibly the faulty grounds caused this. I did get engine noise from my speakers slightly (high pitched wine) that normally is caused by a bad ground somewhere.

 

I traded my 2005 which had DPP and it was an automatic for my 05 Pathfinder. I should have kept it. I had an amp installed connected to the bose amp in the rear deck and I had no engine noise or problems. It's possible my car may be a lemon but it's too early to tell and it will probably hit the trading block if the 07 is nice, which by the way is released to dealers the last week of June.

 

Out of curiousity, you say they claim you traded out the stereo and this caused the brakes to fail? Um.. WHAT?

Either way.. about the change on the stereo.. the 06 I have has a head unit that is SPREAD out so far I do not have any idea how I could change it out. Did you have to buy 3 parts? Also, does it still work with your steering wheel controls and show on the led screen too?

Thanks
Shawn Morelan
POST 11 - sorry.. trying to fill the odd 15 reply rule so I can post my actual question concerning my 06 Maxima.

 

I dont have the Bose system. I have the weak factory garbage I have no idea who made it. I had Best Buy install my system ( 4 channel amp, mono amp for the subs and Nav Radio, Pioneer AVIG-D-1). The radio is sweet. I ordered a Metra Kit and modified it to fit a double din radio. Do a search and you will see my system. All of a sudden I got the brake light, ABS and TCS light bright red on my dash. They said the codes from the computer diagnostics lead them to the rear of the car where the amps where installed. I also was told the ground of the amps may have caused this because they were close to wiring for the sensors for the ABS. How true this is, I have no idea. Just be careful of your installer and if he is familiar with the New Maximas wiring system. My 2005 I had no problem with a aftermarket amp but this car its a different story. I also had a different installer this time. I got engine noise whcih should have told me that something was wrong with high quality amps and wiring.

 

allright here's the deal...... when I installed my stereo on my 04 max I ran into a couple problems.... my breaklights went and my dashlights went.... blew a fuse..... I used what I thought to be a factory ground wire (orange) as a ground, instead of the black wire which wasn't a ground wire.... I blew a fuse and kept blowing fuses so nissan and I troubleshot it to that orange wire.... if you know how to read wiring diagrams then request them for the wiring harness to your head unit..... take this in to bestbuy or circuit city and have them install it over..... the orange wire I thought was ground, was until I turned on the headlights.... then it became a power source..... which in turn took the path of least resistance which happened to be the fuse thank god..... story being told have someone experienced with nissans install your stereo because I learned don't trust the harness and make sure all of your paths are covered..... nissan stereos don't have grounds, you have to ground to chasis..... this is what we did after reviewing the wiring diagrams.... good luck and don't sell your stuff just have someone who is experienced install for you....

 

If the 07 does not live up to my expectations, I will keep my 06 and get the stereo system/Nav unit reinstalled. Thanks for the input po8pimp.

 

no problem..... but I don't know how you could wait so long without a system in your car...... I went to nissan today and they said no 07 max till end of august..... they are getting only 7 too....

 

i would just take it to reputable shop and have them install the audio for you. i too had the non-bose in my 06 and it just plain sucked.

 

Sucked is being nice. It really sounds like sh*t!!! I cant believe as much as that car costs and having the "Flagship" title, Nissan puts crappy components into the best car it makes. I have rode in the cheapest GM vehicle and the sound system is much better than what we have. The Bose system sounds better than stock but it's nothing to bragg about either. The Armada has the best Bose system I have ever heard in any factory system from Nissan. If you haven't heard it yet, check it out. My 05 Pathfinder's Bose is also a good sounding system for a factory unit. At the end of the month if the 07 is worth it, I will trade my 06 in for the 07. If not, I will keep my 06 and get the best installer to hook me up.

 

sounds like a plan