Hello All,
I have 04 SE automatic 92,000 miles. When I initially drive the car after its been SITTING more than couple hours(or overnight) and I brake for the first time during the driving session when I hit 20 mph and below it feels as if the ABS motor kicks on and the pedal pushes back with a little pulsating. But after the first or second braking application the car doesn't do it anymore(basically a couple minutes of driving). I have read possibly air in the brake lines or speed senors all gummed up or covered over. The Maxima began doing it after I drove through very muddy conditions for 2 hours last week. I have washed the car twice with undercarriage clean, so not sure if the senors are the issue. Any advice would be so greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!!

 

I'd be curious to what someone has to say about this. I had the same problem...then it got increasingly worse. I cleaned out my abs sensors..now I have an ABS light on all the time. I'll have to start a trhead about that one...before I take it to the dealership

 

what is up with all the abs problems people are having?

 

This seems to be a common prob latelly for the 04's... mine does same thing on and off. It had gotten real bad then today i went to car wash and after the noise is gone. I think its a prob with the wheel sensors as that was the solution for pete, but air in the line/module or the actual module itself could be at fault. I dont have a warentee and its been to cold to look at it but once it warms up I am going to do the rear brakes check/clean wheel sensor and bleed the brakes. I am hoping one or the combination of those repairs the problem, because the abs module is expensive and a pain to change. I am wondering with all these probs if a tsb or recall is in the works.

 

I doubt nissan will openly admit to anything and issue a TSB. ABS is a very important safety device that would pretty much require a recall.

 

Carlosr,
How long has your Max been acting up? Its seems as it gets colder my ABS acts up more. You said your friend Pete had same problem. What was the cost of his fix? Did it completely fix? Thanks for your input.

 

Not my friend another .org'r check out this thread and it should give you some ideas http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=547316 I havent looked into the issue, as I stated it comes and goes. For rite now after a car wash its not happening I would assume by that its a dirty/faulty wheel sensor but because of weather and time constraints I havent had time to look to into it. BTW its been on and off for about 3-4 weeks... too cold to start taking things apart to figure out problem.

 

Now my car is doing it worse with the ABS noise. Now when I start the car I hear clicking sounds from what seems to be coming from the ABS module on the drivers side. With low speed driving and braking that thing is making some weird noise. Once I drive above 30 or 40 for a couple minutes the clicking stops and it is as if the ABS module knows what it is supposed to do, but at low speeds it is all jacked up. HELP!!

 

At low speeds the ABS wheel sensor gets the lowest intensity signal. It's ***** of metal rotating through a magnetic field ( if it's like my '92). The faster these ***** rotate through the field, the stronger the signal is. This points towards a problem with the wheel sensor. Perhaps its full of dirt, but probably is a bad sensor. I had the same problem with my older car, I disconnected the connector for the brake sensor and put a multimeter on it and read resistance. Then I manipulated the ABS sensor wire and found that the reading bounced from the spec resistance to infinite, telling me there was a bad connection in the line. Replaced the wheel sensor and all was good.
I looked in the new Maxima so-called shop manual and found NO info on the 6th gen ABS brakes. Good Luck.
I take this back. The info on the ABS system in under "brake control system" in the manual. (who knew?)

 

mine was caused by dirty sensors. Had them cleaned off and it was fixed. Dealer did it for free. (but not before charging me for other random "broken" parts). If your not pulling codes or an ABS light I would say its the sensors. Try cleaning them, if that doesnt work replace them. Just pray it isnt the abs module itself. Thing is pricey.

 

Hello all,
Just got my '04 SE back from the dealer for this issue.. ABS active during normal braking. Replacing both rear sensors did the trick. The dealer checked for ABS codes and got none.

See TSB NTB07-016B, this clearly a Nissan issue. Hub is now plastic and on the right rear a notch is ground to allow drainage.

Expensive job. Funny the dealer had a difficult time getting sensors, must be a popular item.

My two cents,
Don

 

Glad im not the only one who had this problem lol. Maybe my car isnt a lemon after all.

 

Were you still under warentee? I bought the car used with no warentee and I am just curious if you or anyone else knows if nissan will cover this out of warantee and if not how much was it? I looked at the tsb and its not a difficult thing to do so if I have to pay I prob do it myself. FYI the tsb can be found here http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowl...p=10&keyid=184 you will need to register to view/download it.

 

my car has the same exact thing except it feels like the abs kicks on when you come to a stop when i brake from 60 to 30 or something it works perfectly(the car), when i come to a stop 20 to 0 mph it gives a horrible noise and the car shakes like crazy... im getting the car checked out on next friday hopefully its not too serious... the mechanic over the phone said it may be a cracked abs pump... and this just randomly started one day last week... car is an 05 with 54k

 

im 90% sure its the wheel sensors If you have no lights/codes. Have them check those first, it takes 20minutes to clean/replace them. If they start replacing abs modules and **** theyll end up having your car for a week.

 

Carlosr,
My Max is out of warantee, but not by much. I have 34k and its 40 months or so old. I contacted Nissan for a "Good Faith" claim as they call it with no decision yet.

Job does seem simple enough, as long as no codes or lights are on (like BigPete said). The dealer will follow the TSB and replace sensors and hub and double or triple the labor because of the corrosion. Plus, according to the TSB the problem is only the right rear sensor. If I was doing the job on my own I would start there.

 

no codes for me but the abs / vdc light comes on from time to time... hopefully its not the entire abs that needs to be changed.

 

ankit69,
Let me know if that gets progressively worse b/t now and the time you get it checked out. My huntch is that it will. Anybody chime in here, but according to that TSB is it the phyical setup of the rear wheel sensor that is causing it to go faulty? I guess I didn't fully understand. THANKS. Ankit69, I hope you find the fix for your maxima.

 

keeps getting worse day by day but have no choice except to drive it. like i said appointment isnt until next friday 8 more days so hopefully it doesnt get that much worse! hopefully its an "easy" and inexpensive fix.... =) keeping my hopes up

 

must suck to make appointments at a dealership. Whenever I have problems with mine i just drive up there and say "fix my car" they normally get it done in 1-2 days.

 

Perhaps try disabling ABS? See if the noise still shows up.

 

I was thinking about doing just that to save my abs pump/module from burning out until i have the chance to look into the problem fully. Anyone know where the fuse is or easiest way to disable the abs? I didnt see a fuse for it in the fuse panel incar I am assuming its prob under the hood somewhere. Anybody know?

 

I wouldnt recommend driving around with ABS disabled. Im sure its just build up on your sensors, take the rear wheels off and clean the sensors. Its most likely whats causing this to happen. Dealership shouldnt charge you much to do it if you are lacking the know how to diy.

 

I am pretty sure its build up/bad sensor as well but i have a really bad cold flu so not trying to get under the car yet I still have to go to work. I went to tech school so its just a matter of feeling well enuff and good weather. I just dont want to burn out the abs module with it working so often, not to mention its annoying as hell hearing/feling the noise. Driving without abs isn't a major deal, some of us remember the days b4 abs was even an option.

 

It is not always the wheel sensors, my ABS actuator had to be replaced to the tune of $1,400 which the dealer covered in spite of me being past the 30k warrenty under which it is covered. I got lucky, but they have every right to make you pay to fix this as there is no recall.

 

with a bad actuator tho you should have an ABS light on in the car. Atleast mine did when my ABS actuator went out. Its one of the most expensive parts on the damn car 2. lol

 

Just an update for everyone,
Dealership has confirmed right wheel sensor is bad and the TSB needed to be done. The dealer was familiar with the TSB and said he has performed it a couple times on the Maxima. He told me $220 for the part. Does that sound reasonable? Anyways I am having the tranmission flushed, coolant flushed, drive belts replaced, and the brake work done for around $815. Dealer said the actuator seems to be ok.

 

for 220 i hope hes planning on replacing the entire wheel hub and sensor. I cant imagine the sensor/labor costing that much. It took my dealer 10mins to fix mine. As for the flush etc. Thats your call. How many miles are on your car? Did you actually look at your belts? and can you drop in pads yourself? Itll save you a ton of money...

 

The sensor alone is like $130 and prob 1-1.5 hour labor for the Tsb, doubtful they're replacing the hub or anything else besides the sensor and plastic shield. With the TSB they don't just take the sensor out and clean it they take the whole system apart clean everything make a notch on the hub and reinstall with new shield and sensor. I just fixed mine per the the TSB in my driveway, wasn't that difficult just a biotch getting off the rotor and hub off. I followed the steps but didn't replace the sensor nor shield as I had no codes and they seemed fine. I also didn't have the heart to grind at the hub either but I put it all back together and abs prob is gone! Took me @ 3hours on the floor of my driveway with hand tools, if i had to do it again or I charged up the air compresor i am sure I could do it much faster. I have my fingers crossed but hopefully that is it. Just cost me some sore muscles and a 60+ degree day. For the record i did go to tech school, but with the tsb its pretty straight forward. Thanks for all the help/advice.

 

so i just got a call back from nissan, like everyone else i was having trouble with my abs... basically when i slowed the car down everytime from 10 - 0 mph, the car would turn on the abs and make funny noises.... So i called nissan when i first heard this noise and they told me the soonest day they had was today (Friday - 11th), this incident happened on Wednesday (2nd) so i had to wait about 9 - 10 days. So anyway back to the story i had gone in there expecting it to be something with the sensors or something but about 5 days after driving from wednesday - the abs/ vdc / brake/ and slip light came onto the dash and the abs stopped coming on when im slowing down... So ya, i went to nissan today only to find out the damages done to the car... so the sensors caused the entire abs to get messed up.... So would anyone like to guess the damages??











$2800 + tax... isn't that just dandy...57,000 miles -- no warranty.Ya so im not in the best mood anymore...New sensors & abs module or control whatever its called... SO TO EVERYONE ELSE... IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH ABS TAKE IT IN IMMEDIATELY!!!!!


so, again i have inspection in october of this yr so i will need to get this fixed or something before then because if any light are on during inspection you automatically fail....=(


Bad day... nissans suck (at least right now they do)

 

I would just go without ABS to the tune of $2800. Cover that light up with electrical tape.

 

That's ridiculous, I would definitely call nissan customer care to complain. I would like to know exactly what they replaced at what cost, and how did they test to know it was bad. It really seems like they just charged you because you were out of warranty and know you would pay. The TSB itself has a list of things to do b4 replacing all those parts. The only pieces required to change is the right rear abs sensor and plastic shield then clear codes and test drive car. This has fixed most peoples problems. Its more the rarity that the abs module itself is bad. They may not even be aware of the tsb itself as many dealers aren't. Most dealers are quick to change pieces without proper testing and since you have no warranty they don't have to prove to you the part is faulty. The also making money replacing parts that may or may not be bad. Look how many people on here had various parts replaced under or not under warranty that weren't even related to the problem. I personally fixed mine by just taking the whole right rear hub assembly apart including the abs sensor and cleaning everything as per tsb without spending a dime. I feel bad for you, and personally would have not accepted an outrages bill like that.

 

well i have not payed the bill as of yet... obviously i declined until i found prices elsewhere... i dont have the bill right in front of me to type what exactly was found bad but i will type it up later tonight... as far as the electrical tape goes what i was thinking was i got my guages changed to blue by gec a couple of months / years ago so i was thinking about just not putting lights in the vdc / abs/ slip / brake light so it would appear normal but from what i hear now is that they hook up a computer to the car at the dmv for inspection so it would show up when i have inspection anyways... so im kinda stuck on what to do right now...


thanks for the quick replies and ideas =)... made my day a little better...

 

sounds like the actuator went out. Its a pricey little sob. Sorry to hear man :/

 

this is the report from nissan

"Customer states abs brake and vdc off, slip lights are on and before the lights came on had a grinding noise when slowing down as the vechile got to 10 mph also felt like the abs was activated this happened for about 1 week then the lights came on and that stopped found codes C11126 RR RH ABS SOL and C1110 Controller Failure Internal Failure of the control unit and both REAR HUBS and SENSORS have rust build up need to be replaced

Total Parts & Labor - $2826.00 + Tax & Labor "


So ya if anyone could point me in the right direction from what im gathering i need the abs module and 2 rear hub and sensors... if anyone has an idea where to find these cheaper than nissan let me know i have 8 months to get this done before inspection so time shouldnt be a problem. Also, can someone actually estimate how much parts are and how much labor might be? my guess is $2000 parts ? +800 labor??

 

$2800 seems a bit on the high side. My repair was $960 for the new rear sensors. When the service writer called me to advise the repair cost, I was told $980 for the sensors plus $1500 for the actuator. He said he had to let me know it might need an actuator....I told him go ahead and do the sensors, If it needs an actuator, put the car back together and call me to pick it up...I don't have $1500 for the actuator. Funny it didn't need one.

From what I been told the actuator is a dealer only item. It must be "flashed" with a scanner or computer before installation. Part is not even available to non-dealer service centers. I guess it can be obtained from sellers on ebay, but personally I would let only the dealer do this repair with new parts.

 

One more thing...I did call Nissan (1-800-nissan1) to see if they would like to participate financially in my repair, since this is a documented Nissan issue. After about two weeks since I made my claim, a young sounding female called me back. She was nice enough to tell me Nissan would not be responsible for this repair. She sounded like she was 15 years old, knew nothing about my claim, except that the reason for declining was I am out of warrantee. Obviously somebody else reviewed my claim, and she calls the customer with the bad news. She did politely listen to my 10 minute rant of why Nissan should reimburse me for the repair.

 

well $960 just for the rear sensors? wow, so the abs is prob. like 2000 for the main module or brain whatever it is... did you get a part number on those rear sensors?

 

If the modulator valve is the same as abs its about $936 for the sensor and about $128each for the wheel sensor according to aaa nissan website. Do the work yourself and save alot.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...06&catalogid=1


Did they try and clean the wheel sensor or are they just replacing them?

 

ankit69 that seems a bit high and the tsb is only for the right rear sensor and when they fix the problem they only clean the hub not replace it, sounds like they trying to get as much money out of you as posible. I know my hub was very rusty and the sensor covered in dust and debri, a good cleaning and its been as good as new. I would deff start there and delete codes to see if problem still exist. If the code for abs acuator comes back after that you can purchase a recycled abs module off ebay and get it installed, but highly doubt the dealer would do that.