Hey guys! I recently got a 2005 maxima and I am such a newbie at cars and stuff so I thought I'd ask a few questions on best how to maintain my new baby...

What transmission oil do you all recommend?
Should I always use the highest octane fuel? Is it safe to use lower octane to save $$?
Is there a certain way this car likes to be driven in order to prolong it's use? Ie. slow, fast, normal? I've heard a lot of bad things about the transmission so I dunno, thought I'd ask!

The SES light came on a day ago, hopefully nothing serious. The car is practically in MINT condition, low km's too. Apparently the previous owner had these plugs or something installed where they pour something in there to protect against rust and stuff, so that's a nice touch...



Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

Congrats dude, nice looking car. I don't have a 6th gen but I will chime in..

IMO you got a nice looking ride there, needs a drop and removal of that god awful wind deflector or whatever that crap is on the hood, those things look so terrible.

Looks like the previous owner blacked out the wheels & window trim from what I can tell so that's always nice. Which tranny do you have? 4AT/5AT/6MT? That makes a big difference

And you should stop by autozone and get the code read for free, then come here to get it fixed

 

Thanks for the compliments! Yeah the previous owner did all those things. It's got an aftermarket front grill too. Ive been told the deflector thing blocks rocks from chipping the paint and stuff but honestly... I've been thinking of removing it.

Its an automatic transmission, I'm assuming 5 gears. Can tell I'm a noobie huh!

Yeah theres a big box car store around the corner I might bring it there or the local mechanic I recently brought it to who looked at it and said it was a pretty sound car... except for the tires which are hardly road worthy apparently. So in the next few days I'll be getting new rubber.


As a side note... the car in your signature... Thats the previous car generation I had! I had the anniversary edition. Kicked some *** in that baby . Thing has 344,000 km and still going strong... sitting on my front lawn at the moment while I drive my new maxima. How do you like yours?

 

89 octane works for me.

 

Alright so!!! New rubber. Thousand bucks... If anyone can rate.. Cooper Tires CS5 18 Inch. Brand new. Seems good so far! Hope it was worth it.

Edit: Wish I could do the job myself... woulda saved so much money!

 

New question:

What exactly on this car can I plastidip to protect from rust n stuff? Almost everything? What about the entire underside of the vehicle? Rotors? Just throwing some wild guesses out there.

 

Do not Plasti Dip your rotors..
The heat generated will melt it off.

How many miles do you have on the car?

I would use the highest octane you can. We have 91/93 in NYC which is always a plus.
Remember Higher Octane isnt just about it being cleaner fuel its all about detonation rate.

If you had a 4cyclinder Honda you would use lower octane because the detonation would be slower. Higher octane in a 4cyl Honda would actually create more trouble (unless its modded or if the manual says to put in higher octane).


Where are you located? Im assuming Canada since you said Km.
I would treat your tank with some HEET to remove any water condensation, then after 1-2 tanks of gas id put in some Techtron Fuel Cleaner

Check your transmission fluid level too.

 

Ah ok, I will not plastidip the rotors! But what about the entire underneath of the vehicle? I am in Canada, and they put salt all over the roads during the entire winter season. Ugh.

I have been putting octane 91 in ever since I've owned it. Would it hurt if I started going even higher? But the manual says octane 91, nothing else. So I will probably just stick with that. Thanks for the information about the detonation rate and stuff. I will keep it all in mind.

As of today about 139,000 km's.

And this HEET you speak of... Never heard of it. I'll look for it in the local big box auto store if not canadian tire. Thanks for all the tips bro!

 

POR-15

 

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Got another question. This one is involving possibly the transmission, I'm really not sure.

What happens is, I'm crusing at a steady 50 km/hr in about 4th gear, the RPMS go from 1500 to 1000, then back to 1500 then back to 1000 and so on. Is this what is called slipping? The car doesn't seem to be shifting gears or anything, its just the RPMS for whatever reason are going up and down... Seems to happen in the morning more than any other time. Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it guys!

Edit: was reading the AC might have something to do with it by drawing power or something... I have it off but there is a light that I can't seem to turn off with the icon that indicates its bringing air inside from out. Bleh.

Edit #2: Was using the manual shift mode today... It would only go up as far as third gear. If it was a 3 speed + overdrive... how would I know this?

 

sounds like your tranny is slipping. SEARCH the forums. Not a good thing.

 

Alright thanks. The steering wheel vibrates a little bit too when it goes down to 1k rpm. I think if anything, I'd like to put an updated valve body in there so there wouldn't be any issues with the transmission. I've read there are some good ones out there that can replace this defective one that Nissan put in these cars.

Had the SES light checked.. P0 420. The shop that scanned it immediated quoted me a thousand bucks for a new cat without even checking the oxygen sensors or anything else. Taking it to a muffler shop to get the sensors checked, then see if the cat is gunked up and maybe can be cleaned instead of a brand new cat, perhaps.

 

Since this forums is mostly quiet, I guess it couldn't hurt to ask this question of anyone passing by.... In the manual mode, should I be able to go all the way up to fifth gear? Mine seems to only allow me to shift to gear #3. Is this normal or is something amiss here? Thanks!