My neighbor moved into our subdivision close to two years ago. I noticed he had a Maxima wagon in his garage. The car sat there since he moved in from Alabama. A few weeks ago I was able to meet him and inconspicuously take a look at his car. The car is in great shape new tires, clean interior, clean engine bay, etc... A few weeks later the car is up for sale. Its now sitting in his driveway. Here are the list of things he did prior to parking it:
Timing Belt
Water Pump
Injectors
Brakes
Other maintainence stuff

The car started up and sounded smooth. No indication of gas smell or smoke. Here's the problem, the radiator fan does not work and after a while the temperature gauge goes hot. The a/c does not work, and the a/c fan does not come on either. Is it an electrical problem, fuse, sensor or other? Please help. I am seriously considering buying this car due to the clean history and I need some advise so I can easily pin point the problem.

There seems to be a little power steering fluid spot on the drive way. Do you know of any common problems associated with this? Thanks for your help. Maybe it will be a great opportunity.

 

yeah, he probably put power steering fluid in the power steering reservoir. you're actually supposed to use dexron automatic transmission fluid. this is standard in all foreign cars, and most newer fords. I bought my '94 nissan and it leaked power steering fluid. once I drained it and refilled it with ATF, lo and behold, the leak stopped.

as for the overheating, a car shouldn't overheat if the fans don't work. at least from experences I've had. I've managed to run mine with the fans disconnected and the temp gauge never left its typical one-third of the way position. the fans don't run all the time, only when a temperature sensor on the engine closes with temperature. I'd start with checking the thermostat to make sure it isn't stuck shut. from the way it sounds, it's definitely worth the investement. and if you do, replacing the thermostat and doing a flush/fill on the cooling system is a good idea anyway.

Dan

 

the gas smell could be an injector leaking....ask him if he has taken the car in for the injector recall for 2nd gen maxs....if not the recall is still open so you could always do that and nissan would cover it.
For the getting hot you may need a thermostat?

 

I had a gas smell in my 94 and it was just a broken vapor line between the carbon canister and the gas tank. basically a 10-minute fix.

Dan

 

Thanks for the tips. Just to point out, he did say he had the injectors done. I'll double check with nissan with the VIn #. He is asking 1100 and I offered him 700. Is that a good start? He said he would think about it. If I can get the temp problem under control, I'll be in good shape. Any other areas I should look for?

 

not really, I mean, especially if he just had the timing belt done, you'll be good for another 60k. I had good luck with my 88 with no real problems other than a clutch. I haven't really heard of any "known" issues with these cars, they're strong and dependable, and are good for a quarter of a million miles... only thing I've heard of is a few people here on the org have had some problems with the automatic transmissions. I'm not exactly sure what it was, or how serious it was, so your best bet is to get your opinion from sarin or somebody who knows more about these cars than I do. but I think you'd be good to go.

Dan

 

I actually had a car that when the fans quite it did overheat at an idle. I just wired them so they where on whenever the car was on, worked great and never overheated.

As far as the gas smell check what you have heard already. Good Luck...hope it works out for you!

 

the a/c may not work because it uses R-12 refrigerant which is no longer used except to recharge old systems, and even then it's expensive. I think there's a safety in the a/c system that keeps the compressor from kicking on if there's no refrigerant. that's why the a/c in my honda just stopped one time, and in my sentra, was intermittent. but if you can get the system evacuated, you can get a retrofitting kit for like $30. it's really easy to do the conversion, and you can recharge the system yourself.

some other maxima stuff:
if you're doing a tune-up, be sure you use NGK plugs. don't be like me and have the temptation to buy the expensive Bosch platinum plugs thinking the car will run better. after using boschs it actually ran worse. that was a mistake. those things are garbage and even working at auto zone, I have never heard one good thing about them.

also, in about 3000 miles we'll probably be hearing back from you when you try to change your oil. the filter is in one of the most impossible locations to get to. the first time, there'll probably be a lot of cursing. it was a 2-person job in my car until I developed a technique. but once you get a few oil changes under your belt, you'll be able to change the oil without having to jack the car up. but that's about it, everything else in these cars is fairly simple and straightforward. if I had the opportunity to pick one up, I probably would, but it wouldn't be a wagon. I still kinda wish I had my black 88 SE sedan.... ahh the memories...