So desperately needing a new car that I can count on, I shopped around with only a few criteria and a limited budget. This search led me to a '95 dark green, 5spd, Maxima SE with 152K on the clock. She's in pretty good shape, and what problems she had were plenty managable for me. At least there was very little rust.

First round of stuff I went after was the missing side mirror, bad pass side window, and blown stereo. Picked up a driver's side mirror from a recycler on http://www.car-part.com. Dark green and heated (will setup heater later) for $55 shipped.
The pass. side window motor was disconnected because it goes down, but not back up. You'd hear a click, but no upward movement. Pulled the pass. side switch assembly apart. Relay 2 runs the window. It's a sealed unit, so I had to cut it open to clean the contacts.
For the stereo I installed my old Nakamichi CD-40z deck, and picked up two pair of Blaupunkt GTx 662's from Crutchfield for the doors and rear deck. While I was in the dash, several lights were out, so I replaced those: one in the hazard button, two for the vent selection buttons, and one for the ashtray - Radio Shack #272-1092.

Bought a clock and and ashtray insert from the classifieds on this board. Still looking for an antenna.

This round went after an intermittent stalling issue that's cropped up. Pulled the codes and came up with coolant temp sensor, knock sensor, and the evap. can purge valve - not much help. Cleared the codes and started the car. CEL was back on, checked the codes again and it was only the knock sensor, so I moved on.
I'd been suspecting a possible ground problem, so I pulled the battery and the ground cable. Wire wheeled the connectors on the cable, the bolt and nut, reamed out the threads with a tap, wire brushed the contact "pad" on the block, and cleaned the posts on the battery. While under the hood I pulled off all the junk after the filter box and threw it in the garage. Also found out I need an upper radiator hose right quick- which might be why I had the ECT code. Reconnected the ground cable and battery, coated the connections with white grease and took her for a spin.
No stalling, at least not yet, and no CEL. Went to Wally World for headlights since the pass side headlight was out. Spang for Silverstars, and yes, picked up fog bulbs to match. Put the headligths in while still in the parking lot. Started up and headed home. CEL was back on; haven't checked yet, but I suspect it's the knock sensor again.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it so far, and this board seems like a really nice spot to hang out.

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JLD

 

Congrats and welcome

 

congrats on the new max and welcome to the org

 

knock sensor won't trip the CEL. Most misfire/no start engine codes also post a knock sensor code with it. So you can ignore the knock code until you see it posted all alone.

I suggest you should change that coolant temp sensor right away.

Dave

 

Second time around, it was by itself. Which is why I suspect that it's the same again this third time around...until I find out otherwise.

And I'm not ready on the coolant temp sensor just yet, but I'm not taking my eye off it either.
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JLD

 

Today's round was installing the new upper rad hose, the Silverstar fog lamps, and beginning to lay out the trunk amp wiring.

The hose went on without issue. Started to try and remove/replace the protective sleeve for the top elbow, but it was a pain and I then realized the the only thing it might rub against was the "snorkel" that's no longer there and said screw it. Air + coolant + aluminum = rotted aluminum, but the water outlet seems to still be solid enough to not cause any future problems. Fair bit of sludge showing, and the coolant I drained from the rad was looking pretty tired, so I think sometime soon I'll be flushing the system and start running Toyota red(my favorite).

Fog lamps weren't too bad to change, but actually couldn't find any help on the board for a "how-to". I had the bottom cover/guard off and was trying to do it from behind the bumper with no luck until I finally gave in and checked the owner's manual!! For those of you in the future searching, there's an inner "side lens" seperate from the fog lamp lens. Pry it up and out and then you'll see a bolt(10mm). Remove it and wiggle the whole lamp assembly forward and to the middle of the car. Once it's out, unscrew the ring, and the rest is fairly obvious. Disconnect the wire with the spade connector to the lamp (H3), release the spring holding the lamp in place and go from there. This may be obvious, but do most people end up with broken top clips on that goofy side "lens" that covers the mounting bolt? Both either cracked or completely snapped, though they seemed to have enough "meat" left on them to remount without issue. Should I have any concerns?

As for the amp wiring to the trunk, most things were obvious except of course finding any reasonable places to pass through the firewall, which would seem to be a common issue.

Ran out of time today (what else is new?) so I'll be considering amp wiring options for a bit.

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JLD

 

welcome home

 

Forgot to mention that I got the clock and ashtray insert yesterday from fanaticrockford and that everything was fine and in good shape. The ashtray is now broken in and the clock works fine.

Another omission; I ran the power cord for my radar detector through the front defrost vent and around to hard wire it into the clock circuit (Black wire ground, Orange wire ACC+).

On a side note, now I've got whatever the cheapest Cobra detector Best Butt had to offer a year or two ago, and I've never been impressed. For years, though within the current millenia, I had a genuine Fuzzbuster. It was around $60, and that thing could pick up a radar gun from a half mile away, around a bend and over a hill-- I kid you not; I saw it do this semi-regularly when I was commuting to work. Unfortunately it was lost when I rolled my old car('90 Mazda MX6 - R.I.P.) Fuzzbusters didn't seem available at the time I went shopping for a new one, so I ended up with this thing. And it seemed to barely be worth a squat. But oddly enough, having it velcro'd to the dash, looking through the wipers, it's working better than ever. Go figure. Maybe it just likes this car better. As an electronics tech, I've seen stranger.....

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JLD

P.S. : Haven't sorted the trunk/amp/subs situation yet, so I was driving today with the backseat missing....weird hearing the "modes" of the fuel pump and listening to the gas sloshing around. Made it real hard to light a smoke...

 

Hey, welcome to the org. Are you in sycamore by dekalb?

 

Welcome. Good job so far.

 

Damn, thought I'd picked all the corn out of the grill!!

Yup. I'm here in corn country. At least I can still see around corners in the country; for another month or two...

 

nice! I'm at northern illnois university in dekalb so I know of/been in sycamore.

 

Welcome ! post up a photo your ride ! sounds like you have some minor things to fix up, for a laugh these cars are indestructable, nice choice !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPCfGWDvXWE

 

Is it me or is this the best (logically) written post on work done on a Max? Quite refreshing .
Sure beats the usual...

Hey guys I just installed a mirror on my car with teh wiring in the trunk and ashtray is broken but I fixed it with some duct tape and oh yeah should I get teh y-pipe with some splitfire plugs or should i wait and put on 20" chromies after teh ebay intake

 

My sentiments exactly...

 

Thanks for the appreciation guys! Boards like this one help me out a lot with my cars, so I try to help however I can in return.


Didn't get much done today, but did at least get the AC recharged. Only threw in one can, which got the compressor running and the low side gauge up to just over 25psi (Don't have a high-side gauge). It was barely 50*F out, so I didn't add any more than that. Not to mention giving it some time to see if there's a genuine leak. The PO hadn't used it over the winter and it didn't start up again, but I don't *think* there's going to be a problem.

Did unfortunately have another stalling/attempt to stall "episode" on the way to the Moose. Luckily I wasn't needing to stop any time soon, so I made her keep going and she got over it. These only last 20-30 seconds, when it's cool out and she's almost up to temp. If I happen to be coming to a stop or put the clutch in for whatever reason, she dies. In that case, I hit the hazards and try to restart. 15-20 seconds of cranking, and few pumps of the gas pedal, she starts back up. May or may not do it again within another minute or two, and then everything's kosher. If I can keep going(sorta like a constant push-start), she bogs a bit several times for about 20-30 seconds and then she's fine.

In looking for where to wire the amp, I did notice one of those dealership ignition kill deals, which is easy to suspect, but in this case might be a red herring. It's gotta go either way. I hope they didn't butcher it up to badly.

And I have read some posts about the MAF ground. I checked it with my DMM and everything seems fine, but hey, intermittent problem = intermittent results. This is my first car with an MAF, all the rest have been flappers(L-Jet). So I've got more to learn in that department. I've got few other ideas, but I don't want to load up a big'ol brainstorming post just yet.

Oh yeah! And fellfrosch7 posted an Ebay auction(in another thread I have) where they're selling OEM antenna masts for $12.50 + $5.00 shipping! There's only one station I can pick up without an antenna, and it hurts my brain to switch off something like a Henry Rollins cd and have Christina Agriculture start coming through the speakers.....

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JLD

 

The ECT is NOTORIOUS for creating engine stalls during stopping or even while cruising. In addition, it can cause extremely rough starts as well. As stated already above, I highly recommend the ECT be changed. I think it is common for this sensor to die past 100K miles.

 

Haha my friend Chris (the one in the video who cut his arm) donated that car to the BI guys...they're from my hometown (near West Palm). I remember him telling me he bought a car that he painted "traffic cone orange", but didn't know it was a Maxima until they put the video up. Kinda sad to watch now that I have a Maxima... lol

 

Ahhh..... I did not know that, hadn't come up in my searches. I see there's two versions available; one's rectangular with 1/8" terminals, and the other is more rounded with 3/32 terminals. Any idea of what/why the difference? (It'll be obvious which I would need when I pull it to test, I'm just curious.)

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JLD

 

I wouldn't even bother testing it. I had a bad camshaft position sensor that tested perfectly fine but the ECU didn't agree. New sensor, problem solved. IME the tests in the manual for sensors and solenoids are often insufficient.

Go to www.worldpartsexpress.com and order the OEM sensor. Then install it and pitch the old one. Unless $25 is an unbearable cost. The two parts you're looking at might be the temp sensor used by the ECU and the temp sensor used by the gauge cluster.

Dave

 

I got a doubt......

How much have you spent on fixing all thses so far?

 

Sorry it was late. I wasn't planning on going the whole route boiling some water and a DMM... more just an inspection to see that it wasn't from getting sprayed and either being wet and/or corroded, which could also mean problems in the connector going to it. (On the MR2 the boot for the TPS was torn and it'd get water in it every once in a while. Didn't actually need a new one, just a freindly can of WD-40 and a towel. And tape, of course)

Took a look this morning and A) it's the rounded, 3/32" terminal one, and B) it's clean and dry. I'm just gonna swing by Autozone on the way to work, they've got one in stock. Much as I dislike not saving a few $, if I order one chances are I won't see it 'til Mon.

Thanks again!
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JLD

 

Doubt of....?

Side mirror $55
Head Unit already had
Speakers $100
Dash lights $3
Clock & Ashtray $30
Head and fog lamps $70
Upper rad hose $12
Antenna mast $18
ECT $28

An enjoyable, dependable Max...



Nah, that's been overdone


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JLD

 

Ahhhhh.....another weekend, another round.

Put the new ECTS in, and just for grins and giggles I tested the old one after all. At room temp it tested marginally ok; warm (~120*F) it tested ok; hot it went screwy- readings jumped all over until it finally decided to read open. I do love it when parts are confirmed bad. One other symptom I had noticed before, but never really made the mental connection to the ECTS, was that on occasion the cooling fan would come on early. And I mean less than a minute after the car had been cold started. Duh....

And I finally got the amp and subs hooked up. Didn't run all the way to the battery(which is what I prefer), but managed the next best thing. On the backside of the fuse panel I found the main B+ wires feeding the panel. There's a plug with only two mean-looking wires on it. One's white with a blue stripe about 10ga, the other's white with a red stripe about 8ga. If you look at the connector on the + terminal of the battery, you'll see two of those white\red stripe wires. Peeled back some insulation from the red stripe wire, pulled the strands apart enough to pass the stripped end of the fused amp wire I'm using, wrapped it around, soldered and taped. For the ground wire, I ran it to the same spot the HU is grounded to, a chassis bolt on the floor tunnel using crimped and soldered ring terminals. Used insulated disconnect terminals(crimp and solder again) for the remote wire and was ready to go for powering. Those wires were zip tied to the wire bundle running along the driver's side of the tunnel, under the carpet, zip tied again along the bundles under the back seat and up under the rear wall on the driver's side. Ran the RCA cables down the passenger side of the tunnel, zip tied where possible, under the carpet, taped to the floor of the back seat to prevent twisting\binding\chafing and up the opposite pass through of the rear wall. From there just the usual connections and everything's working good and sounding great.

Oh, add another purchase to the list- a set of Blaupunkt component tweeters with crossovers, just to improve the imaging in the front seats. They'll go in the top front corners of the door panels.

And while under the driver's side dash I pulled that dealer ignition kill deal. Wasn't bad, only one wire cut. Soldered it as a butt connection and taped. No problems.

ROCK!

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JLD

 

Sounds like you are enjoying the MAXIMA..... have fun......

 

welcome to the .org
i live near dekalb/sycamore

do you know anyone who is looking for a 96 maxima 5 speed beige/black leather?

here is link for sale



http://www.chicagomaximaclub.net/showthread.php?t=4587

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=518475

 

This weekend was pretty much frelled(tons o' personal dren, but at least most of it wasn't my own this time), but I did at least get the new antenna mast in. Had to tear down the entire power assmebly, clean out the old cable and grease, and even had to pull the ...I guess you could call it the main "tube" to remove the remnants of the old antenna that tried to stay behind- I don't recommend it. Aluminum tubes, bench vises, and rubber mallots, don't really get along together all that well.

But in the end it's a working power antenna, and in the great land of N. IL. corn, it earns me a couple more options for radio stations. At least until I end up commuting again(?). {my personal dren}

Oh yeah, and a HU with a remote is real handy in this situation.....(haven't had much use for the remote otherwise.)

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JLD

PS:The component tweeter set is due to arrive tomorrow!! MMMMMmmmm......proper imaging.......