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Hello all. Acquired a free 03 Nissan Maxima for a new driver. Was sitting for almost 3 years outside in dirt, given up on. The story behind it is it had a used engine transplant 40k ago, only needs alternator and muffler.
I started it, ran for a few minutes to verify the alternator was not charging. Seemed ok at first but then things quickly went downhill. The service engine soon light came on and the engine became sluggish. It was low on oil (3qts) and coolant so I topped both off. Still sluggish. When it was delivered running I assumed there was enough fluids in it so i didn't check right away. but I only ran it for maybe 5 mins that low. No rapping or knocking, just what would appear to be a misfire. I used the Nissan gas pedal trick to set the SES light into diag mode. P0304, P0462.
I figure if this car was running that low on oil for any period of time it may be spent, so I'm not inclined to throw big money at it. First thing I did was test the P0304 by swaping the #4 plug and coil to #2. Disconnected battery for a while, restarted. Same code, P0304. Next is swap the injector to #2, opening up for plenum and intake gasket replacements. Hopefully just a gasket leak
I had to spray the engine down before opening because it was infested with acorns, mouse nests from being outside.
#4 spark plug was oily, but there was no oil in the tubes. No valve cover gasket leaks. Below are pics of #4 cyl, looking for opinions of the status of the gaskets. If its possible they were leaking..
Sorry about the clarity. The water engulfing the knock sensor was me. I had to, the poop, acorns, nesting materials were so bad I was afraid to remove. Its clean and dry now.
Waiting for the gaskets to arrive from rock auto. How does the injector clip work to swap positions on the rail? Is there something else I should do while its apart? I don't plan on swapping the valve covers, things seem ok in the tubes. Just plugs and gaskets for now.
How you get water in there?
Also check your fuel tank. Its 3 years old,best bet is drain that fuel and clean out your tank granted its still usable.
You should to change out all the fluids,especially the oil and brake fluid.
Moisture is really good at finding its way into a vehicles system when not used.
Check all your vacuum lines ,hoses, seals, everything.
Last edited by wellshii19; May 13, 2017 at 12:45 PM.
That was me. I had to spray, the acorns, nesting debris were so bad I was afraid to open it up. So the water was only there a short period. I cleaned and dried everything shortly after. The gas tank is another error. P0462 . The gauge in the car says full, no way it is. going to rescan after I button this up with new gaskets, plugs in the back, move the injector.
I also plan to give it a good piston soak with a brew of solvents through the open valve ports. Hopefully that will help with the oil burning. The plugs indicate consumption, especially that cyl.
Last edited by rodent_infested_03; May 14, 2017 at 07:22 AM.
That was me. I had to spray, the acorns, nesting debris were so bad I was afraid to open it up. So the water was only there a short period. I cleaned and dried everything shortly after. The gas tank is another error. P0462 . The gauge in the car says full, no way it is. going to rescan after I button this up with new gaskets, plugs in the back, move the injector.
I also plan to give it a good piston soak with a brew of solvents through the open valve ports. Hopefully that will help with the oil burning. The plugs indicate consumption, especially that cyl.
No solvents will cure an oil consumption issue on these cars. It's most likely the precat that exploded and the engine sucked in some pieces and chewed at the rings. Only fix is to do a complete teardown.
Is this precat issue something that happens with age, or with mileage? My 2000 GLE has about 50K miles. Should I be worried?
Honestly, it's luck in my opinion. People say theirs blew on them early on, others never have. My SE has 130k and the oil level sits perfect. At 50k I wouldn't be too concerned, but it's not something to blow off.
Why would you swap an injector?
Pull the rail, clip em all in, hook up battery, turn on ignition, check for dripping.
If you see any dripping going on around the nozzles replace injector.
Why would you swap an injector?
Pull the rail, clip em all in, hook up battery, turn on ignition, check for dripping.
If you see any dripping going on around the nozzles replace injector.
Because swapping spark plug and coil with another cyl did not change what cyl was misfiring. So I thought maybe change the injector location would rule that out as well. But I will try your method first, see if they hold with the ignition on.
The misfire turned out to be a bad connection between the two parts of the coil. Must have happened when I was removing them the first time. The alternator is swapped out. Was a nightmare, the pulley tensioner bolt was frozen and rotted on. so I had to cut the pulley off to get to the bracket bolts. Muffler was plug and play. So now I'm down to CEL P0462, and driver's side door that won't lock. Questions..
Reading the posts on here, the instrument cluster IS the problem, the fuel sending unit/fuel pump IS NOT the problem?
The drivers side door won't lock via key or FOB. I lubed everything well for a few days. I don't think its the lock itself, feels like it wants to turn with the key, but something in the door below is jammed. Any way to fix that?
There is a built in test for the instrument cluster gauges that make the gauges point to approx the center position. See page 123 in the link below on how to run the test.
The door lock may be that the rods going between the inside door handle and the lock have somehow jammed. You will have to remove the trim panel and look inside the door to see.
Last edited by DennisMik; Aug 24, 2017 at 07:46 PM.
There is a built in test for the instrument cluster gauges that make the gauges point to approx the center position. See page 123 in the link below on how to run the test.
The door lock may be that the rods going between the inside door handle and the lock have somehow jammed. You will have to remove the trim panel and look inside the door to see.
Hey that's fantastic info thanks so much! After researching P0462 it seems like many swapped the fuel level sensor, fuel pressure sensor, even fuel pump, and it ended up being the cluster. So I pulled the cluster out, going to try that first because its the easiest and cheapest. I tried messaging a guy on eBay who supposedly fixes them, no response.
The driver's door wont lock. Hoping its just corrosion. I took off the interior of the door, but not sure exactly how to get the mechanism out. Hopefully will find that in the info you sent me.
If you remove the rear seat then remove the access cover to fuel pump what I guess i'd suggest is to check the circuits first from the pump assmbly connector to ECM connector. What Id do check the pinout diagrams as to exact coresponding pins.
The access cover goes back on a certain way. There are marks on the fuel tank that line up with the access cover. If those arent lined up it may give you a SES for fuel level/temp sensor. This is what happened to me after replacing my fuel filter.
Last edited by maximatech12; Aug 27, 2017 at 12:22 PM.
I'm having trouble getting to some of these welds. I tried loosening and pushing stuff back, still obstruction. Decision made, removed the condenser and radiator.
Can't turn these bolts at all.
Now have room to cut and drill soooo much better..
Observations and opinion about the importance of replacing this part.
Some refer to it as a "lower radiator support". And driving around with the engine crossmember separated and sagging is no big deal, because its just supporting the radiator. After a close look and researching the unibody design I disagree. With the condenser and radiator out you can see what the part is connected to, and why Nissan calls this part a "lower tie-bar". Tie-bars are structural. On our cars this part creates structure between the two sides of the front suspension. The control arms and struts are connected to the two box like structures, welded and bolted together with the support/tie-bar. This part does far more than just support the radiator. And the welds do more than tacking a part in place while it gets bolted in. You want this welded in place. Otherwise the unibody will flex and twist cornering. Not good for the suspension, not good for the engine and transmission. So in my opinion this is not something you can just ignore or live with. Any separation needs to be secured ASAP. Otherwise damage occurs and can become costly. As you can see in my example, all the motor mounts are toast because there is no crossmember support.
When the support sags, it tears the top of the lower front mount
Transmission mount rips up as the engine sags
I don't have a pic of the passenger side mount because its hard to see. But its low and bulging. Obviously toast.
Can someone tell me if the cheaper eBay mounts will last or crumble. I know the DEA stuff does/did on a Toyota I had. I see some decent eBay kits. One with an electric front for $78. Would love to get this set and install while its apart.
First the sawzall. That was important. So I could tug on things to see whats stuck
All thats left is the crossmember bolts. Rotted on solid. Vice grips just spin.
Cutting wheel on the grinder had them off in less than 5 mins
Going to clean up, wait for parts. You can see the crossmember is crooked. Because the failure trashed the upper, front lower, and transmission mounts. I also had to snip the transmission cooler lines to get the radiator out. The clamps rotted to the point I could not get the off. Going to try on a bench.
Thanks! I googled that part number and was able to find a site with good prices on oem bolts, nuts clips, hoses, grommets, etc. I ordered a bunch of hard to find items. not that expensive.
nice work, just saying if your going to to town like it appears, you mind as well as gut your existing precats and throw em back on ! and get an O2 sim for the light that comes on after gutting.
nice work, just saying if your going to to town like it appears, you mind as well as gut your existing precats and throw em back on ! and get an O2 sim for the light that comes on after gutting.
Yeah, probably the perfect time for that. The front one that I can see is in bad shape. Not sure if I could get it off. What are my chances of getting this off without snapping something and adding cost? Also this main Freon tube seems far to close to the hot precat. Basically touching the sheild. Is that right, or is it bent?
This car came with an unpainted nose. I plan to paint the bumper with an aerosol match from automotivetouchup.com. I have some questions about the attachment. Taking it off seemed too simple. Some plastic rivets, 2 screws and it basically fell off. Was there supposed to be something here? Was just 2 self tapping screws and a weird plastic part.
This was bent down doing nothing when I took bumper off
Was this where it was supposed to go? In this bracket?
cant help on the bracket, but i can bet the precat manifold studs/bolts will be rusted solid to nonrecognition, your probably best assuming worst and cutting them loose and replacing.
i paid a shop on hourly rate to replace precats (i gutted and supplied a pair) and it took them 10 hours which 5 or 6 was breaking old studs loose. in which i beleive they eventually had to just hack and replace.... something like that
The engine has 2 oil leaks. One I think is the oil drain plug washer. The other leak is in the middle, between the transmission. Looks like its coming from this sensor???
With the condenser evacuated, radiator out, I decided to tackle the rattle from that alternator I installed a few months ago. Same nightmare issues as before. Can't get a wrench or socket on the back bolt/nut with enough torque to get it tight. Its the hardest job of everything I've done to this car so far. Work on anything connected to the serp belts. Rather than be tormented for many hours again, decided to remove the compressor entirely rather than drop it, see if that makes things easier. It sure does. It turned a nightmare alternator replacement into something easy. i took a few pics for reference.
Compressor and all the lines removed.
Once the compressor is removed you can get right in there and get things done fast. As you can see by the end of this bolt, its not tight. The bar at the bottom of the bolt should be twisted against the body of the alternator.
Another view from where the compressor mounts. Hmmm looks like a gasket is falling out near the upper right bolt hole ..
Plenty of room to crank the alternator bolt tight. Was done fast. In hindsight, its worth it to recharge my AC vs misery over something that should be simple like replacing an alternator.
The front bumper has metal brackets that attach to the bumper with plastic rivets and then to the fender with those two screws. Theyre a dealer only part of course, i got mine from Courtesy Nissan:
$14.61 a piece.
I had to stop working on the project Maxima because of bad weather. Now that the weather is nice again I put the OEM rad support, but I have a question about the cross member. I put new OEM bushings on, but they are pancakeing or splitting, not sure. Right now I'm far less than the 77-98 Nm. 57-72 ft. lbs. torque (autozone repair manuals). Does this look normal? Will they straighten out over time?
