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Nissan Maxima Maintenance and Repair

4180 messages,  Last post on May 03, 2013 at 1:26 PM

You are in the Nissan Maxima Forum.

What is this discussion about? Nissan Maxima, Sedan

    
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Messages Page 217 of 419

#2159 of 4180 Ignition Coils by maximadan

Nov 22, 2004 (1:10 pm)

I have a '00 Maxima with 70,000KM (54,000miles)with my first experience with ignition coil problems. I have been told that all will need replacing next time the problem occurs. Upon my review of this message board I believe that there is some worth in chasing Nissan with a publicity approach. I could not find any hidden warranties, but it is obvious that this is major problem with thier design. Previously i owned a 1990 Acura Intergra GS with over 400,000KM (240,000 miles) with only one transmission replacement. NO engine work every required.
 
Has anyone tried a publicity angle to have the problem fixed? (i am not a lawyer or an ad guy but an accountant)

#2160 of 4180 coils by ccermak

Nov 22, 2004 (2:39 pm)

I believe various different people have gotten their coils replaced for free, or partially paid for by Nissan, because yes it was a bad batch and yes Nissan knows it. I don't have specifics, but I do know FOR SURE that people have done this, and yes outside of the normal 3yr/36k , 5yr/60k warranties.

#2161 of 4180 Clutch Disk, Engine Light, Air Conditioner, CD Changer by njay1

Nov 22, 2004 (3:40 pm)

My 2002 Nissan Maxima is falling apart. This is the Fourth Nissan I have owned, starting with a 1982 280ZX, and I believe Nissan is no longer building reliable cars. My 280ZX ran for 163,000 miles with barely a tuneup. In contrast, My Maxima had its first Clutch Disk (6 spd) replaced at 23,000, now its second clutch disk 43,000, also 43,000 the air conditioner motor failed and had to be replaced, and a day after driving my "fixed" maxima out of the service bay, the Engine Light appeared. My 6 disk cd changer skips constantly. I have never driven anything but a nissan, I follow all maintenance schedules, etc. But now that nissan is making vehicles where the "warranty glue" runs out after 36,000 miles, I am done.
(P.s. - I argued with nissan to pay for the Clutch disk since they obviously have some sort of problem with it considering there is a service bulletin on it...they are paying for half, but this still is bad considering they just replaced it 20k miles ago, I guarantee I will be making the same trip to the service dept another 20k miles down the road) Saddest part is my wife is expecting our second child and we were looking at Murano's. I'll drive an ugly honda pilot before I go through this again.

#2162 of 4180 Re: Ignition Coils [maximadan] by suydam

Nov 22, 2004 (4:44 pm)

Replying to: maximadan (Nov 22, 2004 1:10 pm)
See post # 1678-1679 or so, where there is a link to the specific TSB that might be your problem. But there are several things to cause the coil packs to go bad and you have to find out what caused yours. It is a pain if you have to pay for them (I had to replace the ones on my Forester at around the same mileage) but it's not the end of the world. I put it in the category of annoying parts that eventually need replacement but not killer problems like transmissions or head gaskets. I don't think coils are "engine work". And Nissan isn't the only car company that has had trouble with them, so I'm not sure it's poor design but perhaps poor quality with a particular batch of them.

#2163 of 4180 check service soon, P0420 by t2029

Nov 23, 2004 (5:01 pm)

Hello,
 
I have a question about the "check service soon" light on my 2001 GXE, 48,000 miles.
 
The light came on this morning and the car is running fine as normal. I went to AutoZone and they found out the error code is P0420. Two years ago, the light also came on with the same error code. The Nissan dealership reprogramed ECM per TSB NTB00-070A and it worked.
 
I read quite a few messages here today and it seems reprogramming ECM is recommended for the first step for P0420. So my question is whether I need to have the ECM reprogrammed again? What should be my next step here? Let the dealership install the O2 sensor or do it myself?
 
Any input is appreciated. Thanks.
 
Eric

#2164 of 4180 Re: check service soon, P0420 [t2029] by njay1

Nov 24, 2004 (10:07 am)

Replying to: t2029 (Nov 23, 2004 5:01 pm)
Just received the same message,
I am the 2002 Maxima owner who has had my car completely fall apart.
after having the clutch disk replaced, air conditioning motor replaced, etc, I had a check engine light and the computer gave me the same deal, P0420. How many problems does it take to get a recall? I have absolutely no faith in nissan and will not buy another one. I know cars break and not every car is perfect but I am going on $1,000 of repairs at 42,500 miles. Not acceptable for a car with a $29K MSRP.

#2165 of 4180 O2 by ccermak

Nov 24, 2004 (11:51 am)

O2's are probably the most common problem on Nissans. I went thru the same ordeal, reprogram ECU to widen parameters that trip the SES light and either replace or wait for the light to come back on. The theory is that usually when the light comes on (P0420) it's because the ECU program is off and the sensor is still actually fine. If you've had your ECU done, then months later it's on again, it's probably the sensor this time, as that is a common failure. The catch is there are no aftermarket O2 sensors for Nissan Maximas, you're stuck using an OEM part which you can only buy at the dealer. Don't believe me, try buying one at Autozone when they diagnose your code. The Bosch won't fit. Anyway, depending on which one it is, and your level of mechanical ability, would determine whether you can do for yourself. The parts look just like a spark plug so it ain't rocket science, more of an issue of getting at them and removing them as they're usually located near the exhaust and frozen in. They normally have to be heated with a torch slowly and warmed up in order to break them loose. This is all hearsay, but from multiple sources. I had dealer fix mine to the tune of $330 because $135/part + $79 ECU flash + labor. Maybe cheaper elsewhere, but still need to get part from stealer.

#2166 of 4180 Re: check service soon, P0420 [njay1] by suydam

Nov 24, 2004 (12:13 pm)

Replying to: njay1 (Nov 24, 2004 10:07 am)
If you have a lot of problems with your car, then you hate that car even if you know others have had good experiences with theirs. I feel that way about my Forester, which also had a long list of problems starting quite early. Although I know intellectually that lots of people love their Subarus, I'm not sure I'll ever buy another one. If I had all the problems you've had with your Nissan I'm sure I'd feel the same way. On the other hand, you've owned other Nissans that you liked, so maybe you just got the one made by the shift on their off day? From my Subaru experience I can tell you that coil packs and 02 sensors are not problems peculiar to Nissans! My '01 Max has 41,000 miles, so it's too soon to say how it will hold up, but I have had a much better experience with it so far than I did with my Subaru. Sometimes it seems that if a car has problems early, they never stop.

#2167 of 4180 Re: 04 SE Auto - low mpg? [funpolice] by badge13

Nov 27, 2004 (7:24 pm)

Replying to: funpolice (Oct 10, 2004 12:23 am)
I have a 00. I have been copmplaining about milage since day one. They finally after 33 k reprogramed the o2 sensors. This helped the situation but now it is happening again.

#2168 of 4180 coil # 2 problem by badge13

Nov 27, 2004 (7:44 pm)

I have a 00 se and I am having trouble with coil#2. I had it replaced at 35k under the so called goodwill gesture. The car was out of the 3 year mark. Before the goodwill came through it was recommended to replace all of them for $611.00. Then they stated, "we know which one it is, we will only do that one." Yesterday at 49k my max miss fired and started to run rough. The engine light flashed 3 times and went off. I parked the car and waited until this morning to start it. It started fine but the engine light was on. I called the dealer and he said it is probably the coil again. With all these complaints you think they would do something. I will be contacting my lawyer . I will keep you informed. Anyone else with this problem?

Messages Page 217 of 419

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