13th Jun 2004, 22:44
You guys are too much. Drive a freakin' car into the ground and then complain... Take care of the beast. These are great cars, I have one. Use an occasional bottle of fuel injector cleaner. Buy good gas, CHANGE THE OIL. You can easily get 300,000 MILES out of these babies.
30th Jul 2004, 05:15
I couldn't agree more with the above comment. These are not bulldozers or tanks. If you take reasonable care and change the oil, filters, timing belt, and keep the radiator cap tight on the stupid radiator (I don't believe for a minute that it "blew off" on it's own), it will last much longer than any domestic variety while providing relatively trouble-free transportation. Also, EDUCATE yourself on the caveats of the car... what commonly goes wrong.
31st Aug 2004, 22:06
I made one of the above statements. I have to say that we took excellent care of our Maxima. All the maintenance was done, it was NEVER raced or driven extrememly hard. It was given 3,000 mile oil changes, practically all parts were OEM and top of the line premium fuel was ALWAYS used. The car had less than 70,000 miles when most of the troubles showed up. Don't judge others based merely on what you think.
6th Sep 2004, 23:17
Buy a factory service manual, I did for my daughter's 1990. It suddenly wouldn't run right very bad loping like a burned valve. Following the very detailed and excellent troubleshooting steps in the manual, I read the computer trouble code lights. These lights are on the side of the computer which is behind the console on the right side. With engine running, screw is turned clockwise full and wait for three flashes, turn back full counterclockwise and read code red lamp is tens and green, ones. Five flashes red and one flash green is 51, the injector circuit. Using an ohmmeter and following the detailed steps checking harness connectors, I located the dead #4 injector. Injector resistance should be 10-14 ohms. All it was was green corrosion on the injector and connector terminals. After cleaning, ohmmeter said all OK and car ran like silk. I don't know if other cars have a self diagnostic computer mode, but this one does, and if the check engine light comes on, it tells the problem area and can save a lot of green.
25th Sep 2004, 01:06
I have to agree with you. My wife drives a 91 at Tijuana Mexico and at 185K miles she started experiencing rough idle when warm (Japanese cars are more expensive because of longer life). Looks like a new O2 sensor for me, to check ECU (Engine Computer) for trouble codes and start diag mode, warm up car, and take out the ECU module (89-91 model go under the driver's dash, 85-88 under passgr seat), insert small screwdriver into hole at right side of module, turn fully counterclockwise. Now you can check codes. Green flashes are one digit, red flashes the second digit, example 12 is one red flash two green flashes.
11 - Crank Angle Sensor /Circuit
12 - Air Flow Meter/Circuit
13 - Cylinder head temp sensor
14 - Vehicle Speed Sensor
21 - Ignition Signal
22 - Fuel Pump Circuit
23 - Throttle Valve Circuit
31 - ECU control circuit
32 - EGR Function
33 - Exhaust Gas Sensor
34 - Detonation Sensor
41 - Fuel Temp Sensor (87-88 models)
42 - Fuel Temp Sensor (89 models)
43 - Throttle Sensor
45 - Injector Leak
54 - A/T Control Unit
55 - Normal Operation (No problems found)
When you do repairs, turn screw fully clockwise, then turn counterclockwise to erase any codes, your Nissan should be to the max
Good Luck!!!
30th Oct 2004, 16:10
I used to own a 90 Maxima. About every year or so two or more injectors would go. After having to replace a total of 8 injectors I went to Nissan looking for answers. They said its my problem not theirs. After this I will never buy another Nissan. I have a 1983 Toyota Supra which still has the original injectors. Nissan knew they screwed up, but just wouldn't admit it. I have made the switch to Toyota and will never go back.
15th Nov 2004, 14:29
I own a 1990 Nissan Maxima SE with over 291,000 miles. Never had a major problem. Mostly just stuff that one needs to replace anyways. I replace the spark plugs with Bosch Platinum...HUGE MISTAKE! The car hardly ran. Sputtered, stalled, and was hard to start. Something with the resistance being wrong. Had to buy the factory NGK plugs (10 bucks each) and have yet to experience the hesitation. Car just started to leak a little oil from the rear.. not sure what it is yet. Window regulator in the rear busted. Thirty dollar fix from ebay. No big deal. Overall, this car is, for lack of a better word, PERFECT.
17th Nov 2004, 15:01
I have a 1990 Maxima that needs new injectors. I can buy all six at a reasonable price, but is this something that I can do myself?
2nd Feb 2005, 08:09
I drive a 1992 Maxima GXE and my gas mileage sucks 3/4 to 1/4 like 187 miles. I put unleaded regular into the car so what should I do upgrade to unleaded premium. So, what is the best service station to get gas from?
7th Jun 2006, 22:19
I have a 1990 Maxima, accquired in 2005 from my grandmother with just over 60,000 on the odometer (not a typo!) I have had slight problems with the injectors in the past year and a half, but nothing that made the car actually die. They usually clean themselves out after enough driving, at least that's my experience. This car has never broken down on me, which is less than I can say for some other cars I've owned, and I beat the living crap out of it. I have a 90 plus mile drive 4 days a week to and from school, and right now I have 88,000 on it. Only grope is it's an automatic, but it was free, so it's all good.
29th Oct 2006, 21:42
I have a 1996 Nissan Maxima with the telescoping antenna. I put in a new radio, made all necessary adaptations to be able to plug into the new radio sockets and then fired it up. What happens is that the antenna "hunts" up and down while the radio tries to boot up repeatedly. I feel I'm getting a positive feedback in the antenna control circuit, but how can I troubleshoot this kind of thing? Reply to sbn63man@aol.com.
10th Jul 2008, 20:42
I have a 1990 Maxima. When I got it 5 years ago, there were 70k miles, now there are 97k. I am replacing it with a Honda civic in the next few days because I am sick of bad gas mileage (15 in the city, 20 on the highway). It also has a rough idle, but that's for the next owner to worry about. Good car over all.
29th Jan 2004, 15:13
Unfortunately my Maxima had tons of problems. The alternator went bad four times, the power steering hose ruptured, the ignition system went, the cooling fan blade broke off, the a/c went, the rear lights melted, the radio didn't work, the clock flickered, the transmission went out four times, and the impellers on the water pump literally corroded to nothing! Of course, the injectors (all six) went out as well! I have to say that I was quite dissapointed. But at least the car was comfortable (despite no a/c) and looked great!