17th Jun 2008, 00:16

I have a problem with my 01 Maxima. It's like when I'm driving and I'm picking up speed, sometimes the rpm needle will be at 1, and then the needle will jump almost to 3, and the car slows down, and the rpm needle jumps back to 1. Can anyone help?

9th Jul 2008, 19:16

I had the same problem with my RPM jumping from 1 to 3 and falling back down. If you read the previous comment, changing the mass air flow sensor will MOST likely fix your problem. I changed mine and it was about $150. (Part and labor) The rpm will not jump anymore. Also, when you accelerate there won't be any more stalling. Plus, you actually save more gas as well.

11th Aug 2008, 12:29

I too have had similar problems with my 2000 Maxima SE.

At 27k miles my car started knocking and losing power and running very rough. I took it to my dealer and they told me that I had to replace all 6 ignition coils.

I was really shocked because I never had a car that needed to have ignition coils replaced so soon. I contacted the manufacturer and they said they would call me back but never did. I even wrote a letter to them but still no answer. They have very bad customer service or none whatsoever.

The ignition coils were on back order for about 4 weeks, so in the mean time I had to rent a car for this period.

Total cost aroudn $1500 for 6 ignition coils and car rental for 4 weeks.

Thanks Nissan, you just lost my business plus anyone else that I know of who wants my opinion of Maxima's.

Buyer beware. Go for Honda or Toyota. Nissan is a wanna be that will never be.

11th Aug 2008, 17:37

My 2000 Maxima runs fine, but sounds rough from the exhaust systems, I believe it is the muffler?

21st Aug 2008, 21:35

I have a 2000 Maxima with SES light issues. Like everyone else I changed all the coils. The dealer changed the mass air flow sensor. The light keeps coming up. The code is catalytic converter in balance. The car runs good so I ignore the light. I will try cleaning O2 sensor but I am not putting a ton of money into get the light to clear. I would never buy another Nissan of any kind. I know the owner of the local Nissan dealership. Last year I bought a new Corolla. When the guy that owns the dealership asked me why I didn't stop in to check the Nissans out I told him they are junk. I did buy the Maxima from him and he asked me to bring it in but I declined. I told him that I put almost $2000 dollars in it and his techs could not fix the problem. Nissan should have recalled the Maxima for this problem but then they wouldn't be making the money in the service dept.

26th Aug 2008, 13:42

I have a 2000 Maxima SE. It has 180K highway miles on it, and I have been very pleased with it. I have had an incident three times over the course of three months where I am giving it gas to accelerate, and the RPM's jump but the car acts like it is out of gear. I have coasted into a parking lot and let the car cool down and then it drives normally. First time I took it to the Nissan dealership and they said they didn't know what was causing it because it was giving them several codes, but wanted to replace the wiring harness for $1900. I said you aren't sure this will fix the problem? When he said "no" I declined the repair. The second time (about a month later) I took it to a transmission shop. He could not duplicate the problem, so he didn't do anything. He told me to drive straight there if it did it again, but he wasn't open when it did it the third time. The third time the SES light came on and the independent mechanic I took it to said it was the speed sensor. I replaced that today. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

10th Sep 2008, 12:03

I have a 2000 Maxima SE and have had problems with it for 1 1/2 years. It started with the check engine soon lights and SES lights. I have changed the coil packs; the light went off and then came back on shortly after, only to find out it was the catalytic convertors. They do not affect the drivability of the car, so I left it alone.

The SES lights came on again, and I drove it for about a year with them going on and off. I have read every comment on this site and tried everything to get the lights to go off.

Then about 6 months ago the coils packs started to just burn up, and the car started stalling a lot. My mechanic hooked it up and it gave 21 trouble codes, and the main component to them all was the power control module. The computer to the whole car went bad. We finally replaced it at $1000.00 and it fixed all 21 trouble codes with the exception of the catalytic converters. So long story short, the computer lost its mind and sent all kinds of bad information to the car.

Hope this helps.

26th Sep 2008, 22:53

I have a 2001 Maxima GLE. I did have the problem of "Service Engine Soon". It was occurred twice while my car does not have issues such as engine stalled, unstable RPM, bad odor at the muffler, etc. And I was able to solve it with the following steps with minimun cost. I always drive with premium fuel. And I did switch to low grade gasoline due to the high cost. After switching for 1 month or 2, the SES lighted on. I believe it that the SES must associated to the gasoline grade. So I switched back to top grade. Now here are the steps:

1. Once SES is on, uses top grade fuel;

2. Lock the gas cap correctly and tight each time. If not, the gas tank will lost pressure, this would issue sensor error.

3. Drive it for a few weeks or more mileages. Push gas pedal with brute force for cleaning.

4. Drive up to the tank is empty. When the light of gas low is on, you still can drive for more than 20 km. So during this course of low gas, I drive to a few places. Turn off and turn on the engine for a few times (>5x).

5. Now it's again the time to fill up the tank with top grade fuel. After the topping, start the engine, and the SES didn't came on. And the problem is now fixed.

So it is fixed, why did it come on for the 2nd time? I guess that my gas cap was loose again. However, I did a emission test today, the test result was PASS. So the health of the car is in good condition. The SES was on due to some loose part, otherwise the emission test report will state incorrect spec of HC, CO, NO.

Before spending too much $$$, you can find cheap alternatives to diagnose your problem: lock/replace gas cap, emission test instead of the error code reader.

Hope this help. Good luck.