First Nissan maxima - for son - alot of questions!

Check out the MaxFAQs and forums at

They'll pretty much tell you anything you want to know, as well as how to fix it.

You might also keep an eye out on eBay for the factory service manual. They appear in CD version every once in a while for about $20.

5w-30

Look on the firewall, inboard of the brake booster and down just far enough that no human can do anything with it until sufficient cursing and scraped knuckles are paid. Easier if you don't have ABS.

The transmission has a drain plug on the bottom of the pan. It uses the same crush washer on it as the oil drain plug. Assuming its an automatic (you didn't say), it uses either Mercon or the Nissan stuff from the dealer. Measure how much comes out and put exactly that much back in. You usually need to do it two of three times (about 4 quarts each time) until the fluid shows to be the right color and smell. There is a filter, but you usually don't need to change it.

If you didn't get any records with the car, its probably a good idea to change it. The Nissan brand stuff is phosphate free and lasts at least

30,000 miles.

I have a '96 & a "97 I30 (same thing with Infiniti nameplate). They get around 21 MPG in city driving, about 28 mpg on the road. Not much you can do to improve it. By the way, it is designed to use premium gas. It will run on regular, but it won't like it and performance suffers enough that it probably doesn't pay to cheap out on the gas.

Check the maxima.org pages.

You can download the owner's manual from Nissan publications for free.

10W-30 is fine, as is Dextron III in the trans. The VQ30DE is damn near indestructible. The trans is reliable if maintained. The fuel filter is under the master cylinder. Have fun. 300K is not unusual for a 4th gen Max.

partsmore wrote:

Check out the area directly under the center of the radiator. This is a rust-prone spot, and you should look to see that any drain holes in that crossmember don't get clogged and hold water.

The hood struts fail consistently and cost good $$. I've used a 1/2" dowel for years - it will sit down behind/against the top of the headlight and run into one of the holes in the hood reinforcement.

Mufflers I can't comment on.

Where I live (PA) I use 10w-30 year-round.

Against the firewall, just off-center on the driver's side. If you have ABS it's a bear to reach.

Make sure you use coolant with no silicates. Also, fully draining the engine block is big pain except when the front exhaust (y-pipe) member is removed. So I drain from the radiator and refill twice rather than try to drain/replace it all at once.

I get 28mpg highway, 25mpg in mostly highway/mixed driving, and

18-22mpg in city. Keep off the A/C and defroster modes as much as possible and you'll save a couple MPG. The automatic climate control makes it very easy to run the A/C compressor all the time.

No, and they don't work. Especially if you expect higher performance AND fuel economy changes. Pick one or the other.

I strongly recommend against it unless you have a very small/light trailer, and understand the limits of trailering.

Change the fluids and leave them alone. IMHO.

Dave

You can get replacement aftermarket hood struts from AutoZone or other car parts stores. Considerably less expensive than OEM. We replaced the rear hatch struts on the '91 240sx (that hatch is heavier than the hood of a maxima) with $20 struts from AutoZone 5 years ago and they are still good. My experience has been that they do not consistently fail. One replacement should last you for years. The originals are still good on both the '96 and '97 that I have and the hood struts on my daughter's '98 SE have been replaced once.

The owner's manual recommends 5w-30 as the preferred oil year round. 10w-30 is only recommended if the temperature never gets really cold.

I agree. And don't hose off the engine compartment unless you enjoy diagnosing, cleaning and reseating engine electrical connectors for ever after.

Great info-

Thank you!

Excellent comments- especially the help with coolant.

Blew the engine off, hand washed intake and valve cover, and sprayed with No touch tire cleaner- and then rinsed- looks like new.

replaced the muffler, and fuel filter is next.

Draining the trans saturday, as well as the coolant- replacing the coolant with Dexcool, may use synthetic trans fluid (kid driver.....?)

We'll have $1200.00 in it when finished, with new tires already on it, ad he loves it so far.

I pulled the wheels off, and re-undercoated the wheel wells, and cleaned up brake calipers, etc. and rotated and blanced the tires, with the weights on the INSIDE. Premium wheels and the put weights on the outside :*( to rust and corrode!

Since there is no way to know what is currently in the radiator, make sure you flush out the system before you put in the dexcool. It can react badly with some other coolants. You don't need to power flush, but fill it with plain water, make sure the heater core is open, run it and drain several times until it runs clear.