Nissan Maxima Maintenance and Repair

johnny2003 · December 2004

Curious if you have had any luck locating the vibration problem.

p100 · December 2004

Tire feathering on any car is almost always caused by improper toe alignment setting. Usually it is easy to resolve. I cannot comment on your other issues. I am surprised about your comment about the 04 Z convertible. Sounds like they put terrible tires on this car. It is sad that Nissan is not what they used to be. This is why I am hanging onto my 95 SE V6 4X4 Nissan pickup, 98 Maxima, and 99 Mazda ES V6. All these vehicles have about 100k miles each and aside from routine maintenance they are extremely reliable and troublefree (probably because they all have a manual 5 speed transmission). I can certainly afford new vehicles, but I really do not need the aggravation which seems to come with many new cars today.

bigbandito · December 2004

Nothing out of the ordinary so far on my 2005 Max. How does the vibration manifest itself?

rindge · December 2004

I always wanted a Maxima (a good friend had one in college and I loved the car). Anyway, finally got one in cold Buffalo NY. Car looks good, drives good, is a gas hog, but boy does it have quality problems:

A. The rear piece of the driver seat is pulling away from the frame - you can see the inside elements of the seat

B. At 20-25 degrees F - the windshield wiper fluid will not eject. Driving in snow with no ability to clean your windows is a pain - I now carry a bottle of fluid in a water bottle that I can squirt on the windows - I feel like I am in a Cheech & Chong Movie

C. When it gets cold the door handle on the driver side will not close and lock the door. I drove off the other day from work and didn't realize this until the door swung open.

I just picked up this car in September - I can't believe the quality issues. I will drop it off in Jan at the dealership. Anybody else having 2004 problems? I am really surprised about the issues with this car. Maybe it not made for the cold weather.

Rindge

p100 · December 2004

"Maybe it is not made for the cold weather".

No. It is a Japanese car formerly made in Japan, now completely redesigned for 2004 and manufactured in a newly built plan in the US for the first time. I do not buy first year newly redesigned models, ESPECIALLY if they start production in the US for the first time. Ford Escort, VW rabbit, and Mercedes ML320 are good examples of dismal quality produced out of US plants during the first year of production. There are quite a few problems with Nissan Armada and Titan traucks quality as well.

When a vehicle undergoes major redesign, you are always taking risks, until all major bugs are worked out. Even Hondas and Toyotas suffer from the new redesign syndrome.

suydam · December 2004

Can't attest to the '04s or '05s, but our '01 is making it through our major ice storm like a champ. Right now it's the only functioning car and has been travelling ice-covered roads daily. It was buried under 8 inches of snow and ice, and one back door was frozen initially but thawed out after we ran it for awhile. I'd talk to your dealer ASAP because it should be performing better than you describe.

heart2 · December 2004

Car only has 22K on it and sits in garage but driven every other day about 50 miles. Runs very well and it is maintained well. Recently would not start but sounded like it just wouln't catch. AAA came and he kept cranking it and it finally started. Told me nothing wrong, just the cold from the cement garage floor penetrated the fuel injectors and drained them of gas. Runs well. Keep tank full. He rec. using a fuel injector additive like STP occ. Anyone ever heard of such a thing? Can't argue success. Also there is what looks like a grounding wire hanging under the car that should be attched to the body...anyone ever notice same??

p100 · December 2004

"...just the cold from the cement garage floor penetrated the fuel injectors and drained them of gas".

And the cold from the cement garage floor penetrated the tires and drained them of air...

Seriously, your probable cause is just water condensation in the tank. Try some gas drier in your gas tank.

bfriend · December 2004

I had a similar problem when I first bought the car home from the dealership.Eventually, they found out that the fuel pump that caused the car to have a hard start up. Good-Luck

rafa · December 2004

We bought a 2001 nissan maxima with 72,000 miles a couple a months ago ran fine then one day dies out in the middle of traffic took it to the shop they first say its the air intake valve then they say its the ecm which basically is the brian of the engine its the computer of the car put 700.00 dollars into it now it needs 1300.00 more to fix the computer. can anyone help what should we do thank you

dirkwork · December 2004

I take it you are out of any warranty with the seller. It would not hurt to ask, good dealerships will work with you to preserve their reputation and at least give a discount to repairs.

Your message is light on details but it seems like you are saying the ECM need to be replaced. This is a possibility, but I'd have Autozone or someone check the trouble codes stored on the computer, perhaps you are having trouble with a sensor or something. It also appears your shop is guessing if they don't know the difference between a valve and the ECM not working. There are diagnostics they can run to check each system.

I have a 00 and its been a good car, get it fixed and enjoy.

Scott

docr · December 2004

Hi! Just drove my car from Maryland to Portland, OR and of course have a multitude of problems some of which I have fixed. Could someone help with these PLEASE!

1. There is a metal on metal scraping nose about 80% of the time the car is moving (use to be a low groaning noise). Could this just be a timing belt issue? What would cause this noise and how can I fix it?

2. How do you change head lights?

3. How do you change the air filter?

4. My engine light is forever on. Since 95 Nissan Maxima's can't be given emissons test with the light on (and I have changed nox, O2, and everything!) what is the easiest way to make the engine light magically turn off temporarily? i.e. seperate the fuse for all dash board lights? Pull the bulb out (but this I think has to be done through the dash?)

5. My front wheel makes a sputtering noise (I think) may this have anything to do with the sprokets?

Sigh...please help! I should have been a automechanic major in colleg...lot of good neuroscience did me...ARGH!

Payal

dklanecky · December 2004

I suspect #1 and #5 maybe the same issue, brakes. Have you had them checked?

The 95 Maxima doesn't have a timing belt, it has a timing chain which should be good for ~200,000k. How many miles are on your car?

Instructions on changing the headlight bulb are in the owner's manual. Did you get one? It's simple as access is from the back of the headlight fixture in side the engine compartment.

The check engine light is telling you something is worng. Take it to an Autozone store and have them read the error codes and they can tell you what to start checking first (for free).

One of the most common problems with 95-99 maximas was filling them with gas and either having the engine running while you filled up or not having a good seal with the gas cap.

Seriously, autozone is a great place to start fixing what's wrong, not just turning off the check engine light (which they can do also).

mlurdi · January 2005

I have a 2004 Maxima SL that I have owned for 5 months and went to the dealership today to trade it in. I have 28,000 miles, and am completely disgusted. This is my FOURTH Maxima...and have never had such problems. All my previous Maxima's went well over 180,000 miles with no problems.

The biggest problem is my transmission. It has been to Nissan 3 times since October. The first 2 times they replaced 1 sensor, and the last time they told me that they were working with Nissan engineers to diagnose the problem. Basically, it shifts hard, squeaks between 2nd and 3rd gear, but the worst problem was I would get stuck in 1st gear after stopping at a stop light. It would rev up and would not shift out of 1st gear. I would have to pull over, shut the car off, and turn it back on. They replaced 2 sensors, and told me that there are 2 other Maximas in the country that have the same problem.

The second time it went to Nissan, they also had to replace the struts...and unknown to me...they also replaced the radiator, as they said it was leaking.

This morning, my sunroof wouldn't open. I am done, and will probably be trading it in this week. I truly feel I have a lemon.

bb101 · January 2005

I bought my SE in Sept 2001 and now have 36K miles...still have all 4 original tires. I am noticing some spinning out and slipping on wet roads (luckily I live in TX without any snow).

How long should I expect to be able to go with these tires? I was thinking / hoping 40K miles, but I am afraid the sport tires on the SE wear out faster.

Thanks.

suydam · January 2005

I replaced mine on my '01 GLE over the summer. I also noticed slipping some, and squealing going around turns on one side (and I'm not a hotrodder). What a difference new tires have made. I don't think the tires they put on new cars last as long as the ones you buy later. I think my Max had just under 40,000 miles when I replaced the tires.

johnny2003 · January 2005

Seems to just come and go while traveling on the highway. You can tell from the steering wheel by the way it begins to vibrate then stops. Started at 80mph, but when i slowed to 60 it still came back. I did take it back to the dealership last week, and so far so good. No vibrations at all. I still find myself worrying over it since I will return to work on Tuesday and drive about 3000 miles a month.

dirkwork · January 2005

I also have a similar '00 model Se and original tires, about 35k and they are getting quite slippery although reasonable tread left. I have had to downgrade my rain driving, and I am now spinning the tires leaving intersections in rain, something usually don't do since I haven't been in high school for quite some time.

I'm also a bit cheap and Texas resident, also going to ride these out over the summer and then look for some tires at about 40k. Yes, I realize there is safety to consider folks, I just don't have to drive like a maniac and they will be ok.

I had heard these tires were slick in the rain and they were never great but they have really gotten bad in their last bit of life.

beanctr · January 2005

If I were you, I would investigate whether the state in which you live has a lemon law covering the issues you are having with your transmission. It may save you some money if Nissan can be forced to buy your vehicle back from you as opposed to trading the car in for something else. Just an idea.

chevynissangal · January 2005

i just want to say that my nissan maxima is the best car i have ever had. i have had my share of cars since learning to drive, and this maxima has been the best. i also have a chevy truck in which i love. yeah. the name spells it all. but the truck has horrible gas mileage.. I'm thinking about selling the truck.. hah. But yes, the nissan maxima is the greatest ever!!!!

madmax2 · January 2005

I'm sure at some point we've all had bad experiences with bringing our cars into dealerships for service but I wanted to make special mention of a particular Nissan dealership that I would strongly recommend avoiding for any of our CT Nissan owners out there. I had problems with my car stalling in cold weather recently and with noises at start-up. So I took it in to the Manchester CT Nissan dealership service dept to find out what the problem was. It was my first time bringing my car to that particular service department. They indicated that the noise was caused by a faulty starter and the stalling was due to a weak battery and advised that I replace both. So I trusted their advise (big mistake) and shelled out a good chuck of $$ to have the work done. A week later the car stalled again. I immediately called them to tell them that they didnt fix my stalling problem. They said that the car wasnt stalling when they originally inspected it so there was no way of pinpointing the problem. (Why they decided to keep this a secret until I called to complain a week later remains a mystery). What surprised me was that they were very rude and defensive about the whole thing. Despite that, I brought the car to the dealership for another look and this time they indicated that the air flow meter was faulty and the fuel injector lines needed flushing. Both of which would set me back a good chunk of change on top of what I already spent on the starter and battery. Again, I asked why they didnt identify this when I brought my car in the first time and their response was again very rude and defensive. They told me this was a new problem and that there were no indications of a stalling problem before. (First of all, this is not a new problem. Its a recurring problem and thats why I brought the car in to begin with. Second of all, when I did bring the car in I clearly explained to them that the car was stalling in cold weather. Evidently, what I told them and what they chose to hear were two different things). I finally told them not do anymore work on the car. Primarily because I just dont trust them anymore. You tell them whats wrong with the car and you spend money to fix the problem based on their advise but when the problem remains they deny that it existed before and they claim that its a new problem and want you to spend more money. I know that this is a common issue with a lot of service depts and not just isolated to one place but if your from CT and looking for a place to bring your car into, then I would recommend avoiding Manchester Nissan. The underlying issue is that they dont respect the customer and they dont listen to the customer. Save yourself the headache and grief. If your looking for a dealership - Ive heard good things about Simsbury Nissan and Ive done business with Enfield Nissan.

maxless · January 2005

I have replaced the coils, electric motor mounts, brakes and now tires for a second time. Other than that, the car has never left me stranded. It still runs great and uses no oil. I have 103K miles. How many more reliable miles can I expect?

xxxrobxxx · January 2005

A guy just wondering what your problem was. I have the same code reading so please get back to me at anythingflows@yahoo.com.

thanks

aristotle · January 2005

Hi all, the last couple of days temperatures have been hovering in the single digits in Colorado. My Windshield wiper fluid froze ( or was it some water in the lines that froze? ) and it wouldn't squirt. Don't know how that could happen. I just refilled the windshield wiper fluid yesterday and the label on the bottle said good till -25 degrees Fahrenheit.

Last night while driving back from Denver it was already dark and my windshield became totally opaque and I couldn't see a thing! It was so weird! I couldn't see the road, the exits, nothing. Cars were coming behind me at high speeds and I was very afraid that I would have an accident. Finally I managed to barely get off at an exit and wipe my windshield with some tissue and wiper fluid.

Has anybody had a similar experience in cold weather? When the car is in my garage I am able to use a pin to poke thru the ice in the nozzle and the wiper fluid squirts properly. But if I take the car outside, within minutes it freezes again.

In all my years of driving I have never had such an experience. I normally do not drive in very cold weather unless I absolutely have to. Any advice, anyone?

dirkwork · January 2005

Your fluid has too much water in it.

If you are looking for an instant fix, drain all the existing wiper fluid and buy some GOOD stuff, with adequate alcohol or whatever they put in there to keep it from freezing.

Cold weather is not a problem, you should be able to go much colder, I've driven -15 F and not had that problem.

In bad cold weather like that, folks I know keep a gallon or so in the back seat to refill, you use it a lot on a wet snowy roads when there isn't rain to clear the window.

D

meyer14 · January 2005

got a '92 maxima SE automatic with 207K miles on it. the car will chug like it's not getting enough fuel when accelerating, also when stopped at a light for example - put in neutral from drive and it stops. had sparkplugs changed, oxygen sensor and something else changed relevant to it passing emissions test, but car still does same thing. have noticed now that car backfires very slightly when accelerating - not heard it much as of yet. husband thought it might have something to do with fuel pump or injectors, but mechanics have not even considered that or we're under the impression they've checked. need advice soon, spending too much money on car repairs lately (more on a chevy blazer with half as much mileage), to want the mechanic to go searching around for any old problem they can find.

ccermak · January 2005

Backfiring is usually a fuel problem or an exhaust problem, but most likely a fuel mixture problem. Backfiring is caused by running too lean if I remember correctly. Happens on my motorcycle and I had to "re-jet" the carburator to be richer. So it does sound to me like a fuel injector issue, either plugged injectors, or else a computer problem of some kind (like Oxygen or Airflow sensors) telling the car what ratio of fuel to air to use. But I'm certainly no mechanic, maybe P100 can chime in? You said you had the plugs changed, did they tell you if they were burnt, or fouled by chance? Did you see them? Changing plugs may help for a bit but if there's an underlying problem they'd just go bad again. See it all the time with two stroke bikes.

tigermax2k2 · January 2005

i have 50k on my tires and they are fine in on dry roads but suck on wet. you could squeeze another 19k out of them, but that's it.

tigermax2k2 · January 2005

so, what tires should i buy next for my excellent 2k2 black SE? also, ziebart has a product to reduce road noise that they install underneath. anyone have any experience with that?

ccermak · January 2005

I ran Dunlop SPA2 tires on my 00SE but I won't be buying them again. Too loud and wore out just as quick as the stock Toyos. Not sure what I'm going to run this summer, right now I have Dunlop Wintersport M3's on for winter in MN and they ride better than the SPA2's and they're quieter too, go figure!!

max04 · January 2005

I recently purchased a used 04 Maxima with 20,000 miles. I am very disappointed with the noisy ride. I guess when I test drove it, I was on a smooth street. You can hear every crack in the road with this car. Our cheap Mustang is smoother, and my neighbors Focus is alot quieter than this Maxima. This car came with Continental tires. Could this be the problem? I love everything else about the Max, but for the $$$, I thought it should be alot quieter. Any suggestions?

user777 · January 2005

for what it's worth - i'd proceed to check the pressure in your tires comparing to the recommended inflation on the door jam? your tires may be overly inflated. this has been mentioned in other forums. my car transmits more road noise to the cabin when i over-inflate the tires. i presume the tire becomes "stiffer" and doesn't damp the road imperfections as much.

just an idea. good luck.

amorris · January 2005

can anyone please tell me where my lighter is located on my 2004 Maxima SE i have been looking and can't find it or any of the DC power outlets i have looked in the owners manual it's not listed. in the book it states about a cell phone charger area located near the console. please help. also what is the black film on the edges inside of the front windshild around the mirror?

redsono93 · January 2005

I have a 2004 Maxima SE, and I just wanted to warn everyone. Never spray glass cleaner or in my case Armor-all on the dashboard. It has left this cloudy film all over the fuel, speed, and Rpm gages. It pisses me off and I can't get it off. Does anyone have any ideas, how I can get rid of this film? I'm at the point at just getting a whole new dashboard cover. Also has this happen to you guys, my automatic stick shifter is always loose and when I go to tighten it it pops up. I think it's spring loaded. The dealership I bought it at has not tried to help. Thanks, JFM

sgrd0q · January 2005

My windshield wiper fluid froze the first winter I had my car. I think my dealer just adds water when they do the oil change. Ever since, I make a point of filling up the winshield washer fluid tank with the proper fluid before going to the dealer for any service. That way they cannot add anything to it. Never had the fozen fluid again!

dmathew347 · January 2005

I recently encountered my first problem with my 02 Maxima since i first purchased it. After a long trip yesterday, i noticed that the Service Engine Sign warning light indicator came on out of nowhere. According to the manual, if the sign is steady and not blinking, that means the fuel filler cap wasn't properly tightened or there maybe a problem with the Emission Control System. The manual also claimed that after tightening the cap, it should dissappear after a few trips. Well, its been almost 2 days, and the sign is still there after about 10 trips. Is this something very serious? My car i still under warranty for a month. Is this something the dealer should take care of under the warranty?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

aggiedog · January 2005

It's probably not serious but it could be very costly if you miss your warranty cutoff. My light came on in my 02 SE at about 35K. It was an 02 sensor that the dealer had to pay for. If I had waited, I'd have been out of between $300 and $400. Any SES that appears when your car is under warranty is on the dealer. It shouldn't cost you a penny.

hdao · January 2005

Your price seems right, the O2 sensor it self costs $80-$120 for each + $100-$200 for each installation labor. Since most cars today are using engine control module (ECU) to populate a trouble code(s) when something goes wrong. The problem is that most dealers don't want to narrow that problem further. Once technicians receive a trouble code from the scanner, they just want to go ahead to replace with new parts. For the O2 sensor related trouble codes, I would check the electrical connector, wiring harness, then erase the code. If the same code happens again, then he can replace a new sensor.

Owner should do some research on internet, he might find some information of how to read these trouble codes. Here are the list that I have done for my 99 Maxima and saved alot of monies ever since.

1) I saved $70-$80 each time, not to bring my car to dealer for code reading.

2) My car had a code for EGRC solenoid/V. Dealer wanted to replace it with $140 part + $150 labor. At least, they should had narrowed down whether the wiring harness/connector was bad by measuring the resistance (according to the Haynes Book which I bought later). They didn't. I trouble-shooted myself, the problem disappeared without buying a new EGR valve. It might had been a loosen wiring harness/connector and vacuum tubes that run into the valve.

3) I had bad ignition coil code in the past, dealer wanted to replace all six coils ($700 parts & labor). They did not want to find out which particular coil(s) was bad. Later, I found only one coil and replaced that bad one ($80). I have been driving another 30k miles and have yet seen another ignition coil problem.

hdao · January 2005

Not only CT Nissan Dealer, but I have experienced with some Nissan Dealers in TX as well. I guess that most dealers regardless of car brand may be the same. It is hard to find a trusted dealer or technician nowadays unless you know him well. However, I found some so-called a good and honest technnician sometimes posting a very helpful message on internet. A most problem today is that cars are made up with a computerized engine control module (ECM or ECU). This box is to monitor any trouble signal. When something goes wrong, the ECU is likely pop-up a trouble code. It is good news that we don't have to do much trouble-shootings like an old car. The code usually tells us what part of the car need to be pin-pointed or replaced. The problem with most dealers is that they might not have time nor wanted to do more trouble-shootings. When they got a code, they would recommend to replace that part. What has happened to my 99 Maxima with the ignition coil was that they wanted to replace all six coils rather to replace just the bad one. I finally found information of how to read the flash code and pin point a particular ignition coil#. Yet, I have replaced only one bad coil for $80 while the dealer would have had charged me $700 for all 6 coils. I have been driving ever since for 30k miles and have yet seen a problem again. Same thing on EGRC solenoid/v trouble code, the dealer wanted to replace a new EGRC valve ($134 part + $100 labor). They supposed to check the wiring harness, electrical connector, and vacuum tubes that run into the EGR valve before concluded that the EGR valve was bad. I bought a Haynes Repair book and followed the troubleshooting. The problem was due to clogged and cracked vacuum rubber tubes. After carefully unplugged and plugged all wiring/connector and re-adjusted the vacuum holes, the problem was gone without replacing a new valve. The O2 sensor may be the same. One should check the wiring and measure the resistance of sensor before replace a new one. At least to erase the code to see if the same code populating again. Other o2 sensors may be hard to reach but replacing a downstream o2 sensor is just like changing a spark plug. Of course, one needs to have a jack to lift car up for more working space. If one can do it himself, he would save about $150 for laboring. I feel especially sorry for elders and women who driving a car with ECM. Yet, dealer usually charge $75 each time for reading the code.

p100 · January 2005

$ 700 for replacement of six coils, eh? No wonder these dealerships can afford fancy showrooms and employ scores of salesmen who jump on you the minute you pull into heir parking lot.

Let's see: The dealer cost for these coils is about $ 40 piece, or $ 240 a set. It takes about 1/2 hour labor to install all six (I know because it took me that long to remove them and reinstall them on my 98 Maxima when I changed the plugs.) So $460 for 1/2 hour of labor equals $ 920 an hour. I wonder how much they pay their techs? Maybe $ 25 an hour?

With this kind of profiteering, are you surprised that they are not interested in checking your coil resistance to determine which is defective? They just replace them all!

This helps explain why the owner of our local Nissan dealership drives a $ 200K Ferrari.

bobbyr2262 · January 2005

I have a 96 maxima that when the engine gets cold, you have to pat the accelerator several times to crank it. I have replaced the temp sensor, the knock sensor, the air flow meter and cleaned the throttle body by hand and also had a nissan mech. run their cleaner through it also. I still ahve the same prob. Runs fine when warm. Does anyone have any ideas. Help. Thanks

garycob · January 2005

I have a maxima '95 with 96k miles on it and now I have had problems for the last 2 month: The car is running perfect and then, without any light to check for code failure, it or stop running in a red light or stop sign or begin to stall at regular speed in the highway, always a great consume of gas and black smock is present in the emission (you can see it from the rear mirror), it resume to normal after a very short term, I went to a 2 separate shops and because of any light is present, the computer do not reflect the failure,in all the cases the car was running perfect and failure was not presented, some day a furious guy will kill me for delays in the stop sign or else, can any body can help me please!!!

johnny2003 · January 2005

I find it odd that there is little to no mention of the notorious shimmy problems well known in the 2004 Maxima. My 05 (owned less than a month) is going in this week for the fourth time for the same problem. It will be the dealerships last chance to fix it, lemon law after that.

No shimmy problems out there? It's a major topic on other Maxima forums.

Karen_S · January 2005

Try searching this discussion using the term "vibration".

pepper3 · January 2005

1996 Nissan Maxima SE owner since 1999. No major problems until paid off 6 mo ago.

Brake light stays on- fluid ok, new brakes

Brakes squeal in any weather, especially loud in summer,

Bose system radio is fine, CD works when it wants to, usually when heater is on in car. No display lights on radio dial, must use psychic lady for correct scanning....

lets see.....

keyless remote stopped working, so I got battery replaced in both keys. Now nothing responds at all. Called dealership and they want me to "replace" system with new one, of course.

Was experiencing unknown phenomenon of windows rolling down on their own at night during thunderstorms, alarms sounding briefly and trunk popping-causing light to come on and drain battery overnight. Other than that, we've loved the darn car.

Checked with local dealer and BOSE wants entire system sent to them and $1500 to "look" at system, no repairs, no guarantees. The response made in 2001 of www.airmail.net/scutchen/max_faq/maintenance.htm this is NO LONGER IN SERVICE.

Q: regarding 2001 response: Which button do I press while turning the key in the ignition to reprogram the keyless remote? Do I do both keys this way?

p100 · January 2005

The reason for the brake light staying on could be a defective sensor or a loose wire to a sensor.

I believe that there is a brake fluid level sensor in the brake master cylinder.

Brake squealing: did they reinstall the original brake pad shims when the pads were replaced? If not, you need to reinstall them, or at least buy anti-squeal paste and smear it on the BACK of the brake pads. This will usually solve the problem. You can get brake pad anti-squeal paste at any auto parts store. Just do not apply any on the busineess end of the brake pads.

Bose stereo: forget the $ 1500 checkout/repair deal - this would be unacceptable even for a brand new Rolls Royce radio. With some luck, you can find a good Bose radio in a local junkyard for $ 100 and install it yourself. Usually they will give you some warranty on it, so if it does not work, they will exchange it or give you your money back. Not long ago, I saw a Nissan Maxima Bose stereo on E-bay for a very reasonable price. You may check there as well.

To get remote programming instructions, go to any Nissan dealer service department, and ask them to print you out a copy of remote programming instructions. They did this for me for free. it takes only few minutes to do this. If this does not work, you will have an issue with the remote actuator in the vehicle.

Windows operating on their own and other electrical malfunctions during thundrestorms: the only correlation i see here is potential water leak into electrical components, such as power window switches, thus completing the circuit. However, ignition must be on for the power windows to work. You could have a short in the wiring somewhere.

p100 · January 2005

I hate to repeat it, but the most probable reason for front end vibration is either improperly balanced tires, or bad quality tires.

I assume that they tried to rebalance your tires several times and it did not work. I would recommend finding a tire shop what has the new Hunter GSP 9700 balancer. This machine is not just a wheel balancer, but it has the ability to simulate on-the-road tire behavior. It has a roller which is forced against the tire while it is spun, and the machine measures the variations in the road force in the tire. The main reason for these road force variations is the fact that no tire is perfectly round, and if the tire is poorly made and egg shaped, these force variations will be excessive. Usually, a good tire will be in the 4-6 lbs road force variation range, a marginal tire somewhere around 10+ lbs. The machine will automatically diagnose a tire problem and display the results.

Low quality tires, especially in 18 inch size, are very difficult to balance. They must be mounted properly on the balancing machine and here is another problem. The best way to mount tires on a balancer is by using flange adapters with a centering cone on the back side of the wheel(e.g Haweka brand), which hold the wheel by the lug nut holes - same way they are mounted on the car. Usually, much better results are obtained this way. The worst and least reliable way to mount the wheel on a blalancer is by using a centering cone on the outside of the wheel, tightening the wheel against the balancer shaft flat flangen (unfortunately most places use this technique because it is the quickest way). If no lug hole adapters are available, a better way is to use a centering cone on the backside of the wheel, and a centering cup on the outside. Unfortunately, MOST places will use only a centering cone on the outside, and tighten the wheel too quickly, thus increasing potential for centering the wheel wrong, which will cause the wheel to be balanced totally wrong (the machine will still display all zeros when they tack the weights on, but the balance wil be wrong). One thing you can do in this case, if you suspect something, is to ask the technician to demount the wheel from the balancer, mount it again and spin it again to show you that it is still balanced. I tried this several times at the local tire shop and every time the results were unbelievable, usually .5 or even .75 of an ounce out on each side! This will cause terrible shimmy, believe me. In a passenger car, you will feel as little as .25 ounce imbalance on either side of tire at high speeds.

I would invest in a high quality set of Michelins and find a place that can properly balance them before starting lemon law proceedings. There are other reasons for front end vibration, such as loose or defective suspension bushings, bad struts, defective or damaged steering box, etc. It is possible that new Maximas have issues with some of these, but these should be well documented and identified problems by now. Check all tech bulletins to make sure they are not hiding something.

But tire quality and balancing are the principal reasons for shimmy/vibration. Front end vibration is usually perceived as shaking in the steering wheel, rear end vibration as vibration in the seat or floorboards. I have had very good luck with Michelin tires. Michelin LTX M/S is by far the best truck/SUV tire I have ever had, and Michelin Energy is the best passenger car tire in terms of smooth ride, even wear, and thread life. But even the best tire will cause an unpleasant ride when balanced wrong. An example: my coworker had Michelin LTX M/S tires on his Durango. He complained about vibration and had the tires balanced three times by the local Dodge dealer. They balanced them wrong three times! Rebalancing the tires on the Hunter GSP 9700 machine took care of the problem. When spun on that machine, all tires were ojut by as much as .75 ounce on each side! ?There was nothing wrong with the tires or with the vehicle. I must also mention that after the thrid unsuccssful try the Dodge dealer told my coworker that the vehicle needed new ball joints at the cost of something like $ 1000. He declined to have those replaced.

johnny2003 · January 2005

I really appreciate your comments. Just picked up my car, still the same. They have put on three sets of tires. They even took the tires off the General Manager's SL (that didn't shimmy on his car), but my car still had the shimmy. They have balanced three different sets of tires on the Hunter Machine, plus three different sets of rims. Still the shimmy. I will take your reply to them tomorrow and show the tech that has been working on it. They are out of solutions. They were wondering if there is something wrong with the suspension. I have no idea since this is out of my league. Thanks again!

p100 · January 2005

There are many types of Hunter wheel balancers. Did they have the 9700 model that I mentioned? Measuring the roadforce variation is the exclusive province of that balancer.

Let's assume that your vibration problem is not caused by faulty or imbalanced tires/wheels.

Other possible causes:

Defective inner CV axle joints can cause vibration upon accleration. I had this issue with my 99 Mazda. Replacing the inner CV joints and axle assemblies took care of the problem. I also had a problem with the left front hub assembly that was no pressed together properly and caused shaking of the hood and weird braking at times. The problem became obvious when I could not put the wheel on the hub without forcing it on because the lugs were not properly centered around the center of the hub.

Defective tierods, or defective steering rack- these are possibilities also. They should systematically check the front suspension. struts can definitely cuase a vibration. I remmeber reading posts about defective front struts that Nissan replaced on many Maximas.

klg677 · January 2005

I AGREE WITH YOU TOTALLY, IT SHOULD BE PURSUED. I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AT ABOUT 55,000 MILES. IT STARTED STUTTERING AND ACTING LIKE IT WANTED TO CUT OFF. IF ANY ONE OUT THERE IS INTERESTED IN JOINING ME AND HELPING ME GET SOMETHING GOING LET ME KNOW GLK677@MSN.COM. I HOPE THAT THE COILS THEY PUT IN LAST LONGER THAN THE 1ST SET.

Nissan Maxima Maintenance and Repair

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