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I replaced a wheel on a 2003 for $225 including shipping (was getting the same dealer prices) by going with a reconditioned wheel bought over the net. Alloy wheels cannot be straightened, so reconditioned essentially means that they cleaned up any scratches in the powder coating but otherwise good structurally.
Search for "reconditioned maxima wheel" and you should find a few hits.
No reply to my questions?
Can anyone please answer few or all of the questions?
thanks,
BSH
1. Use the earliest criteria that meets the requirement - in your case it's the mileage, so I would suggest changing your oil at 12 months.
2. Until you're out of warranty, use the interval recommended in your owners manual, which is 3750 miles / 6 months. After that, it depends who you listen to. It certainly does not hurt to change it more often, other than the usual drawbacks of wasting time/money/polluting the environment, if you are so inclined.
I owned a '97 Max, for the first 100k I did oil changes every 5000 miles, which for me equaled 2.5 months. After 100k I switched to synthetic oil, and changed it every 12k miles or 6 months. When I sold the car with 199k miles on the odometer, it had no engine (or other) problems and used just a half of quart of oil between oil changes. Your mileage may vary (pun intended).
3. Synthetic oil manufacturers recommend extended periods, but stick with your manufacturer's schedule while you are covered by the warranty - you may need to prove that you've done maintenance, if something fails. Consider that some cars, like BMWs, have a way of measuring oil life (probably calculated from how you drive your car, outdoor temps, etc.), and often let you go up to and over 15K miles between changes (no personal experience here, but search the BMW boards). Also, it may be worth it to pay $20 for oil analysis once in a while.
I've had the Idle Control sensor replaced & throttle body cleaned. I've been to 4 mechanics in 3 months. The check engine light does not come on. The car only has 86,000 miles and otherwise is in excellent condition.
I am surprised that a mechanic could not diagnose this. I am not a mechanic (only a DIY one), but I know this much.
I would start with ECTS (engine coolant temperature sensor). It's cheap, and easy to replace. If you have a multimeter, you can test it before replacing.
Also price is kinda high unless this car is a knockout. This is a dealer retail price. More like about $4,500 sounds more than generous presuming no problems. Deduct for any mechanical defects found.
THanks.
Fixing the AC doesn't add value to the car. Cars are supposed to have working AC, that's not an "extra". If you have a $5,000 car and put a $5,000 new motor in it, it's still worth $5,000, not 10K.
Well if the car passes the inspection with flying colors, there's certainly no harm in paying $500 over private party retail for it...but it had better not have anything significant wrong with it. Sounds like a car worth spending $100 bucks on to have professionally assessed.
If you like it and it checks out ok, go for it.
For the fronts, you would need a socket (I think 14mm) and a ratchet, a piece of wire to hang your caliper, and a c-clamp, to compress the piston into the caliper. You would also need some brake cleaner, a wire brush, new shims or anti-squeal compound and high-temp caliper pin grease(a brake hardware kit from the dealer is best, since it will have the last three items).
Make sure you have enough light, do not rush, clean and re-grease the caliper pin properly (not too much grease), do not yank on the brake line, and please, please, if you have not done so, get a copy of Chilton's or Haynes' manual - they can be found for cheap on eBay.
If you do the rears, you would need a tool to screw the piston back into the caliper - do not try to compress these with a c-clamp.
If you want to remove the rotors, you would need another socket, I think 17mm for the front. Also, you would probably need a couple of bolts (don't remember the exact size) to pop the rotor off the spindle.
If you really, really need the details (i.e. socket sizes, torque for the bolts), let me know, I can try and look them up. Or just search the web.
And remember, they are YOUR brakes! Good luck!
I know, these 55w bulbs are sometimes out of stock, but you can find them - they are not THAT rare. I used to go through them at a rate of one every 6 months. Then I discovered that if I put a little rubber-safe grease on the rubber gasket, the bulbs don't blow anymore. I guess the condensation gets in and ... boom.
i will try that.found the bulb but like you say they do need to be changed frequently.
i think i need to change my radiator is there a rapid sure fire way to test it. the car heats up ,the gauge stays in the middle but when i exit the vehicle i smell steam.
As far as balancing your tires go, you should take the to a place that can do a road force test on them to see if the tires have a loose belt or are out of round.
BTW, bad inner CV joints typically cause vibration on hard acceleration. Outer joints can also contribute to virabraiton at high speeds. The axle shafts also could be bent or out of balance.
What itres are on this vehicle? Was the vibration level the same after they repalced the tires? No change at all?
What's interesting is this:
Yesterday when I could not get the engine started, I pulled the fuel pump fuse and then I was able to start the engine without the fuse on. Then I turned the engine off and put back the fuse, I tried to start the engine and it actualy started! I tried the same thing today and it worked too.
I could not figure out why it does this but I am sure this would help to narrow down the causes of the problem. Could anybody please help to explain this and provide advise how to fix the issue?
FYI. I went to Autozone to use its diagnostics but it showed everything was fine.
Transmission flush: $160
Clean throttle body: $90
Clean fuel injectors: $130
Brake fluid flush: $110
Can someone please give me guidance on whether these items need to be done and how often?
I'm wondering if the throttle body and fuel injectors, for example, really need to be serviced regularly, or if I can just wait until there is a problem (if ever).
Thanks.
I have been doing my own maintenance on my '98 Maxima SE 5 speed with 122k miles. I change oil every 3K miles, and use Nissan oil filters. I change coolant in the radiator every 30k miles. I replace the brake fluid and clutch fluid about every 2 years now, although I did not do it for the first 5 years or so. I also replaced the original transmission oil at 80K miles with Redline synthetic MT-90 lubricant.
I have looked inside the throttle body only once and did not see much carbon deposits there. One area to look for are the EGR valve passages in the intake manifold past the throttle body. They may get clogged with carbon after a long time and negatively affect the EGR system operation. However, this does not happen often on these cars.
As far as injector cleaning, I have never had that done. Instead, I use good brand premium fuel, and a bottle Chevron Techron fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank every 4-5k miles. Seem to work well. No injector issues to date.
If you have an auto tranmission, changing the fluid and filter every 30k would be appropriate for the best results. I would not bother with flushing.
My local Nissan dealer fees for service work are high. Even though they do good work, paying $ 500 to install a pair of $ 15 exhaust manifold gaskets on a V6 engine seems outrageous. As is charging $ 400 to grease a 4 WD Nissan pickup front hubs. These were the estimates they gave me.
I have tried revving the engine during idle and there are no problems at all.
Anyone have any idea what might be causing this?
Inspection of the Caliper Pins indicated that they were greased and operating properly.
I was not looking to rebuild the caliper at this time. However, should I go back in and coat the piston with caliper grease or use liquid silicon brake spray?
Thanks for any suggestions.
PS If the rear rotor retracts only by turning it in clockwise, how is it that it relieves the pressure from the piston to the pad?
I know there is a TSB out there and everybody just says to replace all 6 coils with upgraded ones with the grey dot and I know that every Nissan dealer does just that but this is all very strange. Can someone explain how coils can run fine for 77K miles and then under assumption that they are somehow defective to begin with should be all replaced and how come there is no way to determine which one caused code P1320 to light up? Does anybody know what exactly is wrong with the original coils?
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Any way, the above paragraph was just smart [non-permissible content removed] talk. You can't fight the inevitable I guess. I did all I could to diagnose and now I found a set of 6 coils for $270 shipped on eBay and I just got it, that's $45 each, I figure it's worth it. There is still one for $295 + shipping on ebay as well, so go grab it. Good luck