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In the last week or so it was really cold for a couple of days in Colorado and the acceleration of my 99 Maxima GXE was poor. While climbing a hill I had put the pedal to the metal and yet hardly saw the car move over 50 mph. I did not see any lights come up on the dash. Once I was over the hill I was able to pick up speed and thereafter cruise at 75 mph. I have never had problems in climbing the same hill at 70 mph in the summer.
But today the weather warmed up again and the car accelerates very nicely.
I have already replaced the air filter, fuel filter and the serpentine belt, and also did a fuel injection service when the car reached 60k miles 3 weeks ago.
What can cause such poor acceleration ONLY in cold weather? I replaced my spark plugs and all ignition coils at 40K miles. Is it time to change them again?
the code is 0901 right front heated O2 sensor. It was replaced with OEM and code cleared but it still comes up with the fault, 0901. Also now getting a 0304 knock sensor fault. The car drives fine, no noticeable mileage decrease, or power loss, starts fine. I also just passed my emissions test.
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
If you give more foot pressure the car reaches higher RPM, accelerates and then drives normally. But if you take the pressure off the foot slightly it seems to want to go at a lower RPM. Does the tight new belt have anything to do with this behaviour?
How long would it take for the stretched belt to get used to the new elongation and behave "normally"?
After a lot of troubleshooting, it was found that the wires on the floor to the gas pump had a loose connector. Plugged it back up and the car started like a charm.
You may want to check the gas pump and possibly its wires and connectors.
It could also be a worn or wet rotor or a cracked distributor cap ....
Again recently I thought my car had problems in accelerating in cold weather. After further research I found the problem to emanate from a taut new serpentine belt which is making the gas pedal a little harder to press. I guess this will go away in a couple of weeks once the elongated belt ( I hear that serpentine belts are elongated before they are put on the car ) gets used to the new length.
The car actually drives quite well now. Touch wood. I hope I don't raise any more false alarms, wasting other people's time in the process.
Is that a wild theory? I may be completely offbase and am willing to accept expert opinion on this from anyone.
The car performance is slowly improving everyday. May take couple of more weeks before the belt is completely "at home" in its elongated state.
Thanks,
Lister
Is there any reputable sites for buying Nissan parts, bumper specifically?
TOM
CONs - less visibility than previous Maximas, bulk (it's gotten pretty big), the absolute worst turning radius in the world (I can turn my wife's massive minivan around in tighter spots than my Maxima), bad front struts (see previous postings), too many electronic goodies that I fear will eventually get squirrelly and aggravate me. Pretty damn good car.
I got my Maxima in Oct. 03 and only started daily long-distance driving in March ... soon thereafter noticed really intense vibration in the front end, particularly on the interstate at speeds over 70 (the service manager identified a less intense vibration even at lower speeds.)
When I first brought this to the dealership's attention, their approach was tire balance and then alignment, but with no improvement. By the time I returned in August, they had a Nissan service advisory which apparently identifies a problem with the hubs (I haven't see the actual advisory yet, but have requested a copy of it) and offers warranty repair. This repair has now been done twice, and new Michelins have been put on the car ... there was improvement in the range of 40-75 mph, but over 75 there is still vibration, sometimes pretty fierce.
The service manager at my dealership is very helpful and sympathetic about this issue, but he is running out of fixes to try. One thing that has been mentioned, if I continue to be unhappy w/ the car's performance, is a buy-back or trade-in on another Max ... but that's only a good solution if this is not a design flaw that affects all Maxima's. He has told me that he has driven other Maximas, where he could feel the vibration, but the car owners either did not notice it or were not bothered by it ... but it seems that it might be a pretty wide-spread problem.
Anyone have experience with this issue and know anything about it? Could this be the same issue that I've seen mentioned here in the forum w/r/t struts being a problem?
I really like the car in every other respect (OK, the turning radius is really poor, but otherwise it's a fine car.) I'd like to keep it, but I'd certainly like to have the problem fixed.
BTW, I have played with the control for the dimmer that is located on the left corner side close to the door and nothing helps..
I find that when I drive my car to work and return within 3 hours, the needle quickly rises to the middle, between C and H. Any longer than that, then it's a 10 minute warm up again.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
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Thanks for all your help.
Tom.
Any ideas? Do I have to take it into a Nissan dealer? We don't have Autozone here in Ontario.
Duke from Ontario Canada
Currently have 81,xxx miles on my 2001 GLE. Original coils.
I just purchadsed this car a month ago w/70,000mi.
Especially on cold mornings [ outside Boston area] I'll have to have someone start my car and I'll pinpoint the area ... keep you posted.
Also my heater fan makes a rubbing noise when cold, almost as if the previous owners kid dropped a plastic styraw down the vent, however it goes away and can come back if I corner hard.
My car is less then 3 years old, with 40,500 miles.
Went into Midas to check Brakes.
10 percent left on front brake pads.
I had them replaced.
Anyway, when they test drove my car (before they put the break pads on), the service engine light came on, and my vehicle loss power/acceleration.
I had no problems when I gave them the keys.
It turns out the problem was with the Mass Airflow Sensor. I took my vehicle to Nissan, who replaced the sensor... $822 dollars later. They are blaming my K and N filter, stating the filter was not seated or sealed in airbox properly, causing excessive amount of debris to destroy sensor. I really don't know how true this is. They also said I better stick with the regular air filter.
I know for a fact Midas did check my Air Filter...so I am trying to get them to fork over the money. They state the engine light came on before they opened the hood. Either way, the car was fine when I gave them the keys.
Any thoughts or comments? Am I going after the right person. I will know Midas's reponse tomorrow.
-Steve
I doubt that MAF could be damaged by debris in the short amount of time that the filter was not seated properly. Also, I've been using K&N in the last 88k miles (I've got 178k now), and it's been fine. Maybe Midas spilled some brake fluid on the airbox, or knocked the harness out.
Good luck, anyway!
Is this still a problem, especially in the NYC area?
Thanks,
Nels1
Has anyone tried a publicity angle to have the problem fixed? (i am not a lawyer or an ad guy but an accountant)