inti

Hey there. first post here guys.

My 99 maxima is due to be serviced. Unfortunately, I'd rather take it to the dealer to get it serviced than to do stuff myself. It's at 70,000 miles and i got it used about 15,000 ago. Anyone have any idea what sort of stuff they would generally do to it for 70,000 miles and what of those are useless. Also, some sort of general price estimate would be great.

Thanks !

Terran

Expect to pay like $500 for some pretty simple stuff. Do is yourself or take it to some good independent shop. Also the main service interval is every 30k, but unless you are absolutely certain the 60k was done you should do it. Whoever does it should do: oil and filter, coolant, fuel and air filter's, spark plugs, pcv valve, clean TB, and most likely a few other things (I always forget something). I will be happy to give you links to how-to's and help explain things if you would like to try taking some or all of this on yourself. Definitely don't take it to the dealer unless you like getting cheated.

Terran

Ok here goes:
oil and filter : http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/511
Coolant : http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/502, or this other method which I tried to explain on another forum, but you can find a better explanation at maxima.org once it is back up http://forums.max-world.org/index.php?showtopic=3469
Fuel filter : http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/fuelfilter.html
Air filter : You should be able to figure this out, but I'll explain it if you need it
Spark plugs : http://www.vqpower.com/v2/modules.ph...howpage&pid=33, http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/sparkplug.html (I believe this sites cold plug description is faulty..they are used in boosted applications). If you do the plugs yourself and don't mind changing them more often (30k rather than 60k), then you will save big bucks (<$2/plug vs around $10/plug) by getting NGK coppers (Ask for NGK bkr5e-11 at local autoparts stores or if all else fails, the dealer).
PCV valve: I'm not sure of a writeup on this except on the org, and I'm not sure I can describe it...it won't hurt to just wait 'til the org is back up.
Clean TB: http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/517
I also remembered some other things. You may want to do tranny fluid, but I need to know what kind of tranny you have first. You may also want to check your ECU for codes (http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/ecu.html), because the knock sensor (code 0304) commonly goes bad on these cars which will seriously effect gas mileage and performance, but it will not set off the check engine light. Also if you don't do so already, you should use premium gasoline, it will only cost about $3 more per tank and will give better mpg (so even less extra money) and is better for the life of the engine as it helps prevent detonation (a very bad thing). Even though this looks like alot, most of it is really not that hard and you will feel good about being able to do it and having saved all that money. If you would like to have a shop do some of it, the coolant and tranny fluid would probably be the best to have done...everything else is really quite simple. Again, don't go to the dealer since they will charge you way to much...post here about the tranny fluid first though as shops often put the wrong kind of fluid in, so you need to know what you are getting. Whew, that's more typing than I've done at once since school ended for the summer. If you have any questions, feel free to post. Have fun

inti

very nice, some useful links, thanks.

Another question though ... 99 Nissan Maxima. Mine has about 72k miles now. When about should the timing belt be replaced ? Cuz I don't think it has been, hopefully it hasn't supposed to been by now.

(No, don't plan to do that myself ... but the info would be nice to know if anyone knows, thanks )

Terran

The 4th gen maxima's have a timing chain, not a belt. It should last the life of the car. If you start hearing lots of noise from it then it should be looked at, otherwise just leave it be. The other belts should be replaced though. I don't know where there is a writeup for this. It's probably more involved than these other things, so you may want to just get it done. I paid $50 to have it done.

Jeff

Adding to the helpful links Terran...thank you!

-Jeff

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