Automotive Forums  Where Car Enthusiasts Go to Discuss Cars Online

Here is the recall campaign for the crank sensor, I hope this helps


2000-2003 SENTRA, MAXIMA, 2002 ALTIMA, 2003 MURANO, 350Z; VOLUNTARY RECALL CAMPAIGN ENGINE SENSORS
Nissan has determined that some 2000-2003 model year Nissan vehicles may have a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety. The engine might stop running while being driven if the crank position sensor or cam position sensor fails. This may also result in the "Service Engine Soon" light coming on or reduced engine power. If the engine stops running while driving, this could result in a crash without warning.  

I had the exact same problems back during the summer 2008.  I would be sitting in traffic, or come to a stop sign or light and it would just die.  Sometimes when I was driving in a parking lot barely moving it would cut out and die. The check engine light came on and I took it to a dealer and they told me that I needed new air filter and the coils all needed to be replaced. $500 later for parts and labor, I left with my car. They said that I would need to take it directly to Nissan to have them pull any other codes that they were not able to do.  Same day it died again!!! I called the dealer and they told me that they were give a code for the coils and that they needed to be replaced. There was nothing I could do...I just had coils replaced and it didn't fix the problem.  

I took it to Nissan and dropped off the car.  Turns out it was the Mass Air flow system.  The code didn't pop up for it but he investigated and actually showed me. He took of the filter and stuck his hand down by the flow system and the car died. He said this is the problem and I'm afraid it is expensive.  So when I returned to pick up the car and got my bill the cost for parts and labor came to $1250.00!! I couldn't believe it - are you kidding me...to top it all off he said that I probably wouldn't have had to replace the coils.

If you are having this problem and take it to Nissan make sure you find out an approximate price for this service before letting them fix it.  

Greetings,
I have a used 2000 used MAXIMA gxe with around 135,000 miles on it. thanks to this forum i have probally saved thousnads. I had it 8 months and ran fairly weel intill the last 2 weeks.First,i began with have grinding noises only on cold starts. Found out on a forum that the starters are known to go out. Second, engine light. i took it it to a family mechanic, diagnostics catylytic converter. Did not indicate which one. Then my car started to turn off while driving on the freeway and at stop lights. RPM'S really high 5,6 thousand after 3rd gear(automatic)on fast starts, i would have to let go of the gas for it to change gear.I was confused and frustrated. I then started to do research online and found this forum.AWSOME! It sounded like the MAF. i started there went to the local nissan dealer and parts dept. said $117 MAF sensor + 1hr $140 labor & needed to reprogram the ECM. I called my family mechanic to see what he thought and said, give it a try as long as the receipt staes what they did and reprogram computer.after reading the nissanfight.com and doing research i was cautious of possible flags from recondmended services. I dropped off the car on monday and spoke to a nissan rep and he was polite. I said, i want my MAF sensor replaced and thats it. He looked at me with confusement. I said i know my symtoms of my car and wish to start there. He asked me let's do a diagnostic and see. I said, my family mechanic checked it and it was my cat. He was quite and I said, i here is alot of 2000 max with issues, i did research and i want to start here. I asked for an explanation for the reason of the reprogram on the ecm. He appeared to be nervous and said, let me talk to the technician and lets see what he says. He leaves and comes back and says he wants to talk to you. I met him and everything felt awkward..., I explained the symptoms and I asked will the MAF fix it he said yep it will det it done with the reboot. I asked will it be ready today, he said no there is no space, it was about 3:30pm. I looked around and ther were about 3 or 4 cars like mine in the shop.
I told the rep i would stop by tomorrow to pick it up. At 5pm the rep calls me your car is ready and all fixed up, and the tech says the light may come up because diag. says cat issue but overall car runs like a champ.surprized went back picked it up with astonishment and yes it runs smother than ever, no rpm issues, idle issue gone, no grinding issues in cold starts and today the light came on again, so i will have my family mechanic to check the light, probally it may show the cat., most likely it needs to be changed.
My brother is an engineer and said that if there are paterns of breakdowns, then it is something mechanical,sensor etc. but if it is random, not repeatable it is something with software. So hmmm!
I understand the sensor needed to be changed, but all the stories i hear of dealers asking, to fix this or that before they get to the MAF. The energy with the rep and tech at Nissan was not consistant. What do you think Community? is there something they are not telling us?
thanks for your input.
Ihui  

My wife's 2000 Maxima was needing to "warm up" in the mornings, and at first, I just thought she was exaggerating, but, to my amazement, it was exactly how she said it was!  Thought about just taking it to the dealer, but something told me not to.  Researched this problem on the internet on various forums, and came across one from one guy, that was a VERY INEXPENSIVE fix.  Regarding the mass airflow sensor:  just pop the hood, look at the mass airflow sensor that is almost STARING at you, use a Torx wrench for each on either side, unscrew them, pull the unit directly out, disengage the actual sensor by pushing down on the arrow all the way, and pull the actual component out.  Used the CBC cleaner specifically for MAFs, sprayed a few times, let dry, replaced in reverse order.  Voila!  Problem fixed, and doesn't need "reprogramming" by dealer, per dealer!  And folks, this is from a guy NOT MECHANICALLY INCLINED, BUT did not want to pay dealer $290 for labor (for 2 minutes!!!!) and $150 parts charge!  total cost:  approximately $36, including Haynes Manual! Apparently from what I've read this can take care of LOTS of headaches/problems with the 2000 MAX.  Wish could take credit for the info, but can't!  Good luck!  

Clean your throttle body. Gunk builds up in there then it sticks.After you clean it you will get a check engine light just pull the battery off for a few minutes.  

It really bothers me when I come across a thread like this one, where there are so many people having the same problem, but few bother to report what actually works for them.

I had the same problems as above, with my 2000 Max SE.
    I replaced the Mass Air Flow sensor


         It got to the point where I couldn't even get to a red light without             stalling, and carb cleaner only made it worse, don't do it. It was easy to replace the MAF Sensor myself. I drove it for about 3 months and didn't really notice anything better as far as the knocking above 3000 RPM.

    I went to the dealer today and had the update done to car. You are supposed to do this when the MAF is installed. I for one, didn't have the money, and wanted to save as much as I could, but honestly, this is money well spent. The 1 hour labor made my car run almost like new.

So what I recommend is:
Get a MAF from the dealer (Things like this are iffy from the aftermarket.)
Put it in yourself if you can, then get it updated from the dealer. (That way you are only paying 1 hour of labor.)


Good luck!  

Hey guys! This has been an extremely helpful thread, so I felt the need to give my success story and let you know what worked for me.

I have a 2000 Maxima and was having the same problem that many of you are, will rev up to about 3500 rpm and get little to no acceleration. It also would be very shaky when the car was first started, especially on colder days. I had a check engine light which read a bad heater in the Front Bank 1 O2 sensor. I bought one for $100 and replaced it myself. It was a pain in the butt, but I got it in. This did not fix the problem, so I researched the internet and found this thread.

The MAF sensor seemed to be the problem, I thought I would have to replace it, but then I saw someone's thread about cleaning the sensor. I went to O'reily's and bought a new Fram air filter, some MAF sensor spray cleaner, and the security star screwdriver bit to remove the MAF sensor from its housing. I located the sensor using a diagram from the engine control PDF on this web page...

http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowledgebase.html?catid=95

First I unhooked the positive terminal of the battery. Now, unhook the electrical connector of the MAF sensor, unscrew the sensor from its housing with the security bit, pull it out, and spray all over the sensor... especially in the opening. I also sprayed in the sensor housing and took out the air filter. Clean the air filter housing with the spray as well. Let it dry, then install the new filter. Hook the battery back up, and then I was all smiles. I took the car out to the interstate and it ran beautifully. The check engine light has not come back on either.  

Hope this works for someone else. It saved me a ton of money.  

I have a 5sp 2k nissan maxima with 140k it runs but can run better. recently drove it out of town but Im having simular issues with SES light- Im willing to clean my MAFS before replacing it. recently replaced #2 coil, alt, radiator, axles,front struts, new set of kumo tires, all 4 rotors and brakes. lets not forget an 02 sensor...expensive toy! fun to drive!!  

well so far so good, i did clean out my current MAFS and its made a world of difference, especially in throttle response.  Lets see if the SES light comes back on...
I also recently add  a high voltage system and you can feel the difference.  good luck to all!!!!

Nissan Maxima fuel saver device. Proven to increase gas mileage up to 10% for your Nissan Maxima. Nissan Maxima Hyper Voltage System - Hot InaZma ECO  

I also have a 2000 maxima se but i have about 67000 miles and have the same problem,i clean the MSFS,Throttle body and change the filter after reading some of the blogs.Notice a little diffrence in throttle position but the car still hit a wall at 3500 RPM,I am wondering if it more serious like TRASMISSION.Have any 1 been told that it is the trasmission????????        

I am so glad i found this site, I have a 2000 nissan maxima se and for the last month or so i have been having major idling problems. It started out as when the car warmed up it would die if it was in park as if it wasn't idling high enough. I was just about ready to take it to a mechanic to have it looked at when i decided to look online, and WOW i can not believe that everyone seems to be having these probelems. my car is also at about 120k miles. Thanks to everyone who's posted here i'm going to be calling the nissan dealer and getting a new MAF sensor and have my husband replace it. I really hope this solves the problem and i'm fairly confident that it will. I dont have the brick wall feeling at 3500rpm but it has been running very very rough and now is starting to idle very irratically while i'm stopped at stop lights! Thank you to all of you who have figured out the problem and have found very inexpensive ways to fix it! I'll let you know if it works!

Thanks again it's greatly appreciated anything to save money nowadays is a great great help for everyone i'm sure!!  

I have a 2000 Maxima SE.  After taking off from a complete stop, the transmission would not shift out of 1st gear.  I put the car in park, check the fluid and it was fine and did not smell burnt.  I drove off and it worked fine.  I think this is a sign of something about to go out.  Any ideas on what this could be?  

Same same - 2000 GLE 195,000. Lacked power at high speed so replaced pump but became hesitant when cold.  Year later, it started stalling after idling 30 secs, got really weak when cold, and couldn't accelerate hard.   Cleaning MAF solved stalling.  Everything else was solved by replacing MAF. Didn't seem to need ecm reprogrammed.  

I have a 2000 Nissan Maxima with about 139,000 miles.  Up until now, the car was running fine.  No major problems.  Recently, I am having problems with the car starting, especially if the car is still hot (after shutting it off for about 10 to 15 minutes). (It finally turns over after about 5 tries.)  I have since changed the starter, the spark plugs and the battery (in that order) but the problem still exists.  My mechanic recently mentioned that it may be "a sensor" and now, after finding this great site, I believe it may be the crankshaft position sensor.  BTW--the SES light just came on today.  I am the original owner, however, I don't recall anything about the crank shaft sensor recall.  Does anyone know the year of that recall?  In any event, I would like to hear your opinion as to whether you think it's the crankshaft position sensor and do you think I need to take it to Nissan to get this replaced.  Thank you for your feedback.
DrJDB  

2000 Maxima 153,000 Miles purchased new. What do you know same problem as everyone else.

80,000 -
Problem: SES Engine Shake and runs like it's misfiring.
Solution: Change all the coils. If you read the various forums, it's just a matter of time before all the coil fails one at a time so change them all out. Ran great after until..

120,000 -
Problem: SES Engine stalls. Shakes and wants to warm up in the morning. Lost power.
Solution: Change MAF. Don't try and clean it. Various forums you will see 'I cleaned and it works.' Trust me just change it. Ran great after until...

153,000 -
Problem: SES Engine stalls, Shakes and stalls like fuel mixture issue. Catalytic Converter Bank 2(Common problem). Big money repair compare to the other.
Solution: I think it's time to call it like it is. 2000-2004 Maxima's are known for these problem. It's time to let it go and move on because the other problem I'm waiting for is the oxygen sensor (It's coming because others have had it)...