Automotive Forums

I just want to apologize in advance that my knowledge of cars isn't that great, so I'm sorry if something I say doesn't make any sense.

The Background
I have a 2000 Nissan Maxima SE that was purchased new in June of 2000.  For the most part I haven't had too many problems with it, aside from the fact that it turned out to be a lemon, from what I gather.  Unfortunately I wasn't really aware of the lemon laws in Florida at the time, but that's over and done with and there's nothing I can do about it now.

I'll cut to the chase.  In 2001, I had a check engine light come on.  Not only that, but when it did, the car would go into a 'safe' or 'limp' mode where the car would not accelerate past ~2,500rpm.  Brought it to Nissan, and turned out to be error code p0403, EGR Volume Control Valve Circuit.  Nissan ended up replacing the EGR assembly and everything seemed to be working correctly.  Unfortunately, about 6 months later, the exact same thing happened again.  I brought it back to Nissan, and again they replaced the EGR part and things worked again.  To make a long story short, I had this exact same problem 4 times within 2.5 years of owning the car, and each time they replace the same part (or what I think was the same part - EGR assembly vs. EGR solenoid) and the problems would go away.  Unfortunately, it happened again about a year later.  At this point the car was no longer under warranty and neither was the part they replaced last.  Nissan said they'd look at it, but that they wanted my car for a week and I just didn't have the time.  It turns out that I never got the problem looked at again, however it still shows the problems to this day.  The check engine light is constantly on, and is the same error code p0403...I've checked.  I start the car and after about 20 seconds of driving the car it happens and the car's in limp mode.  I actually figured out a 'hack' to get it working.  Whenever it would happen, if I turned off the car and started it up right away it would be fine (it only ever came back on a handful of times in the years that I did this).  Most of the time I wouldn't bother since I was just driving around the city and so not being able to accelerate wasn't a big deal.

Last Week
I finally decided that enough was enough and so I brought the car to a local shop that was recommended to me.  The guy supposedly only works on Japanese cars and when I spoke with him on the phone, he mentioned that he's seen lots of EGR problems and that he should be able to figure mine out no problem.  I brought it to him last Thursday and told him everything I've just told you.  After about two days, he came to the conclusion that the EGR valve was working correctly, but that the motor that operates it was malfunctioning.  He said he replaced the motor and the light didn't come back on but that the car was still going into limp mode.  A day later he came to the conclusion that the MAF needed to be replaced and I gave him the go-ahead.  He did this and told me to come pick up the car on Friday.  Unfortunately, the car wasn't ready on Friday.  He said that when replacing the ECU you have to reflash the ECU and that they weren't able to download it from Nissan for whatever reason.  He said that the car was drivable, but that it was idling rough.  He said to come back on Monday and he'd have it sorted out by then.

I drove the car some over the weekend, and I immediately noticed a few things:

1. The check engine light wasn't on nor was it coming on anymore.
2. The car wasn't going into limp mode.  Acceleration seemed fairly normal.
3. The car had a hard time starting up most of the time.
4. The car was idling extremely roughly.  At every stop the car is bouncing around and sometimes the tach jumps and the car tries to go forward.  Sometimes the engine just dies and it shuts off.
5. The brakes were acting really weird.  If I just slowly depress on the brakes, they seem fine.  If I have to press somewhat hard on them, they lock up and become extremely stiff and won't press in.  I almost crashed into the back of another car the first time this happened.  When this happens there is almost zero braking power.
6. Once driving the car drives fairly normal and I can't really notice anything weird except for the braking issues and the idling issue.

He mentioned most of this to me before I picked up the car, except for the brake issue.  Supposedly the reflashing of the ECU would take care of the problems.

Today
He finally got things sorted on his side and told me to bring by the car for him to 'reflash' the ECU.  I show up hoping that everything fine, but of course it isn't.  He tells me that the car is still idling roughly, but that he thinks driving it for a few days will 'break it in' and the problems should go away.  Like a dumbass I didn't mention the brake problem to him, mostly because I was so frustrated that what he originally said was a 'simple' problem turned into a week of me bumming rides off people.  I drive the car away, and immediately the brake problem is still there.  I wanted to immediately turn around, but I figured I'd give it a chance to see if the problems would correct themselves.  I really don't see that happening though.

Everytime that Nissan replaced the EGR assembly, the car ran fine afterwards.  Of course the part would end up braking again, so I'm sure that's not the root of the issue.  Right now I want to drive the car around town overnight and see if I can put it through what I'd normally do in a week, that way I can tell him that I gave it a chance and can bring it back to him first thing in the morning.  There won't be as many cold starts as there would be in a week, so not sure if that would be a big problem or not.


So, does anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing these problems?

I tried doing some searching via google about the rough idle problem, and some people mention to remove the MAF while it's idling and see if the problem goes away.  I might try that later this evening.

I didn't find as much information about the brake issue.  Part of me thinks that the braking is probably controlled by the ECU, but the other part thinks that it's gotta be mostly hydraulics based and so a problem with the ECU wouldn't cause the brake issue.  The brake fluid level is fine (it's the only thing brake related I know how to check).  It could be that there's some separate issue that cropped up at the exact same time, but that'd be a pretty big coincidence, especially considering that I've never had brake problems before.
 
Again, thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.  This has been driving me nuts for years, and I'd almost rather that I just left it how it was...at least then I didn't feel like I was on an amusement park ride while sitting at stop lights.  

It's alright, We are subject all to learning.

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My Nissan Altima Egr Valve needs some attention.  

Hi There
Any lucky with fixing your car.  I am having the same exact problem as yours and after spending over 1000 I am still back to 0.  Any advice.thank you
Ron  

has anyone solved this?
Im having the exact same idle idling problem and my brake pads seem to be bad at this point what could be causing my car to shut off when im at a stop light or moving slowly through a drive through?

any help would be greatly appreciated  

My 2000 maxima was shutting off when at a stops as well.  This was easily solved by replacing the MAS Air Flow Sensor from NISSAN direct.  Believe it or not, the dealer had the best prices for this as compared to AutoZone or Advance Auto (they are fully aware of this headache, especially on the 2000).  This is also a very quick fix you can do yourself within 10 minutes.  If your maxima is running very rough, this is almost 100% going to be either the ignition coils or very worn spark plugs.  To save money, you can change out the ignition coils one at a time until you find the one that's causing failure or the engine to run rough.  

Hi,

I had exactly the same broblem, my car would stall everytime I stop for more than 30 sec. Before heading to dealer try to pull the MAF sensor out(it's right behind air filter)and spray it with electric cleaner. It worked fine on mine, no stalling anymore and acceleration is way better too!