2000 Nissan Maxima: sudden loss of power

Filed Aug 29, 2018 · Acceleration · 190,000 miles · NY

2000 nissan maxima se. While driving my vehicle on a highway or secondary road the vehicle starts to buck. Suddenly without any warning the (tcs) traction control and slip lights illuminate. This causes me to suddenly lose power and decelerate in hi speed traffic almost leading to rear end collisions. I have tried to rectify the problem by resetting the vehicle's computer by disconnecting the battery overnight and speaking to mechanics. I have not been able to resolve this issue. At times the tcs will activate ( sometimes stall ) while I am pulling into traffic or merging onto the highway ( RPM's go to 2000 maximum when this happens ) causing concern to myself or other motorist. The vehicle has 190k and I have owned it since 01/26/2018. The vehicle operated perfectly until 07/2018. Unfortunately I have been unemployed since 04/2018 and cannot afford to have the car put in a shop for repairs. I am capable of doing my own mechanical repair once I can diagnose the root cause. I have no choice but to drive the vehicle since I do not have another at my disposal. My main concern being safety to myself and others. Any help with this situation will be deeply appreciated. Thank you.

Filed Jun 13, 2017 · Electrical, Engine · 168,000 miles · CA

Car was in motion when it lost power and stalled the dashboard has no light and battery is charged than when driving the car it drains and shuts off .

Filed Jul 16, 2011 · Acceleration, Electrical · 155,000 miles · FL

I checked my oil and transmission fluid about a week and a half after buying the car and right when I shut the hood the check engine light popped on and stayed on obviously very temperamental. About a week later while stopped at a red light the engine felt a little weird then when I started driving right away the car lost power shut down and all the light popped on I had my 2 year old and 3 year old and fiance in the car and the steering wheel locked up and I almost got hit trying to steer it out of traffic into a mcdonald's. Called the dealer and he just left us sitting there in the heat. Called the tow truck and I was trying to restart the car but it would turn over but not stay on. So I wait and wait and decide to try starting it like 20 minutes later after looking under the hood and it starts right up as the tow truck is pulling up but he charged me anyway even though I was able to drive it from there to the dealers on my own the dealers mechanic kept trying to diagnose this thing and kept saying oh its fixed now about 4 different times...first he said it was the coil pack,then he said it was the maf mass air flow sensor,then they said bad gas was put in it by them and they cleaned the gas rail,then finally they listened to me and replaced the isc (idle speed control) motor now it started working and not dying on me when I slow down or stop at red lights because they gave it back to me like three times saying it was fixed and it wasn't but now when I'm in the park position with the car running within about 20-30 seconds the RPM drops and the car lights up and dies but at least it starts right back up and drives not like before but this is still a problem. Look on identifix website and you will see that 4 components need to be recalled. The maf,ignition coils,isc,and most expensive of all the ECM which it says is usally damaged once the isc is done for.

Filed Dec 10, 2010 · Electrical, Engine · 34,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 nissan maxima. The contact stated that when restarting the vehicle, the engine would misfire and the vehicle would shake abnormally. The vehicle would also shake abnormally when driving at various speeds and would sporadically begin to lose power. The dealer performed a diagnosis on the vehicle and determined that the ignition was defective. Most recently, the check engine warning light was illuminated and would not shut off. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 34,000 and the current mileage was 36,000.

Filed Nov 17, 2008 · Engine, Suspension · 15,000 miles · CA

Transmission failure: bought vehicle in april of '99. Transmission began to slip at 15k. Reman trans under warranty. 2nd slip occurred at 30k under warranty. Denied vehicle trade. Reman trans. 3rd occurrence at 45k, replaced trans w/ oem under warranty. Denied trade. Transmission failure at high temp for long drives (2 hr incline) and had to wait for the trans to cool before it drove again, one occurrence at 55k, oil ok. Still intermittent power loss/slippage. Dealership unable to recreate problem. Denied trade. Ignition coils: knocking, bad gas mileage, and power loss due to ignition coil failure at 70k. Was told I needed to replace all coils rather than the one that was damaged and all spark plugs. Alternator went out after repair. Replaced all coils, plugs and alternator ($1500). Still have power loss & occasional knocking. No help from nissan. Denied trade. Suspension: constant knocking of tire area at 60k. All 4 hubs damaged and replaced at 65k. All 4 struts leaking and had to be replaced also at 65k. No help from nissan. Nissan quote $3000. Opted outside repair for $1000, no more problems. Emissions: more loss of power (3000rpm+) and bad gas mileage. Probably linked to ignition coil problem. Problem has been diagnosed to 1 of 4 catalytic converter sensor failures. 130k. No help from nissan. $3000+. Fan: loud noise when A/C is on. One fan defective at 80k. Fan blade rubbing on metal frame. Replaced fan $200. No help from nissan. Conclusion: I wanted to have my vehicle considered a lemon and traded. I had no complaint with nissan or the maxima line. I only had a problem with just my car. Just wanted a new maxima. 5 lemon attempts with nissan, rejected each time. Dismissed under strict lemon law stipulation regarding repair statute of limitations and guidelines of repair. Vehicle has been nothing but trouble. Properly maintained and have maintenance receipts and dates of each occurrence listed above.

Filed Oct 25, 2006 · Electrical · 93,760 miles · GA

Ignition coils failed causing service engine soon light to illuminate. Code was reset after the first time, and on 10-23-06 it returned again with a code of p1320. Engine had misfired between 10-02-06 and 10-23-06 and had exhibited extended cranking time for approximately 1 month before. Starter and battery were replaced before incident. Replacement of starter and batter was likely unnecessary because problem was likely the ignition coils. Car also exhibited loss of power.

Filed May 27, 2006 · Engine, Fuel system · 75,000 miles · CA

At about 75,000 miles, engine would take a little longer to start especially in rainy weather. It sounded like it was taking longer for fuel to get to engine. Check engine light came on at 80,000 miles. Code indicated bad catalytic convertor. Mechanic reset and a few thousand miles later it came on again. Mechanic determined that both oxygen sensors were defective and they had to be replaced to pass smog check for $460 also, at about 80,000 miles, car had intermitant acceleration problems which became more problematic in rainy weather. I would floor accelerator and nothing would happen. Mechanic pressure tested fuel pump and found it too low and replaced fuel pump for $478. This solved problem for a few months and it began happening again. Then, one day I tried to back out of my garage and it wouldn't go in reverse when I shifted it. I pushed my car out of garage and was able to get it to go in drive. While driving to mechanic's, I put car in cruise control and it would lose power intermitantly trying to maintain the set speed. I took it out of cruise control and floored the accelerator and the same previous problem occurred. It reved engine but nothing would happen. When I got to mechanic, it would go in reverse. He determined that it was the transmission that didn't give enough clutch pressure until it was driven for a while. It was a failing transmission that caused this and the inability to accelerate. It would cost over $3,000 to replace the transmission. I had to replace defective front and rear struts, front tie rod grease boot, compress coil spring, tie rod outer end at 134,000 miles for $1100. At 137,000 miles, the egr valve & gasket fell out while I was driving. Mechanic determined that the egr valve housing was broken and it was replaced for $340. Due to the amount of money spent on this vehicle, I cannot afford $3000 to replace the transmission and will be selling my first and last nissan vehicle ever.

Filed Mar 30, 2006 · Electrical · WA

Ses light comes on constantly, gets annoying, makes you think your not safe like something's wrong. Turns out to be ignition coils. Doing research, found hundreds if not thousands of cases where the 2000 maxima had ignition coil failure anywhere from 18k to 90k miles. This causes fouled plugs, misfires, failure to start, and loss of power.

Filed Mar 20, 2006 · Electrical, Engine · 17,000 miles · NY

Beginning at 17,000 miles and continuing to 73,000 miles repeated harness wiring breaks resulting in engine coil failure, emission control malfunctions, catalytic converter failure, and engine misfiring. Car lost power and became unusable for brief time periods. Apprehensive driving car for fear of problem occurring unexpectedly. Car had been repaired eight times. Emission control module replaced and emission control system reprogrammed. Coils replaced on several occasions and frayed wires repaired. Catalytic converter replaced.

Filed Dec 29, 2004 · Electrical · CA

The service engine light illuminated on the dashboard and the vehicle lost power. When the consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, it was determined that the ignition coil was defective.

Filed Jun 27, 2004 · Electrical · 30,000 miles · AZ

Ignition coils failed at 30,000 miles. Spoke with dealer who advised it is happening on similar vehicles. Engine misfiring, loss of power. Dealer wanted me to replace all ignition coils and pay $700 for it. My extended bumper-to-bumper warranty refused to cover, because there was no "check engine" light present, hence, no computer codes generated by the car computer.

Filed Jan 21, 2004 · Electrical · 38,000 miles · VA

Bad #2 ignition coil on 2000 nissan maxima. It is just outside of the warranty period with 38,000 miles and only 3 years old. The car experienced loss of power and vibrating. Corporate nissan would not extend warranty to cover this defect, even though there is a service bulletin acknowledging the problem.