# dying Maxima engine



## Ducati Manny (Jul 10, 2009)

Good morning, all. 

Sad that my first post here should be about my new (to me) Maxima dying, but so it is. I purchased a 2001 Maxima from a local dealer a couple of days ago. Within 24 hours of siging the papers I was driving home on the highway (I work about 60 miles from home) and the engine inexplicably died. I had the cruise control set at 75, but wanted to quickly pass a truck in the right lane so hit the gas and was at about 80 in the passing lane when suddenly I had no power. It seemed like the engine had died, but no warning lights were on and all gauges were normal. So I disengaged the clutch and lo-and-behold the tach went straight to zero. I pulled off the road and tried to restart the engine. It took about 10-15 minutes of trying for the engine to restart, but it finally did and I drove it to the dealer and said, "Here's your car back." 

The dealership's behaviour is another problem, but in short they said, "You bought it so it's yours. We can have a mechanic look at it, but we won't take it back." The mechanic is now saying that he can't reproduce the event (of course), but from his research on the internet (?!?!) thinks it's the cam sensor. Wouldn't the check engine light have come on if the cam sensor failed (in addition to killing the motor)? My suspicion is that this dealership is full of crap and that they are trying to do anything to make me keep the car for long enough that eventually it's no longer their responsibility. But that's a different problem. 

What ya'll's opinion of the cam sensor theory? Is there something else that could have caused the engine to die, but not turn on the check engine light (and therefore have a computer log of the event)? 

Thanks!


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## Ducati Manny (Jul 10, 2009)

22 views and no responses?


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## DemonSpeed (Jun 13, 2008)

Yeah, I was shocked by the lack of responses to a lot of threads myself. Some forums aren't as busy as others.

I also have a 2001 Maxima, and never had it die on me. However mine is automatic and yours sounds like a manual trans since you mentioned the clutch. The engine dying should have *definitely* kicked out a code. Hell, I had O2 sensors and a cat converter go out that caused a code to come up immediately. Something's not right here. :wtf:

Like you, I also had a not so pleasant experience with the Nissan dealer when I bought my car 5 years ago. They were jerks and lied to me and I demanded they satisfy what I wanted or I'd expose them for fraud by going to the media and I also reported them to the Dealer Licensing Division via the DMV for my state. This is a division that regulates dealerships. Believe me, I got everything taken care of in a hurry. They are a huge Nissan dealership here and didn't want their name soiled. Well, I'll never buy from them again due to their deceptive practices. 

I can't even imagine what could be going on with your engine, but the dealer is being really crappy about it. If you have the car back, take it to another garage to have a diagnostic check. Unfortunately, the Lemon Law is made to apply to new cars, not used ones, otherwise you could return the car and get your money back.

Good luck and post up what you find out. I'm really curious.


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