# 2000 Maxima GXE - SES, Battery, and Oil Lights all on (pic inside)



## WattAce (Sep 30, 2012)

Hi all,

Two months ago I bought a used 2000 Maxima GXE w/ ~43k miles on it. It was running fine up until recently. When the car is running and in park for more than ~30 seconds the engine shuts off and the Service Engine Soon, Battery, and Oil lights come on. This has also happened when I'm sitting in stop & go traffic, moving at very slow speeds. I'm considering replacing the MAF sensor and possibly the O2 sensor. I would appreciate any and all opinions on this problem. Thanks in advance!


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

The cluster lights coming on after it stalls is normal. The stalling issue could be a bad MAS....I doubt that it's an oxygen sensor (BTW, you have two upstream O2 sensors; one for each bank. You also have one or two downstream sensors, but they are for monitoring the catalyst and have no affect on driveability). Have you had it checked for codes? Tried adjusting the base idle and relearning the idle air volume per the FSM? I can tell you that if you wander down the path of replacing parts on the basis of "guessing" rather than following diagnostic procedures to isolate the exact cost of the problem, you can end up spending a lot of unnecessary money and still not fix the issue. If you want a download of the Nissan Service Manual for your vehicle, which can be very helpful when trying to diagnose a problem, try this link:

Nissan and Infiniti Service Manuals

Also, I believe there was a TSB for the MAS on '00-'01 Maximas and, IIRC, there was one the had a countermeasure MAS that required an update of the ECM program with it. You may want to search the NissanHelp forum's knowledge base for TSB's on your Maxima. Your allowed free downloads per day by registering. Their site is:

http://nissanhelp.com/index.php


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## WattAce (Sep 30, 2012)

smj999smj said:


> The cluster lights coming on after it stalls is normal. The stalling issue could be a bad MAS....I doubt that it's an oxygen sensor (BTW, you have two upstream O2 sensors; one for each bank. You also have one or two downstream sensors, but they are for monitoring the catalyst and have no affect on driveability). Have you had it checked for codes? Tried adjusting the base idle and relearning the idle air volume per the FSM? I can tell you that if you wander down the path of replacing parts on the basis of "guessing" rather than following diagnostic procedures to isolate the exact cost of the problem, you can end up spending a lot of unnecessary money and still not fix the issue. If you want a download of the Nissan Service Manual for your vehicle, which can be very helpful when trying to diagnose a problem, try this link:
> 
> Nissan and Infiniti Service Manuals
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply. I'll download the Nissan Service Manual and look through it. I haven't checked for codes because I have no check engine light on (until the engine stalls), so I assumed I would have no codes. Is this a correct assumption? I'm borrowing a friends OBD scanner tomorrow.

A friend from work has seen a similar issue before, and he suggested cleaning the throttle plate. So I bought some cleaner today and I'll clean that off tomorrow.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

With a two-trip diagnostic system, like that in your Maxima, it's possible to have a stored code but no illumination of the CEL.


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## WattAce (Sep 30, 2012)

smj999smj said:


> With a two-trip diagnostic system, like that in your Maxima, it's possible to have a stored code but no illumination of the CEL.


Forgive me, but what is a two-trip diagnostic system? I tried a quick Google search with no luck. I'm guessing it means the error has to be seen twice to illuminate the CEL?


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Back in the 80's with the OBD I systems, anytime the ECM saw any kind of fault, it would throw out a CEL which lead to what some referred to as "false codes." They weren't so much as false codes but "hiccups" that would occur once and then would never be a problem again. To prevent this, two-trip diagnostics were incorporated into ECMs. If a problem is sensed by the ECM that could be detrimental to the engine or catalytic converter, the ECM will flash the CEL. If it senses a problem that is not detrimental, such as an evaporative emission code or an EGR code, it will set a code in the memory but not turn on the CEL until the fault occurs a second time within a given time period.


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## WattAce (Sep 30, 2012)

Thanks for the responses. As it turns out, the throttle plate was the source of my issue. There was a good amount of build up on the edges, so I cleaned it as best as I could. The engine no longer stalls when in park. I appreciate the help


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