My Problems Solved.

[PBfrEAk]

Well, it would be a lie to say I haven't had my share of problems with my Maxima.

Considering it has 200K on it...most people would have just chocked it up to it getting old and dumped it off on someone else...or worse.

Not me.

I have a few different posts on here that all stem to this one problem...and I'll post the links to the threads at the end of this so you can all see for reference...if you want.

Alright, here goes.

I bought my car almost 3 years ago now (ish). She had 160k on her and was in need of help. I got her running and she treated me good.

In the fall of 06, I noticed my driver side carpet getting damper than usual. Keep in mind, I go to Edinboro University, so we get a decent amount of rain...so I just figured I was tracking in more water than I thought

Winter came and went...most of the time my driver side floor board was a sheet of ice. Not fun. But again I just figured I was tracking in a lot of snow and such (we did get like a foot every other week or so haha)

I didn't really pay too much attention to it in the spring but summer when I went home I noticed something odd. I wore flip flops almost every day...and one particular day it decided to rain and on my way home...I noticed water (a very light drip) was coming in and hitting me on my foot. I thought maybe it was just coming in through the vents so I ignored it.

Fall came and went, I ignored the water, although I did buy nice heavy duty rubber floor mats with a big ridge that would catch water and snow I tracked in.

Winter caused me to find the problem. I let someone borrow my car and because I didn't clean off the wipers properly, the arm broke.

So I took my car home and tore it apart and found out my problem. There is a well in front of the windshield that the wiper arms are house and for some reason it rusted through on the driver side. Now there wasn't a hole but it was clearly rusted and it must have been enough for water to get through. Well we cleaned it thoroughly and siliconed it.

I thought that fixed it.

Now as this is all happening I had been having problems with my car intermittently. Sometimes after a rain my car would run rough. Some times my transmission. This past summer was the worst. My car ran like **** after a rain for a good week at least. I thought this was due to moisture getting into my tank somehow...so I would put dry gas in her and let her sit for a good day. When I came back and started her she ran fine.

Then my transmission problems. These also came after rain/carwashes. The transmission would shift weird for a few hours...then it got so bad that it was impossible to kick down the car into a lower gear...it would just shift right from 1st to 2nd to 3rd to overdrive by the time I got to 20mph and the only way to get up to speed was to manually down shift. This because a chronic problem.

Finally last week was the last straw...I did a light wash, right before I left to come up to school and the car ran TERRIBLE.

I was done. I ripped of the hood, tore everything out, re-cleaned it and covered the entire driver side area with Gutter sealant.

I then tried to run a check on my ECU to see what codes were being thrown. But it wouldn't work. My ECU wouldn't respond at all. I started looking at it an realized there was a little drop of water on top of the ECU.

The water that was coming in somehow got on the ECU. I tore out my ECU and Transmission computer and realized my problem all along was this damn drip.

The water had fried my ECU and transmission comp. Both had water damage to the boards.

Luckily I had a parts car, so I swapped in it's computers and she works like a dream now.

So in conclusion, I'm not sure why mine did this, but if anyone else is having troubles with water leakage and a rough running car during rain, this very well could be the problem.

Sorry about the huge post, I just wanted to recap and let everyone know what caused all my problems so future problems can be fixed easier. I would have did a formal write up but I don't have all of my pictures with me, and I had my Dad swap my ECU while I was up at school. Although it was a very simple process, just unplug and plug in the new one essentially minus a couple screws.

My related threads:

Water Leakage Problem <==Sorry beancooker...but you were wrong LOL

Weird Rust Spot

Engine Light Issue with 3rd Gen Maxima

'92 GXE Auto transmission acting up...of course!! <==luckily I figured it out...not too much help here HAHA!!

Cliffs:

Rust spot under wipersFixed twice...now for goodWater leakage cause car to run like ****Swapped ECU'sRuns like a Raped Date.



203K and still ticking!!!


Modified by PBfrEAk at 11:42 AM 10/28/2008

[allensteiner]

glad to hear you got it running smooth

[PBfrEAk]

glad to hear you got it running smooth

Thanks!!

And yea I know, I need pics...but like I said the only pics I MAY have is from the 1st time I dismantled the wiper assembly...I'll see what I can find though...

[bpomps]

the red circles - with the one in the middle with the two tabs - are where my leak was under the wiper housing.

[PBfrEAk]

Oh wow...see mine was actually down in where those wiper assembly arms are...water pooled on the drivers side (the drains must have been blocked) and rusted it out.

No rust what so ever on the passenger side though...it was really weird.