Underhood Wiring Problems of Nissan Maxima

On June 23, 2009 my 2005 Maxima was parked in an enclosed garage within my home. On that same date I attempted to enter my vehicle and was greeted with an extreme amount of smoke upon opening the driver's side door. No fire was occurring, so I opened all car doors and garage doors to clear the smoke. When the smoke cleared I discovered my car had, at some point in the prior 8 hours, had an interior fire and had luckily self-extinguished. The fire seemed to originate near the fuse box, located to the left of the steering column, on the under side of the dash. The fire melted the fuse box and surrounding dash area, spreading around the underside of the steering column to just above the ignition on the dash. No police or fire emergency services were called as the fire was out. My insurance was immediately contacted and a tow ordered to take the Maxima to the nearest Nissan dealership. I contacted Nissan consumer affairs to advise them of this fire. After a few weeks they communicated that Nissan would not investigate the fire. My insurance covered the cost of the repairs and the repairs took place. Upon completion of the repairs the dealership discovered when they tested the lumbar switch, that it was overheating the fuse panel and that it would need to be replaced. My insurance was contacted to come out to the dealership to assess the new discovery. The insurance adjuster, service manager, and service technician met and agreed that the cause of the fire was a pinched lumbar switch and it needed to be replaced. I paid the cost of the switch as insurance only covers damages. The lumbar switch was recalled in 2006. My lumbar switch was repaired in April of 2006. The recall states the lumbar switch wiring could become pinched and cause a fire. I asked both the dealership and Nissan consumer affairs to refund and investigate my fire and it's association to the recall. At this time neither is cooperative and refuses to assist or investigate.

See all problems of the 2005 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2000 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

I have a complaint about a 2001 Nissan Maxima that had an electrical short in its wiring harness that completely destroyed the ecm (electronic control module) and throttle body injection system causing the car to stall under 1700 rpm’s this caused the car to stall at highway speeds when rpm’s dropped below the stated threshold I have looked at the nhtsa’s service bulletins and complaint bulletins and these wiring harness shorts seem to be a consistent problem with Nissan’s vehicles especially the Maxima model and also fire related shorts. I spoke with Nissan’s complaint division and they just said due to miles its out of warranty and not their problem. After looking at various web sites dedicated to Nissan problems this is an ongoing problem even the service manager said that normally the alternator burns out before the ecm with these wiring shorts but said I was one of the unlucky ones, the last I heard wiring harnesses are suppose to be strapped down and not moving and properly wrapped and insulated so vibration does no wear through but apparently Nissan does not think so. I feel that this is a design defect and safety defect that NHTSA should look at. . Also I am stuck with a nineteen hundred dollar bill from the dealer to fix the problem needless to say I am not happy. Your attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated. Simcerely jeff nelson Nissan ref no. # #4951395.

See all problems of the 2001 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

Car stalls without warning. It may run fine for several weeks, then suddenly stall. This has caused near-accidents, as engine suddenly fails to respond in situations where acceleration is required; passing, merging, crossing intersections. Dealer diagnosed as short in egi harness. Breakage inside the harness appears to be a frequently occuring problem in this vehicle, based on other reports on web discussion boards. Also, manufacturer has issued technical service bulletin, so they are aware that this happens, and have published a fix that works only in some cases (I. E. , an unshielded wire short). Manufacturer, in spite of this being a common problem, refuses to offer any assistance in repairing, and ascribes it to normal wear and tear. The only solution for the consumer is to pay nearly $3,000 to have the entire harness replaced, when as I experienced, the short is in a shielded wire (per TSB).

See all problems of the 1997 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

After starting the vehicle a fire erupted under the hood. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. Fire was caused by problems with the alternator.

Battery exploded when ignition turned one click to "on" position. Vehicle was in garage. Heard a boom when I turned key. Opened hood to see smoke and a damaged battery. Caps were blown clear, top of cell was cracked in 4 places. Battery acid sprayed hood and surrounding area.

Pe-02-034; vehicle was driven 30 minutes before turned off and parked. Consumer was notified that vehicle was on fire. Smoke came from beneath the hood, and flames blazed when hood was opened. Vehicle was not totaled. Dealer replaced alternator due to it going bad. Please provide more information.

While driving, consumer smelled smoke, consumer then pulled over and lifted hood and found heavy smoke and wires burning, consumer cut off engine and burning stopped, then called aaa.

I put the car in the garage and went inside the house. I came back out to the garage to get something else out of the car and I smelled a horrible smell, like plastic burning. I opened the hood and saw the flames. My neighbor helped me push the car out fhe garage. I ran a hose over the engine to put the fire out. Had I not gotten the car out of the garage, my car could have caught fire, burned my brand new house down and possibly killed me. I am apalled that I found out about this recall more than 1 year after my incident. I thought it was isolated until I read about it in the newpaper. It cost more than $650 to replace the alternator and fix the damage to my car. I am going to contact Nissan for reimbursement. I am very lucky that my situation did not end up killing me.

No summary listed for above vehicle.

See all problems of the 1999 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

Air suspension replaced twice; wiring harness also replaced.

See all problems of the 1998 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

Electrical short in the wiring under the passenger's side manual seat, caused the vehicle to catch on fire when the vehicle was in the off position.

See all problems of the 1996 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

Car was parked in driveway for about 1 hour before fire started, or was noticed. Fire dept. Suspected electrical problem. I found recall on web, which I had not been notified of!!!! poor work on notification Nissan! are they really sending notices out?.