Ben (83_Maxima)'s 1981 Maxima Wagon Diesel

[83_maxima]

Got some pics from the seller. Still available. I have her # matt if she didn't e-mail you.

[glenlloyd]

Looks nice based on these three photos. The only thing I see is a missing/damaged driver door speaker grill. The passenger side of the car body looks very good.

I did notice in the first photo that the door window surrounds are all black instead of body color / stainless, which is inconsistent with others I have seen. Might be a later mod by the owner.

steve a

[goglio704]

I got the same three pictures. The dash is cracked, but the car looks good to me. Ben, have you heard back from the seller?

[83_maxima]

I got the same three pictures. The dash is cracked, but the car looks good to me. Ben, have you heard back from the seller?

Haven't called. Do you want me to take a look at it?

[goglio704]

I got the same three pictures. The dash is cracked, but the car looks good to me. Ben, have you heard back from the seller?

Haven't called. Do you want me to take a look at it?

Yea, if you could, that would be great.

[83_maxima]

I will call the seller tomorrow. See if I can set up an appointment to see the car sometime this week.

I hope I can get the car off of the side street to test drive it.

I'll take pics.

[83_maxima]

I drove up to Fort collins Wednesday afternoon to take a look at my first DIESEL Maxima for Matt. I was pleased with what I found.

The good:

Very nice body. Very straight, no signs of ever being in an accident. Original paint. Still shiny. Only a hint of rust on the bottom of the rear quarters.



Solid engine. Started right up (was plugged in). Has a manual GP control (more on that later). Drives out very well. Nice power. Feels a lot like my L24E used to with the AT. Transmission is much different from what I remember with my L4N71B. It takes a while to get out of first and stayed in second the time I drove it at moderate speeds around town.



Very nice interior. Clean. Not noticably worn in any areas. Some small pieces missing out of 2 or more of the armrests, the covering is coming off of the driver's side speaker and the rearview mirror is in the back (broken off). ALL of the electronics work - and well! The motors and switches for the windows work remarkably well as does the audio system, wipers, washers, heat and defroster.



150, 000 mile original Colorado car. 3 owners including current.

The Bad:

GP relay has been disconnected. GP timer (?) on RH side shock tower cut into and aftermarket relay connected independently with manual controller. Current owner has been glowing for 30 seconds on the cold winter mornings.



The PS pump is disconnected. No idea if the pump works. AC compressor is off idler. She says it works.



Steering rack boot is torn. LH marker light is broken. SMALL amount of rust on rear quarters. Cracked dash. Vacuum lines disconnected from CC servos. She does not know if it has ever had the IP belt changed, but says that she has all of the service records for it at home. Speedometer "wobbles." She says it only does it when it's cold. Fuel filter appears to be original. Maybe not, but is a NISSAN filter, which I wouldn't necessarily expect. Front rotors are warped. Pedal oscillates pretty badly even at low speeds.

[asavage]

Trans should be in 3rd gear by 16 MPH. Probably a vacuum leak somewhere, but it should be noted and used in negotiations. No way it should be in 2nd over 10 MPH.

Why does everyone use that same ugly GP button?

PS belt off is worrisome. Could be the high pressure line is shot, which is unavailable. Or worse.

I'd like to see a close-up of that rear quarter rust.

Ripples in rear hatch.

Missing badge on hatch.

Missing air intake duct.

Something looks funky about that A/C switch.

[83_maxima]

Trans should be in 3rd gear by 16 MPH. Probably a vacuum leak somewhere, but it should be noted and used in negotiations. No way it should be in 2nd over 10 MPH.

It took a while for it to shift out of first, then it went into second and it never upshifted again. I do not know much about the 3 speed w/o overdrive, so yes, this may be an issue.

PS belt off is worrisome. Could be the high pressure line is shot, which is unavailable. Or worse.

It also may have been leaking (either pump or rack) and they disconnected it. That is the reason the PPO of my old '84 gave as to why she removed the belt.

I'd like to see a close-up of that rear quarter rust.

Ripples in rear hatch.

I actually didn't notice this until I saw the pic of the rear hatch.

Missing badge on hatch.

yes.

Missing air intake duct.

yes.

Something looks funky about that A/C switch.

It is the button-type from the earlier cars. I thought I saw a picture noting the differences somewhere on the site.

[asavage]

It took a while for it to shift out of first, then it went into second and it never upshifted again. I do not know much about the 3 speed w/o overdrive, so yes, this may be an issue.

It's an issue. Usually, it's a vacuum system problem.

Something looks funky about that A/C switch.

It is the button-type from the earlier cars. I thought I saw a picture noting the differences somewhere on the site.

Right. The '83-84 is different. From the FAQ: "A/C switch turns instead of being a pushbutton, and now has two modes: Econ and Max. "Econ" moves the turn-on temp for the compressor up a few degrees."

But in the picture, the button doesn't even seem to say "A/C" on it, like mine does. Could just be the picture. The button looks . . . rippled.

[83_maxima]

I can't believe I bought this thing...

[glenlloyd]

What happened to "something something butterscotch...wanted nothing to do with..."?????

good for you!! Everyone needs a few extra carcasses lying around!

steve a

[83_maxima]

I idn't really want it after I looked at it for Matt, but after I put together an inspection report showcasing it's flaws I realized I could probably afford it if she would come down SIGNIFICANTLY from her asking price.

She did...now it sits in front of my house with no room around back.

I do LOVE these diesel engines though and it is a pretty clean car, but probably worth what I paid - it has a few flaws that really need to be dealt with...and I still hate the butterscotch but beggars can't be choosers.

Welcome our 1st '81 810 diesel into the fray!

[goglio704]

Glad to know it found a good home.

[83_maxima]

Glad to know it found a good home.

Me too!

I've already replaced the front rotors, but it still has a *little* shimmy, so I still need to work on that. Cold starting without being plugged in is very difficult. I killed that batt yesterday after sitting for 11 hrs in the teens, I think I may have one or more bad GPs. The trans is also okay, shifts fine, albeit somewhat hard into third, but no worse than my old AT used to be. The bad speedo gave the indication that I was going faster than I was.

Funny thing is that it has got some BAD rust unlike any I've ever seen on a CO car. The lower frame "rails" at the back of the front wheel wells are both gone - rotted away. Some DAPO sprayed a can of 'great stuff' into one of them, so I have to deal with that, but all in all, she's a good car!