1986 Nissan Maxima Problems

What owners report

Complaints on this model year cluster around the fuel injection system: owners describe fuel smells, leaks at the injectors and, in a number of cases, engine-compartment fires. A smaller but consistent share of reports involves smoke or fire traced to wiring and dash-area electrical parts, plus seat belt latching and retraction problems.

1. 1
   Fuel system

   Fuel leaks at injectors leading to engine fire

   • 21 complaints (35%)
   • typically at 10.7 yrs old
   • 15 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 1995–2002

   Owners describe smelling fuel, seeing smoke from under the hood or near the windshield, and in several cases the vehicle catching fire. Some reports tie the fire directly to leaking at the fuel injectors, and several mention a prior safety campaign on the injection system, including cases where an owner had the campaign work done and still had fuel smells or running problems afterward. Others say the notice never arrived or that parts were unavailable for months, and at least one owner was told after the repair that an additional non-covered part was needed at their own cost. Reports span the 1990s and early 2000s with no mileage recorded in the sample; several describe fires shortly after a cold start, while parking, or minutes after the car was shut off.

   What to check: Ask whether the fuel injection campaign work was completed and keep the receipts, then have the injector area and fuel lines inspected for weeping or a raw fuel smell before purchase.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Parked all day; drove less than two miles, while parking the vehicle started to smoke under the hood, resulting in a fire. Fire was caused due to a fuel leak, recall 95i006 describes problems consumer experienced. Engine belts replaced. Strut failure caused noise while driving over bumps. Spark plugs replaced. Front and rear brake pads replaced, rotors turned. Power steering hose leak.”

   NHTSA complaint #804868, filed 1996-11

   “Gas was leaking off the back of the fuel injector, causing the vehicle to catch fire. There is a safety campaign out on these vehicles. Owner states that she has not received the notification. She has been in contact with the manufacturer.”

   NHTSA complaint #817594, filed 1997-10
2. 2
   Electrical system

   Under-hood fires traced to wiring and dash electrics

   • 21 complaints (35%)
   • typically at 10.5 yrs old
   • 18 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 1995–2002

   Complaints describe smoke appearing from the dash, glove compartment or under the hood while driving, sometimes preceded by a popping sound or a loss of power, followed by flames. One owner noticed a fuel odor before the fire, and in another report the car ignited a few minutes after being parked. Several vehicles were reported as a total loss. No mileage recorded; reports come from the mid-1990s through 2002 and often occur while driving or shortly after the car is parked.

   1 related service bulletin

   What to check: Look for a burnt smell or melted insulation around the fuse box and behind the glove compartment, and check that battery and ground connections are clean and tight; a service bulletin describes battery-connection precautions to avoid damage to electrical components.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “While driving along smelled gas, and kind of ignored it because was told by a mechanic that nothing was wrong with automobile. Kept going and was told that his automobile was on fire- he received help to put out the fire.”

   NHTSA complaint #817353, filed 1997-10

   “After vehicle was driven and parked for about 5-7 minutes, it bursted into flames. Fire department said flames came from under the hood. Entire hood was damaged by fire.”

   NHTSA complaint #825179, filed 1998-07

Buying note. This model year has a long history of fuel-injection and electrical fire complaints, so an inspection focused on the injector area, fuel lines and under-dash wiring is worth the cost before buying. Ask for documentation of any fuel-injection campaign work and check that the seat belts retract and latch properly.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 21 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.