The Max

A quality set of DBA4000 series rotors will cost you about 1/3rd of what they're trying to charge and pads, hell, Ferodo 2500 series are great bang for buck and don't cost anywhere near $800 for a set of front and rear pads! They don't call them "stealerships" for nothing, you know. Besides which, while OEM is definitely the best option for engine and drivetrain components, when it comes to consumables such as brakes, aftermarket has always been the better option in performance, reliability and price.

The short answer, garryg, is that it depends on your handset's ability to send contacts via Bluetooth. If it's an iPhone, then the answer is a resounding "no". Apple suck for some of the choices they make and this is definitely one of those choices. In short, Apple don't support a transfer protocol. Apple have chosen to support a different Bluetooth protocol which only allows the phone book to be read but not copied from. It has been a painful year receiving calls in this vehicle and not being able to recognise all the numbers that come in. It's even worse when I need to dial out. It's neither feasible nor safe while driving. I hope Satan is shoving a few pineapples per day up Steve Jobs' arse for this. Today, I upgraded my phone to a Samsung Note2 and exporting from this phone is a little cumbersome if you've got a whole bunch of accounts in it (i.e. Facebook, Google, Google+, etc). Nevertheless, it is definitely possible and works very well. There is one quirk though. You must ensure your phone numbers are not prefixed with a "+61" (i.e. E164 international standard). The number must be entered as a local entry (so, 04xxxxxxxx or in the case of landlines, 02xxxxxxxx, etc). The reason for this is the handsfree kit interprets it as an international call and replaces the "+" with a "011" rather than just sending the "+" to the handset, rendering the number dialled a wrong one. Why the engineers chose to do this is beyond me but it is what it is. Nevertheless, I'm happy that I've actually got speed dials for a change, let alone an entire phone book. So, here's the how-to on transferring contacts using an Android phone (Jellybean OS - not sure what the older OS's look like). If you have anything else, such as an old Nokia, you'll need to check your manual on how to export via Bluetooth on those. My old N85 can definitely do it as well though it has its own quirks when sending numbers in bulk. Following the screenshots in the translated document: 1) Press the Settings button on your keypad 2) Navigate to Phone (Option 5 - first item in the second column) 3) Navigate to Directory (second item in the menu) 4) Select first option in this Directory submenu. 5) On the pop-up screen, select the left button which I'm guessing is the "OK/YES" button. 6) Another screen will pop-up with your V36's Bluetooth ID and a series of instructions. Leave this up and now pick up your phone. 7) At your phone's main contacts list, press the menu button and choose "Import/Export" 8) At the bottom of the menu (you may need to scroll to find it), select "Share namecard via" 9) Your contacts list will re-emerge with a series of tickboxes to the left. You can select all and then deselect the ones you don't want or just select the few you do want. 10) Once you have selected them, tap the "Done" button at the top right. 11) Another pop-up screen will appear asking the method to transfer with. Select "Bluetooth" and then tap "Just Once". This will ensure that Bluetooth will not be used as the default means of transferring contacts in future, in case you have another import/export requirement not involving Bluetooth. If you happen to tap the "Always" button, it's fine. You can reset this option in another menu anyway. 12) Then you should see a little transfer screen appear on your V36 display. It takes approximately 30 seconds to transfer about 300 numbers. DONE! You've now transferred your numbers. To create and edit speed dials: 1) Press the Settings button on your keypad 2) Navigate to Phone (Option 5 - first item in the second column) 3) Navigate to Speed Dials (first item in the menu) 4) Select the speed dial slot you wish to create/edit 5) Select the second item in the submenu (there should be about 6 options in that submenu) 6) Select the first item in the next submenu (there should be 3 options in that submenu) 7) Select the only item in the next submenu (all but 1 of the 11 options will be greyed out in that submenu) 8) A list of all your transferred numbers will appear, in phone number order. This is an unfortunate quirk but in the grand scheme of things, no big deal either. 9) Find your desired number and select it. DONE! Repeat steps 4-9 for the remaining speed dial slots you wish to configure. There is one warning I have for you though. You cannot update the phone directory with just one number in future. You must transfer the entire phone directory from your handset again otherwise you will only have the one number in your V36's phone book. The positive thing about this is that speed dials remain unaffected, even with the phone book completely erased. I'm working purely off memory as I did this a little earlier today. I'm pretty sure I've got it down correctly but if not, let me know and I'll revise my post after I triple check with my vehicle again.

I finally have an update now that I've had a bit of time off work and decent weather to work out in. So, the stack itself has been completed though nothing actually connected as yet. I'm going to need a lot more time (and physical space) to start pulling out the interior in order to pass the power cabling and replace the rear speakers, among the alarm, remote starter and some other gizmos I need to add in. What we have in terms of cabling hanging around on the JBL: 1) Subwoofer out lead (single) 2) Remote In (will check schematics to see if I can possibly get that feed from the Telephone Adapter in the boot rather than having to fish it out of the headunit). 3) Remote Out (to feed the amps) 4) Power (the figure 8 8GA cable) Then there's the Rockford Fosgate amp: 1) Power (the 4GA cabling) 2) Not in place yet but the 8-core speaker cable to feed the crossovers (front and rear pairs) whenever that arrives from the supplier One thing you'll notice soon in all this is that I like to use multicore cable wherever possible in the name of neatness and additional protection from the outer sheath. In every other instance, it's mesh and PVC loose-tube. First up, preparations: 8GA lugs - I insist on using small eye lugs rather than forks. Why? If the screw on the terminal block should ever come loose, the terminal won't go flying out and potentially short against something. For further insurance, I always tie the cable to something on the framework that will prevent it from flying off anyway. And now we have the amp stack plate mounted after having connected everything to the JBL DSP. Note the use of dome nuts, which can be seen from one of the mounts in the lower right corner. Again, this is to avoid any possible cabling getting loose and rubbing against otherwise potentially sharp edges on ordinary nuts and exposed screw threads. Here, we have the cabling for the RCA's (using 4-core individually shielded audio cable - Canford HSJ4 for those who are interested) to feed from the JBL's channels 1-4. This one has been passed through a grommet to avoid any unwanted abrasion from the sheet metal. Then we have the 4GA power cabling as well as the remote wire from the JBL's remote out. This has been passed through a gland as opposed to a grommet for not only avoid abrasion but to also clamp the cabling in place. To further remove any stresses on the power cable, I softened the insulation with minimal heat to make it a little more malleable and then cooled it at the right angle. The key here is zero stress and full protection of our cabling. The 4GA power cable then tucks under the bottom plate, running along the boot floor and up towards the backseat where I have yet to plan the power distribution block mounting. After which, we have the amp installed. It is held down using 50mm long M5 bolts and using spring washers to keep the nuts firmly in place despite road vibrations. As stated, I haven't yet received my 8-core speaker cable so there's only 2 out of 3 parts taken care of here. You can see a little more detail with the RCAs and power cables. The two small holes you see drilled out to the right of the gland is for passing through a cable tie to hold the 8-core speaker cable when that arrives. This cable will be coming from the left of the amp and will pass along the top plate before going across the back of the boot to meet the crossovers on the other side. I figured there was just not enough room left for another gland or grommet to pass it underneath with the other cables. A side view of the stack shows how closely packed together the two devices are. We've only got about 5mm spacing between them due to the little space afforded in this corner. Still, as the DSP isn't going to be doing anything more than just handling line-level signals (albeit the higher powered signals driving its input since we have no line level audio from the headunit), heat is expected to only be an issue with the amp. Hence, the gapping needed to be greater above the amp rather than the DSP. Here you can also see the single RCA lead for the subwoofer amp box hovering in the background. The idea will be to have the 8GA power, remote and audio cabling entering a Harting industrial connector which will have a Han A two-pole power connector and Han D multi-pin connector for the remote and audio signals. The connector would have been a bit smaller in the end but because my original plans were going to involve just a simple board sitting on the completed boot floor (as opposed to going internally like we are here), I had the 16-pin Han D ordered in for carrying a bunch of signals. Anyway, it's here now so may as well use it rather than let it go to waste. A closer look at the gland taking in the power cable for the amp: And a view of the stack from the front. Once cable paths are determined, expect these to be sheathed in some PVC loose-tube (as in flexible stuff). So that's the update so far. When a little more time permits, I hope to have pulled out the interior for the various gizmos as well as the 2GA power cabling that needs to be fed back there and then the speakers back out to the front too.

All I can say is, I'm happy to have imported a 3 year old model for almost half the cost.

Typical of a dealership. I have yet to come across a motor of any application that only needed a cleaning to last for years upon years. If something gets worn out (not dirty), then cleaning alone is not restoring the motor back to its original condition or even close to it. The best you can hope for are slightly worn brushes but not too far gone. All you've really done is prolonged the cancer patient's life expectancy as opposed to curing it. Not the best analogy but you get my drift. In the end, it's all well and good if it's your own car because you only have yourself to blame if you find yourself having to fix it again down the track. In Chris' case, he runs a reputable business and it would look pretty bad for him to send away a customer with a cleaned motor only to have it come back again not long after with the same problem. Besides which, why do the same job twice because you took a gamble?

I wish it was Minidisc though. I had a Sony MDX-C8900 in the Maxima. Brilliant sound out of that format.

Correction - CompactFlash slot.

That's a very neat and clean ride you have there Smokey. Congratulations mate.

It's definitely best to do things properly and in this case, replace the motor as Chris suggested. It's not like Nissan's window motors are built poorly like Ford's. Those things definitely need modification to make them actually reliable, much like what I did to my BA wagon's lock motor/mechanism.

I think it's better that you did. I subscribed to this thread with the intention of better educating people who may have had the wrong idea about what a good installation is all about. Instead, all I'm seeing is a lot of childish bickering and for that reason alone, I think it's better I stop following this topic and let the children look after their own messes.

Orange with the black bits makes it look disgustingly riceboi and cheap. Go with matte black. It's an elegantly aggressive colour. Remember, these cars are elegant to begin with so it makes sense to go with something bold but still elegant.

There's more to come of course. Once I get the interior all out and do the wiring, I'll be able to finish the stack and you'll get to see the DSP + Amp stacked up. Boston Acoustic SPZ60 in the front have already been installed though I need to re-wire since finding out that the woofers and tweeters are wired in parallel without even a friggin' capacitor inline! I've been keeping the volume low all this time just to avoid blowing the tweeters. The rears get my old Maxima's speakers which are Boston Acoustic ProSeries 6.5x. When it comes to car speakers, I've yet to find a pair that sound as accurate as these and still take a shitload of power. I'm happy with 100WRMS per speaker (front and rear) and these guys really take the (clean) power without issue. It's a shame Sony never made a 4 channel amp that was 100WRMS per channel. They only went as far as 75WRMS with my XM-754HX amp back in '99 and while it was a squeaky clean amp, it just didn't have the extra juice I was after.

I believe only in terms of mileage, maintenance schedules, and anything else that needs to measure distance travelled. Otherwise, all other functions not related to distances/speed will continue to work.

So, here I am with this V36 I've lusted after for so long but knowing full well I was going to have a hell of a project on my hands upgrading the audio to suit my taste. Thinking it was going to be Bose equipped because it was an SP package, I figured it would be relatively easy from a wiring point of view, at least. Boy was I wrong. Getting an SP doesn't mean you get a Bose as part of the package ... that's still optional and in another thread which I won't bother with now as it has already been discussed enough. Anyway, in the process of taking out the interior of the boot to figure out how to get to the rear speakers as part of the upgrade, I found the corner where I would typically expect to find the Bose rig if I had one. Thankfully, Nissan were thoughtful enough to still weld in a bunch of M6 studs in the boot floor and this gave me an ingenious idea for mounting my gear. Granted, I'm sure someone else has thought of and done the same so I'm not going to claim the holy grail in this but I am setting out to let everyone else know how it's done if they want to do the same. I also have Autocad drawings in a PDF, mainly for myself if I need to ever make another but also for anyone else who would like to make their own base plate. So, here's what I prototyped using 1.6mm galvanised steel sheet. The bends aren't the greatest since I don't have a proper sheetmetal bender like we did in my high school. Man that thing was great to work with back in the day! Essentially, the base plate uses four of the M6 boot floor studs, accessible via the 16mm holes drilled in the top side of the plate so a 10mm socket can get in. Once it's mounted, then the amp or other device of your choice can be mounted on top of it, if you have more than one device. I've gone for a stack, because I'm using a JBL MS-8 DSP and a Rockford Fosgate Power 850.4. Naturally, the amp will be sitting on top because it's generating the most heat. I wouldn't recommend using a stack in this corner for mounting two beefy amps together as there's not a lot of space for decent ventilation if going beyond one amp. Above the JBL DSP will be a second plate which mounts on the three 1/4" studs you see on the left and right as well as the pop rivetted strip sitting in the top right corner. I would have preferred to go with bending a strip out of the same plate itself but sadly I was working with sheets of 300 x 600mm. I should have bought myself a nice big chunk of 1200 x 2400 and deal with the excess. Anyway... I'm using virtually every millimetre available in this corner underneath the OEM plastic shrouds that form the sides around the spare tyre. This is to allow for additional points where I might like to drill a hole or two for mounting cable management to keep everything neat and absolutely safe from harm. You probably can't see that I've bevelled the edges of the metal as well as the corners but that's an extra measure to then affixing the grommet strip around the edges. I take no chances with my installs - they're built to last. Here you'll see the plate from the bottom with its four mounting feet ... extensions of strips from the side of the plate bent over in a U-shape sideways. I was in the process of gluing the foam sheet as an additional measure to protect the boot floor from direct metal contact. I know the HICAS, GPS and telephone adapter don't have anything under their steel but I don't give a rat's bum what Nissan do there. This is me. Also, you'll see the 7 bolts that I have MIG welded to the plate. Yes, the last time I MIG welded was back in high school and I'm a little out of practice. After a few practice runs on some scrap, this is what I came up with and it's solid. There are three 1/4" x 12mm bolts for mounting the upper plate for the amp on top. The four 3/16" x 15mm in the middle are for the JBL MS-8 DSP. This is the top view. Note the 16mm access holes which are large enough for most 10mm sockets to fit for screwing down the nuts. Here you will see the fourth support strip which I've pop rivetted in to support the upper right corner of the upper amp plate. This will be affixed to the amp plate with a nut and bolt arrangement for relatively easy removal in service situations. Here you can see the plate mounted in its final position. There's actually one more M6 stud in the boot floor located approximately in the middle of the plate but I elected not to use it. With the thick aluminium base of the JBL DSP, that will make the whole base plate even more rigid. Getting the washers and nuts on isn't all that easy if you don't have Japanese mechanic's fingers but it is possible and not an exercise in patience and time-consuming hell. Anyway, the plate has been mounted using machine washers and nyloc nuts. This plate isn't going ANYWHERE. In this photo, you can see the left mounting in a little more detail, with the washers and nyloc nuts. After test mounting the shroud over it earlier, there's only a few mm of gap in there so it's a perfect fit! And here we are now with the JBL DSP mounted. Unfortunately, JBL put one bolt hole so close to their friggin' power terminal block that it's now impossible for me to rotate any nut of any profile on it!!! Seriously JBL, we're not all happy to use self-tappers and not all of us are necessarily working from the top down! Anyway, I'm going to start looking around for something cylindrical with perhaps a screwdriver slot in the top. This will at least be able to rotate and just fix that corner down. That said though, the other three are fastened using machine washers, spring washers and dome nuts. The dome nuts are preferable in the event we have a wire finding its way loose, which might otherwise abrade on any exposed thread. Unfortunately, I screwed up the camera angle so it looks like it's actually mounted past the edge of the plate but I assure you it sits flush. Pushing it further to the left wasn't really possible given the location of the bolt in the top left corner. Any further and I would have had a very weak point in the plate for that bolt to carry any load. The plastic shroud fits over this and only just. No rubbing, no noise, no modification to the shroud necessary. That said, there's a piece on the side which I'm tempted to Swiss cheese because while it's a structural piece to support whatever is in the boot's cargo area, I want the vehicle's vent to allow some kind of airflow in there too. So that's where we are at so far. More build pics to come as I get more time off work. It's not easy engineering the move of a broadcast operation from one suburb to another. Next step will be to do the same for the opposite side of the boot, where I need to mount my four crossovers for the Boston Acoustic speakers. The SPZ series, which are already installed in the front doors, have ridiculously huge crossovers compared to the old ProSeries that I'm still planning to use in the rear. Still, same principles will apply although now we're contending with the telephone adapter taking up some space too.

I get very sentimental with my vehicles. The Maxima was around for 17 years and was only upgraded to a V36 because of an unfortunate collision which made it economically unfeasible. Yes, even sentimentality has its price sometimes. As such, I hope to hang on to my V36 for an eternity too. Besides, I'm putting a lot of work into upgrading the audio system. I've been doing a lot of metalwork to make the amp stack that will sit in place of where a Bose amp would normally be found in the boot floor's left corner and there's more engineering to do along the way.

Yeah, I think I'll stick to getting Pirelli P-Zero on the next change.

Starting clean and stock assures me that nothing dodgy has been done to the car that would render it useless and more expensive to fix later on. Imagine you bought a modified vehicle only to find that it was so poorly modified you pretty much have to start from scratch with it? That's a bit extreme, I know but unless you know the quality of the workmanship (and/or the abuse) that went into it, you can't be sure the vehicle will be reliable. Performance modifications tip the balance of reliability vs power so you want to be sure the modifications were done right.

Definitely cut and shorten. Ideally, get your hands on the same connectors on that harness brand new and go for a cut and reterminate. That way, you'll have no joints along the line which are a weak point regardless. Otherwise, if you must to a cut and join of the wires instead, be sure to use crimp terminals in an engine bay as heat can soften solder and result in broken connections later if the wiring is already stressed to some degree. If you don't want to use crimps, then at least use glue heatshrink for each wire and be sure to be generous with the cable ties in spots which will take the strain off the wires.

After my experience several moons ago with the owner of Unique Autosports (assuming we're talking about the one in Castle Hill, NSW), I'm not inclined to recommend that place.

It's puzzling that you bought yourself a nice car only to skimp out on the one thing that connects your car to the road ... rubber. It's only natural that cheap rubber will not be as grippy as a set of Pirelli tyres. Now, do you need to be turning your VDC off? Well, think about it for a second. Your VDC is engaging because it's sensing a loss of traction. What do you think is going to happen when you switch the VDC off? Especially when taking a brisk drive around the hills, you'll probably kill yourself or in the very least, cause damage worth more than what you saved by purchasing cheap tyres. It really is a no-brainer and I'm all the more puzzled you would ask about turning off the VDC to fix the problem. Next time, raise your budget a little higher, take the time to save up a little more now before your tyres wear out and get a decent set. I'm not a fan of the Kumho KU31 that I was recommended at the time of compliancing but I certainly don't have the problem you do. For what it's worth, I paid $1200 for the set (so $300/tyre - 19") so if you want to still go easy on the wallet, that would be one tyre I can recommend after giving them a good workout. Personally, they're still not good enough and I do occasionally get a bit of slip turning a corner but certainly no problem around twists and bends. I dare say the 4WAS helps a lot in that aspect. Does this happen under load or can you replicate the issue when out of gear as well? If it's only under load, it's still possible that it could be just a bit of loose metal somewhere. However, I'd be curious to know if the brief sound you're hearing is pinging/knocking/pre-detonation. If it happens out of gear too, then it's most likely something loose. What fuel do you use?

So typical layout of the button panel, with everything reversed except for the hazards button. As long as the pinouts remain identical, I might actually consider getting one in as a spare part after a little homework with the existing one. I have to pull the existing one out to find out if pin 1 on the main audio harness is a remote output still (as it is on the Bose systems). I'll take photos and notes of everything else that I measure with my DSO and then we'll see if it'll just be a straightforward transplant (albeit expensive) or not.

My brother-in-law took some photos of them at the Motor Show in Darling Harbour. I see they've got some things in the bumper bar which appear to be washers for the headlights. This should make our conversions to HIDs a reality, provided we decide to replace our bumper bars of course. In the least, it'll possibly help any cop or inspector mistakenly overlook that. Now I wonder what the pinouts will be for the headunit?

Nice find Chris! I'm buying me a G-clamp from Bunnings - should be cheaper.

It's measured from the lowest point of your vehicle. Basically, if you can't clear an obstacle standing 100mm tall with your vehicle, it's too low.

You answered your own question. If you have to make manoeveurs like that to get over obstacles, then clearly the car is too low to be practical. Don't get me wrong, it sure as hell looks great but you look silly when you scrape. Those Fords and Holdens you see on the road aren't at factory height either. Believe me, I was half tempted to lower the V36 as soon as I got it early this year but I thought about it logically and figured I'd only lower it by 1.2" if at all and more importantly, only if there was a serious gain in road handling. You know what? I took it for a good blat around bends at insane speeds and along with the 4WAS, the vehicle hugged the tarmac like it was on rails and that was with the factory suspension on a 24000km old car. And to top it all off, Smokey has highlighted a very important point - defects. The last thing you want is to go through the inconvenience of getting a defect cleared off your car. I truly don't feel these cars really need that much improvement and the only reason why you'd lower it is for aesthetics. If that's what you like, go for it but don't expect the car to be driveable when you reach obstacles and don't expect the cops to be kind to you when they see a fast looking car.