buzkill

Checking to see if anyone has ever since this before. I have an 01 Maxima that starts when the key is moved to the On/run position....that's right, before I turn the key to start the engine begins cranking in the on position. If I turn the key to start and give it some gas it will start up, but I am pretty sure the starter is still engaged once the key goes back to the run position. Originally, the car had an intermittent issue where the car would not turn over when trying to start - just sit there, dash lit up but no sounds from engine. While troubleshooting that this new issue has popped up, was intermittent now happens every time. Parts replaced so far are Inhibitor relay, starter, and ignition switch. Anyone ever seen this happen before or have a link to 01 starting schematic? I am assuming somehow the on position voltage is getting over to the start wire but not sure how or where. Thanks

buzkill

Ok, I have figured out that when the brake pedal is depressed the car will not start when turning key to start, dash lights up but no sounds from starter. as soon as I lift up on brake pedal car starts even with key in the on position.

maxiiiboy

You haven't told us whether your car is an A/T or M/T. The starting circuits in these two versions of our cars differ a lot.
Get yourself a copy of the FSM from here http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/ . The SC and EL sections will help you troubleshoot your problem.

Your ignition switch is an obvious suspect. I would wiggle it and play with it a lot before proceeding any further.

jackman

Did the symptom change after you replaced the switch? Is the switch a Nissan part or is it aftermarket made in China?

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Won't start when stepping on the brake pedal? Really??? The op's car is fubared. The brake pedal is not in the starting circuit. Either someone has been playing musical wires under the dash or there is an aftermarket alarm system installed.

buzkill

Thanks for the replies. I have an AT transmission. I have an electrical wiring problem somewhere I believe. Just not sure if its under the hood or under the dash. the brake pedal thing has stopped and now its gone back to not turning over at all. The dash does not light up right now either, but radio anc clock are on - and I can hear the starter solenoid engage and then disengaged. I have owned the car for 3 years and its run great until this popped up recently. I cannot find any signs of an alarm system or remote system ever being installed on this car. The ignition switch I bought was aftermarket from O-Reilly's. I'll check the schematics and keep digging around the wiring until I figure this thing out.

maxiiiboy

Ok, you didn't tell us about this aftermarket ignition switch either ..... so, did you install it yourself, or did you have somebody else do it? And why did you need a new switch?

buzkill

I installed the new ignition switch once the car began to crank with the key in the on/run position. Thought that maybe the switch was shorting across the on position to the start position of the switch. I put the switch in - easy to install just 2 screws.

buzkill

Attempting to post video from yesterday when car would not start with brake pedal pushed in and once released and key sitting in the on position it would start cranking - craziest thing I have seen.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

It's time to break out the voltmeter and check some things.

First, go the page 12 in the SC section of the service manual. Then pull out the inhibitor relay and with the ignition key off, check for voltage on pins 1 and 6 in the relay socket. There should be none. To find out which are pins 1 and 6, look on the bottom of the relay. There are tiny little numbers molded into the plastic.

Now turn the ignition key to the ON position (hopefully the engine doesn't start cranking) and check pins 1 and 6 again. Pin 1 should have 12 volts and pin 6 should not. Pin 6 should have 12 volts only when the ignition switch is in the START position.

Let us know the results.

buzkill

ok, I checked pins 1 and it has 12 volts with key in on position pin 6 does not. pin 6 does have 12v when in start position. Currently that seems to be working like its supposed to. One thing I checked was pin 2 to ground on the battery for continuity and I get around 2.5 ohms. Seems high, I will check and clean my ground connections. Its intermittent when it tries to start with the key in the on position, other times when its not doing that the dash will not light up and engine does not turn over at all.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

The resistance on pin 2 to the battery negative terminal covers a bunch of connections. At 2.5 ohms, I would let it go. I don't know what is should be other than theory says zero, but if that were a problem, the starter wouldn't crank. Pins 1 and 2 are to energize the relay.

With this being intermittent, voltage readings need to be taken when the problem is happening. 12 volts on pin 6 comes from the ignition switch in the START position and when the relay is energized, goes out on pin 7 to the starter solenoid, which causes the starter to crank the engine. When the engine cranks with the key in the ON position, I would think you would measure 12 volts on pin 6. Now how that would happen, I don't know. At this early stage, I don't think it is the ignition switch. But I don't rule it out.

Can you make a jumper to put in the inhibitor relay socket? Remove the relay and jumper pins 6 and 7. This connects the ignition switch START position straight to the starter. It also bypasses all safety designs. The car will start in any gear position, so you could drive through the garage wall if the transmission was in drive. Also, the cruise control will not engage when the relay is out.

buzkill

Been out of town for holidays got back to working on it this weekend. I finally got it back to starting normally. I cleaned all the negative ground points in the engine compartment - battery cable grounds and the fuse box ground wire bundles. That got the resistance of pin 2 relay socket to ground down to 0.2ohms. For the combination meter/dash board not illuminating I checked the fuse for that circuit and it had a "dirty" film built up on it and with a meter across the fuse legs would not always show continuity. I cleaned that fuse and every fuse in the main fuse box as most were dirty. Not sure how they all got that way or how that would explain the car starting before with key in run position but car is now starting and running great. I really appreciate the help DennisMik and Maxiiiboy.The schematics were excellent, way better than the diagrams in my Haynes manual.