my sons 90 Max wouldn't start for him at college. He says it would start one day and not the next. It finally wouldn't start at all. I went down to fix it, checked the battery voltage and it read 10 Volts. I bought a new battery because it was due for a change anyway. i changed the battery, cleaned all the terminals and the car started the first time and about 10 subsequent other times. I came home from his college and got a call that the car wouldn't start. He is now about 120 miles from his college, I'm going down in the morning to swap cars and bring his home if I can get it started. I told him to try and start the car in neutral in case the neutral safety switch might be bad. Other than checking all the normal connections what else could be the problem. Warning lights are coming on but the car won't turn over. I'm leaving early in the morning. Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

Does the car crank but not start, or does it just click when you try and start it. If it cranks and does not start it could be the electrical portion of the ignition needs repairing. I just went through 2 weeks of trying to figure that one out on my 92 GXE. On my car at least, I could tell when it was not going to start becasue when I turned the key to "on" all the idiot lights would comeon except for the "check engine" light. If the check engine light came on I knew the car was going to start. The contacts between on and start kinda melt together. The part was $25 and it took about 15min to cahnge after I got the lower dash and steering column covers off. If this could be your issue and you want more details email me. matthewpduggan@hotmail.com.

Good Luck
Matthew

 

Some of the maximas on the forum are requiring occasionally alot of cranking to start-don't know if it's your sons problem, but maybe he hasn't cranked the heck of it, as sometimes seems to be needed, though that is no real solution. No real answer yet of whats going on. Some have wondered about distributor caps, relays under the hood, or dying fuel pumps Definitely check the above post regarding the check engine light not coming on and needing a new ignition switch. Did the old battery die of old age or could the alternator or alt belt be bad? Is the starter original? Has the car had tune ups-fuel filter, plugs, wires, rotor, cap?

 

About 10 or so cranks and some night driving would sound about right to drain a new battery. Get it started with a jump and then measure the voltage at the battery with the car running. If it's only 12-13 volts, the alternator is probably going out.

If the car runs horribly, it could be a tune issue.

 

One thing I should mention. When my did finally start it ran smooth. Another sympton of the ignition going bad is the car just stalls at idle driving, doesn't matter. It only happened to me 3 times thank god. The car acts like you turn the ignition of, you look down at 0 RPMs. When this happened I put the hazards on got the car into neutral, and turned the key to on, if the check engine light came on I cranked it if not tried again. One thing to be careful of is "DO NOT PULL THE KEY OUT", I almost pulled this idiot move myself at 50MPH. I got used to doing that becasue I thought the key position in the ignition could have something to do with it. I was also on a turn, and I guarantee I would have ended up in a cactus patch if I had. Let us know how it goes.
Cheers,
Matthew

 

Ignore my last response my car still has the problem. Everytime I have my battery unhooked for a while the problem seems to go away for a bit??????

Matthew