Max won't start
 

I just had my alternator and battery replaced about a month ago and my max has been starting and running fine, but this morning i got in my car to go somewhere and it wouldn't turn over, it didn't even try to turn over i turned the key and it didn't do anything no noise or nothing. All the lights turn on and work but when i turn the key nothing. What i am thinking is that it is the starter but i was wondering what some people think before i take it to the dealership and get ripped off.

push the shifter release button, shift to neutral, and then try it. I had this problem in july 2006. called my brother for a jumpstart but when he got there the car started fine. turns out the shift cable bushing was gone from my shifter. got it from the dealer for about 5 bucks, tossed it in (total labor from the time i put my jack under the car to the time i got in the car and drove away.. 5 minutes), and i never had any more problems. Now keep in mind that this was not my main symptom. my main symptom of the missing bushing as that in order to shift into D from 2, I had to shift into N first and then back to D. If you have ever had to go past a gear to get into the gear you really want, then this is probably your problem.

I've got the same issue just been too lazy to change the bushing. Currently all I have to do to make sure mine starts is bump the shifter up a little to be sure its in park.

dude. you live in raleigh. PM me, drive over here, buy me a coke, and i'll change it for you. for a McD's double cheeseburger i'll even give you the no-longer-needed bushing off my car, since i'm just finishing up my 5spd swap. and don't be alarmed by the fact that i look like a monster right now.. haven't shaved in 2 weeks.

okay so the max sat in the garage yesterday, and i didn't try to start it. Today i tried to start it and it started right up. So im assuming my new alternator is bad would i be correct?

1. make sure you have good tight/clean connections at the battery.

2. make sure battery is charged (check with multimeter or have autozone check the batt for you)

3. If all above check out ok, then i would suspect a bad shifter bushing or a slowly dying starter as your cause.

Next time it does this no start issue, try to bump the shifter around a little to check for a bushing issue..if no go there, then try tapping on the starter with a hammer, then try to restart.If it starts after tapping, then you found your problem..

good luck. :)

i put my money on ur shifter.. do u have an aftermarket alarm?

No the alarm is stock. This may be a stupid question but why would the shifter bushing have anything to do with the car starting? and what is a shifter bushing anyway?

:reading:--->http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=404196

When the little plastic shifter bushing wears out, it will leave some play in the shifter stalk, then the safety feature built into the car that prevents you from starting the car in any drive gears comes into play, it thinks the car is in reverse due to the shifter slop, hence the no start issue.

its a failsafe. so your car wont start in other gears other then park. if that shifter bushing is worn out, the car may not be sure it's in park even though YOU see it is in park. moving it around a bit engages the park and the car will start.

edit: green beat me to it

oh I see. I have an appointment on Friday to have the Passenger side axle replaced since the cv joint is starting to click around turns as the cv boot broke so i'll have them look at the bushing.

Thanks for all the help I appreciate it :)

Even the automatic has a cable linkage to the tranny, the shifter bushings are underneath the car and they help connect the shift lever to a cable. You can shift without the bushings but its sloppy. So, without the bushings, you may be in Park, but something is far enough out of line to keep the circuit open, and thus no start.

Mine is like that, I just push forward on the shifter and it will start. I think of it as a part time anti theft device.

would the bushing have any effect on how the car shifts when driving or just when starting the car. The reason I ask is that when the car has been shifting recently its felt weird like its not shifting right or shifting late at slow speeds when it shifts from 1st to 2nd.

thats just your autotragic showing it's age

Thats what i thought just wanted someone elses opinion on it

One thing I noticed with mine is when I try to drive in 1st the one-way clutch is activated, thus I get power to the wheels, but no engine braking effect when I lift throttle. I would say its a bad idea to shift manually with bad bushings as the computer is getting the wrong idea about things.

actually it's park or neutral. if you have the key in "start", and the gear in Drive, you can hold the key like that and slap the shifter up to start the car.. not that this is in any way necessary but it gives a demonstration of how the safety feature works.

Hey, thosee treadmill guys are just envious as they spend the day sticking to the stick... The automato is great if well serviced. I recorded my trip from tragicomiics to excellence [that is; Connectors cleanup, TPS problem]: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/14 --> p.15

Just a hint, if you are going to replace the shifter bushing, do yourself a favor and replace both bushings. There is one located at the transmission and one under the car at your shifter.
Use the search engine for more details on how to replace them yourself as this topic has been discussed multiple times in the last few years. Both bushings are less than $5 each. Good luck.

well the cars getting looked at today so if it is the bushings that are bad ill take your
advice and replace them both thanks

hey could his ignition switch be no good?

you rock lol

old thread i know but forgive me. capedcadaver sold me the shifter off his old auto trans with a bushing on it. i just got around to replacing it last night the one i took off of my car didnt even have a bushing, i guess it rotted off completely. DAMN what a difference!

glad it all worked for you. Did you ever get the plug changed over on the speed sensor?

yeah i did but the speedometer is still reading weird so i guess that wasnt the problem

hmm. well unfortunately the parts car's speedometer doesn't work properly so the only one i've got is the one that's in my car now.

I wonder if I still have my old cluster...

Get your lazy *** out to your garage and look for it..:o :shiner:

one of these days I will.
I still have windows, center console, door panels, for sure. manual shift boot too.

how about a shift knob? the leather is coming off mine...

nope, I only have the boot because of an interesting project I had planned, but never brought to fruition.

Maybe check your fuel pump. My car did what yours was doing and it was in fact the fuel pump. They tested the sending unit too.

RE: Fuel Pump

This solved my problem. It wasn't doing anything and the starter, battery, and alternator were fine. At first I was just getting a click sound, then later on nothing. I tried jumping the batter and starting, and sparks started coming out the battery and a small amount of smoke.

Also I replaced my spark plugs too with NGK BKR6EGP. Prior to this, I replaced the distributor cap, rotor, and spark plug wires...but these parts didn't fix the no-start problem, for me it was the fuel pump.

:rolleyes:

Its common that fuel pump repair is the only one affecting fuel pump failure...:)

Any other tuneup will help to face the future.

Smoke empowers all computers, as it escapes, no way to pump it back. Hope it was just battery battery... I guess alt swap is waiting around your corner? Here's some Salt: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/23

You are the maxima maniac...if that is in fact you that created that monstrosity, I just spent 1.5 hrs copying and pasting your whole thing into a *.doc file. I tried to do PDF but it wouldn't transfer the text. Those 25 pages are incredible.

They didn't do any repair on the fuel pump...the guy claims that he tested it and got 'no pressure' or something...I can't remember what reason, but I bought the Bosch replacement and he installed it. Next he told me 2 injectors were blown so I had to replace those at 90.00 a pop plus labor...they were re-built ones. He adds on $40.00 after the estimate as "test for mis-fire". 2-hrs labor for the injectors replacement. 2 hrs labor for the fuel pump. I felt scammed.

Next theres a whole in the header pipe so I probably have to replace that...is this a tough job or straight forward?

Had I known about this website earlier, I probably would have spent the money on extra new tools and attempted the repairs myself. I don't know about you guys, but I get the feeling that many auto mechanics are possibly the biggest scam artists on earth. (I thought I was a scammer opportunist (I'm a Oil Man), but these guys scam me - they beat me)

Yes, just five yrs of fun, 6,615 illustrations as today. Maniac? Mmm yes, hands start to shake, if no Maxima cake...

now it needs some links to ads :wall:

Help me out...

All sweets remains unpublished. And t hat would create at least traffic. Dont want to do that on CDomain.

(Organizationally - whole collection is pile of crap, life happens... Also those pages are hard to read, Cardomain doesn't even contain least minimum text formatting capability :(

Tell me what you need and it will be done.
I've got tons of space, and bandwidth available.
I can configure you an FTP account so you can just upload whatever you need to without being limited.