Okay so my maxima has always had some problems starting, in that once in a while the starter motor would not engage at all. usually i would just have to try turning the key a couple of times before it worked, and once i had to push the A/T all the way into park. now lately, when i turn the key, i have to wait a second or two before the starter motor engages, and i'm fine
however, yesterday i tried to start the car, and it would not engage again. i try repeatedly, with no sucess. i tried shifting the to neutral, and back to park, but with no luck? what is going on? what could possibly have gone bad all of sudden? what/where under the hood can i fiddle with to fix this, or at the least, get the car started one more time? any help is appreciated
joe

 

It's probably not under the hood. The problem is probably the auto shifter switches/contacts. Or the mechanism to enable disable the starter is loose. Take the center cover off and see if you can find something.

 

I would like to do that during my lunch break, but unfortunately the car is sitting in the parking lot at work, so I can't spend as much time as I would like on it...anyways, is there anyways I can bypass the problem and get the car started?

 

Try the old "hammer on the starter motor" trick to "wake it up". You may have a sticky solenoid that is preventing the starter gear from engaging.

 

alright...the problem (I think) ended up being a loss of contact with some type of card (security?) that is located below and to the right of the steering wheel, right above my right leg when in the driver's seat. The card has a sort of "hook" sticking out so it can be easily pulled out, so I took it out, and firmly reinserted it. wala, the car starts up fine again.... but what is that card?