Wax

Throwing this out there in case anyone has and ideas.... my 93 SE has an odd issue. Randomly it cranks for 5-10 seconds before starting. Not all the time. Sometimes when it sits all night it fires right up, sometimes after it sits all night it cranks like crazy. Sometimes it fires right up when it's warm, sometimes it cranks a while. Also has a slight fuel smell when it's doing this. I have found no rhyme or reason to when it does it. Hot or cold, full tank or almost empty, cold weather or warm weather. Nothing seems to matter. I've also let it sit with the key "on" until I hear the fuel pump stop and tried cranking, sometimes it fires, sometimes it cranks a while.


Things I've done/checked:
No leaks from any injectors
decent mpg (around 20-ish mpg because I drive like a **** most of the time)
replaced the fuel filter.
checked cap. It's a vented cap, I've run it both vented and non vented (so there's constant pressure) Neither way matters. When I have the cap set to not vent, there's pressure in the system when I take the cap off, so I don't think there are any leaks in the fuel system.
Checked hoses from the EVAP charcoal can all seem to be leak free

I really feel like it's EVAP related because it seemed to start one time i "topped off" the tank during a fill up, but I'm not sure. Could be a coincidence. I've read that you can eliminate the charcoal can, but never got a definite yes on that. I'm assuming that if I eliminate the can I'd have to plug all of the lines that go in or out of it as to not cause a vacuum leak.

I'm open to any other ideas anyone may have. The car itself runs great, and honestly this isn't even a HUGE deal because it always starts, it's just an annoying problem that bothers me.

crazy4maxima

iTrader: (5)

Check for the usual suspects.
Spark Plugs, coil pack, bad injector, bad fuel line. Also how old is the battery. Bad fuel pump or clogged/dirty filter in the tank? cleaned out Maf sensor? EGR clogged? IACV dirty? Bad O2? Hows your gas milage? maybe your engine is running rich which is why you smell fumes.

Reality sucks

iTrader: (3)

Go to the fuse box inside the car, push all Fuses in tight into its respective terminal, to make sure they are snug in place.. The issue, of loose fuses and Bad contact in the fuse box has caused many guys, whether they knew it or not, Nightmares in diag. This engine, as we all know is running before you can let go of the key #instsantOn..

JC93SE

O2 sensor isn't monitored when engine is cold. One or two coil packs not necessarily an issue- i've driven on three cylinders before.

Anyway- you just reminded me that I have the same issue on one of my VEs- I forgot because I haven't driven it in a long while. I never got too far into the diagnosis- because it would always start after about 10 seconds if it didn't otherwise start from the tap of the key. It annoyed me though, because my other VE (just turned 290K) has ALWAYS started after the one second it takes to turn a couple of revolutions the computer needs to see from the CAS that the engine *is* turning and where it's at in the cycle to know when to fire injectors and sparks, and then: perfection. The circumstances that I thought were most often noted were it seemed to happen when the car had sat warm- like after driving to work then coming out to go to lunch, and I think it happened more in warm or hot weather, and maybe if it was sitting in the sun verses shade- or the opposite (??). I think in colder weather it started first thing in the morning better, and would always start back up immediately if I ran into the store for something, or came back to it in 30 mins or an hour no mater what the weather.

Yes you smell fuel- it almost seems as if the injectors are firing but the spark is delayed (I never confirmed- and it's unpredictable anyways) - then it's rich out the exhaust and takes a couple of seconds to clear out the raw fuel- with dark smoke that would almost choke you out in the parking deck. Then it runs fine after that. I swapped CASs between the two cars with no change. I think I swapped ignitors with no change. Coils all fine. Injectors all functional- although I wondered if one/some hadn't started leaking down- never got around to checking. I began to wonder about the IACV, or bad ground(s) somewhere... s***, even the ECU. Don't remember if I considered the MAF. But as I said, never went through the FSM's diagnostics path. Wow, I just remembered how really annoyed I was with that. And, I'm planning to get it driveable again soon. S***!

Reality's point is well taken. I suggest that you actually pull the fuses, observe for general oxidation type corrosion and reinsert them... many computers have been fixed by "reseating" plugs, memory sticks, and chips. If you don't have one, do a search with your favorite search engine for Maxima Service manual- you'll at least find one of the three years at NICOclub. You can save the PDFs of each section! I have gained a lot of specific and general knowledge from that manual over the last 20 years.

Please advise if you find a solution!

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Do you have a spare CPS to swap in?

I just picked up another VE 5 speed and have the long crank issue. It wasn't sporadic, it without fail takes forever to crank up each time.

I have a NEW (aftermarket) CPS unit I bought a few years ago from Rock Auto. I don't remember the brand, maybe Standard Motor Products or something like that, but the point is it's brand new and cost something like $200. I swapped that in last night and the car consistently starts right up now. I started it up about 15 times last night to make sure.

However, in typical VE fashion, with the new CPS installed, the car bucked on me repeatedly on the way to work today and stalled 3 times.

So I guess I'll swap back in the old CPS and have a long crank but no stalling