My 1992 Maxima GXE won't start. I just put in a new starter (the third one on a car i got 2 weeks ago from a dealer), and it starts sometimes, but other times, it will only start after i put it in neutral and then in park. and sometimes that does not even work at all. Please, if anyone knows what it is, ie - Crank shaft sensor or ECU or whatever, let me know. I have posted once before and got no replies. Any help would be appreciated!

 

once started do you have trouble getting it into gear? ie Drive. if you have to move the shifter into neutral and then park it sounds like park may not be engaging properly. if not then you can't start the car because it technically isn't in park. my guess would be a shifter bushing if this is true...

 

like Chris said might be a bushing or also could be the neutral inhibitor switch(the fix is described in the Haynes manual). I know some of the 4th gen guys had the crank angle sensor prob, but I don't think we do....

 

Just like the other guys said, it's probably not starting because it's not properly in "park." Which isn't your fault, it's nissans' fault.

If you have trouble starting the car in "park" you can always shift down to neutral and start in neutral. You can also jiggle it around in park and then try. I'm surprised the dealer didn't know this and is just selling you starters, this is a common problem for early 90's nissans.

 

Thanks guys, sometimes i do have a hard time getting it into drive after i have started it up. Is there an easy fix for this starting problem? How serious is it? Also, i just bought a chilton's manual for this car, will that help, or is haynes better? (i couldn't find a haynes one for cheap)

 

It sounds like it is the shifter bushing. FSM (Factory Service Manual) is the best but i think haynes would be the second best because of the illustrations. The bushing is very cheap and you just need to take out old and replace with new. I don't have easy access to my FSM at the moment or I'd give you good instructions. If you're not mechanically inclined i'd have the dealer do it but they charge about $70 to replace...

 

Does it make a difference that my car is automatic rather than a manual?

 

nope...this only applies to automatics anyway

 

Thanks. I'll let you know how it works out.