last night i tried leaving a friends house but my car would not start at all. the battery is fine because the headlights worked no problem along with all of the interior lights and radio. While turning the key it made a little noise like something was relaying a signal, although it was not my solenoid just clicking. i just replaced my starter about two weeks ago, and now i am lost. any help would be appreciated.

 

If you have an aftermarket security system, that might be the culprit. Perhaps a relay is stuck or something. That's the ONLY thing I could think of, off the top of my head.

 

it does sound like your battery..

What happens is that the battery is drained far enough that it won't have enough power to start the car, however it'll still power everthing else up. Try jump starting it, won't hurt to give it a shot.

 

i do not have an aftermarket security system. i will try jumpstarting it this afternoon(as well as reading my chiltons and searching the web a bit). thanks guys.

 

if auto u may have the same problem as mine....
push the stick to make sure its all teh way in park....

 

my car is not auto. tonight i looked at the connection of the starter to the battery and noticed a funny connector wire between the female and male pieces. i took it out and connected it normally, so i will see where it goes from here.

 

I haven't had much experience with 5-speed maximas, but on most newer cars you have to have the clutch in (who would try otherwise?) and they won't crank without it. If the little switch on your clutch is tweakin out, that might be the problem.

Once again, I'm not sure if this is true on 3rd gen maximas or not, but I guess it couldnt hurt to look. I haven't ever tried to start a manual transmission without the clutch in though, so don't look at me like that...

 

Could be a bad alternator which is not charging the battery back to 12 volts. Once you get the car started go to atuo zone and have them test the charging system. The alternator should be putting out about 15 volts under load. Also could be the clutch relay switch located underneath the hood, along the left fender shroud. The relay is blue in color and costs about $20.