Does anyone know if the starter on my '98 can be easily disassembled and lubricated? With the onset of cold weather it seems as though the starter hangs up for a split second, first thing in the morning. I believe the grease inside has hardened over the years. Is the starter serviceable, or is it time for a new one? Ed

 

Try this

 

This sounds exactly like the problem...will give it a try.
thx...ed

 

Ed,

I've done that twice. The first time was with whatever grease I had in the basement. The noise was back within a month. The second time, I used the Series 2000 grease. Worked like a charm.

 

Alrighty

well I finally got my starter fixed last night... My Bendix gear was finished it seems like. It cost me 80$CDN to fix it.

When I would start my car it would simply spin.... eventually i would hear some grinding... i'd stop the start process, when i would start again, it would start right up.

 

Thats an interesting write up. Maybe i'll grease my starter up since its getting old.

 

We've had some cooler weather in San Antonio these past few days (mid 30's at night) and this is the first the problem has surfaced. It did it again today at noon after the car sat out all morning. I have a tube of the Series 2000 grease that I would no doubt use. I also service several other Maxima's for folks and one in particular (a '96) has this problem big-time. I offered to replace the starter for the guy last summer but he didn't want to spend the money until the other one failed. I would imagine this re-greasing effort would take a couple hours to perform...should be pretty straight forward....thanks for the support! ed

 

The 95's and 96's were the worst one's. Even the new starters do develop this problem. That starter motor soaks up a lot of heat sitting where it does and the grease cooks fairly easily.

It might take you a little over an hour the first you do it, but you get better at it very quickly. I would much rather give up my time and .50 worth of grease than pay $120 for another starter.

 

$120 for another starter? Why did my friend say it cost $450 to replace his starter on his '97 GLE at the Nissan dealership?! He said labor was only $100 though, so the part itself must've been over $300.

 

I've seen rebuilt one's at Autozone for $120, but of course the quality is questionable. There's another company that offers them as well for this price, I just can't remember their name. Several people from here have bought them. Your friend probably got a brand new one, but the problem still exists with them as well. I would rather play the odds on the rebuilt ones than throw a new one in there. Labor on the swap is easy to DIY and the replacement should be free after that.