Starters and sticky grease don't mix
 

I previosly posted about my 'no cranking' trouble but
thought a new thread was in order.

I believe I have solved my no cranking trouble. The cause appears
to have been grease that has turned sticky. This has also been
reported to be the cause of the starter squeeling among other
starter problems. The stickyness could account for the pinion
not moving from the rest position or for not releasing soon
enough from the flywheel gear. The pinion gear has a long
sleeve bushing that slides on a shaft. The contact area is
large and therefore most suseptable to problems from sticky grease.

I concur with a poster who stated he felt that most starter
problems stem from the degraded grease issue and that many
starter/solenoid replacements are unnecessary. So, if your
starter is giving you trouble, it may be worthwhile to check
out the grease issue before replacing stuff.

Here is an account of the fix.

I took out my starter yesterday as I suspected that the solenoid
was not working when I had the 'no cranking' episodes. Removed
intake pieces and battery to allow reasonable access. The 17mm
bolt was tight so I moved a couple of wiring harness connectors
out of the way to avoid damaging them when pulling hard on the
breaker bar. Removed the starter and noticed a black sticky
substance that has been weeping from the little slot in the
lower side of the starter housing.

I took the starter and solenoid completely apart and noted
that the original grease had turned into a sticky black mess
that was gumming up the parts. I also found that the design
of the starter/solenoid mechanism causes the solenoid plunger
to be connected to the starter pinion gear and to move with it.
This means that any restriction in the pinion movement will
also impede the movement of the solenoid plunger.

This all means that if the pinion gear is hanging up on it's
shaft due to degraded grease, then the solenoid plunger will
also be hung up and fail to make the electrical connection
to the starter windings.

I cleaned, greased and assembled the starter and reinstalled
in the car. Starting is fine now and I expect it to remain
that way for a while.

Re: Starters and sticky grease don't mix
 

This grease thing is an issue with every year of the Maxima, from 1st generation on up. You'd think after 20 odd years, Nissan would have discovered the benefits of synthetic grease. I can buy a tube of the stuff for my grease gun at Canadian Tire for 9 or 10 bucks.

very detailed.. i like it..



thank you