XXXL Cracker

iTrader: (3)

I went to start my car today and I get nothing from the starter. Alternator is good as well as the battery so.................I realized it was time for a new starter. It has been making some funky noise at start up. almost like a grinding noise.

Good news is this happened sitting in my garage. Bad news, Haynes makes it look easier than it is.

I got a replacement starter from Auto Zone:

Actual starter removal is three bolts..... the hard part is getting to the damn thing. I removed the PRCAI, moved two coolant hose, a bracket and some miscellaneous wiring all to get to the two main bolts and the power wire for the starter.

The sense of accomplishment after doing this was priceless. After installing the MEVI, not too much scares em anymore.

Starter cost me $141 and i had to go to the store and get a breaker bar.
The hardest part was making enough room to pull the starter out

Anyway, if anyone has any fourth gen starter removal questions, please feel free to PM or email me!

Supa Lao

iTrader: (1)

Same thing happened to me when I was in Philly visiting my sister. Good thing my sister's fiance had some tools handy or I wouldn't have gotten home

DanSE

iTrader: (1)

How many miles are on your cars? Should I look into replacing my starter soon, its stock (works fine) and has about 75k miles.
Thanks,
Dan

JPMax

iTrader: (10)

Mine made the same grinding noise (only in the winter)for about 2 years before it finally died at about 140k miles.

Supa Lao

iTrader: (1)

Mine lasted like 116k

XXXL Cracker

iTrader: (3)

107,000 - I used to use my car for a sales job which increased the number of starts. It let me know it was going. Grinding noise at start up for almost 1 1/2 months.

BC_95GLE

Mine lasted till about 85k took me a half an hour to replace it but i also blew my engine cont. fuse in the dash which made things a lot more interesting cause i didnt know that would happen. took me about 2 hrs to find that out. Brian

MrEous

iTrader: (11)

I know an org member that disassembled the starter core from the housing while it was still on the car...

...no names, but he's boosted.

PedalKick

I hope all you guys who had your starter replaced verified that the
old one was actually broken. The cause of most 'no cranking' and
starter noises in 4th gens is due to OLD GREASE gumming up the
internals. This condition causes the starter pinion to hang up on
the shaft resulting in the solenoid not making contact closure so
you get no cranking, or slow release from the ring gear making
noises. There has been a number of threads on this topic.

Stephen Max

iTrader: (59)

In my case it was the solenoid that needed replacing, but I found a complete starter at the junkyard for the same price as the solenoid only at Autozone.

zboy

iTrader: (2)

I'm curious about the grinding some of you mentioned. This winter I've noticed that sometimes when I start my car cold, I hear a grinding just after the car started...almost like the starter was staying engaged just a split second too long or something. That mean I should replace my starter this summer?

Stephen Max

iTrader: (59)

Is there a difference between the 95/96 and 97 Maxima? I was able to easily replace my starter without touching any coolant hoses or the prcai....

XXXL Cracker

iTrader: (3)

Not sure. I have an automatic which may make things different. The auto tranny is so damn big I could not find a way to get to the starter from underneath.

My starter was located almost directly underneath the TB.
Dave

JPMax

iTrader: (10)

If you have the time and don't have the money, you can try taking it out and regreasing it first. Go to www.motorvate.ca for instructions.

Otherwise, you can pick up a rebuilt starter from Autozone for about $140 and it's a 30 minute DIY replacement job.