My '95 Maxima was bought new and has 88K miles. It has been a great car. I have only one problem. For the past 10K miles or so there has been a drag or sticking noise when the engine is started. This appears to be the starter. It does this when the engine is started cold and is worse, the colder the weather. After engine is warmed up it will not drag. Has anyone had this problem?

 

I have had that happen to my '95 for the last 6 months or so. I have never tried to sold it, but now that you say that it DOES sound like the starter engaged after it turns over. When I put in my new motor I will replace the starter anyway, I'll see if that solves it.

Don

 

Yes, my 95 does that too when it's cold out. Don't know what it is, but I'd like to know if anyone finds out. I haven't thought of it as a big problem, so I left it alone for now.

 

Yeah my 95 max does that also.....been like 5 months...when i got my auto start put in the installer also noticed the noise...

 

Funny you guys are talking about the starter not disengaging, when it's cold out out my starter sounds like it's not engaging the flywheel. Anyone know what I'm talkin about? It sounds like it just sits there and spins, after a few cranks it sounds like it slowley slips into place. Don't like it. Respond if this happens to you as well or if you know what it is. Thanks.

 

I have ocassionally had the same whirring, disengaged sound also, in addition to the dragging problem. Both sound like the starter and/or bendix to me. Question is can it be repaired or is a new starter in order? I'm inclined to run it until it completely goes, but what's the chance of damaging the flywheel or something else?

 

There was a post about a month ago about a solenoid in the starter having trouble retracting becuase of dirty grease in there or something to that effect. The person said that they took it out and cleaned it and it hasn't made the noise since. Mine does it SOMETIMES and I'm going to take it out if I get the time but I'm not going to worry about it too much because a bunch of people said that they have left it to continue doing it and nothing bad has happened to it.

 

I used to hear a noise when starting the car in the morning that sounded like the engine was no being properly lubricated. It was once so bad I immediately shut the car off and called a tow truck to take it to the dealer. It was under warranty then. Dealer changed the oil and said it was bc I was using an aftermarket oil filter. They installed a Nissan filter and the car was ok for the time being. I would still notice this noise on occasion after that and eventually went to using a thinner oil. I live in South FL and was using like 10W30 Castrol before. I now use 5-50 Castrol Synthetic and haven't had the problem again.

I don't know if this is even the same noise you're hearing but just wanted to share my experience since I don't exactly know the noise you're describing.

There is a TSB on oil filters for our cars you know. I'm now using Nissan filters just to be on the safe side. They're only a little more expensive.

 

i have a 95 and it doesn't do any of that, just sometimes, very rarely it will start hard in the cold.
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