my 97 has about 57,000 miles on it. pretty low miles on average for this model year. i have recently been experiencing some harder starts. this symptom started happening on my mom's 95 when it had about the same miles. what could be causing this? i know there have been tons of posts on this, but the answers seem to be inconclusive. sometimes i'll crank and the motor won't start. sometimes it cranks for a long time and it barely starts idling. i'm sure this is a very common problem for a lot of people here. what the heck could it be? i tried fuel injection cleaner with no difference. did somebody come up with a definate answer to this common problem?

Try opening the plastic idle adjust screw 1/2 turn. It's near the throttle body.

Worked for me.

bump------------------------

let's solve this problem once and for all.

I have the same problem. My idle is set correctly and I just replaced my fuel filter and coolant temp sensor. It even does it when I turn the key to "ON" and let the fuel pump come on for a few seconds. A fix would be great!!

I agree... I am getting new plugs and gonna try that, and if it doesn't work, am going to start looking at the injectors and fuel lines. If not that,will check and see if its the coil packs...does anyone else have an idea?

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anyone else fix their starting issue?

well mine always starts in 2 to 4 turns and runs smooth as soon as it starts even in -5 degress. If its warm out it starts in 1 or less turn somtimes, specially if it hasnt been long since it was turned off...

Ya I am sick of feathering the gas every morning when it fires up then the rpms begin to plummet to zero.

Adjusting idle doesnt help. It still needs gas to reach the new setting before it stalls. I even tried it set so high my car sounds like a jet ramming air through the intake.......shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Cleaning throttle body didnt help.

Dont bother with the plugs that doesnt help me any....fuel system is in check except I am suspicious of the pump?

Actually I've learned to live with the problem. You know your gonna have a good day the few times they do fire up without help from the gas pedal though

I made the same thread by accident since I have the same porblem. Could this also be related to my crappy gas milage: 220miles/tank 70% city drivng. This sucks!

The reason i am changing my plugs is their age and wear...they are the originals with 124K...see my point?

I mean, its getting air, i can hear that...Its getting both spark and gas, but maybe not enough at start...could the injectors not be giving enough fuel at start?

what kinda mods do you guys have? I have only an hai that i made with my dad...

*scratches head*

Did anyone check their codes? I have one for my speed sensor, which should make no difference...The transmission i got had a dead one, but dont get me started on that issue...

Speed sensor makes a difference on the gas mileage...thats how the ECM and TCM knows how fast you are going etc...and if its not sending the correct signal to the computers then your ECM and TCM is going to fall back to safe settings which will use imporper air fuel mixture settings and cause bad fuel mileage!

Gas mileage wise...I get about 400 miles per tank! 95% highway driving. I think 220/70% city driving seems resonable but cant be sure

anyone else got an opinon on my oh so wonderful 220/tank 70-75% city driving. More like Zoo since it is Brooklyn

I was getting bad mileage then...my ecu is running far from safe or limp mode...I am still chirping 2nd and 3rd, if i try... if i reset it, it runs the same, and starts the same...

Maybe your crankshaft and/or camshaft position sensors are on their way out...

i would get a code for that, though wouldnt' i?

I'd hate to see what the insides of your mototr looks like,....

Worn plugs cause excessive wear on the motor, As spark plugs grow older, the
ground electrode is slowly eroded away. As the gap grows larger now, the voltage required to bridge this gap increases proportionately. The ignition system must in turn work harder to compensate for this higher voltage requirement and hence there are a significantly greater rate of misfires, or incomplete combustion cycles. Each misfire means lost horsepower, reduced fuel economy and higher emissions.

this is an infortunate problem nissan should have figured out in a recall...it's rediculous to have this. we've owned toyotas with much higher mileage and NEVER a missed a start until the battery went. my 97 only has 56,000! heck, my SR20DET is still holding strong and it had 80,000 when we pulled it from the front clip...(knock on wood). somebody here must have had an answer to the problem.

Clean the metalic dust from both crank position sensors & the cam position sensor so you get nice strong signals for your ingition and fuel injection system.

If you've cleaned the TB, replace the correct ECT sensor and still have hard starts, thats most likely your problem. Those sensors are magnetic and attract metalic dust that makes the signals weak over time. Just remove them and clean the tip with a rag. Your hard starts, hopefully will go away.

I take back what i said about the plugs being the originals, as they werent eroded too badly, but they were worn...i will post pics when i can... It is starting better, but still stuttering. runs like a champ now...will check the sensors...If i can find them...wish me luck...

EDIT: I forgot to clean the TB yesterday, but i will today...what is the ECT sensor?

Engine coolant temperature sensor........

I like cleaning the magnetic sensors idea going to do it now....hopefully a big thanks in advance njmaxseldt....always glad to see you post.

thanks man. will do that thgis afternoon. looks like its gonna be a beautiful afternoon, or at least prettier than its been for the last couple...

how would you find and clean the position sensors? sorry i sound like a noob, but i just wnat to make sure what you are talking about...

There ar actually 2 of them, both down below. #1 Crankshaft position sensor (REF) is on the oil pan just below the crankshaft pulley. I don't know if this is the one we are interested in as much as the other.....#2 Crankshaft position sensor (POS) is located at the rear of the engine near the transaxle bellhousing. Both remove easily, just undo the harness and remove one mounting bolt for each. Wipe clean and replace.....

The camshaft position sensor is a bit easier to locate, its on top of the motor, on the timing chanin case at the front of the engine. Look at your oil cap and go left and down the side of the chain cover its right there maybe 6 inches from the oil cap.

I'd suggest getting yourself a Haynes manual befor goin after the crank sensors they are hard to explain exact location. All 3 are do it yourself and should take less than an hour to remove clean and install. I just have to wait for tomorrow mornings cold start to see if it worked!!

i know you have that shop in NJ,do you have some kind of special where u can clean the coils or sensors and check out my Max.You seam to know the most on maxes on these forums.Also i changed my struts and bearings and my car still rides very hard.I put brand new GXE struts on.Only thing i didnt change was the strut mounts.I definetly want to go to you though because you know the most.what do you think?

i wish there were pics to see where excactly whee there are.i dont want to pull off the wrong thing.

I agree...wish my manual was worth messing with...i hate my chiltons

Haynes has pics that are nice, I'm done we'll see in the morning....

how long did it take you?

My post was at 11:40, then at 1:40 I said I'm done, so you do the math. But it didn't work anyways.....

I wasn't trying to ask a stupid question...

I am just a bit frustrated...

Have you thought of checking your grounds? like the ones for your starter, fuel pump, amongst the rest of them? could that cause it? did you adjust your idle?

Anyone else have any input, mine just started doing this a few days ago. I'm around 95,300. One morning I went out and it took a few tries with it dying on me. Now it does it every morning. It doesn't do it in the evening after work though, just in the morning. It's like something just went. It's not like it was a gradual

I personally dont have any idea why your car started doing this all of a sudden, but if you cant get any suggestions or help here...try the maxima fourm on yahoo those guys might have a fix. If all else fails...take it to the dealer!

my car just hit 57,000 last night. it does this every cold start now. what happened? this is the exact thing that happened to my mom's 95. we have since replaced the coolant temp sensor last fall, but i don't think that was the cause. my parents are insisting it is though. this is embarassing. how can such a common problem happen to a good car? i'm gonna check all the sensors and connections.

coolant temp sensor would make sense. The car would think its warm and not cold, therefore not starting the car properly for a coldstart.

i've been having hard starts as well. As a suggestion for 5spds, there is a button behind the clutch that activates the starter. You could readjust that, so that the clutch has point contact with the button and will turn on the first time.

hmm, but the starter has no problem activating upon depressing the clutch and turning the key...the problem is somewhat consistent upon cold starts, but it also does it intermittently even if it's mildly warm. sometimes it starts perfectly cold also. definately misses one start per day though.

Have you tried replacing your spark plugs?

I don't know that the button would be the problem, unless the starter wouldn't turn at all...But some folks are having that problem as well...