Hello,

I recently bought a 1995 maxima. I have used it for 3 weeks now and driven 700 miles.(with a 500 mile trip)

SInce yesterday, i had problems stsrting the car. but i could start the car on pressing the accelerator. today i took the car to the nissan dealer to get oil change done (for those who ask why the dealer, walmart refused to do it and said some thing was messed up by the dealer last time around ) now, when the mechanic came , he could not start the car.

it would not start with a jumper as well . he said it is probably something with the starter. but could also be the alternator (but with alternator problems , the car should have started with starter )

please advice me whats wrong and waht i need to do.
how much will it cost for
- new starter
- new alternator.

thanks
adib

 

How many miles are on the car? The starter is one of the few problems that '95s have. Most of us here with '95s have already replaced the starter.

 

Just a thought but check the water levels in the battery. My '97 was bone dry this weekend and wouldn't take a jump either. (And I checked it last summer)

 

The 95 maxima has 84K miles on it now.How much would it cost
to buy a new starter. and how much would the installation charge be? do i go in for a particular brand? how much is nissan original starter thanks.

adib

 

I don't know if you live near Atlanta or not, but I had an aftermarket (not Nissan) starter installed for $196. A genuine Nissan starter will cost a good bit more. The aftermarket one has worked well, so I say save some money and get an aftermarket one. About the starting problem: Does the engine turn over when you turn the key to start? Does it make any noise at all? Is the problem intermittent?

 

Just wondering about the filling up of water in the battery...sorry to sound dumbfounded here, but how and from where do you put the water in to fill up the battery?
I have a battery that that has an "eye" that looks green when everything is good...now--if the eye is ever not "green" I would need to add water or it is just dead?

thanks

 

If you have an OEM battery you will see where to fill in water from it's right on top.

As for battery being dry... I'd suggest replacing it now. It's only going to be a matter of time before the battery complete dies on you... and probably will be soon too. When the battery dries up like that and charges were attempted, those electro plate or whatever it's called, take a good beat and won't hold much charge anymore.

I'd recommend a sealed battery... like an optima.

-Shing

 

I have an AC delco battery and if I read correctly on the battery it has 230 cold cranking watts? is that the right measurement? (I see the 230 there)--and I hope that is enough. That battery came with the car and it isn't an OEM battery...so I am assuming that it is a sealed battery? but of course, the top of the battery has a "green" eye viewer and I am not exactly sure if I would one day need to do anything to that...but for now, the battery works fine...

btw, how much cold cranking power does the stock battery have?
just curious...

 

Do you mean 230 Cold Cranking Amps? That's a weak battery. The stock one has about 350CCAs, and I just replaced it on Friday with an Interstate Megatron that has 650CCAs.

 

hi
i got HI LOW starter put in .it cost 142$ before taxes. labor was 35$.

the engine did not start at all..i do not know waht u mean by turn over..it does not make any noise of starting.
the problem was permanent.so i got a new starter.hope that works out.

and get an aftermarket one. About the starting problem: Does the engine turn over when you turn the key to start? Does it make any noise at all? Is the problem intermittent? [/B][/QUOTE]

 

If it's running now, I guess it was the starter. Now the only thing you have to worry about is the oil sending unit leaking.

 

what is the oil sending unit ??

 

An electric sensor in the oil pan under the engine. Some of us have recently noticed oil on the wire and had to replace the unit. It's not too much money, though.

 

I have a 99 SE-Limited and the battery works just fine but it does not start as fast as I think it should. But I agree with you that the stock battery is weak. Did you see a big difference in how fast the starter turns with the new Interstate with 650CCA's? Thanks for the info.

 

There was definitely a big difference between the new battery and the old battery toward the end of its lifespan. But not a huge difference compared to when the old battery still had all of its cells working. The main thing for me is to have lots of power and reserve time, because I do a lot of engine-off sound system playing, so I need a strong battery. I'm surprised the stock one lasted as long as it did.

 

I went to my local Costco Wholesale back in November and installed a 1000CCA battery in my 98 and it works great. The car fires up instantly (much faster than my stock battery which was 3 years old when I swapped it out). I don't do alot of stereo-playing with the engine off, but I do live north of Boston and it was nice to have the reserve power for the cold weather that we had.

 

yeah, as MicahGLE has said, my car has a weak battery but it turns over pretty decently in starting the car. I think this weekend, I am going to take a look again and see exactly how many cold cranking Amps it has. I could have sworn I saw 230CC on it...if that is the case, yes, I have a butt weak battery.

I also am curious about this: when you guys pull up your windows and have the headlights, stereo, windshield wipers (rainy day for instance), do the lights dim a bit when you are raising the windows with all that load? just curious because mine dims for a bit while there is intense load and I think it might be related to the battery. Would changing the battery to a higer CCA be better?

also, what is a good brand of high CCA battery for a decent price? Another question is what is the expected life-span of a battery? 3-5 years?