Hey guys

Here's my problem. A few weeks ago my car struggled to turn over. It eventually would but it got progressively worse until about last week when it stopped struggling at all. In fact when i turned the key all it did was click. I tried to jump it and ended up replacing the battery just in case. The positive battery lead on the old battery was corroded with a greenish white powder. I'd say that the starter went bad. I'm not sure what the corrosion means though. Any opinions?

Thanks in advance

 

I'm in the process of fixing a similar situation, except with a lot less notice from the car. Monday morning, it struggled to turn over, but started. Went somewhere at lunch, and it did the same thing when I left work. The car sat for twenty minutes, and then would not start when I came back. First try, it turned over a few times. Second try, nothing, not even clicks. Got a jump and still could not get it started. Battery was replaced in December, and tested good (load test). Came back a few hours later and it started up. Drove home, tried to start it again and got nothing. Ended up pulling both the starter and the alternator (thanks to some bad Autozone diagnosis), and took both to a local rebuilder. The alternator was fine and my problem was the starter (according to the rebuilder). Still putting it back together, so I haven't verified for sure.

Your corrosion could definately be related to your weak battery, as it can hurt the output. Make sure you clean the connectors if you didn't already. You may have had a combination of your battery being weak and your starter going out, thus needing more juice. But it could have been just the battery as well. If it's working fine now you may want to give it some time. Or you could pull the starter and have it checked as it's not that difficult a job. I don't recommend that with the alternator though. Good luck.

 

i have the same situation in my car but it's a little different. the problems started after my mom smashed the car and the car got rebuilt. the car does this thing about once in ever 40 times that i start it. and if u keep holding the key it will eventually start. another thing that i noticed is that whenver u try to do that, the trip odomters get reset as well as the stereo so i can guess it's the battery. i'm planning to replace the batter ysoon. think it'll fix it?

 

yea this problem happened to me too. I noticed that every time I started the car, it seem to take a little longer each time until one night the car wouldnt start at all. It wouldn't turn over or anything. Went to get my batteries checked because I thought it was dead but turns out the starter was bad. Got it replaced and problem solved.

 

Same problem here. Car would only start after the 4 or 5th attempt on an extended crank. Changed the starter and the problem went away.

 

This is the second time for a bad starter for me. My second one went bad yesterday. I had replaced with a bosch remanufactured that last about 2 years. The quick fix to possibly get it to turn over is to tap the starter with the butt of a screwdriver or golf club in my case. Doesn't seem like it does much but just jiggles it enough to turn over a couple more times. It will only work for a few more starts that way before it is completely dead. Get a replacement soon.

 

Glad to see I'm not alone.

 

Can anyone tell me approx. where the starter is located. I thought it was in front of the battery under some fuses, but now that I've had a better look at it, I'm not so sure.

 

I did a short writeup on starter replacement. before you swap out the starter, get a loooong rachet extension or long wrench, and hit the starter a few good times, then try cranking. This worked for me on several occassions until I chagned the starter. Good luck.
Jae

http://thurznite.maximaclubca.com/pi...012%20Starter/

 

This seems to be a very well known problem with Maximas. I've the starter on my 95 replaced in Feb, 2001 with Nissan part. Then it die again in Nov, 2002 (out of warranty). Replaced it again with Autozone starter (World Import) for LLT warranty. It lasts until last month, and this time Autozone gave me a remanufactured Duralast starter. They're no longer carry World Import product due to its reliability issue, even it is made in Japan.

 

I have a similar starting problem, but it seems to get worse as the car sits longer. If the car sits overnight i seem to have some trouble starting in the morning. Once it has been started it starts fine as long as it doesn't sit for approx 4 hours or more. The longer it sits the harder it is to start.

Any idea's?

 

Just an update....It starts!!
Thanks guys, especially thurznite and his guide.
Here's my advice for the rest of you, make sure you have a nice socket set and if you're a total noob like I am, learn to remove the intake before attempting this. Learning as you go was fine just took a little longer than expected.

 

i have the same problem but the thing is i replaced the battery and starter back in feburary. could my starter have gone out that quickly?

 

Good job Drudge! Now you're ready to tackle spark plug changes... Not hard, but takes a lil thinking.

Max Prodigy: if you replaced your starter, it was probably a re-manufactured one. As X5Runner said, it's hit-or-miss with remanufactured stuff. Someone in the 3rd gen forum went through 3 starters and someone else went through 3 alternators... You never know. Try to find one with long warranty. Costs more, but it's like insurance... saves your butt in the future.

Jae