At first I thought this was a battery issue, But I recently replaced the battery that came with the car. If I don't start up my max frequently, It has trouble starting or the battery will die off. Is this an alternator issue? If I let it run then start it back up within 30 mins it starts as its supposed to. Could there be something thats continuously on (maybe a bad fuse) draining my battery?

 

It sounds like it could be your battery being that you have to kinda recharge it twice a day!! I hope someone can help. Im still learning!!!

 

Correction to my statement. I meant it could be your ALTERNATOR. i had that problem w/ my wifes car..

 

yeh max's have really bad alternators. i would replace it one way or another. you'll save urself a big headache.

 

Had the same problem, I replaced my alternator today, and it starts up on point. Before it would take awhile to start, sometimes it would start right then and there. Trust me, its your alternator.

 

And as always if that don't fix it try replacing your ignition switch. The factory ones had bad solder points that caused shorts when cranking(hence the new ones solder leads are FAR apart). It's under your steering column.

 

Oh really? I'd like to know where that BS came from? The 97-98 model had a recall, not that many cars even, and that was the extent of the alternator problem. Where did the "maximas have really bad alternators" part come from?

 

uh oh.. dave is pulling a dave.... (inside joke)

 

It does sound like a bad alternator, mine went at 130k miles.

 

funny how mine went at 39k

 

mine seems to be okay at .. 100002 k.. =) still starts on the 1st turn of the key and for the big 100000 im spending the whole day cleaning and polishing.. and before that some mobile 1 syn oil change.. hehehe

 

im still on my first alternator at 153000

 

Only certain months of the 97' SE's were recalled. Unfortunately mine was one of them!

 

98s too....

 

My alternator went till 243,000- at 242,000 I installed the first huge demanding system though, that may have sucked the rest of the life out of it.