Sup guys. This is my first time in the 4th gen forums. I actually have a 5th gen, but was thinking about buying a 4th gen for a daily driver. Here's the deal: The car doesn't start. The guy said that his mechanic friend looked at it, and he said it's either the starter relay of the actual strter itself. My question is this: Is this a common problem for 4th gens? I haven't looked at the car yet, but he's selling it for $700. They're military and leaving the islands very soon. What other problems could it be? Let me know ASAP. thanks in advance, Brandon

 

Starter failure is common.

Does the car crank at all? I assume not.

 

If it doesnt crank, has a weak crank, or cranks and gets stuck its the starter, replace it and be done with it, very easy to change, takes 15minutes...

 

Car deesn't crank, and the owner said it makes a strange sound?!?! You guys think it could be anything else? The owner said the car ran fine before it crapped out. Now, does the starter slowly start to die, or does it just die one time? Thanks again for all the great responses.

 

starter will sometimes show signs of dying(slow starting and noises) but sometimes it will just crap out on you one day out of the blue... If it doesnt crank it HAS to be the starter if the car has a charged battery.

 

Not necessarily. It could be the ignition switch, ignition/starter relay, park inhibit switch (auto), clutch inhibit switch (manual)...

 

Yeah, I spoke to our mechanic, and he also mentioned that it could be ignition related also. You guys think it could be something wrong with the actual motor itself? Could the motor have just seized? Let me know. Wow, you guys post up real quick!

 

chances are rare, grab a multimeter and test the lead that goes to the starter for current, if its being supplied, its the starter, if theres no current check ignition switch..

I can almost bet its the starter tho thats why I didnt mention any of the above !

 

Tell Mr. Mechanic to disconnect the 12V+ wire (its a clip) that cranks the starter, and plug it into his multimeter (He should have one?), get in teh car, hold the ignition and crank and hold and see if 12V shows up.. If it does, replace the starter, if not troubleshoot the Ignition Switch(Usally have to turn key, twist up for it to work when its defective)..

Simple way to make sure its not a switch/fuse and the actual starter itself.

 

s0ber - I knew you knew, I was just taking the chance I had to bug ya!

That tip on the starter harness is key I've always wondered how eliminate all the other things I mentioned... I suppose, just to be complete, the other lead of the multimeter needs to be grounded to the block.

 

The owner still has the car. I actually have never even seen the car yet. I just saw it posted in the local forums and called the owner. I'm going to try and go meet up with the owner a little later to check out the car. Thanks again!

 

**** for $700 but it try to fix it, and if it does not work part it out and make money on it.

 

I'd rather not part it out. It would be so much easier to just sell the whole thing. We'll see. I'm going to look at the car tomorrow.

 

You guys think it's possible that there's something else wrong with motor itself?

 

Thanks again for all the quick responses. I've decided to not get the car. A friend of mine ran a Carfax, and the owner was not completely honest about all of the facts. Now, I'm not sure how completely accurate these Carfax reports are. But a few things kind of raised an eyebrow. First off, the car had a clear history.....no major accidents, floods, etc... But, the owner said that the car had multiple owners, but the Carfax report said that there has only been 1 owner. Also the owner said that they just bought the car and then a week later the starter died. They said the mileage was 116,038. The last noted mileage from Carfax was 116,038......but that was back in November of 2005. Strange?! After reading that, I was sketchy about if that may be the only problem. Oh well, IMO, it's just not worth it. Thanks again for all of your input.

 

Sometimes going by your gut feel is the right thing to do. It sounded like you weren't comfortable with the car and you've done the right thing.

 

True, for all you know the motor is hydrolocked, and after you wasted ~100 bucks on a new starter, the thing wont move anyway. Either way, good call, hope you can find another one

 

I had starter issues this past weekend. my maxima has 198k w/original starter. I replaced it along with the inhibit relay and the ignition relay. That fixed my problem.

 

werd! I was only going to buy it so I could flip it and make a few bucks . I guess I'll just wait for another deal to come along. What I'm really looking for is a cherry s13 fastback. I'd take my chances if it was a 240. Oh well.