I was having some trouble with my starter( at least i think it was my starter). Sometimes it would grind at the initial turn of the key. Sometimes it would grind for about 2 seconds after the car had started. At the end, it just died. When i turn the key it just clicks once. The battery is Brand new and is working perfectly fine.
Well, im getting my new starter from pinnacle nissan tomorrow (thursday). Im thinking about changing it myself. I cant seem to find a detailed write up. I can take off my intake and all that but im alittle scared to mess with the starter. Is it as simple as it looks. Can anyone give me any advice. I saw a write up on how to regrease it but it doesnt tell me exactly how to remove it. Is it bolted on? Screwed on? Is there any special instructions when replacing it? any special aligning that has to take place?

I appreciate all the support. Thanks

 

It is very simple.

Disconnect the battery
Take off the intake.
Look at the top of the tranny you'll see the starter
14mm socket will get off the frist bolt and a 17mm socket for the 2nd one.
a brake bar of at least a 1' should make very light work of the bolts if there any trouble at all.
there is one connector to disconnect, and one nut to take off of the starter.
Put the new one in and reverse.

Space can get limited but its a 1hr job at most, since its your first time.

I'd advice doing it yourself, its very easy and you'll save about $70 for having shop do it.

 

Honestly it takes 5mins man..... too easy.

(see post above for instructions.) be sure to disconnect battery.

 

What is that 1 nut on the starter for? How do you know if the wire going from the baterry to the starter is good?

 

The nut is for the Ground wire IIRC. Generally speaking the wires do not go bad. They would have to be cut or corroaded pretty badly.

on MDeezy's write up. Its a very easy job to do. First time took me half an hour.

 

I love when people give 5 mins as an example.

 

In reality it takes about 25 mins if you've done it before and mabye 35 mins for a first timer.

Actually, I believe there are 3 bolts. 1 bolt which you might need a breaker bar for is and tranny to engine bolt and another connects a direct power wire from the battery(I believe its 12mm I forget). You will also have disconnect a harness which is the signal wire from the ignition switch.

 

+1 piece of cake. It took me 1.5 hours the first time but that's mainly because I had a broken hand, and my friend who I got to help is very technically declined.

 

dont listen to any of these goofs who say in can be done in 15min min...no way. Took me about 2 hours but i took my time and it was also frigid out. The big bolt on the starter is a PITA. Grab the biggest breaker bar you can find and just go at it. Good Luck!

 

I had to take off the coolent line bracket to get to my sister's starter. One bolt was behind there so it took about 20-30min good luck

 

I just did my starter and mdeezy is 100% accurate. Make sure to get a big breaker bar and all will be good. Use metric tools because the SAE just don't fit right.

 

on the breaker bar, which I don't have so it was a pain.

And ofcourse use metric tools this is a Japanese car.

 

What the hell is a breaker bar? I dont like the term breaking as i'm always breaking something with my brutal strength !!! lol.. Im going to give it a shot. If i run into any trouble in the process saturday, hopefully some of you guys will be available for support.

 

A breaker bar, or cheater bar, is basically just a long handle for your ratchet. It lets you apply more torque to the bolt with less force. I use a nice thick lead pipe that's probably 2 and a half feet long that I slip over the handle of my 1/2" drive ratchet, it makes it a lot easier to break bolts free.

 

American made cars use metric too...............

 

are the bolts usually that bad? WD40?!?! What do you think.?

 

PB Blaster > WD40

 

Well, I'd agree PB Blaster if they are rusted at all, but I don't think they would be on the starter. The breaker bar is moreso just for bolts that are torqued down heavily. I don't remember the torque spec on the starter bolts off the top of my head, but I recall them being on there pretty tight.

 

When you get the new starter in the mail take a look at it. This is exaclty what the current one looks like. If you bring the new starter out to the car you can get an feel for where the bolts are and how the starter should go in.

If the large bolt won't come out use a pipe or something to extended the arm of your shocket (gives you more torque). If that doesn't work try WD40 on the bolt. DO NOT STRIP THE BOLT. Last recourse is to take a hammer and knock the head of the bolt a couple times fairly lightly but not like a p*ssy. It should free the threads then and come out. While using a hammer seems kind of "crazy" it doesn't manage the threads and the bolt is fine.

I only mention this because that is what I went through my first time, which was a couple weeks ago. I used the how-to from the sticks as the pictures are good in showing where the starter is. Also you may want to find a Hayes or download the FSM. I'd e-mail it but it's like 400 some mbytes.

While you are replacing the starter clean the TB (throttle body, how-to in sticky's)

GOOD LUCK. Took me about and hour.

 

i dont know how well you are with your hands, but it real easy even if you are kinda dumb, it took me less than 30 mins to change mine last week, and i didnt eveen take my short ram intake off, i disconneceted it and pushed it aside, and i just ised a regular 6inch handle rachet............. its only two dumb bolts, just do what they guys say and spray it first to be on the safe and easy side....peice-a-cake

 

yea my starter has been in my car since we bought the car brand new now it's 2006 it's starting to act bad, it's time change it.. how much do the cost? just the starter itself.

 

Any tips on getting at the 2nd bolt on the starter? The one closest to the firewall.

Do you have to use an extension and angle sockets? I go to the last bolt and had to abandon the starter swap.

ANy suggestiosn would be helpful.

k.

 

I just used an extension.

 

6" extension and a breaker bar worked wonders for me.

I just did my starter too, it took me a lot longer than it should've (broke 2 ratchets, wrong extensions, etc) but if I had everything to begin with it would've been a 1 hour job. It really was quite easy.

 

I got mine at A1 Imports for $50.

 

This is deffintely one of the simplest things to replace on a maxima. I've taken it out 3 times, took me about 10 mins the last time.

Mdeezy's quick reference is perfect there is no major work involved.

1 thing - When you get the new starter, compare it to the number of teeth on the gear of the old one. Make sure theyre equal!

 

Guys, thank you very much for all your support. I took care of it. I received my new one from pinnacle nissan and replaced it in about 1.5 hours. I could not take the big (11/16) bolt off. I broke my ratchet in half. I had to turn the house upside down at 11:30 at night to find another one. I found it and continued to work on it. It wouldnt come off. I sprayed PB blaster and let it sink in for about 15-20 minutes.. I finally got it off.. i changed it with no problem. Unfortunately, the car has been sitting there for about 2 weeks dead!!! We got like 24" of snow.. when i put the starter, the battery was dead.. i jumped it with my other car (accord coupe v6).. when i went to turn it on, it cranked for about 45 seconds because it has been sitting there for so long.. i took it for a spin and when i came back, i shut it off and turned it back on.. wow, it sounds like a brand new car.. it starts up in about 1/2 a second.. im very happy... thanks again for all the help!!!!!!!!

PS: my check engine light is on and i have no clue why..i plugged everything back.. I gotta check that out next.. stay tuned for the next adventure..

 

I used wd40 and a hammer. I think I'm probably the only person on here that used a hammer to TAP the bolt head. Didn't break any sockets or anything, not even the bolt.

 

Mine cost about $200 then with the core replacement ($60) it was around $130 with tax from Advanced Auto. It's expensive but it's brand new and I don't imagine I'll need another one for a LONG time as the one I replaced was the original for my 98 max.

 

I pulled my starter out, cleaned it, regreased it, put it back in and problem solved.

 

i wish i got that kinda deal, paid $151 at autozone.......

 

A1 is a junkyard, but they give a lifetime warranty on starters.

 

Does anyone have any idea why my check engine light came on if everything is plugged in and working well. The car runs and starts perfectly. The car was sitting in my yard for over a week.

 

Run the ECU codes...and find out what's wrong with it, couldn't be easier.

 

Take it to Autozone. They will pull the codes for free.

 

common mann, just go outside, pull the codes and get back here, its an A-B-C thing.....

 

I did the same thing. Got it off of an eBay junkyard... if this one breaks, I'll just get the OE one rebuilt and stick that one in.

 

I think i sprayed too much PB blaster. I disconnected my battery to see if it resets and doesnt come back on. If not, i will swing by autozone or something.

 

P01335 is the code i got from autozone. Something about a misfire!!! What is that? They couldn't tell me !! Help!

 

FYI anyone who`s wondering how the big bolt came off, all you need is a breaker bar and a deep socket.
as of the smaller bolt just bent the bracket up and bend it back down after you are done.

anyway. a little thread jacking .
I re-greased my starter and it is still making that grinding noise. it sounds a lot better then before but still make a little noise..I use some muti-purpose grease i have laying around. should i use thicker grease ???