It seems there is a parttern with this generations's maximas and ignition switchs: They fail when old.

There's also a habit, or pattern with Americans: Spend $30 bucks and replace it. No further investigation needed. See below.

The trick to start the car when the switch is failing: Take off the knee bolster plastic, steering column plastic, pull out the ignition switch (its on the left, you need to undo its two small screws), insert any key into the plastic switch... and ... voila!
Note: This will work if the switch is still good but there was some play in the connection between the lock and the electric switch.

Replacing the switch is expensive, the part costs $30. Instead, I will see if I can make the mechanical connection between the electric switch and the lock cilinder key snugger by applying a compound that will harden. At the Autozone, here in Juarez, there is a kind of putty that hardens into a hard plastic. Other suggestions?

Soon I will post here if I was able to rescue the switch for much less than $30. In the meantime, I'm good to go since I am starting my car with the switch pulled out through the fuse opening. The dashboard is in the meantime nicely closed up.

 

Are you kidding me? I'll pay $30 for a new one any day...

 

Um, that's just 'make work', no way, just replace the switch.

 

you did all that to save $30? lol why dont you just spend the $30 instead of going thru all that work?

 

well. if this actually does work, thanks for telling everyone a quick & easy way to steal a maxima.

 

yeah, really brilliant moron. good thinking..........

 

Can't steal the automatic Maxima like this. SHIFT LOCK means that the stick won't get out of park without the ignition cylinder turned. So I still had to put on the key in the lock and turn it to be able to get it into Drive.

 

It was so simple! I just put some paper in the female plastic hole of the switch to get rid of the play that wasn't letting the key to be able to reach START. Then I put the ignition switch back into the lock cylinder, and VOILA!!

Now my car starts perfectly and it didn't cost me a cent.

 

This is probably one of the cheapest parts I have replaced and replacing it should work for the rest of the life of our cars!

I could see if the part was $300 or something, but come on, just buy a new one!

 

in my days of knowing shady people i heard quite a few times just how easy my car was to steal. any car that doesn't have some sort of engine kill function takes about 2 minutes to steal, so no one is discovering the new world here.

that and i learned at least three ways to disable lock nuts (without the key, ofcourse).

the folks i learned this from are now marines and one is a tank commander