So upon reading several threads about hard starting 4th gens and not seeing anything like what I have going on I decided to post. I rarely drive my max much any more now that I drive for work and put most of the miles on the work van. When I try to start the max after sitting for a day during cranking it sounds like it starts to fire up but in the opposite direction the starter turns. The only reason I say it sounds like it trys to fire up in the opposite direction of the starter is because it stops the starter motor and thats when I let off the key.

Has anyone ever had or even heard of this problem? Are there any ideas as what this could be? I do not have any CEL and I did recenly replace one of the 4 O2 sensors, yes it is a Ca emision. PLEASE HELP

 

Anyone.......anyone

 

weak battery, parasitic drain, weak starter, bad connections or groundz. That's where I would start.

 

So, I went out to start it up today to run some errands and I got a slow turn over like the starter was siezing up. All the lights on the dash and interior lights did not dim what so ever. My thoughts were the starter is shot. Went to Advance auto parts to buy a remand starter with a limited lifetime warranty for $218 including a $60 core. The only catch with the warranty is that the lifetime warranty is only for the first starter, if it fails, the replacement only has a 90 day Ain't that some ****. Anyhow, starts like a champ now and no more whinning noise after start up.

 

sweat man, thanks for the follow-up, I hate when people ask a question and get all kinds of input then never give any back.

 

I figured I would let everyone know that the problem has been resolved so noone wasted thier time replying to a post. I was surprised how easy it was to change the starter. I was figuring I was going to need to climb under the car to do it, got out the jack and stands then I looked in the haynes manual. I'm glad I didn't jack it up and start removing the splash shields. Thanks for the replies.

 

I must have spoke to soon. Well, it still starts right up no more problems with the starter, but it seems I still have a problem with the engine trying to kick in the opposite direction that it should. Does anyone have any ideas about that??? could a leaky injector cause this or a crank or cam position sensor? Please help me I dare not to take it to the STEALership.

 

Hey Groundz, you have to get ahold of me if you are still having problems with this!

About 3 weeks ago I took the car (97 5speed SE 105k) to get the tranny rebuilt cus the differential bearings went. Anyway, got it back and the first thing I noticed was that it was doing this wierd thing that sounded like the starter was binding up and jamming. It cranks then stalls and cranks and stalls and dims the lights. Once it is started, the engine seems to run fine. So argued with the mechanic thinking that he screwed up the ring gear or something on the fly wheel. Three times back and still having problems. I went and put a used starter in it... same problem. Put a brand new rebuild in it... same problem. I noticed that it almost sounds like a cylinder is firing before a piston reaches top dead center and jamming the engine to a halt. I think my theory may be supported because I pulled the fuel pump fuse so the engine wouldnt start... and it will crank to kingdom come with never jamming up... Soon as I give it the fuel again, same problem. Give it a try if you want and let us know what happens. Im thinking the mechanic could have slipped a cam on the timing chain by manually cranking the engine in reverse.

Nick

 

hey! wow, you guys are lucky for the .org, along with myself....... we've all had it, wow I feel dumb for forgetting about how mine did the kickback thing also............. READ THIS

 

Nissan has an updated starter out with an increased amount of teeth on the pinion to help that problem. It is more common than you think. Glad you fixed it, I don't think I was a member when you posted that.

 

guinnessnhoneybrown, don't listen to him, you're experiencing a problem that a bunch of us had, when you start reading through those posts you'll agree, it drove some people crazy for a few months. It's a bad ground between the bellhosing and motor, the fix is to go to walmart and buy like (6) 4-gauge cables for lawnmower batteries and run some custom grounds, just follow that link above.

 

My dad argued this with me. He wanted me to try some heavy groung straps on it. My mechanic did PAINT the whole transmission silver because its his "signature" or something retarded. I asked him if the paint could have caused a ground problem, and he said no no no. That would never happen. Im wondering if since the max seems to have an innitial ground problem, if the paint could have just made it horibly worse. I want to go back and make him sand the whold freakin thing down and put it back in.

P.S. $1700.00 for a rebuild too much cash?

 

Depends what was wrong inside, I don't think you got screwed if it was a rebuilt and updated.

 

I charge $225 labor, most tranny shops around here quote anywhere between $225-500, that's with tranny out of the car. bearings and seals are a few hundred bucks, plus you got a new clutch right? labor and parts for that job could definitly add up to that or more easy, though it might be a little on the high side. Of course, keep an eye on your dif. seal and be wary of the 1st gear whine in the future, if it goes bad he should warantee his work. Yeah, the paint didn't help, at all, but they do it regardless unless you spend so long sanding the mating surfaces and it's really not worth it.

 

It works!!!

I returned the $150 starter and fixed the problem with a $5 4 guage battery ground wire and terminal block connector from wal-mart! The pre-spliced wires that you can buy by the car batteries in walmart or an auto part store work perfect. The terminal connector is the perfect diameter to attached via the top bolt on the starter. Cleaned up all the area of the starter where I was bolting the wire to and used a dremel to clean the area where the battery ground harness attaches to the frame right behind the battery terminal and attached the wire via a terminal block. Just cut the lead battery fastener off and use a crimp on or screw-tite terminal connector to fasten the wire right to the frame where the battery does. The 25" wire works great. This should absolutely be a sticky. No question whatsoever that this was the problem. It hasnt missed a beat yet! P.S. No need to use more than one wire. One 4 guage wire can handle plenty of amps... just make sure all of your connections are free of dirt, rust and paint. Another P.S... A wire wheel on the dremel tool is great for removing the "wear-line" from the starter gear so they could never tell that you used it... Good luck all... hope this helps.

 

For 1700 I got a whole rebuild kit (bearings, seals and syncs). Plus the speedo gear shredded and he gave me a new one of those and the speed sensor and a new clutch and had the flywheel re-surfaced. 1720 was the total cost with tax but he only waranted it for 3 months cus he said anyone could tear up a manual in that amount of time. Plus I am not happy with the clutch. It has some shimmy in first gear and it bothers the crap out of me but he says its fine, like im an idiot or something. He got the clutch at autozone and said it was a $300 clutch kit that he gave me for $150 cus he was being nice. I just feel like I got taken.

 

Is this the fix to this problem for sure? My cars been doing this off and on for 9 months. Now this week, I've had twice where it didn't start after the crappy lagging start as described by many in this thread then the next time I turn it over I get nothing, no crank, nothing. Lights on the dashboard is it! I'm heading to the stealership tonight to test the battery/alternator and starter. Only $20 for the test. Will they do this wire thing as described above? This is over my head. Thanks for all replies in advance.

 

My '99 Maxima has had a hard start problem for a while and I have the fix to help someone out. My car would crank over with what sounded like a normal starter. Turn the key, engine would crank, engine would fire then miss then fire then miss, then after a few seconds engine would run around 300 - 400 RPM, then after a total of about 5 -10 secs. engine would idle normally. Car ran perfect once it was running. I tested lots of possible causes. Fuel pump, crank sensor, etc. Found it to be the starter. I disassembled the starter to find a boatload of black colored powder everywhere in it. (from the brushes I guess)
Cleaned it with brake fluid and compressed air, now car starts instantly. I've concluded that when the starter was filthy it wasn't cranking the engine with enough RPM's or torque to get the job done properly. I've spent many hours on this problem and also read lots of problems and possible solutions to this hard start problem and this is what worked for me. Clean or replace the starter. One last thing. My starter was only two years old and Advance auto parts bench tested it and said it was OK. Once I cleaned it THEN it was OK.