Hello all,

I have had my maxima for quite sometime now, but it now has 160K miles on it and having a problem starting. The problem is sporadic, but happens 50% of the time that the vehicle is started. It is a 1996 SE with 160K miles on it. It make a strange noise when the problem occurs, and black smoke exits the exhaust as if it is getting too much fuel or not enough air. The motor turns slowly as if it is flooded, but once the car is started it runs perfectly. I have run a OBD II scan tool on it and received no codes. The CEL has never come on either. If someone could point me in the right direction I would be greatly appreciative. I'd rather not take it to the dealer if at all possible.

Thanks for the help,

Jeff

 

Try grounding ur starter, sounds like u may have a leaking injector with that blk smoke.

Try free search there's a ton of threads dealing with this issue.

 

how do i check for a leaking injector?

 

UPDATE -- While in the process of adding a 2 gauge ground wire to the starter, I noticed the ground wire going to the block was completely LOOSE! Tightened it, added the ground wire anyway, cleaned the MAF, cleaned the IACV, replaced the plugs and air filter. NOW ALL IS WELL AGAIN!!! It was definitely the loose ground wire to the block from the battery. thanks maxpeed for the input!

 

add a bazillion ground wires everywhere you can! at 160k miles mine started acting bizarre.... add some chassis grounds, ground off your block, add an auxiliary ground from the battery too.....

trust me, you'll thank yourself later! the more grounds the merrier!

 

Let me take a guess and say that you have a 5spd..Am I right?

 

yep, thats right crazy. why do you ask? So anyhow the problem returned today after adding a 2 ga. ground wire to the starter last night. It seems to happen only when the car is hot, this morning it started fine and then again after work it was fine, but I stopped at the store and came out and there was the noise / starter stuttering again.

 

No prob on the input, ur prob is very common. BTW have u checked for codes that black smoke could be due to other factors not just injectors, could also b one of ur o2 sensors etc. Try putting some dielectric grease and sanding the grounding points.

+1 on crazy97's comment read the bottom of his post.