My huge BATTERY DILEMA....
for the past month my car has been sitting in my driveway not being driven (i was on vacation) so i came back home and i notice that its not starting as well as it used to... it didnt start once on me so i called AAA and they jumpstarted it for me and told me i need a new battery,

so i kept that in mind and kept driving the car...

then this morning my brother goes to move my car and it didnt start on him either, so he jump started the car himself and somehow managed to mess my car up even more... from what he tells me he connected the jumper cables to my moms 2004 4Runner then he connected them directly to my 1997 infinity i30 battery, all in the correct (+/-) terminals... and then he went to start my car and it wouldnt start... and he kept trying and trying, about 5 times... and still nothing... so i went to auto zone, they said my old battery was bad and i bought a new one, came home replaced it and NOTHING!

what could have been blown out or set off?---

after i recieved some advice, i replaced both of the battery fuses located next to the battery and still nothing

i even tried to jumpstart it again, with the new battery.

it makes no noise, i just hear one click when i turn the key, and thats it... could it be that starter, or somethin to do with the ignition? how could i check to see if its either?


someone, please help...

 

Take your starter to AutoZone and have them check it.

 

^^Sounds like it^^. If they say its bad, pick yourself up some brake cleaner and a tube of white lithium grease. Go home, take it apart and spread it all out. Clean it up, grease it and put it back together. Less than $10 for the fix. Took me about an hour or two to do.

Unless of course, the brushes, coils or armature went out, or something. Again, you can replace some of those easily, vs buying a new one.

 

i know this is gonna sound like a total noob question, but where can i go to see how to take out my starter?

 

I used a tutorial on motorvate if I recall correctly.

http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/516

 

okay... so i got everything out.. unplugged the bolts from the starter... but i cant get it out... do i have to twist it out? do i have to unbolt anything other than those two front bolts?

 

You cant get the starter out of the bay?

 

no, i even tried turning it counter clockwise it budged a little, but no luck.. is it suppose to come out easily?

 

i unscrewed the two wires.. was i supposed to unbolt anything else?

 

Yes. There are two bolts that attach it to the block. If you got those out, and you got the others out...Im not sure. Try a pry with a slotted head and hammer?

 

dude, i was trying to pull it out without unbolting it from the block... ha ha...well one lesson learned and a dirty oily keyboard later... oh well i'll wait til tomorow to start it up again, its getting dark... but i have one question, on the picture from motorvale it shows the "ground" wire connected to the bolt on the inner part of the car... on my car the ground wire was the one closest to the front of the car.... is this a problem or is it different on every car?

 

Doesn't matter. Its still a ground. Haha Don't worry, Ive made my share of rookie mistakes too.

 

on the i30, the ground wire pluggs into the harness via a gray plugg towards the front of the car, no problems there...make sure you have plenty or brake cleaner, scrap towels and remember to reassemble everything in the order disassembled. not a hard thing to do to take starter apart, deffinetly gets messy, did one on an i30 last week, took me 1-1 and half hours, no works like new. now gotta do the same on my own max.

 

i know it gets messy... its friday night and my hands look like ****... looks like these fingers wont be goin down any femals pants tonight... lol

anyway, should i replace the starter? or should i just clean it out???

 

okay, so i got the starter out... took it to auto zone, they said it was bad... now i got the starter/alternator cleaner and some lithium grease... so should i just take everything apart and clean it and grease it? should i look for anything that might be messed up in there? would it be obvious if something is messed up?

 

Buy a new starter

 

buy a new starter. there 120.00 bucks plus a 42.00 core so you need 165.00 unless you take the old starter with you to autozone

 

Lifetime warranty from AutoZone.

 

i guess thats what i'm gonna end up doing... just thought maybe i could get away with a cheap fix... but that lifetime warranty at autozone sounds pretty sweet... thanks for all the help...

 

The cleaning and regreasing worked for me, for about 3 months. Stranded FTL! I would def. just get a new one. Recently upgraded from an 8 tooth to an 11 tooth model, and it made a huge difference. Car starts very quickly now.

 

hey atleast the dealership didnt sell u ur max wit the wrong battery and then u spend mad money fixing every possible piece that has to do wit starting the car and to come to realize my battery was the wrong battery.....

 

so should i ask for an 11 tooth model for my car? is it more expensive?

 

I remember reading that the starters for the 00-01 maximas are 11 tooth models. people have used these with good results. the price shouldn't be that much different. but yeah, ideally, you should get a 10 or 11 tooth model. if they try to give you an 8 (which they most likely wouldn't), don't buy it. My starts were horrible with it.

 

okay, so i got the starter, installed it, which i am very happy to have done on my own... my car turns on now!!! woo-hoo!!! however, theres this rattling noise now that wasnt there before... when i put it in reverse, or drive it goes away, but when i turn it off i can hear it again, ad when i turn it back on, its there again until i put it i gear again... any ideas as to what that is?