HELP PLEASE!!

I also have a 96 Maxima, 3.0L. It runs great, BUT - today, I went to start it up, and the car wouldn't start, it just kept turning over. After about 10 minutes of trying to get it started, it STOPPED turning over completely.

Now, it just makes a SINGLE "click" sound, (ONLY ONCE EACH TIME I TURN KEY, NOT REPEATED CLICKING)

ALSO: The battery & alternator are perfect. The windows, stereo, lights, everything works 100%. Just won't start..

What is wrong with my baby??? :-(

96 Maxima - Alloy Wheels, 15% tint, Bose system with two 10" pioneer subs & 600 watt amp, strobe lights, neons.. pimp!

Now if it would just start..

 

^bump^
I'm having the same problem, also the security light does not stay on. Which makes me think it is not the immobilizer. Can anyone help?

 

it sounds like the switch to me.. maybe

 

Amen to this! I wrecked the side of my car and now it has the same problem. I think this all goes back to bad grounds

 

This worked for me. I applied aluminum tape to the flanges and to the key female side to tighten the fit. Like new. Thanks, DBear

 

Stephen--

Glad to hear it. I think this is a problem a lot of us have had without realizing it. When I started having intermittent start problems, one of the early things I did was change the ignition switch, but it made no difference. It wasn't until months of dead ends that I started thinking about it again, and figured this out.

 

Am having stater issues too,thing is i had to give it a bit of gas before she completely died last nite.Battery is good,but when i turn the ignition,she just cuts off.Before she would make attempts to start,but sounded like a weak batt,so i would give it a bit off gas and broom.Now nothing.What yall think?Starter replacement?

 

I am also having the same problem. When it first happened i i thoiught the clutch pedal wasnt all the way down (the contact from the clutch pedal to the sensor wasnt touching) but i moved the sensor closer and it still is not starting all the time. Same thing people expain on here...turn the key might not start the first time(doesnt crank) try for the second time and it works. sometimes it does that other times i wont have a problem with it. I already had a brand new battery, new alternator, new neg. wire to the terminal....so it has to be the switch or what you guys were explaing? any other advice what it could be?

 

Has anyone been through this problem before and can give me some helpful ways you fixed yours. I have almost new: battery+neg. wire, and alternator. I was told that if i hear like a click click when i try to start it, it means the starter solenoid needs to be replaced. it seems like if i let my car sit for a while it takes less tries to start the car. help please, i just bought the car last week and i am new to maximas.

 

Ok, i plan to start with the solenoid in the starter. Has anyone replaced their starter, how hard/easy was it?

 

I had a continuing problem like this on my 97. I replaced the ignition switch, relay and the starter but the problem did not go away. It turned out I had a bad connection on the positive cable from the battery at the point where the short cable attached to the starter connects to the battery cable. The connectors would not click together firmly so the connection was loose causing an intermittent problem. I fixed it with a girls hair band (like a rubber band but thicker and stronger) and electric tape. It's been starting first time ever since then, about 3 years now.

 

Ok, looks like theres so many little things that can be causing this problem. has anyone replaced their starter by themself?

 

My friend has a 97 max with the same problem, after no luck with local mechanic he took it to the dealer and they say the ECM is fried. Could someone tell how it’s possible? They have quoted $1000 for new ECM, but the root cause is still not identified
They also say it needs new starter

 

Try tapping the starter with a wrench, then turn the key again. I was not getting a clicking noise, so I thought a switch. I replaced it with no dice. Then I replaced the starter and it worked. 6 months later, same problem. I thought for sure it was the switch this time, but tried tapping the starter first, and it worked. I ordered a warranty replacement for the started through the mail, and did the ritual of tapping the starter first for a few days until the replacement arrived.

 

Oh yeah - replacing the starter was pretty easy. I'm barely more than an oil change mechanic. I removed the air intake ductwork (from the air cleaner box up to the throttle body), and the starter is right on top of the transmission. I was able to get the bolts loose using a Craftsman 1/2" socket wrench and appropriate sockets. It took me about an hour the first time, and 30 minutes the second time.

 

Does a starter would cause the ECU to get fried? Or a faulty harness to the starter?

I've checked and everything seems to be okay, even I could hear the relay click. Just no signal from ECU to plugs

Any comments

 

It seems like whenever the cars cold, it will start fine. The last week was in the 70's and now it hit like the 30's and 40's and i havnt had a problem with it starting. Why would the colder weather affect it?

 

After sitting for sveral hours last night my car (2001 Maxima) would not start. Sounded like it was close to starting but wouldn't turnover. Car was low in gas so I thought that might be the problem. Put gas in, the car started. Ran fine the rest of the night and next day. Tonight after sitting for about 8 hours same problem. Sounding like it was trying to start but wouldn't turn over. Tried several times. Would not start. Battery is fine, just replaced started about 2 months ago. Help!

 

I'm no expert but I would check for fuel or ignition issues. Sounds like it could be a fuel pump but if it's cranking it's not a starter or a ignition switch.

 

Remove starter, clean surfaces where it mates to the tranny and reinstall. starter has bad ground causing voltage drop and wreaking havoc with the engine management. There are hundreds more recent threads about the same issue, search harder and you shouldn't even have to ask any more questions.
Good luck.

http://forums.maxima.org/search.php?searchid=1957354

 

Guys,

I have a 01 Max SE Auto transmission with approx 140K on it. Yesterday, we went to the park, played for a while, and when we got ready to leave, the car absolutely wouldn't crank. Turn the key, the usual small whine (fuel pump, i guess) and a single click. Nothing else. Lights are bright, radio, a/c works fine. I tried cycling the shifter through the gears (b/c in the past there are times when it wouldn't start and cycling through the gears would make it start) but no start. I've read through all of these threads and I keep thinking starter, but I hate to do all that work if it's something like an immobilizer, starter relay, ignition switch, faulty ground, etc. Can anyone direct me to a good troubleshooting guide that can help me start with the simple stuff first? To quote another poster, "I'm barely more than a oil change mechanic" but I was an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force in another life. I just don't know much about cars and ignition circuits.

Thanks in advance-

 

Immobilizer wont keep it from cranking over, it only Lila the fuel and/or spark. I f its not even cranking, disconnect the small wire from the starter and check for voltage at the harness connector while holding the key at start. If you don't get voltage work your way back to the ign switch. You have a relay and park/ neutral safety switch that might be bad.
If you hear a metallic click the solenoid is actuating but the contacts or starter are bad. If its a small click its just the relay and not the started solenoid.
Check your battery terminals for cleanliness and tightness. Check the terminating ends of both cables for corrosion/breaks.
If you get signal at the starter solenoid wire run a wire from battery positive the the solenoid small lead. If it don't crank its toast. Use a jumper cable from battery positive directly to large terminal that goes into starter to bypass solenoid and check starter motor.

 

+1

Try jumping the starter first since that will let u know quickly if the starter is bad.

 

Asand1 - what is "Lila"?

Cashoit - do you know of a tutorial for "jumping a starter"?

 

Turn key to "On" position.

Find a piece of Stereo wire.

Locate starter.

locate the Ignition wire soldered onto the starter. There are two wire connections on the starter, one is the thick wire gage running from the postive battery terminal to the starter. THe other smaller wire is the ignition signal wire.

Touch the stereo wire from the positive battery terminal to the point on the starter where the iginition wire is soldered on.

If the starter is good, the car will start.

 

Thanks, I will try to jump the starter this evening. First, I'm going to take the battery to Autozone to have them check it - it's been a brutally hot summer. I don't think it's the battery, but I want to cover all the easy stuff first.

If the battery checks out good, I'll try to jump the starter. If the battery and starter are good - what would be my next move?

 

Lila was supposed to be kill. Stupid Droid autospell. The next step would be work backwards from the starter until you have a signal.

 

Now it makes sense. Back to your original reply - "If you hear a metallic click the solenoid is actuating but the contacts or starter are bad. If its a small click its just the relay and not the started solenoid." Which relay and where?

 

sure if whats it called in the Auto trans cars, but its next to the battery.

 

Turns out the battery was holding charge but had a dead cell - didn't know that was possible. Autozone gave me a new battery since I still had two weeks on the warranty. I was so hopeful that was my problem, but no luck. New battery - still the same symptoms. I think it's gonna be a starter change tonight.

 

Got the starter removed and had it bench-checked at Autozone. Turns out it had a bad Solenoid. I opted to just replace the whole unit - found one on Amazon for $50 - just $10 more than the solenoid by itself at Autozone. As hard as it was to get out (and i'm sure back in) I don't want to do this again.

 

The starter should be easy to get in and out, just take off the intake snorkel first. With a little practice you can get that off in about 2 minutes, then there's plenty of room to get at the starter.

 

Don’t mean to hijack this thread but I cant post a new thread for some reason. Something strange happened to my car this morning.
I have a 96 maxima. First of all, I have had issues with starting my car for …2 years now maybe. When I turn the key, I have to hold it there and give gas on and off for about 5 seconds before it catches and turns on, and then I have to keep giving gas for another 3-5 seconds to make sure it doesn’t die. I have never had it NOT turn on before and the mechanic connected a different starter to see if that was the problem, but it happened with the different starter too.
Today, when I turned the key, the engine did not make a sound at all. But the A/C, radio, etc..turned on so it couldn’t be the battery right? I had to turn the key back and forth about 5 times before the engine started doing anything (I hope this makes sense, I know nothing about cars) and I was freaking out at this point. This also happened about a month ago. But on the second try it turned on so I didn’t think much of it.
And since I’m already here asking questions, my front left wheel was making loud screeching noises about a week ago. Whether I was accelerating or braking or neither. The sound was random and sometimes there wasn’t a sound. Now the noise is lower volume, but on the right front wheel area. Any ideas?
Thanks!

 

My problem seems more like robmo (post #58). My car won't start until I turn the ignition and pump the gas. Although, I'm realizing that I instinctively pump the gas and have never just waited to see if the car would start by just continually turning the key. I don't hear any clicking sounds and it doesn't seem to be a battery issue. Would it most likely be a fuel pump? If it was fuel related, what else could it be besides a fuel pump? How could I go about checking?

 

I am having the same issue...... my problem is i had only one key and one remote to my car.....lost them..........had a new one made.......but before that had an issue with the door sensor saying the door was open when it wasn't ......i taped something on the door so it will show closed........ but that was after it wouldn't start.....the night before i parked it it was fine.......and the next day i want to start the car and it just never started......all the lights came on but nothing turned checked starter and battery both fine

 

is your car automatic? if so try starting it in N.

 

just tried the the wire on the positive and the starter.........it turned....but it wouldn't start the engine..........any ideas?

 

tried in neutral and park........nothing

 

i had da same problem a month ago. replaced the starter and that solved the problem

 

how can you tell when a fuel pump has gone bad?