..before i spend 200 or whatever it costs



occasionally, by which i mean about one of every 15 starts, i will turn the key and nothing will happen. there is no sound at all but the lights come on the dash.


after trying a few times it will suddenly start and start again perfectly for the remainder of the day/week/month....



im pretty sure this is the starter going (i put a used one in there about a year ago) before dropping cash on something i dont need.
i think ive done enough of that so far.













also, how much should i be looking to spend on an OEM starter?

or should i get the autozone one? how much is that? how much worse is it?

 

well next time that happens, knock on the starter and crank up the car again, if it cranks after that hit, its the starter, now..... there can also be cases where it may be the fuel pump because this same thing happened to me before when car wouldn't start sometimes and replaced starter and still had that same problem but once my fuel pump died and had it replaced, it never happened again....

 

If the starter just clicks, then it could be the starter. Of course, it could also be your ignition switch, which IMO is more likely.

I wouldn't go with a reman unit, personally.

 

^^^^ 2 good ideas

could also be the neutral saftey switch. Throw it in neutral next time it happens and see if it starts.

 

man rockart...where have you been? you vanished from the forums

 

he was grounded. But anyways....very good ideas up top there.If it turns out to be the starter, i wouldnt hesitate to do autozone, afterall its lifetime warranty and mine is still going strong.

 

also could this possibley be a grounding issue? The famous ground strap to the starter. I've seen bad grounds do some real funky things.

 

i got a massive grounding kit on my car - way overboard.

i really hope its not a switch or the ignition. after all i can do the starter myself, but once i get into those things, the price for repairs is going to go way up.

how much am i lookin at for a new ignition?

 

About $30 and 15 minutes to install it.

 

Why don't you take your starter and bring it to Advance or Auto Zone to get it tested? It's so easy to take off and put on. I replaced mine rather quickly and went with Advances because they offered lifetime warranty. Don't care if it's ****ty because you can just keep on replacing them vs spending couple hundreds every few years.

 

you know... I have had "advance auto" life time starter and I went through 3 of them in 4 years. It's not the r&r that is the killer it's when it happens. out of the blue... bam. no start. Wife had the car with 2 kids. Called for a cab.blah, blah, blah.
Middle of winter -30 with a -2000 degree wind chill... no garage to r&r it.
never did a starter fail in the summer for me.

I finally went with a nissan unit and have never looked back. yes, it cost an arm and a leg but the piece of mind is worth it in my mind.

 

you don't need an ignition...it's the ignition "switch" people are talkingabout. Very easy to swap out. On'y 2 small scews and one plug under your steering wheel within the casing around the steering wheel.

 

Next time it does it, turn it to the start position and, holding it there, move the key around a bit, joystick-like. If the car starts from this, you know it's the ignition switch. If not, try the same thing, except try to move the gearshifter back and forth. If neither of these works, hop on down to the Autozone and get the starter tested.

My ignition switch has done this in my 96 since I got it in 2003, and the joystick techniqe works every time.

 

For $30/15 minutes, why not just replace it?

 

yea this is the overall concensus on autozone starters from what ive read in my time on here.
id rather spend the money on an OEM unit, than have a crappy one that is free to replace, but is constantly causing problems.

then this makes me think its not the ignition switch. i try all of that when i attempt to start the car and none of it works.

yea i had no idea they were that cheap/easy.

 

Not sure how it will turn out but I've replaced my starter with an Auto Zone made on my 97 maxima yesterday. Been only a day but all looks well.

 

Did you AT LEAST get lifetime warranty??

 

Autozone with lifetime warranty and works well for me so far.

 

Sounds like your starter. I replaced mine w/ an Adv Auto 3 yrs ago...no problems.

 

Rockart--

I had the exact same problem. Once in a while I'd get no cranking, but the dash lights went on. I always was able to start it eventually, but sometimes it took 15 to 20 turns.

I replaced the ignition switch, but that didn't help. I finally figured out that there was a little slop between the slot in the ignition switch and the flange on the key cylinder. I put a tiny piece of electrical tape into the slot on the switch and it's been perfect for over a year. I think you can also put tape on the flange itself.

 

sorry to bump this lameass thread again, but i got some new info


tonight i went out to start it when it was fairly quiet outside and when i turned the key i heard like a rubbing/metal grinding sound coming from the engine bay.
kinda like the sound of a chair as you push it across a wood floor.


i assume this is the starter now, right? it seemed to be coming from that general area of the engine.


i also did some research and found out that autozone starters are $130 and OEM starters are $205. not that much of a discrepancy.

only $75 more to have OEM piece of mind and straight up Hitachi parts vs. generic crap from mexico?

 

Buy a starter and replace it. Mine was torqued on pretty good. Just line the teeth up before you install. I never checked at the dealer. Advanced Auto one has worked fine.

 

well i got my starter in the mail this morning from Dave b and installed it quickly thereafter.

my car LEPT to life as i turned the key. i dont think i ever remember it starting so suddenly since ive owned it.


so---- all is well again.


just hope my car doesnt eat this one up like it did the other two.

i know our gen maximas have somewhat of an issue chewing up starters. why is that? how do i prevent it?

 

what do you mean line up the teeth?

dont they automatically move into position when you start it the first time?

it seemed to fit pretty snug against he flywheel there

 

Congrats! Glad it worked out. The teeth on the starter as you insert it. It wouldnt go in otherwise. Some guys have no clue...just "over-clarifying". I don't know. Mine OEM went ^130K+ and my Advanced Automotive some 40K...so far, so good.

 

There's no reason to mess with the bendix gear when installing a new starter. The gear retracts far enough that the teeth don't touch the ring gear; if they did, you'd have some issues.

 

No reason to BUMP this thread, other than to add that I had these same issues--starter not working, slowly going out(bad cranks, weak cranks, then no cranks)...replaced it with AutoZone starter and within a week, the first one literally burned up. It got jammed ON and spun until it burned out. The lifetime warranty replacement lasted 6 months or so and started failing (a tap on solenoid area would make it work again). I am on my third one in less than 7 months...

If I could do this over, I would DEFINITELY go OEM/NISSAN and forget the hassle. Just my $.02...

 

sounds like the starter...i have a used oem one for sale if your interested...

 

pm if u need more info on it...