I dont know what the problem is its never done this before, but did it 3 times in the last month. anyways i turn the key wait a second for fuel pump to pump then start the car and it turns over twice and then i let go of the key and it goes THUD and doesn't start and when it does this it take a second or maybe 3rd time to start it back up.

the spark plugs were changed 6000 miles ago NGK i think platinum or iridiums. fuel filter changed 3 weeks ago, brand new air filter, new oil. and i even ran fuel injector cleaner prestone in it last month.


what could cause this? check engine on for crank position sensor and knock sensor but motor runs smooth and powerful.

 

u got CEL for CKPS. Thats yur problem man. Jus remove the the CKPS (tranny side) to see if its fouled. Its like one bolt. Wipe it off with dry towel and see if that helps. Check harnesses too. Might need to add some grounds as well to make sure electrical signals are clean

 

Could be your starter is dying.

 

This is a long shot, but my car used to on occasion start for like 1/2 second and then die. If I gave it gas it would be ok. Turned out my throttle body was so dirty that it someone stopped it from idling smoothly. That's an easy thing to try.

 

i do believe it is your actual starter starting to go out. Will get worse to the point that it still kicks on but sometimes stops working for a day.

the click is the solenoid, still working fine but something internal that i honestly dont know is wearing out and wont do a thing

thats how mine died. always thought it was the ignition because i never had a starter die exactly like that. but ya it just worked less and less consistently til it didnt at all. starting was a adventure. I knew by the third time it would work but i needed to make sure i always had a full charged battery before i turned it off.

 

Also check the 12v connection at the starter, could be loose or corroded

 

no, the starter works fine and is only a year old. its something with the motor maybe needs new plugs again already i dont know. i seriously doubt its the starter when i ran out of gas it turned that motor over like a champ for a long time super fast.


and where is the ckps? i knew theirs one right above the oil pan but didnt know their was one on the tranny side..

 

there is one on the tranny side also a bad ects can cause the hard start issue

 

I am having a similar problem but worse in my 96 Maxima where it cranks fine but will not fire. However I can pop start it and it runs fine and once warmed up I can then start it with the key. I want to say coolant temp sensor or something with temp. This is my first nissan so I don't know where to start.

 

ok I kinda gave up on this problem few weeks ago but its not bugging me its gonna wear my starter out quickly and is embarrassing because i have put so much into this car the damn thing SHOULD start the second i click the key over like it used to.


ok check engine light is on for random miss fires which i NEVER feel and knock sensor, drives damn good 170 miles a day 19MPG gas milege with a lead foot, spark plugs are at around 8500 miles on them, new fuel filter,new air filter,new idle air control valve, pretty much everything that helps it start as of tune up is fairly new.


the car has 295k miles on it im mechanically inclined but this one has got me stumped! any help would be great as of right now only thing i can think of causing my problem is low compression in the motor.


what it is doing is it will sometimes start immediately and then abruptly stop, or will take a while to start 2 seconds and then abruptly stop or it will take 2 or 3 times to start and then it starts up and idle just fine. and then 3 out of 5 times it will crank up like it supposed to. turning the key and letting the fuel pump prime doesnt help it any.

 

i have a 98 maxima. and sometimes it dont want to start i replased the starter. but id does the same. recently it was working good wen i first started, but wen the car got tho regular temp. the car didnt even wana spark or nothing. i had to wait till the car cool down a little.
i think the knock sensor is out and some oxigen sensor is to.

 

Sounds mechanically the car is fine. U havin electrical issues. I wd check CPS and tranny side CKPS. Clean TB adn MAF too.

 

MY 97 does the same... you turn the key and it will crank normally and all of a sudden its like the cranking slows down and sometimes it'll thump. I then return the key to off and turn it again and it'll start ok. I know for a fact my 97 has vacuum leak cuz I hear hissing unless its one of my pulleys thats squealing or both. I dropped the engine in it myself and I know the engine is good though cuz it was kzoosho's old 99 S/C Maxima that was stolen and wrecked but the car ran fine.

I was recently at a fellow orger's house who also has a 97-99 and his is doing the exact same thing as mine... just a year after getting his a/t replaced (not sure if its relevant)

I will try to get a video of it and you verify if its the exact same thing yours is doing. Maybe you can get a video of yours cranking too?

 

Did you pull your CKPS yet? You'll probably find metal filings stuck to the magnet on the tip (fouled), wipe it off and good as new. I've also heard of ignition switches cranking fine but having a bad "run" contact.

Also it might not be something so simple, but you want to eliminate the simple stuff first.

 

i dont know what it could be and yes i fixxed crank sensor it was the connector not connected, and i dont have a camera mine broke so cant do videos.


its almost like the timing is off when it abruptly stops after it cranks on or takes long time to start.


somtimes it abruptly stops and makes a THUD.like it miss fired badly could my spark plugs be bad already?

 

Well, now that you give a better description, it definitely sounds like you, 0260N9, and myself all have the EXACT SAME ISSUE. Timing issue has also come to mind but how??? I didnt get a chance to make video but tomorrow is supposed to rain so I just may stay home and tinker with it and pray that I can figure it out.

 

about to go shoot a video, be back later with it!

 

Alright so today I took everything apart and:

Replaced new parts that have been on there for a year but have about 1 mile on them lol
-Lower intake manifold gaskets
-upper intake manifold (plenum) gasket
-A couple of vac hoses

I did this because I had a vac leak i couldn't find and it appears that the gaskets were the cause. I made sure I sanded down the grounding points as well as the connectors for best contact. Now, the problem persists but the car is lacking power! WTF lol I didnt troubleshoot that cuz I was tired but I'll probably go over my work in the day tomorrow.

Here's a video that 1992maximase30 and I shot after putting everything back together, notice how the engine is stumbling and lacks power aside from the hard to start problems.

Background on engine. Purchased off kzoosho on Feb or March 2009, it belonged to his 99 S/Ced Maxima, I used the 97 lower intake so I wouldn't have emissions trouble. Dropped the engine in April 2009 and its been running since but I'm not happy with it so its been parked since then as well.

Here's the video

 

In my opinion it's the fuel punp it could be that it doesnt have enough pressure at the time of start for the first time. But if you do it again then it would start regular cause the car is hot.

 

It makes sense, I've thought of the possibility considering it sounds like its not getting fuel but there have been many times where friends have has similar issues where it wasn't the fuel pump.

Regardless, I'm probably gonna get a few from the JY and use them to troubleshoot and cancel out possibilities

 

I read all these threads with interest in case it comes up in the future for me. Mine has fired up instantly since purchase but woudn't ya know it, Check Engine Light came on a few days ago. No changes w/engine.

 

I thought the same thing that it was a fuel problem. I changed the fuel pump and fuel filters and the problem persisted. I was thinking about changing the fuel regulator but didn't. It was worse in the beginning because the car would not start. I then ran ground wire from the negative post frame under the air filter to the starter and another from the negative battery post to a bolt on the trans. The problem is still there but now it will eventually start. I am wondering did I run the ground wire to the right spot on the trans. Also this website list the common problems that the 4th gen Maxima has.

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Re...n&model=Maxima

It has the grounding issue listed and says that it will cause the car to sound like the timing is off when starting.

 

I updated my own thread but not this one. Maybe it'll help the OP. My problem turn out to be the fuel pressure regulator along with a loose trans ground. Car starts instantly now.

 

Try this first, its a known weak point in our cars. If you've ever replaced your starter, pull it again and clean both maiting surfaces. A ground strap straight to the starter is a good idea too.

 

Ima try that grounds but i seriously doubt thats my problem i think it may be the regulator cause it starts and goes THUD and dies kinda like if the plug wires were crossed. im frustrated with it! it starts everytime though just struggles. i ran gumout complete fuel system cleaner and problem still their.

mine feels like as if it was a 5speed and i started it and instanly popped the clutch its that bad when it abrutly stops. if it dont it will do that thud a bit but start up.

how do you test regulator/

 

I had a similar issue with my car. It wouldn't start, despite a brand new starter, without a jump from another car or a battery charger on 10 amps. Turned out my crankshaft position sensor under the front pulley had gotten its wires severed and was only starting with a boost in voltage. After a bit of soldering to reconnect the wires, it started up like a champ from then on out.

I had also replaced the fuel pump (very easy, BTW; turns out you only have to pull the rear seat out and open the hatch!) and fuel pressure regulator; turned out it was the front CKPS. Oh well, now I have newer parts in place of the older ones!

 

First off, you can pull the vacuum line off and see if it leaking gas into the vacuum line. Beyond that a mighty vac and f/p tester. You really sound like your having a ground problem. Do you have good connections at the batt, or is it ghetto babbed and loose?

 

mine are all tight, ummmm im lost, i dont understand what that THUD is. what in the world would cause i engine to start and BAM just stop really hard?


makes no sense to me........

 

you know im thinking my battery is too strong for the car. its a beast i got a 1500 watt sounds system and was at beach jamming all those watts for 45 minutes and when i started it up it start just fine maybe cause the battery weakened a little bit.


this battery turns the engine over so fast its unreal, could it be it turns motor over so fast it start instantly and the starter still in the flywheel and stops motor right when it starts?

 

Travis, double check the grounds. Yesterday when I fixed mine, I unplugged the trans ground and decided to crank the car to see if it was the ground or the FPR causing the issue and it still made the thud/thump but it didnt take as long to start so the problem was a combo of both in my case. Have you checked if the trans has the ground wire still connected to it and if so, is it clean?

 

ok, ill go do that and maybe add a ground to my starter ill be back with ya in a bit. thanks for help i hope it is a ground it maybe.

 

I have an oversized battery as well, but it was done intentionally.

So long as your battery measures 12.6 volts with a full charge and not running for an hour (to eliminate surface charges) there is no such thing as a battery that is too strong. The voltage being correct is your only concern. Adding 29 batteries in parallel (which would equal 12.6 volts) won't do a thing to the car.

 

Here's the cable I had loose on my Max

 

what cable is that and comes from where? i just came from outside man its toooo damn hot to mess with it its 102f over here Houston Texas so ill mess with it tonight, and i looked at the negative from the battery to the tranny and its all oily and dirty, should i clean it up?

 

ill check around 5 or 6 when it kools down for loose cable around the transmission like yours.

 

Its bolted onto the body and goes under the trans mount

 

well i checked all cables their good n tite and i took out my ground and cleaned it really good but when i took off the ground from the bracket on the motor right under the front header i turned my key and it turned on all still had power it looks like right under the battery case its welded to the frame or chasis and then runs over to the motor block? i dunno but i cleaned it anyways and put it back on,


i also found a o ring missing from my MAF housing i put it back in and also their was a sensor i made a thread about air temp sensor i went ahead and put it back in just in case thats the problem.


i started 4 different time back to back and it started OK but still seemed to struggle or soemthing. im goin out tonight to eat and ill see how it does rest of tonight,



if it still does it then damn lol, so any more inputs would be good more the better.



thanks guys,

 

If it started ok but still struggles a bit then that points towards your Fuel Pressure Regulator, aren't you happy its been narrowed down?

 

I'm having the same problem, except it's happening when the car is only hot. And really hot days, I often get nothing when I turn the key. Problem is driving me crazy. Will have to check that wire.

 

no mine turns over perfectly fine man,^^^ u prolly got starter wire loose connection.

ok its still doing it, and i seriously doubt its the fuel regulator cause it runs damn good strong and 20MPG, i wish i had a camera to make yall a video.