I was wondering if anybody else has had this problem with the 4th generations. What happens is every once in a while the car wont start right away or it wont start for 30 minutes. But then its fine for a while. I have been told by a few people that they think it is the siloniod (spelling?) but they dont really know Maxs so I was wondering what you guys thought and if anybody had the same problem.

 

I haven't heard of it being a common problem with the Max. Does the engine turn over (crank but not start) or it is there nothing at all when you turn the key. If the engine cranks, it's not the solenoid. If it doesn't the problem does sound electrical and if all the connections are tight the solenoid would be my bet too.

 

Actually, 4th gens. (esp. '95's/'96's) are prone to premature starter/solenoid failure. ('97-'99's received an improved starter with a 10-tooth drive gear instead of the original 8 tooth to address this problem). That's one of the car's few weak points. It happened to me with my '95. Same as you described. Run a complete diagnosis on your starter circuit: see Haynes or Chilton manuals.

Odds are, your solenoid is on it's way out. I bought a new solenoid & starter from Autozone for about $100 and replaced it myself. -not a difficult job. If you can change your oil, you can replace a starter. Get on it, before you get stranded somewhere!

Best of luck!

 

same thing on my maxima happened, solenoid failure, where car would not start up after long time sitting up. so dealer replaced it under warranty. my car is 1997 gle

 

Keith,

I have heard people say that replacing the starter is a pain in the butt. Don't know if this is ONLY if you have stock intake, as it gets in the way. I have a CAI so there is quite a bit more room to work without having to take down the intake. Are the two big bolts holding the starter/solenoid unit in place hard to unbolt?

I have a new starter I'd like to put in. Don't have starting problems like I did last winter (TB clean?) but I figure I paid for the new unit (10 teeth instead of 8) and my current starter is making the short whining noise after startup so I figure I'd might as well lube the old unit up and keep it for backup purposes. It is supposed to be worm outside tomorrow so I may do it if you say it is easy...

 

He may be confusing the 4th gen with the 3rd cause I do know that the 3rd generation starter is a pain in the A$$ to replace. However I know nothing about replacing the 4th generation does anybody know of a site that has this explained in good detail? But it is more of a electrical problem since it wont even turn over at all when it has the problem. Thanks for your help!

 

Yes, you do have to move a fair amount of the stock intake plumbing out of the way to get at the starter, but that's the only thing that would qualify as a "minor" pain in the butt, afaic. If you need to move anything else out of the way, use bungee cords to hold hoses, etc., clear of where you need to access the starter. I think w/ the CAI, you should have a relatively clear shot at it, though.

The two bolts you see are the only things holding the motor in place. I didn't have any problem breaking them free w/ a standard 1/2 inch driver. (didn't need a breaker bar)

Make sure you:

1) Unfasten and bungee back any intake plumbing out of the way.
2) Disconnect the (+) terminal on the battery.
3) Disconnect all the electrical leads on the starter motor, noting which terminal each attatches to.
4) Unbolt the two main bolts securing the starter motor to the bell-housing at the top of the transmision.
5) Slide the bolts out, careful to remember which one goes where, as they are different lengths.
6) Carefully remove the gear end of the starter motor from the bell-housing and from the engine compartment.

You are now ready to put in the new starter motor. Simply reverse the removal procedure & before re-inserting the mounting bolts, put a drop of blue loc-tite on the bolt threads at the end of each bolt. (This will ensure that they stay put).

It would be best to torque these bolts to Nissan specs., but I don't have those #'s handy (perhaps someone else could contribute). If you don't get the torque-spec in time before you do the job, just use the loc-tite & make sure they're good and snug & you should be fine.

Good luck to ya!


If you haven't already, invest in a Haynes manual for your car. I bought mine for about $15 on amazon.com and it paid for itself many times over on the first job I did on my car!

 

Heh, been there done that, too.:

http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/starter.html

 

Hmm, I knew the starters where notorius those years, but I thought it was actually in the motor itself. So the solenoid's suck too, good to know.

 

THX vbxmaxima,KWheelzSB

Just did the starter swap. The longer, larger bolt was somewhat hard to loosen--just had to whip out the ol' breaker bar. Otherwise it was a smooth install. Noticed on the old unit that some grease/lube had seeped out of the case near the bottom. In any case, the new starter I got works perfectly.

In case anyone is interested, got it for $109 + $8 s/h from Linney's Auto Electric, NJ (Walter, scentman@earthlink.net) who also sells on Ebay. It is a new Prestolite Electric unit as seen below, 10 teeth (vs. older 8)(Lester #17713, Hitachi #S114-801B), seems well made, and no core return is required. Walter was also a pleasure to deal with. Highly recommended if you need one...

 

Well this is a prob with the 2k and 2k1's as well, sometime they are difficult to start. I know my 2k1 was as well as sometimes my 97.

 

Exxxxcellent! Glad it went well. Think of it this way, too: you just gave yourself a few Ben Franklin$ for Christmas! Glad to help; Anytime. . .

Happy Holidays!

K

 

I, too, bought one of these starters from Walter (scentman@earthlink.net) for $110 + shipping. Paid my mechanic $25 to install it. The dealership wanted almost $400 to install a remanufactured unit! The ten teeth starter sold by Walter at Lennies' Auto Electric is not a rebuilt starter, but a completely new starter. He warrantied it for a year, which is the same warranty Nissan provides on its remanufactured one. And there's no core charge, so you get to keep your old unit. The units at AUTOZONE are $140 and have a $45 core charge. They are also the 8 tooth kind. NAPA's unit is $289, requires a $40 core charge and is also an 8 tooth unit. So. I'm having my old 10 tooth starter rebuilt as a "back up" replacement starter in case my starter goes again. The new starter works great!

 

Yeah, the starters from Walter are a tremendous deal. Can't believe I got it for so cheap--and it appears to be every bit as good in quality as OEM hitachi. Prestolite may not be as big as Hitachi but they can be considered a big player. Didn't know the remanufactured starters often come with 8 teeth. That would suck if you had a 10 and went down to 8--you may never have a problem because of it but you wouldn't have peace of mind... after all, they made the change for a reason. My 95 had 8 teeth so I am glad the new starter is a newer version. Will clean it up and lube the inside, for backup purposes.

 

I have a new starter I'd like to put in. Don't have starting problems like I did last winter (TB clean?) but I figure I paid for the new unit (10 teeth instead of 8) and my current starter is making the short whining noise after startup so I figure I'd might as well lube the old unit up and keep it for backup purposes. It is supposed to be worm outside tomorrow so I may do it if you say it is easy... [/B][/QUOTE]

I had a whining sound coming from the starter after the engine started. You might want to try re-lubing it. Here' s were I got the info www.motorvate.ca/ It helped me out. Select ENGINE, than STARER NOISE FIX. Good luck.