Car won't start...again.
 

I have a 97' Nissan Maxima.

Tuesday, I went to start the car and I heard rapid clicking, but it wouldn't start. After that it was dead. Got someone to jump it and it cranked right up. Took it to get the battery tested and they plugged the tested onto the battery while still in the car. Their readout said it was a bad voltage regulator.

So I got a new alternator on Wednesday because from what I understand the voltage regulator is built into it. After the new alternator was installed the car started up fine. Drove it Thursday but didn't drive in on Friday.

Today, Saturday, I went to start it and it did the same thing as before -- just a clicking sound and then the car was dead.

I tried to jump it but it still wouldn't start. No clicking or anything. Also, interior lights work and I get the beeping sound when the key is inserted, BUT the radio doesn't work nor do the windows roll down.

I called someone knowledgeable about cars and they suggested it was the starter. This was before I tried to jump it and the weird power issue where some things power up and some others don't receive power.

I checked the alternator fuse but that was the only one I could get out with the pliers I had (no needle nose).

Can anyone please help? I am not in a good position for other options right now. Thank you.

You have a bad or corroded power connection somewhere. Make sure your battery terminals and clamps are clean. Disconnect the 12mm bolt that holds down part of the negative cable to the frame near the battery tray and file or sand the metal where it connects and the connection itself then reinstall the bolt. Try to start the car. If it doesn't start check the ignition switch. A hint that your connections are bad is when it won't start on it's own but will start with a jump. Invest in a voltage meter that way you can test connections to see if they are getting the proper voltage. Also google how to do a voltage drop test. Knowing these things will help you fix your car.

Edit: There is a wire with a gray jack connected to the starter. Disconnect it and have someone turn the igntion to start, if you are getting 12 volts there then the starter maybe bad, take it to a parts store they will test it. If you are not getting voltage there your clutch interlock relay went bad if your car is a manual if you are auto the inhibitor relay.

Just an update.

A friend came by and looked at it and thinks it's either the key (since it's worn and bent) or the ignition mechanism in the steering column. He charged it up and recommended I not set the alarm. Supposedly he charged the battery (I was at work so I wasn't there to see it) and it worked fine until today. I drove it all week, even last night. Today I went to start it and the battery was completely dead. The battery is at autozone being charged and they couldn't run on diagnostic since the battery was completely dead. I got a new key made today as well.

Does that sound right? I kinda feel like I may have a parasitic power loss somewhere. I do not have any amplifiers or anything aftermarket, only a third party CD deck that was installed probably 10 years ago or so.

I am hoping he didn't completely charge the battery and since it's died several times, maybe it just needs a full recharge. Or maybe it has bad cells. I am hoping it's the battery since I have a warranty on it and can get it replaced easily.

You can swap the battery if they would allow it but if not, you need a multimeter here. Measure the voltage after the car has been turned off and have all dors closed and lights off and see if voltage is dropping on the multimeter after 10 mins. If it is, something is draining the battery. Make sure your trunk light is not staying on.

The battery according to autozone is fine. It isn't even a year old so I figured that.

How do I go about measuring the voltage? I thought I saw a thread on that but can't find it now. I checked the trunk light by opening the trunk access from the back seat.

Do a search for "parasitic draw" in the 4th gen forum search.

What you do is disconnect a battery cable (pos/neg, it doesn't matter) then connect an ammeter in between the cable and battery. Depending on your meter, you may have to observe polarity, but usually digital meters don't care.

Do something to prevent the dome light from coming on when you open the door.

Once connected, the meter will show some amount of current flow. Note the number on the meter and then start pulling fuses, checking the ammeter each time you pull a fuse.

Please note that you should never never get a zero reading. The alarm system, clock and radio are always using power, but that should be less than 100 milliamps.

This is what I was think when I read your first post. Something could be slowly pulling power from the battery

Ok, I will go buy myself a voltage meter and look into that.

For now, is it ok not to set the alarm? I read somewhere about a sleep mode and I want to be sure I can get away with not setting the alarm and instead just locking the doors.

Is there a usual culprit in these cases, or do could it be anything?

Thanks for the help!

The Nissan factory alarm system will arm and become active whenever you lock the doors, so it will go into its sleep mode regardless of how you lock the doors.

An easy way to prevent the alarm from activating would be to unplug the wire from the hood switch by the battery.

I'm sorry, what do you mean by hood switch? Can you give me more detail about the wire exactly? I know nothing about cars (obviously...lol). Is there a fuse I can pull to disable the alarm?

There is no one single fuse that is specifically for the alarm. The alarm is part of the Body Control Module (BCM) that also controls the door locks, windows and other stuff.

The hood switch is part of the alarm system, if the hood is opened while the alarm is set, the alarm will go off. The alarm will not set if a door or the hood is open. If you unplug the wire from the bottom of the hood switch, the BCM will think the hood is open and will not set the alarm.

http://forums.maxima.org/picture.php...ictureid=35830

Ahhhh, seems so obvious now, lol!

Thank you a lot for that. Big help!

Alarm might be the issue...
 

I recently had similar issues with my '97 Maxima GXE (5spd).
I bought it used with a CODE ALARM system installed (not thinking its factory)
I tried pullin fuses and jumping wires, direct wired the starter, even checked clutch relay.
After an hour or so and a few scratches of the head I thought about the alarm box.

It seemed that whenever it was hooked up the battery would always die in a few hours.
So I got mad one day and unhooked the power to it leaving in everything else.
It didn't hit me until that day...
The starter and ignition systems are wired into that box as well.
So I unhooked those 2 wires from the box and put a jumper connecting the 2.
Cranks up 1st time...Everytime!

Turns out that the box (CODE ALARM) was shortin out.
Not only causing serious drain on the battery but also shorting out the starting systems.
Might sound like a stretch but when you run out of options, don't rule it out.
I did and wasted more than I needed to.