So there is a lot of background here and most of it is probably irrelevant but i am not sure. My car was in the shop 2 weeks ago for oil change and they told me the battery was bad, but the car was still starting so i didnt replace it. Then i left it for 1 week while on vacation and came back and it wouldnt start. I jumped it and it started, drove it around the block and came back and parked it and turned it off. Tried to start it again immediately and wouldnt start. My neighbor pointed out to me that the brake lights were on but nothing else. So that little plastic thing on the brake arm had broken so i put a nut and bolt through there to push the button when the brake is released and it worked - no more brake light. Tried to jump it again after this and nothing, all the dash lights come on and it beeps but it wont even crank. So i pulled the battery and took it to oriellys and they confirmed that it was bad so i bought a new one. Came home and put new battery in and hooked it up and tried to start it - same thing all lights but wont start. I tried to jump it again with the new batter in and same thing, all the lights come on but it wont crank or anything. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

If the car has an auto trans, try wiggling the shift lever around or put it in neutral and see if the engine cranks over.

If the car has manual trans, check the clutch pedal. There is a switch on it for starting just like the brake light switch.

The ignition switch can also be causing this, they get too much play in them. Turn the key harder, wiggle the key while in the start position. Some people will shim them, I say replace it if it is a problem.

 

It is an auto trans. I tried wiggling the key in all sorts of ways while starting, I tried turning it harder and i put the shifter in N and moved it around but still no luck. Just the same thing - all the lights will come on but it doesnt even attempt to start, no cranking or anything.

 

Is there a click when you turn the key coming from the starter? Have someone hold they key in ON position while you hit the starter with a wrench or something with some force and see if it turns over.

 

If hitting the starter causes it to crank, the starter has a problem. It may work for a while and then do the no-crank thing again. Replace the starter as soon as you can.

If hitting the starter doesn't do any good, then do the troubleshooting outlined in the link below. While it was written for the 5th gen, the starting systems of the 4th and 5th gens are very similar.

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...rt-thread.html

 

Check and make sure your battery ground is clean and tight

 

If all your lights come on , your battery is fine. I had the same problem and it turned out to be my starter.

Just make sure you get one with a lifetime warranty. You will need it

 

BUMP. So i have been driving my wifes car and working on my max in my spare time. There is no click from the solenoid when i start it and so i had my wife try to start it while i gave the solenoid a few good whacks and no luck no change. So i went out and bought a multimeter and spent a few days figuring out what i was doing with it then started doing some tests. Here is what i tested:

-neg post to small solenoid wire from ignition - 10.87
+pos post to big solenoid wire from battery - 0.00
-neg post to starter ground/engine ~ 23.00

So i concluded that i had a bad ground. I replaced the neg terminal because the old one had a crack and then i removed and cleaned the harness where neg cable is connected to both the body and engine. I put it all back together and still no change, same symptoms. So here are new test results after the cleaning:

-neg post to terminal - 0.08
-neg post to harness on the body ~ 5.00
-neg post to harness on the engine ~ 10.00

So looks like i still have a bad ground. Is this the correct diagnosis? What do i do now to fix it?

Thanks

 

Why don't you throw another starter in there and see if it works. That's what I would do. Then you have eliminated the starter and battery.

Seems the obvious step to me.

 

I had the same issue I installed a extra ground wire from the oil pan to the bell housing starts fine now I also did the crank sensors also