I have a 1996 nissan maxima. It used to be automatic but I converted it to a five speed. The car ran perfectly fine for two years when it slowly started with a starting problem. It first took a few seconds to start then it started taking minutes about ten to fifteen minutes to just start. At the same time it start getting a sort of power loss and lag if I tried running it fast otherwise it drive just fine. Then one morning it justnever started again and I haven't been able to find the problem. I'm thinking of buying a donor car but before I drop that kind of money I wanted to see what I could do to fix this one. One more thing the my third gear went out about a year after the swap and I never got around to fixing it.

 

first thing i would personally check is fuel pressure, fuel pump may have been slowly dying out. if fuel pressure is okay, check for spark

also scan for codes

 

The fuel pump does come on so its not that pressure off the filter i haven't checked and codea I need to get a scanner for that

 

I think your very first course of action would be to scan for codes. Im sure someone could list of possibilities but if you could pull up a code that would be eons faster than guessing.

 

Just about all auto parts stores will scan your car for codes for free. Next time you drive by one, stop in.

 

Did you sand the mating surfaces of the engine and transmission? Voltage drop from poor ground will wreak javoc on the sensors.

 

Check codes with the screwdriver method.

 

Might not be the easiest method of scanning considering his car doesnt start haha.

+1 on screwdriver method, may be tedious but sure beats buying/renting a scanner. Just make sure youre gentle!

 

Oops... minor detail.