I have a 99 I30 ~260k miles
Been having a lot of intermittent issues starting and could probably write a huge post about everything but ill try and make it tdlr version with only necessary info.

Car wont crank. solenoid clicks most of the time, just wont quite go far enough. If it cranks it fires right up.

New starter/battery a while back.

Have ignition switch out and turn with screwdriver to eliminate the slop factor which was what I believed the problem to be at first.

When I have problems I've been using a screwdriver to jump the starter with the starter motors battery connection to the solenoid post. Cranks everytime like that so it's not the starter. Just need someone to turn the ignition switch most of the time or it will only crank with just the key in the on position. But sometimes it will start up roughly without someone turning the key. I figure cause its primed up enough from attempts at starting. ahh there i go trying to tldr this post.

i replaced the inhibitor relay.

I've fiddled/cleaned different connectors a few times to no avail.


Lately I've noticed a pattern emerge as to when it doesn't want to start. It seems like stone cold starts are fine, works everytime i want to say. Also if its really warm, like only off for 5 minutes or so seems fine. But if it is off for ~30 minutes or so then it doesn't want to start.

It's bugging the crap out of me. Any ideas?

Also park/neutral no difference.

 

check your grounds first off ,any codes to lead into direction ? how old are your battery cables ? simple things first

 

no codes. well egr low flo code. but cant see how thats related.

When it was having an episode I tried connecting jumpercables between a starter bolt and the neg battery terminal to no avail. however i can crank the starter off the juice supplied by the cable that goes to the starter from the battery all day long, so i dont think its a grounding issue. It just seems like it doesnt get quite enough juice through the whole ignition switch>relay(s?)>solenoid/>starter system to close the solenoid. What i dont understand is why it only seems to be problematic when the car is semi warm. eg cooled off for 30minutesish.

was taking a shot in the dark here to see if that clued anyone in on something ive missed..

battery cables are old i guess. new terminals though.

 

It sounds to me like the starter solenoid isn't making the connection inside. When you used the screwdriver to jump the solenoid, You are doing what the solenoid is supposed to be doing.

Replace the starter.

 

I'm not jumping the contacts the solenoid makes to spin the starter motor. That would only spin the motor without engaging the flywheel. Just applying battery voltage to the solenoid (small connector post). When battery voltage is applied, it will extend and crank like it should. Can't see how the starter is bad if this is the case.

 

I had a similar issue and my car is a MT.

If you are jumping the starter and it spins then the starter should be fine. If u jump the starter and it doesnt spin then its fawked.

Reinstall the ignition switch. Turn it to ON so that all Accessories are on. This also means all the sensors are powered as well. Then jump the starter. At least this way u dont need two ppl to start the car.

If the ignition switch is in the ON position and jumping the starter isnt starting the car, the either the wiring from the steering coloumn is fawked or the ignition switch is fawked.

I was always able to start my car wit the ignition switch ON and jumping the starter, so i knew the ignition switch was good.

THe problem is ignition signal isnt getting to the starter.

Use the FSM and troubleshoot the starting circuit. Could be inhibitor, immobilizer, or P/N switch, or ignition swtich.

U need to find which relay or switch is fawked. Use a piece of wire to jump the relays so u can rule those out. On my car, i started jumping relays and turned out my inhibitor relay was toast.

I think since u had to remove the ignition swtich and the problem has progressively gotten worse that the ignition switch is done or just not making contact. Hopefully u dont have a short.

 

Hrmn. some good stuff.
Forgot to mention that it is a new ignition switch. However i do need a new one as this one is getting kinda mangled from screwdrivering it.
immobilizer sounds promising, something for me to check out.
replaced the inhibitor relay.. but yea ill have to find a piece of wire and start checking things out.

what makes it difficult to diagnose is that its intermittent.. works fine most of the time..

But yea sometimes jumping the starter it just cranks and wont start. but usually does start, sometimes its rough at first. maybe just cause of things shaking while my arm is down there and its not a great connection im making. tough to tell.

kinda leading to some faulty wiring somewhere.. arrrrg.

 

If you are getting engine codes that seem "unrelated" to your starting problem (especially when you know those sensors are good) this may indicate a grounding problem. The engine grounds through the transmission, and if the bell housing is opened and not cleaned before closing, strange problems, usually starting problems, can develop over time. This usually wrecks all kinds of havoc with the sensors, even if they are still reading within acceptable ranges.

 

Check battery -> ignition switch -> ground ->inhibitor relay -> anti-thief relay -> starter solenoid -> starter -> inhibitor switch.

Also, just to shift from park to neutral and back forth few times. I had similar issue as you do, I tried everything, but in the end, it is the connector between solenoid and starter were rusty so I sanded it good, solve the problem, fires right up every time, so far, two months, no problem.

 

Check inhibitor switch and rubber bumper on the clutch pedal. Sometimes the bumper breaks and falls out.

 

2 things -

1 - to clarify a point. Does your car have auto or manual trans?

2 - you replaced the inhibitor relay. If you replaced what nissan calls the inhibitor relay, you replaced a relay for the cruise control, which has nothing to do with the starter. Nissan calls the relay for the starter either the "Park/Neutral Position" relay for auto trans or the "Clutch Interlock" relay for manual trans. These 2 relays are different. But the cruise control inhibitor relay is the same type as the automatic trans park/neutral position relay.

 

yeah its auto trans.

So i was doing some testing while it was having its issues. and it seemd like i was getting full voltage to the first connector before the starter (so long as it didnt decide to work while i was disconnecting things), so im guessing that the issue is with that connector, possibly the solderjoint where the wire connects to the solenoid itself.. played around with those, seems better. but we'll see.

 

Not to be an ******* or anything..but make sure you have a battery in it first.XD

 

My old 4th gen did the same thing (at least it sounds like it) I went ahead and replaced the ignition switch and it worked out just fine till about a month later when my starter went out, at least they are easy to replace. Looks like you've already covered those bases though so maybe check the imobilizer.
Actually now that I think about it, my old 4th gen si civic would do the same thing not starting after warmed up etc and it ended up being vapor locked.

 

update now that it has been a couple weeks without incident.

so after messing with the starter connector, it was starting pretty well, so i decided to try and jam a bunch of electrical tape in the ignition switch and reinstall it into the lock cylinder but that didnt work as the ignition switch was kinda tore up from screwdrivering it, so i popped it back out. After that i was having problems again, but it wasn't acting the same, it just seemed like the "sweet spot" on the ignition switch was very small, and sometimes non existant. (this was a cheapest i could find at the time econo ignition switch). So i got a new ignition switch that cost almost 50bucks from napa. It works great. Installed into lock cylinder and turn key, car starts. everytime.

Very happy.

To summarize i believe the problem was a weak connection in the starters connector, accompanied by a pos replacement ignition switch.

Props to cashoit for best answer chosen by asker

 

lol no doubt.

but naw man, props to you. Its like NJ sd in my sig...

 

ck grounds also add a ground if u can