I have read all posts concerning this issue and there seems to be more than several suggestions and no solutions. I have specific symptoms and information, however, hopefully it "rings a bell"!
There are no issues with; battery or alternator, there is plenty of power to crank. The specific symptom(s) I have that I need interpreted are two. 1. When I start the car with the throttle depressed slightly, it starts much easier. 2. Sometimes when I turn the key (and you have to turn it as far as it will go every time (unusual), nothing happens. 3. It doesn't make any difference whether it is cold or hot. This tells me it is air related, where do I go from there? Please tell me what this tells you!

This could be a bad ECTS (Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor) that is reporting a colder temperature than it actually is. This would cause the ECU to make the fuel injectors squirt a too rich mixture. Stepping on the throttle lets more air in to lean out the mixture.

Connect an OBD code reader that can display coolant temperature and see what the sensor is telling the ECU. Do this when the engine is cold and you know what the outside air temperature is. The engine does not have to be running, just have the ignition switch in the ON position.

Sounds like you ignition switch is failing. Take it off and use a screwdriver in it to start the car and see what happens. Sometimes you can shim the switch, other times you have to replace it. Lots of threads on shimming. Do a search.

Wow, it's so simple and I missed it because I was looking for 1 solution for one problem and I have 2 issues going on with a hard start condition! I am replacing both and will report back, thank you!

Not to discount DennisMik's advice, but before you do the ECTS, do the FPR 1st. It's a simple mechancial device that runs off of vacuum. As with all moving parts, they wear out. This part has a shown a tendency to wear out loooong after the vehicle's expected life of 100K miles. The FPR is located right next to the PCV, and with all the parts you have to take off to get at it, I would suggest you do the FPR, PCV and clean the throttle body all in one shot.

Also, regarding the diagnosis, if the ECTS is bad, I would think that the problem would only happen when you start a warm car, not a cold one. As I understnd it, your long starts happen whataver the engine temps, hot, warm or cold.

I just had an issue similar. If I started the car warm... there was no issue. If I turned the car over cold, it would simply crank the first time. If I turned the key to ON, then put on my seat belt, and then turned it over - it would start. I got an ECTS and a FPR from a donor car. Since the ECTS was easier to replace, I did that first and now the car turns over fine.

Careful with those brass bolts on the FPR, btw.

Is that some new data?

Clean the throttle body and IACV before you start replacing parts.
If the issue remains, do as mentioned above, but troubleshoot first!!!!!
Check the ECTS with an ohm meter.
Check the fuel pressure with a gauge.

We replaced the ignition switch and coolant temperature sensor, the car starts better now albeit I still have the sound of it cranking almost "out of time". I suspect the crank position sensor, but the other postings following yours is confusing me. Another mechanic listened to it today and suspects the CPS. What is a FPR anyway? Is that Fuel pressure regulator and where is it? Also, is there information on what ohm reading/test I should get from the CPS instead of just replacing it I would like to see some proof that it is causing the issue. After replacing the ignition switch there was a big difference, not so much with the coolant temp sensor. I goggled specifications of the CPS to no avail and tried rewording it too.

[QUOTE=Maxima 97 SE;8961965]Ok this how I fixed my hard start issues with my Nissan maxima 1997 se automatic. I had to make sure my fuel injectors were good and they were but not the pintle caps that hold the O-rings together. The pintle caps were cracked and because of the cracked and bad pintle caps the fuel pressure would leak on the cylinder and would cause excessive cranking. As soon as I Fixed those the car would start right away on every start. Then later on car would still start on the first start but as soon as I would start after an 1-2 hours the car would start but would almost stall but it wouldn't and I figured it had to be a fuel pressure problem and it was. The fuel pressure regulator was good as I had a new oem one on. That left me to the fuel pump. I had put a an oem fuel pump that had 129,000 miles that I thought would run good but now I know no matter how many miles the pump has it can still be bad and it was luckily I had a oem Nissan fuel pump from 1995 Nissan maxima with only 176,000 miles and now no more problems. its been two weeks and now im finally happy that I don't have to work on my car anymore or worry about the starting because after 1 whole year it's finally gone. Its gone and now I am getting more gas millage as I filled my tank with premium 91 and I still a half of a tank with 180 miles. Im hoping to get at least 300 miles with a full tank of gas now that the car has no problems with 307,396 miles on it. Now if I can get 300 miles from my maxima now where I used to 260 miles with a full tank that would kick *** and I would be happy. So the point here is that i had tried replacing almost all of the sensors that cause cranking issues with no result and it turned out to be a problem with fuel pressure. When having long cranking issues and starting issues always check for the basic stuff like fuel pressure and spark before replacing any sensors. These fuel injectors that came with the 95-99 maxima's and 96-99 infiniti's are notorious for bad pintle caps as they can become brittle and develope cracks and break and in return cause the fuel pressure to leak. Also the fuel pressure regulator is really important as they go bad and can no longer hold fuel pressure and cause excessive cranking before finally starting. Also the fuel pump can go bad and will no longer hold pressure. Last always replace any part on this car with oem nissan parts as aftermarkets parts will not work with these cars. Everything has to be oem nissan.

True for a lot of things, but not all.
For example: I have a Walbro fuel pump and an aftermarket FPR, works great.

As much as I highly recommend using Nissan OEM Parts, this is a completely ignorant statement.

Here's what I mean. Now if u buy a an aftermarket maf it will not read correctly and will give u bad fuel mixture. Now if you buy a cheap aftermarket fuel pump like an airtex fuel pump which made in china it will not last and won't work properly as I had tried it once and had to return it. The main thing I'm saying aftermarket parts really depend on the manufacturer. Now if you buy a fuel pump like Delphi which I did for my 97 nissan quest, it turned out to be a Walbro fuel pump which was oem for that model. Now if you do decide to go oem which is really expensive, which I prefer, I recommend going to pick'n'pull or a junkyard and getting oem parts from a low millage car which will cost about 9.99 for fpr at pick'n'pull. Going aftermarket really depends on the brands. Delphi, Bosch, beck arnley or the top three brands that I reccomended because there parts are quality built and some or not most of the times they turn out to be oem nissan parts for half the price. Also if anybody decides to buy parts from nissan, visit the parts.nissanusa.com estore first as I found out that dealership prices are 10-20.00 or more than prices on the nissan website and if you tell them that the price online, by typing in the zip code for that dealerships location it will show you there real prices, you can tell them that the price online is cheaper and they will give it to you for that online price.

I've found through a bit of detailed research on Nissan plant locations in Japan and the US that a Nissan (and BMW) Just-In-Time supplier/partner is Federal Mogul. There is a top shelf line of FM parts that cost almost as Nissan OEM -- that is unless you get a 40% discount through a US parts outlet.

It would be simpler to follow this simple rule:

For sophisticated/complicated parts, go OEM.
Thermostat? OEM
Ignition coils? OEM
IACV? OEM
MAF? OEM
Spark Plugs? OEM
ECU? OEM


Brake pads? Aftermarket
Air filter? Aftermarket
Fuel filter? Aftermarket
Fuel pump? Aftermarket
PCV? Aftermarket
FPR? Aftermarket
Radiator? Aftermarket

when you cycle the key, does it start easier?

check the forum, there is plenty of info on it. It's a circular-looking thing on the right-hand side (if you stand in the front of the car) that has hoses running to it, for the lack of a better word lol

I shoot for best of both worlds, you can often find the actual OEM part for cheaper if you know who makes it.

Example - the FPR (it came in the nissan box with a sticker over it):

Wait a minute. That's the aftermarket FPR I have, and I got it for half that. Wow inflation from a couple of years. Bad example LOL

When I posted it was $70-something w/ 1 remaining, but yeah supply and demand I guess. Noticed that about a lot of part #s from old threads.