1997 Maxima starting problems starter cuts off
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1997 Maxima starting problems starter cuts off
Does anyone have a guess of whats going on? battery is new, already change CRPS, CPS, already check the coils, check the fuses, the alternator is fine, this was after taking the car to a local mechanic, before that, car was hard to start but it didn't cut off like this when it was stalling. When I received the car (yesterday) all the spark plugs where burned, he had the car 1 week, the mechanic gave me no reasonable explanation he just told me he didn't want to fix it anymore. Does anyone know what could he posibly did and how can I fix it, lights dim when trying to start and starter cuts off weird..
I made a video so you can understand me better
http://youtu.be/YfYHi8owA9Y
I made a video so you can understand me better
http://youtu.be/YfYHi8owA9Y
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already did, ground is good, already changed the crankshaft and camshaft position sensors, and car is not showing any codes
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 104
From: Pittsburgh
Yeah if your mechanic gave up, its not the typical things (fuel, spark, starter motor). From the video it sounds like a grounding issue. Not uncommon especially if the transmission has ever been removed. The starter and all your sensors ground through the transmission to engine mating surfaces and get confused by the bad ground -- the current to your starter actually starves power to your sensors making your computer think there is another issue altogether. My 95 had the WORST starting/ground problem for years and it kept getting worse. A ground kit can help and will let you know immediately if you are on the right track. When I had my clutch replaced I had Nissan clean the transmission mating surfaces. Now it starts like it was new and it hasn't thrown a single CEL code since. Don't overlook this simple yet common solution. -pc
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Yeah if your mechanic gave up, its not the typical things (fuel, spark, starter motor). From the video it sounds like a grounding issue. Not uncommon especially if the transmission has ever been removed. The starter and all your sensors ground through the transmission to engine mating surfaces and get confused by the bad ground -- the current to your starter actually starves power to your sensors making your computer think there is another issue altogether. My 95 had the WORST starting/ground problem for years and it kept getting worse. A ground kit can help and will let you know immediately if you are on the right track. When I had my clutch replaced I had Nissan clean the transmission mating surfaces. Now it starts like it was new and it hasn't thrown a single CEL code since. Don't overlook this simple yet common solution. -pc
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Posts: 3,037
From: Central AR
Here are some questions:
Do I see/hear your car starting at the end of the video?
Does your car have approximately 139,000 miles?
How long have you owned the car?
Is the car automatic or manual?
Has the transmission been recently removed?
How long has the tachometer been bouncing inaccurately like we see in the video?
What kind of plugs did you install in June?
Did the mechanic do anything or change anything that caused him to charge you for repair?
Do I see/hear your car starting at the end of the video?
Does your car have approximately 139,000 miles?
How long have you owned the car?
Is the car automatic or manual?
Has the transmission been recently removed?
How long has the tachometer been bouncing inaccurately like we see in the video?
What kind of plugs did you install in June?
Did the mechanic do anything or change anything that caused him to charge you for repair?
Last edited by CS_AR; Aug 3, 2014 at 12:20 PM.
Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 104
From: Pittsburgh
Unfortunately its not that easy, as all your grounds will test good with a multimeter. It's not until you are applying numerous amps to your starter that the grounds to everything else become less effective and cause sensor misreadings. If you search my posts you can see a few photos that I uploaded with regard to where I added extra ground wires. I probably don't even need them now, but it made the difference between starting my car and draining my battery trying to.
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Here are some questions:
Do I see/hear your car starting at the end of the video? Yes, the car does start, but it stalls a lot before finally starting then it runs fine
Does your car have approximately 139,000 miles?
This car has 196,551 miles
How long have you owned the car? I have it since October of last year
Is the car automatic or manual?
The car is automatic
Has the transmission been recently removed? No, but half engine was removed to fix oil leaks caused by worn seals, before that fix the car didn't have any starting problems
How long has the tachometer been bouncing inaccurately like we see in the video? Since I bought the car, but the rpms are normal
What kind of plugs did you install in June?
It had Bosch copper plugs, I tried to clean them but they didn't work so I replace them with autolite sparkplugs (copper)
Did the mechanic do anything or change anything that caused him to charge you for repair? The mechanic told me he only cleaned the sensors and cables, but before I left the car on the shop the car didn't loose power on the starter like it does now
Do I see/hear your car starting at the end of the video? Yes, the car does start, but it stalls a lot before finally starting then it runs fine
Does your car have approximately 139,000 miles?
This car has 196,551 miles
How long have you owned the car? I have it since October of last year
Is the car automatic or manual?
The car is automatic
Has the transmission been recently removed? No, but half engine was removed to fix oil leaks caused by worn seals, before that fix the car didn't have any starting problems
How long has the tachometer been bouncing inaccurately like we see in the video? Since I bought the car, but the rpms are normal
What kind of plugs did you install in June?
It had Bosch copper plugs, I tried to clean them but they didn't work so I replace them with autolite sparkplugs (copper)
Did the mechanic do anything or change anything that caused him to charge you for repair? The mechanic told me he only cleaned the sensors and cables, but before I left the car on the shop the car didn't loose power on the starter like it does now
Does your car have approximately 139,000 miles?
This car has 196,551 miles
How long have you owned the car? I have it since October of last year
Is the car automatic or manual?
The car is automatic
Has the transmission been recently removed? No, but half engine was removed to fix oil leaks caused by worn seals, before that fix the car didn't have any starting problems
How long has the tachometer been bouncing inaccurately like we see in the video? Since I bought the car, but the rpms are normal
What kind of plugs did you install in June?
It had Bosch copper plugs, I tried to clean them but they didn't work so I replace them with autolite sparkplugs (copper)
Did the mechanic do anything or change anything that caused him to charge you for repair? The mechanic told me he only cleaned the sensors and cables, but before I left the car on the shop the car didn't loose power on the starter like it does now
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 3,037
From: Central AR
Do you know if the upper oil pan was removed to replace the worn seals and fix the oil leak?
There are seals that make contact with the upper oil pan that are named "half moon" seals as shown in the picture below that begin to leak as the car ages.
There is a mating surface from the upper oil pan on the engine to the transmission that supports engine to transmission grounding. The mating surface between the upper oil pan and the transmission should be clean before reassembly like the one in the picture to facilitate a good ground.
Another possible area to check is a vacuum leak that could be caused by a vacuum hose that was not properly reattached or was damaged during the work to fix the oil leak.
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Thank you for the information.
Do you know if the upper oil pan was removed to replace the worn seals and fix the oil leak?
There are seals that make contact with the upper oil pan that are named "half moon" seals as shown in the picture below that begin to leak as the car ages.
There is a mating surface from the upper oil pan on the engine to the transmission that supports engine to transmission grounding. The mating surface between the upper oil pan and the transmission should be clean before reassembly like the one in the picture to facilitate a good ground.
Another possible area to check is a vacuum leak that could be caused by a vacuum hose that was not properly reattached or was damaged during the work to fix the oil leak.
Do you know if the upper oil pan was removed to replace the worn seals and fix the oil leak?
There are seals that make contact with the upper oil pan that are named "half moon" seals as shown in the picture below that begin to leak as the car ages.
There is a mating surface from the upper oil pan on the engine to the transmission that supports engine to transmission grounding. The mating surface between the upper oil pan and the transmission should be clean before reassembly like the one in the picture to facilitate a good ground.
Another possible area to check is a vacuum leak that could be caused by a vacuum hose that was not properly reattached or was damaged during the work to fix the oil leak.
Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 104
From: Pittsburgh
Again strictly based on your video, that's exactly what my 1995 SE with 175k miles at the time was doing.
The tach would do exactly what yours did, and occasionally something would "catch" and either the engine would start up (roughly at first) or everything would just stop abruptly. You can keep doing this until the car starts, which it eventually does, or the battery dies, which it also will. In my case, the ground problem was messing with my crank position sensor and my engine timing was all foobar until I hit the "jackpot" and the engine managed to start on its own without the computer's "help". After that everything would be just fine and the car would run normally.
Perhaps it's not the mating sufaces then, but I'd still look further into a ground problem with your CPS based only on your vidieo.
The tach would do exactly what yours did, and occasionally something would "catch" and either the engine would start up (roughly at first) or everything would just stop abruptly. You can keep doing this until the car starts, which it eventually does, or the battery dies, which it also will. In my case, the ground problem was messing with my crank position sensor and my engine timing was all foobar until I hit the "jackpot" and the engine managed to start on its own without the computer's "help". After that everything would be just fine and the car would run normally.
Perhaps it's not the mating sufaces then, but I'd still look further into a ground problem with your CPS based only on your vidieo.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 3,037
From: Central AR
Just to get a feel for how it behaves from thousands of miles away, how does it start when you get in and hold the accelerator all the way to the floor before you turn the key to run the starter and don't let up until it starts running?
Does that make it harder or easier to start?
Is it harder to start in the morning or after the engine is warm?
Does that make it harder or easier to start?
Is it harder to start in the morning or after the engine is warm?
Thread Starter
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Posts: 8
Just to get a feel for how it behaves from thousands of miles away, how does it start when you get in and hold the accelerator all the way to the floor before you turn the key to run the starter and don't let up until it starts running?
Does that make it harder or easier to start?
Is it harder to start in the morning or after the engine is warm?
Does that make it harder or easier to start?
Is it harder to start in the morning or after the engine is warm?
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 2
A quick check to see if the issue is a grounding issue. Take a set of jumper cables, connect negative side to engine block near the starter. Do not connect it to any electrical connections! Connect the other end to the negative side of the battery. Then see how the car starts. The jumper cables will be taking the current instead of the engine grounds. If it works good, you know the problem is the grounds. If no change, the problem is else ware.
Good luck!
Good luck!
On a previous sentra I owned, the car acted like the battery was nearly dying all the time. Dimming headlights, fans would kick in and the idle would stumble almost to stalling etc.
Turns out that in the engine bay, the connector for the main fusebox was corroded to crap. I polished that connector right up and the car ran like a champ after that.
Clean your grounds. one of them, or a few, are dirty.
Turns out that in the engine bay, the connector for the main fusebox was corroded to crap. I polished that connector right up and the car ran like a champ after that.
Clean your grounds. one of them, or a few, are dirty.
Thread Starter
Newbie - Just Registered
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 8
On a previous sentra I owned, the car acted like the battery was nearly dying all the time. Dimming headlights, fans would kick in and the idle would stumble almost to stalling etc.
Turns out that in the engine bay, the connector for the main fusebox was corroded to crap. I polished that connector right up and the car ran like a champ after that.
Clean your grounds. one of them, or a few, are dirty.
Turns out that in the engine bay, the connector for the main fusebox was corroded to crap. I polished that connector right up and the car ran like a champ after that.
Clean your grounds. one of them, or a few, are dirty.
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