I am working on a 1996 Nissan Maxima, with an automatic transmission. The car has intermittent starting issues where it will not crank. The lights on the dash come on, but it just will not crank sometimes. We thought it was the neutral safety switch/inhibitor and replaced that, but it is still giving me issues. I have read some threads saying it could be the ignition switch, but before I go out and spend another couple hundred bucks on that, is there a good/easy way to test this? Has anyone had any issues like this? Any assistance/suggestions/insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have you checked the infamous ckps, And cmps

 

I haven't checked either the camshaft position sensor or the crankshaft position sensor. Is there a way to test them to see if they are working properly? Or do you just have to change them?

 

Those sensors will not prevent the engine from cranking, but can keep the engine from starting.

An ignition switch can cause intermittent no crank. It is not a real expensive part, either. I don't know where you got that price idea from. They are about $30 at autozone and $35 at the dealer. On line at rockauto.com they are $18 to $22.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...mString=search
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,4700
http://www.courtesyparts.com/48750-s...ml?cPath=1783&

But instead of just replacing parts until you get lucky, you should get out your voltmeter and do some troubleshooting.

 

Check your grounds. Last time I had a non-cranking problem, I removed the battery and basket thing the battery sits on to get to the ground beneath it. I sanded the area of the frame where it bolts to the car and also the mount on the bottom of the cable that bolts to the car. I cleaned off the terminals of the battery and cables that connected to the battery. Made sure all connections were tight.

Then she started.

BUT: my issue was that which when I turned the key, nothing happened. It didnt try to crank or turn over. All power may have gone out, actually. So it may be different than your problem.

 

Like has been suggested check all your voltage drops batt. - to ground, batt + to starter. Generally the iggy switch is on its way out if there is a bunch of slop in the cylinder. It's a 30 min job to replace and about a $30 part. Run the voltage drops across the iggy switch as well. But I'll bet you have a flaky starter. The no crank condition will eventually get worse if that is the case. Or at least mine did.

 

Check for slop, too. https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...tion-slop.html