Hello forum and thank you in advance for anyone reading and assisting. I have a 1997 Maxima gle. About a month ago she went down on me mid drive and would not start back. When I turn the key to the ACC position my windows, lights, and dash lights all work. But when I turn it to start the car I get a "click" and as long as the key is in the start position there are no longer any lights on and nothing happens. I turn the key back off and the process repeats. I've tried first changing the battery terminals, then changing the battery ( be it not a new battery, but a used working battery) , and I've cleaned my ground points under the battery tray. Still cannot get the car to start. Any help would be much appreciated. TIA

 

Most likely it's your starter deciding enough is enough.

Yes they go bad and after how many years old is your car, not unexpected.

There are a lot of Starter threads here and some tell you how to replace it yourself, if you are capable. So do a search. Maybe on YouTube as well.

Sadly, the replacement starters have a higher than usual percentage of failure than most other consumable repairs. So if you are doing this yourself, research which of the available choices has the highest probability of being done with it for over the next 27 years.

Hope this helps!

 

Yes, definitely sounds like the starter, if you hear a click that means the solenoid in the starter is doing it's job telling the starter motor to power up and turn the engine but it's not working.

You can take the whole thing out and wack it a few times with a rubber hammer and try it again, it might work for a few more weeks but it's on it's way out either way.

It's pretty simple to replace, you can also look for shops that rebuild starters in your area and bring it to them to have it inspected/repaired.

 

I wold check grounds first as it died on the road. Just a click can be ther starter, but most likely a bad connection causing the issue. I always ahve to remind myself to start with the basics, good battery, good connections to battery and ground. Then begin testing various components and woring for failures.

 

If the car died while you were driving, then the starter is probably not involved. My car did that a few times a while back and it turned out to be a bad ignition switch. I recommend getting a new one from Nissan instead of aftermarket since it's not very expensive. Recently my car started doing the "click no start" thing and the culprit ended up being "slop" in the ignition switch/key cylinder. I made a video about how I fixed it for good:

 

Good answer. the fact that all lights go dead in crank but the battery terminals and battery are good most likely is the ignition switch.

 

Just curious about how one would diagnose this "by the book". What does the Factory Service Manual say about your symptom/s?