Car Won't Start!!!
 

I was driving home on sunday and i was at a red light. I put it in first then second and when i put it in third the car would not move or rev or anything. I had to roll to the side of the road. I could rev it in neutral but when i put it in any gear it would not move. Then i shut the car of and tried to restart it. It wouldnt start. It just clicked. So i had my girls dad jump the car. It started and i made it home. I thought it was the battery so i went and got a new one. When i put it in it started just fine. Then I went to work on monday and it worked great. I think i drove about 60 miles that day. Now it is tuesday and I also made it to work. I went out to lunch and on the way back to work it did it again. I put it in gear and it wouldnt move. I tried shutting of the a/c and it moved. I made it to work again and I shut of the car. Now it won't start again. Is it possibly the alternater? I just dont understand why the car was still on and it wouldnt shift. Can anyone help me. I am now stuck at work until i fix this problem.

Thanks

Wow thats a new one I haven't heard before. If its the alternator that would explain it not starting once it was shut off. (Battery is dead) But that still leaves to question about why it wouldn't do anything in gear. Wish I could be more of a help, but like I said thats new to me. Someone needs to chime in with more exerpince.

+1 on the alternator, thats the problem.

any chance u run an amp? if you are then that could of killed the alternator. but i also thinks its alternator.
Juan

I wuz thinking that if your transmission is automatic and electronically controlled, that might make sense that the alternator is dying. But if you're driving a 6-speed, it seems weird that you would get no power in gear.

I am not running an amp but i am running angel eyes to my battery. I dont think that would matter. My car is in the shop right now so i will let you guys know once i hear from him. Thanks for the input.

Im picking up my car today. He said it was the alternator. I just think it was wierd that the car was still on but i couldnt move in gear. :confused:

So... I just called the shop and the guy says my car is $432. WTF!!! I quess it is really hard to change the alternator in the 03 max. He said he had to move a/c hoses and take off a tire and go from underneath the car. Sounds like a pain in the ***. But wtf that is a lot of money for an alternator.

anyone got any comments on this?

Work on the car yourself or accept the pounding :gotme:

Alternator is a giant pain in the ***. I dont think that 400 bucks is worth it honestly. You do have to move the compressor hoses and take the compressor itself down. Hope you got a good oem replacement at least

wow this sucks. i just got the car back and i made just about to my house. i was coming up about 200 feet left and it stalled again. now i try to start it and it feels like its going to turn over but it doesnt. it doesnt sound like it did before. i called the guy and he said it might be an o2 senser. Does that sound right?

Well funny - check the fuel system - (fuel pump, fuel regulator)

On Tuesday, I had a 2000 with a no start condition. It started sometimes but seemed to have a no start when it was hot outside (28-30C) and when my gas was below 1/2 tank. Finally, it stalled when I was driving - luckily before the intersection.

I thought it was the MAF (replaced it with a new one), cleaned the throttle body and part of IACV. After a nights work I tried to start but it didn't turn over. It had plenty of power though - lights, windows, etc. all worked. I too had the alternator replaced at about 120KM. Had it towed in since I didn't have diagnosis tools...

It ended up being the fuel pump - it finally died. Cost me $535CDN - but looking at the breakdown I was fine with it. I could have saved $200 on the diagnosis and installatio but I also didn't have to change the pump. Also I had no definite idea what it was. The fuel pump was a good deal though - Nissan OEM for $261 CDN- thought they would have jacked that up!

Edit: Also wanted to add - the fuel pump failure will not throw a code

It is a pain but unless this guy is charging you something like $200/hr labor then you need to ask him to explain that price to you.

Come on people, can i have some input on this. I see a bunch of people looking at this thread but no replys. Does anyone know what could be the problem?

Yea thanks for the reply. I hope its not a fuel pump. I just dropped $432 on a stupid alternator and belt. Wtf is up with that. If i have to drop another $500 that would suck so bad.

So I called the guy at the shop and he said its not the o2 or the fuel pump. He said that there is no spark. He is having another guy come look at it because he doesnt know what it could be. Does anyone have any other opinions about this?

Whatever it is I say just pay this guy for the diagnostics and do the work your self. Fuel pump/filter will only take you 20-30 minutes to do your self. Ignition coils will take you about the same, maybe a little longer if you run into any problems. O2 sensors will take about 5-8minutes each, taking your time. It could also possibly be a clogged catalytic converter, I have never even really looked at them on these cars so I can't say how easy or complicated it would be to change one out.

Well i got the car back. Can anyone guess what it was...

It was a stupid fuse on the terminal for the battery. I quess it controls the fuel injection or something. It was a small 15amp fuse. WTF. It only cost me 20 bucks for him to check it out and put it in. (thank god) But now on my way to work i drove about an hour and my ses light is on. The car is running fine but it is still on.

It cost me 3.95 for the correct 120 amp fuse and I installed it myself :gotme:

I think that guy is trying to take advantage.

The same thing hppn to my 01, it was the trans.......the bolts on it sometimes get loose.....I don't know if you fixed ur prb, just thought i would hlp.

oddly enough i had this EXACT thing happen to me today. Last night had the e-brake light and batt light on at the same time. Concerned me but i couldn't do anything bout it at the time. (it was late) Going to work today running just fine the all the sudden no power when i hit the gas. Pull over, revs fine outta gear ('02 se 6spd) but would BARELY go in gear. It's at the shop and hopefully gonna get it back tomorrow. Mechanics haven't looked at it and I've been going to this guy for a LONG time so he shouldn't do anything miscelaneous to give me the run around. I'll report back when I know more. :(

Don't let the mechanic charge you that much. It is such a rip off.
Tell him you don't want to pay for his inexperience, a real mechanic would have the job done in 20 minutes.

One sign of a bad alternator is the measure the voltage across the battery terminals when the car is started. It shout read about 13.5 volts - if more than 12 then the battery will be charging. The voltage will go up with increased rpm. If 12 V, then driving, lights, AC will discharge the battery.

How to get off the work lot is alternator is bad?? Get a charger - take the battery home to charge it, put it in fresh and drive to parts store