godlyone

So my friend left the dome light on overnight.. next day took longer than usual to start...

Cut 2 days later and car won't start

I went to costco, got a new 1000 CCA battery to replace my old one (only about 2.5 yrs old and covered under their warranty)

Drove back to my place, and having the same issue again.. car isn't starting.

When I turn the key, it doesnt even try.. no noise.. nothing

I think my negative battery terminal is a little loose and is a POS needing replacement, but do you think this could cause the issue?

[rigged it with tin foil to make a tight connection and it didnt make a difference]

Battery reads 13V when car is off, 14V when car is running (so clearly alternator is working)

My car is manual, so if I start it from a roll, it works fine... (until i turn it off)

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

Starter?????????

godlyone

Yeah, thats what I am thinking.. but I don't hear ANY noises when I turn the key..
is that normal for a bad starter?

Also I heard you can bang it with a hammer and it will work for a bit till you change it. Is that true?

mist max2000

iTrader: (16)

someone correct me if im wrong,.. but i doubt its a bad terminal.. if the car runs fine when you 'pop' start it,..then one would assume the battery/terminal is fine and the alternator is fine,.. and the starter is the culprit,...

lucky for you i think its in an easy location ..at least the 6mt is,..

try this.. take a blunt object,..try, HAMMER and wack the crap out of your starter..and then try to start it,.. to your suprise its prob going to start,...(EDIT: thats ironic.. didnt see your post about the hammer.. and yeah.. it ''works'')

or try this,.. with the key in the on position.. use a screwdriver or wrench and jump the HOT wire(wire to battery) to the small wire and also to the starter HOT connector. you should see ALOT of sparks (please hold the plastic end of the screwdriver)..and you will be jumping the starter..(now that i think.. you might need someone to hold the clutch down for the safety switch.. not sure)

im not responsible for any damage

godlyone

well mine is 2000, so 5MT

I could try whacking it tomorrow, but what if it's a bad starter relay or something?

mist max2000

iTrader: (16)

then.. you need to buy a new one

heres some decent reading material for ya..

http://www.misterfixit.com/starttst.htm

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

Just take it out and get it tested, it's fairly easy. If it's the original starter and has like 100K miles consider replacement. They don't work forever.

808MAX-SPEC

iTrader: (7)

Sound like the starter to me. Tap it, don't bang it. Good move on getting a battery.

godlyone

Ok, so I am thinking about changing it myself.
Problem is I live in NY and go to medical school here in Philadelphia so.... no tools

I could go to sears/pepboys/autozone/etc and pick up a new starter + tools, but I'd like to know which ones.

I currently have a 3/8" and 1/2" socket wrench but only a 13mm socket [used it to remove battery]

Can anyone confirm the tools necessary?

This site explains it pretty well: http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/starter.html

I guess I'll need a breaker bar (Where could I get one? I wish my garage was closer!!)

And what size are those bolts?

Also, how can I confirm it's the starter because I'd hate to change it and then realize it isn't the problem?

godlyone

Update...

So i got a wire and jumped from the battery + to the solenoid wire and the starter turned

also measured between starter +[fat wire] and ground.. 13V looks good

Got in the car and tried to start it.. it started 3x.. very badly.. but it did start

Also the car was cold and before it was warmed up from driving, may have something to do with it

lalaMAX

I put 100 bux on starter....

4 years ago, i had da same issue, first day battery died, and I replaced a new battery, 2 days later, car no more crank, so new starter...

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Ilya, the two bolts that hold the starter in are 17mm. You'll need a breaker bar for the larger one, and probably for the smaller one. Airbox has to come out so a 10mm and a screwdriver for the clamps. Pliers also help with the wire clips/clamps.

sontakke

The cables really need to be making good connection for the starter to spin the motor. The cables DONT need good connection for the car to run. Starter needs hundreds of AMPS vs few tens of amps for running the car.

Bend couple of pennies and put them between the battery post and the battery clamp. I had to do that in my van before electrical gremlins went away.

The OEM clamps are quite delicate and they start spreading and do not make tight connection once they have been taken off few times. Parts store also sell battery post hats made out of lead but I had better luck with the penny.

It is as ghetto as it gets :-) I did buy the new connector but apparently I could not figure out how to replace the original connector with the new one without having a tool to do the necessary massive crimping. I pre-bend the penny using a C-clamp so that it could go around the the battery post.

- Vikas

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

+1 on the penny - copper conducts a little better than tin foil

Feldman

iTrader: (1)

If there is a harbor freight around where you are, you can pick up an entire metric socket set for like $9 and a breaker bar for a little more but i dont think you need one though, an extension would probably help though

godlyone

So turns out it was the starter.

I started the car from a roll and drove home to NY from PA.

Took out my old starter (one 14mm and one 17mm bolt) Most people say you need a breaker bar for this, but honestly it wasn't that much force on the 17mm bolt.

I tried to hook the starter up straight to battery and it wouldnt spin. The solenoid worked fine but the starter itself was gone.

I took the starter apart just to see what was wrong with it and it seems the part of the motor that spins (rotor) had one of the splines partially ripped off
so it looked like this:

-------
-------
---\\\\\
-------
-------

The part that was bent off (\\\\) was sticking out, so when the starter turned, it completely raped the brushes, turning them into dust.

Will be calling Dave B for a new starter monday because I don't want to deal with the autozone ones dying on me

sascuderi

How many miles on your max? Just wondering at what milage do our starters start to fail.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Mine went at about 130k, on a 2000 Maxima.

godlyone

mine was 80k... new starter and working like a champ now

sascuderi

Reason I'm asking is I think mine is going at 71 K miles. At first the starter would sometimes pause in the middle of a start but last night it made a grinding noise.

Where is the best place to get them? NAPA? Pepboys? Dealer?

godlyone

if its dead and you need it replaced ASAP go with autozone.. lifetime warranty ftw and same quality as pepboys/napa

if you want oem [hitachi] probably better quality, but not lifetime warranty you can call DaveB

oem ~200 from daveB and autozone one is ~150 or so