2000 Max - replaced starter, car still wouldn't start
 

My max was sitting in the garage for about 1 1/2 month with (-) unplugged. So I tried starting my car last week, and I don't hear any click. Thought it was my Optima battery not providing enough crank. So I connected my wife's car battery to my terminals, still don't hear any clicks. That proves my starter has died.

Ordered parts from DaveB, installed the new starter, try starting with my optima battery, I hear the clicks, but car still wouldn't start. Tried again with my wife's battery, clicks are there, but still can't start. My gauage lights all come up, it dimms when using Optima, but everything brights up normally when using my wife's car battery.


Both airbag and seat belt lights will blink twice when a start fails
It's not the battery, not the starter, could it be my coil packs?:goofy: or something else?:goofy:

Thanks in advance

anybody? any suggestions?

Is everything clean?
Check grounding points, and all connections.

A new battery and starter, and a clicking solenoid means its' getting power, but maybe not enough.

Tried tapping the starter while someone tries to crank?

you could have burned/corroded contacts in the ignition switch that don't let enough current through to fully energize the starter solenoid.

So it wouldn't click at all before you put in a starter and now it just clicks.

Check your starter. Do you have some kind of alarm on the car?

No alram except stock immoble. You are right, it wouldn't click with the old starter, but with the new starter, it clicks.

I'll look into the ignition switch. If it's found corroded/burned, I guess I'll have to replace the whole unit?

This might be a stupid idea but before I went through the trouble of taking out, testing, and replacing the ignition switch, I would grab a breaker bar and put it on the crank pulley then rotate it a couple times by hand and see if it's binding up. Maybe it's a dry start scenario and the starter just needs a little bit of help. Bad idea or not, it will only take 2 minutes of your time to check it out.

Hi wcasskicker, I’m sorry to hear about the problems you’ve been having and I’d like to help, at least on the battery side of things. What is the voltage of your Optima battery? A fully-charged RedTop should read approximately 12.6-12.8 volts and a fully-charged YellowTop should read approximately 13-13.2 volts. If your battery is fully-charged and disconnected from any power draw for 12-24 hours, it should maintain a voltage level close to the levels listed above.

If your battery holds a charge when not connected to your vehicle, but drops voltage when connected, you could have a parasitic draw or a bad ground, as Craig suggested. If you have any other battery-related questions, I’ll do my best to answer them. Good luck!

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

I'm using Eliminator Intelligent to charge up my Optima red top (34,800CCA) right now. According to the Optima website, 2 amp (slow charge) is preferred but 10amp (rapid charge) works as well. When I first troubleshoot my problem, my headlight, stereo all light up properly so I didn't think it's Optima's problem. After replacing my starter, when I tried turning on my car, I see my clock, gauge are all dimmed so I know my battery might have a problem.

I'll wait for that recharge to complete then I'll update you guys


http://www.optimabatteries.com/produ...t/charging.php

Thanks for all the help!

I had a similar problem with my 2000 Maxima, turns out the new starter I installed was bad. Second starter clicked a few times before nothing, so I had it towed to a shop. When I got the car back, they told me it was the Autozone starter I bought and that I should never shop there again... so I haven't. It's Pepboys and Oreilly's from here on out.

+1000 JunkoZone may warranty the parts for life, but as the saying goes, you'll be replacing them for life.

The clicking you hear, is it the starter hitting the flywheel? Or is it the starter relay clicking..two different clicking noises, but it helps to know which one you're hearing. If i were you, I would double check the battery connections since you said you had the negative cable disconnected. Just make sure they're right. Also check the positive cable for tightness as well. It might be a simple case where the battery can provide enough power to operate a relay, but a starter that requires much more power might be a different story.

If you have a DMM or a voltmeter you should check for voltage drop along the positive side of the starting circuit. Make sure you have as little drop as possible to rule out a bad connection to the starter. Also, try checking the standing voltage of the battery (a fully charged will be 12.68V, anything higher is considered surface discharge) against the starting voltage, and see how much it drops.

Problem fixed, at the end, it was the battery's problem. After recharge my Optima red top, car starts normally. Maybe changing the starter wasn't necessary, but whatever...