I have 2000 maxima gle that makes a strange noise when starting. Almost a squeaky noise from under the car. Car also sputters and misses at times but also runs great at times. It has 165000 miles on it. I just picked it up for this week so hadn't had a chance to even tune it up. Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

Most likely the noise is caused by automatic motor mounts. They have step motors which make this noise when getting old. They're expensive (~$200 each), semi- difficult to replace and don't affect ride quality much. There are 2 connectors in front of engine bay which you can disconnect so those motors will stop doing this.

BTW, there's no 'tune up' so to speak - just do regular maintenance, the rest is ripoff.

 

Is the AC on when you start it up? Also is it really hot where u are? Could be the belts slipping, also if the AC is on I have heard of this problem with a failing compressor

 

It does it either way whether the AC is on or not. It does it worse when it has been sitting for a while. Ive had bad luck so far it has been hard to crank as if my battery was dead but I put a new one on it and still does it, now all it does is click when you try to crank as if the starter is bad, guess I will check it next.

 

It is starter- please replace it with OEM, spare yourself headache.

 

Anecdote: yesterday I went to fire up a '97 max a friend owns that hasn't been driven in over a month and it had a horrible squeeling noise, low RPM, could barely stay started. After a few minutes of investigation I noticed the drive belt tensioner wheel wasn't spinning. Threw some WD-40 on it and everything went back to normal.

Theory: maybe you have a similar issue. It sounded similar to a sputter when the car was struggling to maintain idle. This would also explain why your starter is now dead.. you've been putting extra strain on it when trying to start the car.