Hello everyone, I am new here, and this is my first post.. I hope I am posting in the correct spot, if not I am sorry...

I have a 2000 Nissian Maxima, with 183,000 miles on it. I replaced the starter on it about a month ago, and every since It dont want to start everytime.. It cranks and sometimes it will fire and sometimes it wont.. And sometimes it cranks normal then other times it cranks and will drag and the crank normal again.. Once it starts it runs great and there are NO codes in the computer....
I never had a problem before replacing the starter..

I have replaced both Crankshaft sensors and the camshaft sensor

Today I took everything apart again to get to the starter just to make sure I didn't mess a wire or something up, and everything seems fine

Does anyone have any Ideas? THis is driving me Nuts.... and I am afraid to drive the car for fear of it not starting or of it doing some kind of damage when it cranks and drags

A shop put it on a computer and said sometimes it showed the front crankshaft sensor and sometimes it didn't thats why I replaced it...

again, any help at all??
THanks
Ted

 

Since your problem didn't start until after you replaced the starter, it sure seems that the starter is your problem. Just because you just got it does not guarantee that it is good, especially if the starter was a rebuilt one. A lot of others have been in that same boat as you.

 

Yeah I thought about it being the starter, but even when it cranks fine it still wont always start, I got the starter at autozone, I took the car over there and showed them what it was doing and they said they dont think its the starter because it does crank, they think its a computer or sensor problem causing a timming problem during crank... This is why its driving me nuts

 

Autozone is notorious for not knowing what they are doing.

Back when my factory starter died, it cranked the engine very slowly, too slow for the engine to start. Since I have 2 Maximas, first I swapped batteries, then starters to verify. I took the bad starter to an autozone and they insisted on putting it in their tester. The tester unit is a no-load tester, so the starter spun (no surprise), while making an extremely loud grinding noise.

According to autozone, my starter was in A-1 perfect condition. I told them I wanted to buy a starter and they refused to sell me one because my starter tested good; they did not want to have to take back a starter since my problem was not the starter. Another parts store got my money and I've been happy as a clam ever since.

Besides not knowing what they are doing, they also have poor quality rebuilt starters and alternators. Just search for starter or alternator problems and you will get an awful lot of stories about autozone.

But it is also possible that it is a crankshaft sensor, the one on the fan belt pulley, CKPS(REF), would be more likely of the two. You can also find stories here on the org about replacing the new autozone sensor with a junkyard one and then the car started.

If you replaced the starter first and then replaced the crankshaft sensors afterwards trying to fix the problem, I still feel that the starter is your problem.

 

I did not got my camshaft or crankshaft sensors from Autozone.. I have had problems with Starters and Alternators from them before, I make them test everything before I walk out the door...
Im taking it back to the shop that told me it was the crankshaft sensors and see what they say this time
However, Now that we have VERY cold weather coming, I don't think I want to go out and remove the starter, I will do that the next warmest day we have and get another one and see if that fixes the problem

 

It makes no sense that after replacing the starter, you would suddenly develop a sensor problem.

I would replace the starter again before hunting for other gremlins.

 

Well, the shop was no help, this time they said they "THINK" the computer may need to be flashed or there could be a bad wire in the engine control harness where it bends over the right rear of the engine next to the right strut tower, or there could be a bad ground "somewhere" Like any of this really helps me.... Its 14 degrees outside with wind chills around 0, I don't think I will be out there checking wiring. now mind you this was the same shop that told me the front crankshaft sensor was bad

 

Seriously. Replace the starter again. At least you will eliminate the most likely culprit.

Their suggestion is ridiculous.

It reminds me of a battle I had with Firestone. I had my clutch cylinders replaced. Almost immediatly thereafter when driving 20 mins or so, the clutch would become dead. So I took it back. They said "you need a new clutch" I said "WTF" this clutch has 20k on it and it is a racing clutch. I said "you didn't bleed the system correctly."

So, they bleed again. Same problem. I tell them they don't know how to bleed the clutch. They bleed again. Same problem. Finally, they tell me get out of here it is your clutch. They wanted 1k to do clutch.

So, as I'm leaving one of the techs comes up to me and tells me that the guy trying to bleed my clutch is an idiot so come back on saturday when a different mgr is here and I will fix it. Bang. Done.

Oh, then there was the replacement of my alternator. Tested fine at the store. I install. Test every freaking possible thing when it doesn't work. (There is a good thread here somewhere detailing what I did). Finally, I say . . . I'm replacing alternator anyway even though my test shows it is fine. Ding!

Moral -
Don't go looking for gremlins until you rule out the obvious.

 

I am curious what you mean by "drag" when you're cranking.

Does the starter always crank at normal speed (assuming your battery is good) and by "drag" you actually mean that the starter "drags on"? As in, the starter continues to "crank" normally but the motor doesn't fire up?

Or are you actually saying that the starter does not crank normally and that it sounds like it is dragging? As in, cranking slowly...

Coincidences are NOT that normal with car junk. When you change something and a "new" problem arises, you should always start with what was changed (Max Gator's recommendation is proper). But please clarify your statement first.

 

The starter turns fine, what I mean by drag is, sometimes it feels and sounds like it catches on something, reminds me of my Old 83 Oldsmobile when the timming chain was going out..... Its going to be around 50 one day next week, Im going to take the starter out and back to autozone and get another one and try that, I hope it fixes it, but I don't think it will.. but its quicker to replace that then to start looking at 100s of wires

 

Sounds like (not) the starter to me personally. Will be interesting to see where this goes.

 

I am having the same problem, point by point. Have not had problems with the starter itself though. No signal to the injectors, but they are getting power. I have replaced both crank sensors, but not the cam sensor. I have personally checked all the power inputs to the ecm, using a pinout diagram. I have also checked the ecm grounds. Almost acts like it could be an alarm problem. I have even tried another ecm. I am a semi-retired professional mechanic, and have wired in complete harnesses to bare chassis before, as well as mix/matched harnesses. It gets frustrating when you were not anticipating spending this much time.

 

No signal to the injectors? How are you testing to see whether or not they're firing? This is the method Nissan uses to prevent theft within the security system. Have you had anything funky with your transponder keys/ecu getting mixed up to any degree? If do your injectors wouldn't fire.

OP - Perhaps you should consider getting your fuel pressure checked out. In particularly during cranking/start up to see if things are 1) in spec and 2) consistent. Fuel pumps CAN die slow, sporatic deaths.

 

Thanks. there were two transponder keys on the ring and one was good and one wasnt. I trashed the bad one. Thanks for the tip.

 

Good you got it figured out, but you may not want to trash it. You can get them reprogrammed to your ECU. If you only have two keys and don't want a third, then call up your local locksmith and ask em' how much to reprogram your two transponder keys.

They must be done at the same time, but this way you'd have 2 keys that will now function fine. You will save yourself the $ of buying another chipped key if you want a spare for your car in the future.

 

Well, guys, it seems dennismik and max gator was right..... I don't know why, because the old/new starter turned the motor, but I did replace it again today, and it started right up, I started it 100 times in a row and it started everytime..
AutoZone gave me no problem at all on exchanging it for another one, I was in and out in 5 minutes

 

Glad to hear that the problem is fixed.

Being able to call the shot is called experience. And experience is that you have been there - bent over with your pants pulled down and had it stuck to you AND you remembered it.

 

LOL, I know that feeling!!!

My roommate is going to drive it tomorrow, so i hope all goes well with it, I am tired of working on that thing and spending hours in a shop that told me all kinds of stuff.. I'm glad I didn't take it to the dealer to get the computer "flashed" like the shop said to do..

Now Im sure the radiator support will finally rust through and it will be sitting again..

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!!!