2000 Maxima SE AT silently dead, help needed
 

Its starter had been changed 2 years ago, since then, no starting issues.

until recently.

Not long ago, I found sometimes the car needs a little bit more crankings before it started. 2 days ago, my way back from work, this became a real issue, cranked about 4-5 sec. before starting.

There's only another 3 long cranking starts till now it is totally dead.

I turn the key, solenoid makes one click sound, and that's it. Very occasionally, it makes a few cranks ( I do think they happens when battery level is high or been jump started from another on car, only at the first key turn, then back to only one click from solenoid)

New battery, voltage 12.6V. Starter is pulled out and benchchecked, spins and engages find. Push the car moving while geared in R and D to turn crankshaft, no use. Oil low but still slightly above LOW.

Misteriously, ATF ruler shows abnormal high level of pink ATF, no burning smell.

Parasite drain of battery? checked, only 30mA drain while car is off.

I'm out of knowledge. what could be the reason?

Possibly dead cell In battery. swap with buddys n report back. i had one good voltage but wouldn't do **** even when jumped az tested it n said bad cell n 100 percent charged. weird.

brand new battery used for testing, same.:mecry:

Ok, some updates.

I paid and talked to an expert on that ad link provided here, JustAnswer.com. Price: 18 bucks plus willing tips.

According to him, an aftermarket starter only lasts 1-2 years. Mine is 2.2 years old now. So time to die.

I told him that I did a bench testing of the starter and it works fine. He said that doesn't mean it's good because lack of load. "Bench tests are never a really good way of testing the starter"

According to him, "But a single click when you try to start the car is a sign of a bad starter".

Any comment?

I mostly agree with the JustAnswer guy. Tests done on the starter out of the car are pretty useless. The starter on my 97 died, I put it in my 2000 and it wouldn't start. I took it to an autozone and they tested it and pronounced it perfect and, amazingly, REFUSED to sell me a starter, saying I didn't need a starter and would just be returning it. I bought a starter at another store.

But there are only 2 things that prevent a starter from cranking the engine - a bad starter and a discharged/bad battery. You covered the battery side of it, soooo...

If you replaced it 2years ago why not take off n swap it out? its only two bolts!

alls you gotta tell them guys is the engine is taking 5 seconds to starts cuz their starter is turning slow and weak. tell him u have a brand new battery & he will swap it no problem.

updates:

It turns out the starter is dead. A new aftermarket one cost me 200 bucks and has a 2 years warrenty on it. I thought to keep the dead one to do some research on it, but they wouldn't let me, they charge 140 dollars on the old one as a "core charge", that means if I don't give the old one back, they will charge 340 on the new one, plus tax.

So I can see from here, they will take the old one back, do some modifying or simply cleanning job, then resell it as a remanufactured. good business!

This is what I'm going to do: buy a 70 dollar ebay starter as a backup, when this current one down again ( well, yes, it is still the two thumbs down Bosch:thumbsdow:thumbsdow, others are too expensive for me ), I have one to replace it and I will see if I can fix Bosch myself. I found a clip on youtube some guy was teaching how to clean and rebuild a starter, doesn't seem too complicated to me.

well, just FYI, again, Bosch is cheap, but bad.

$140 for an aftermarket starter?? Might as well throw in an extra $30 and got one from the dealer which is guaranteed to give you a minimum five years...

Man, it's 200 for an aftermarket, I'm in Canada! Ridiculous, eh?
:bawling:l
Dealer price ? 400, and they told me there is nothing in their warehouse in Canada. :mad: