wielandgeorg

Hi guys how are ya'll doing. Okay my car is a 2000 Nissan Maxima that the previous owner sold me because he couldn't get the engine to start up normally after he put a good junkyard motor into it.

Info about the car:
2000 Maxima 3.0 liter VQ30
Automatic

Problem: The car will crank and crank and crank and sometimes if your really lucky start up and run perfectly fine I can drive it and leave it running for as long as I like without any problems not even a Check engine light.

9 times out of 10 the car will just sit there and crank (BUT NOT START). It will crank and sound like the starter comes to an abrupt halt like the cranking is suddenly strained really bad and then continue cranking.

Things i've tried.

1. Checked all Vacuum lines
2. New Spark plugs
3. Tried 3 different Crank and Cam sensors (Bought brand new cam sensor)
4. Installed new Mas air flow sensor MAF
5. Replaced fuel injectors with other ones.
6. Flushed fuel tank and put fresh gas.
7. Grounded Cam and Crank sensor individually.
8. Sanded the ground on the tranny and on the chassis by battery.
9. Checked all fuses.
10. Replaced Ignition Switch (Brand new one)
11. Checked the anti theft system. The security light goes away while cranking
12. Checked fuel pump it comes on fine. Although haven't tested fuel pressure.
13. Changed both Fuel pressure regulators
14. Replaced coolant temp sensor.
15. Today I went to junkyard and pulled a good condition complete engine wiring harness and plan on installing it tomorrow just in case harness is bad.

I own a mechanic shop and have been breaking my head on this car for 2 weeks straight. It is frustrating and usually I swear by never giving up but I am really needing help.

Keep in mind. Randomly and I mean Random the car does start up fine, and once it starts it idles fine / Drives fine Makes lots of power and doesn't throw a CEL, It will also stay running as long as i'd like without shutting off on its own, Once I turn the key back and attempt to start it again it just sits there and cranks cranks cranks and won't start up again.

What in the world did Nissan do on this car for it to be this stubborn?

If anybody can give me some useful pointers it would be greatly appreciated and hopefully assist the next person that runs across one of these troublesome maxima's.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

so when it wont start and just cranks, it sounds like the starter halts? might be something up with the starter solenoid, or a poor connection on the starter not allowing it to turn over enough for the engine to start. that or something up with the flywheel. if it drives fine when it does start, i dont think somethings up with the engine itself

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

It would be interesting to find out if you are getting spark while cranking. The same goes for fuel. Pull a plug after extended cranking and see if it is wet.

I wonder about the crankshaft sensor on the flywheel, CKPS(POS). It is used to create the spark. With the engine having been pulled out of one car and moved/bounced/dragged around, it or the wiring could be damaged.

Gemner

iTrader: (4)

timing/spark was my first thought as well. You should check to make sure the CKPS wiring is good and also test the CKPS itself

02FrostWhite6spd

Hi guys how are ya'll doing. Okay my car is a 2000 Nissan Maxima that the previous owner sold me because he couldn't get the engine to start up normally after he put a good junkyard motor into it.

What I put in BOLD lettering is leading me to believe that the previous owner didn't sand down the mating surfaces between the tranny and engine when he swapped engines leading to a poor ground in the car.


Pull the tranny sand down the contact surface's between the transmission and the engine and then clean the surface again with a little brake cleaner to get off any dust or dirt remaining. re-assemble everything and start up your new car.

its common 4th and 5th gen's to have this problem after a swap Engine/Transmission if the mating surfaces are not cleaned thorough.

Gemner

iTrader: (4)

or just run a new temporary ground and make sure thats the problem before going through the effort of pulling the trans and sanding it down.

02FrostWhite6spd

Normally I would agree with you about running a temporary ground since its always best to start with the Cheap/Easy things first and then move on to the more involved troubleshooting.

I could be wrong but I don't think a temporary ground is going to suffice here.

In my personal opinion I "Assume" the Engine sat on a shelf in a shed at a Junkyard slightly exposed to the element's until it was needed. Then after it was purchased I bet it was just dropped in the car without cleaning any oxidation that may and probably did occur on the engine mating surface. I seen it happen a few times before.

OR like chrome91 said it may be a flywheel problem. there are dowel pins on some flywheel's and if it's inserted wrong it can give you problems like you're having.

keep us up to date weilandgeorg

QueensMAX

yup..check the mating issue as mentioned above

Last year we placed a transmission in a 98 max at our shop and we had similar starting symptoms. Found out we forgot to scuff the mating surfaces of the trans/motor. Had to take out the trans and sanded the surfaces. It started up perfect after that.

and no..the temporary grounds didn't work..we ran two additional grounds with no result.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Why I love this forum above others, people read old threads and retain information.,
This is a very likely cause of the problem. Adding a GOOD 4 AWG ground to a transmission bolt and also to the starter bolt will be perfectly fine, there is absolutely no reason to remove the transmission. Just make sure the bolts are clean, and the mating surface of the starter and ground contat points are cleaned up very nicely.


Another thing, I notice you have replaced a pretty large list of things, and yet, I didn't see TESTING FUEL PRESSURE anywhere on the list. My advice is to shut down your "parts cannon" and do some actual testing

D.Stillwell

^^^ Agreed on trying to add new proper ground between tranny and starter. I've dealt with this exact problem on the exact same car not long ago.

I'd be willing to bet your problem is in the starter solenoid. Considering that it still cranks and even starts once in a blue moon, means it's not shorted out completely yet and it's not the starter motor. Check the solenoid, and you probably just need to add the ground wire mentioned and be good to go.

But I would also test the actual starter, take it out and see if the solenoid moves around by hand. Once the solenoid starts shorting out, it literally breaks loose and will move around. You can sometimes even hear an "electrical short" sound after you stop cranking. I would probably just replace the whole starter for $100 (using American made part) since it's a junkyard motor, and definitely add the ground from the tranny. Otherwise, you might be dealing with this issues forever.

Good luck with it!

Max_Gator

I'm going with ground as well. Sounds very much like mine acted when I first replaced my clutch.

Grounds I added:
- neg battery to normal ground point (look for the black/yellow cable)
- neg battery to bolt on the transmission. be careful which you use.
- normal ground point to starter.

colt149

iTrader: (1)

Try to replace the whole starter. Then replace the fuel filter. Check the catalytic converter , possibly collapse and clogged the exhaust.

Gemner

iTrader: (4)

sounds like you either screwed something up on the install that happened to get fixed on the reinstall, or you ran two 20awg grounds to random meaningless locations. The engine will run fine even if you put a rubber gasket in between the transmission and engine as long as you run the necessary ground wires.

if the car runs fine once its starts (and will crank until the battery dies) then its not the starter, not likely the fuel filter, and not a clogged exhaust

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Since the engine cranks, I want to go back to the crankshaft sensor theory. Of course the sensor needs to be good, but there are things that the starter must do for the sensor to work.

If the engine is not cranking at the proper speed, the sensor does not output a signal powerful enough to be recognized by the ECU.

Inside the starter is a planetary type gear set that gears down the high speed motor to a slower, more powerful cranking speed. The lubrication in this gear set will dry up and bind, causing reduced cranking speed.

Another less likely starter problem is the gear that engages the flywheel. When the 4th gen came out, this gear had 8 teeth on it. Somewhere along the line in diagnosing hard starting problems, Nissan discovered that the signal from the crankshaft sensor was too low in voltage amplitude. This led to the discovery that cranking speed was too low. So what Nissan did was change the gear in the starter to have 11 teeth. This cranked the engine faster.

Since the 4th gen starter fits the 5th gen (at least the 2000 and 01), if someone put an older starter in, this becomes a possibility. So the question I asked earlier is still valid - are you getting spark?