Hey guys,
A friend of mine has an 03 maxima with an automatic transmission and he is having trouble with hot starts. The car will start fine while cold, and while it's running it will run well. But once he turns the car off after being driven 30 miles the car will not start back up unless you let it cool down for about an hour. What could cause this? Thanks for any help.

 

i had this problem in my jetta, for the jetta it was the crank position sensor mounted on the transmission.

 

Also a little more information I found out about this. The car will die some times when coming to a stop at idle once the car is hot. Something else that is interesting is that when the car will not start the temp gauge on the instrument cluster does not work and the SES light does not come on when the ignition is switched on. Once the car will start the SES light and temp gauge work as they should.

 

any ideas? What sensors can cause the car to not start and make the SES not work?

 

Pulled the codes today and I got the following:
-P1800 VIAS solenoid code
-p0420 Bank one cat
-p0430 Bank two cat


Would any of these codes cause the car to stall during warm idle, or not be able to restart after driving for half an hour? Would these codes some how cause the check engine light not to work until the car has cooled down and is able to start again?

*Last night I noticed the VIAS solenoid was making a constant hissing noise while the car was running. The car idled smooth but I was just curious if that is what it is supposed to do.* I have also read on here that the P1800 could possibly be related to the MAF as well...could a bad MAF cause my problems?

 

Just talked to the owner a little bit more and have some more information about the problem. He said once it gets up to temp and you turn the car off normally it will restart if you try right away, but if you let it sit for 15 minutes or so it will not start, and will not start until the engine is cooled off.

He also said the problem seemed to be related to how warm it is outside too. It was much more of a problem when it was warmer out.

He also stated that he was not sure if his normal cooling fan was working properly. I'm not positive the car is getting up to the proper temp according to the gauge, while running the car never gets all the way to halfway up on the temp gauge, all of my other maximas get right at half way. I am wondering if the thermostat is stuck open. What temp should an 03 operate at when warm? I can check the coolant temp with the OBDII scanner to see where it's running.

Last thing he told me is that before the car would die, he would hear a click that he said it sounded like it was coming from under the dash. Once he said he heard the "click" the car would be dead in 2 seconds. No sputtering or anything, tach would just drop to 0.

He has had the cam and crank sensors changed and he has also changed out the ecu but the problem has not gotten any better. Anyone?????

 

has anyone experienced this before?

 

Is there a safety feature on the 03 that does not allow the car to start if its too hot? I am starting to wonder if my gauge is broken.

 

Dirty throttle body?

 

Fuel pump piston o-ring?

If you turn ignition to on for 20 seconds then off and repeat 3 times. does it start?

 

Would that cause the car not to start and to disable the SES light until it cools down?

So switch the key to the on position for 20 seconds...do that three times then try to crank it? Or are you saying try cranking it for 20 second bursts?

Something is telling the car not to start because I cannot hear the fuel pump prime when it will not start...I am assuming if the o ring was bad I would still hear it prime it would just not build pressure.

 

On position for 20 sec. (Not cranking it over) then off position and repeat 3 times.

You should hear fuel pump priming though at a minimum with the gas cap off listening at fueling port. You may need an assistant to turn ignition on with cap removed while you listen though. On my 03 I can hear the fuel pump prime when I turn the key.

 

Here is a video of a buzzing noise I get when the car will not start. This video shows the ignition being turned on and off over and over again. Once the buzzing noise goes away the car will start. I am not sure where this noise is coming from. Any ideas?

 

bump for new ideas? That's a video I posted above, you have to click on it to watch it.

 

Cleaning the downstream side of my throttle body fixed my hot start problem. Maybe one if the gurus will post a better answer.

 

would you car die while idling? Once it would die, did you have to let the car cool off before it would start again?

 

Wouldn't die very often but did die occasionally. My problem was getting it the start when it was warm. It would crank but not start but sometimes it would start when I pressed the gas while turning it over.

The back side of y throttle body was really dirty with a black tar like substance.

 

i wouldn't worry about the sound on ignition on, probably battery a bit weak. anyways thats not the issue.

The problem you are having are leaky injectors. After shutting car off, fuel floods the cylinder(s) and will have a very hard time starting. If you let the car sit for a long time, fuel will evaporate and car will start with no problems.

Your car probably has around 150 or more miles, right?

Been there, done than. Just get a used low mileage injectors and swap all of them.

Good luck.

 

bump for ideas

 

My guess would be a weak starter solenoid. Heat soak really hurts, big issue on V8 cars with headers that run next to the starter.

 

The car will stall out every once in a while while its running, so I don't think it's the starter