I have a 2002 maxima with 273,000 miles, and I have recently developed a problem where if I go to start my car, I get nothing but clicks. the first time it happened, I turned the key off and on and after a few times of this, it started up and was not a problem for about a week. after that amount of time, I was at my second job delivering pizza and the same thing happened. this time, I pulled the airbox to tap the starter and after a couple of taps, it started right up and I went along my way. a day or two later, same thing happened only this time I decided to replace the starter since it was the original and that did not fix it. after some trial and error, I decided to pull a relay or two and check them, and after coming across the main engine control relay behind the headlight on the driver side and put it back in and it fired up every time. here we are 2 months later and now it wont start without me pulling the control relay and putting it back to start it, and even more recently, (as in today) it has started to not work every time and will sometimes take upward of 20 pull and replacements to make it start. at this point im completely baffled and have no idea on what is happening and would appreciate some pointers, thanks in advance. before you ask, yes, I have replaced the relay on more than one occasion and the problem has persisted.

 

OK, so you replaced the starter first. Then, you replaced the relay. However, the problem persists. Correct?

Have you tried to wiggle your ignition key? ..... you may want to try it before proceeding to what I suggest below.

In either case, it's time for a more rigorous diagnostic. Remove the air box and have a helper start the car. Using a multi-meter, you measure the voltage at the starter trigger point (it's the point labeled A in the 2nd picture of this post https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...ml#post8633302 ) while your helper cranks the car.
When the ignition key is turned to START, the voltage on this trigger point should be about the same, or a bit less, than the battery voltage. By "a bit less", I mean anything from 0.5V to perhaps 2.0V less. If it's much less, you have problem with your battery, or with the circuit between your battery and your starter. Otherwise, if there is at least 10.5V on this trigger point when cranking, your starter is at fault.

In either case, try it and let us know what happens.

 

I'm sad to see this has not been resolved or any additional feedback.

I'm having the exact same problem with one addition. My son had a slight fender bender that bent the radiator support in. The problem went away for a couple weeks, completely and without fail. I have attempted to pull the radiator support and hood back out a little bit and the problem has now returned. This points me to a bad wire or a ground. But tracking it down is proving difficult at best.

I have an amp meter and will check draw hopefully today after work.

two questions.
1. What should amperage draw be?
2. What else does this relay control? Is it just the starter circuit?

 

Amperage draw on what?
The energizing coil of the relay? Not much, probably less than an amp.
The current flowing through the relay to the starter? No idea.
The current used by the starter motor? Less than 90A no load.

The relay is different for a manual trans and an auto trans. For manual trans, it is strictly for the starter. For the auto trans, it also acts as a cut off for the cruise control.

What the relay is used for is to prevent the starter from working when in manual trans car the clutch pedal in not depressed or in auto trans car when the shift lever is not in the Part or Neutral position.

You may want to read the Nissan service manual on starting problems. Start at page 10 - http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/2002/SC.pdf

You may also want to read this thread on no start, no crank situations.
https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...rt-thread.html

 

I was able to locate the problem. The inhibitor relay was bad. Removing the other relay was jiggling the relay enough to work intermittently.

I located the problem by removing the cover from the relay itself and manually actuating it. It is a strange relay, it has a sort of double contactor and just wasn't working right. I lucked up and had a relay from a scrapped previous generation Maxima that fit.

--it would help if Nissan called it something that made sense. WTF does inhibitor mean? Plus if the cover said starter inhibitor relay I would have changed it just because. My Nissan love hate relationship.

 

Good job!