2000 maxima 176000 miles. Car kept trying to stall when accelerating. I replaced the fuel filter and the fuel pump. Ran great for two days then after driving 40 mins to work , stopped at a subway ,came back to the car it acted like the starter was bad. Wouldn't start nothing..then just fired up after i pumped the gas. Did the same thing all night except itwas crankin just not starting unless i gave it gas. Got it home had the battery , alternator, starter tested. All came back good. Decided to clean the throttle body but first tried to start in both park and neutral...started right up in neutral so decided to try both ..on 3rd attempt car had smoke rolling out the hood and starter caught fire where solenoid and starter piggy back...any ideas greatly appreciated.

 

Yes, your starter was bad; never mind the subsequent test results.
This suggests you may have an IACV or a MAF problem.
Looks like your starter was dragging (bad bearings, other).
Replace the starter and go from there. I would also clean the MAF (or substitute a spare one). Last, if problems still persist, I would clean/replace the IACV.

 

Is it possible that besides the starter obviously being bad that i could have a problem with my coil packs. I remember reading somewhere that only a fuel or ignition problem would cause the starter to catch fire. I found the coil packs on rockauto..hitachi I believe.

 

I can't get parts I need till payday..but I did try cleaning maf. While doing so I looked inside to see if it was dirty..I thought there was a pin or a strip of metal that runs inside the maf. I see two metal pieces that look like they hold that strip but no pin. Am I missing something? Also after I clean the throttle body I read something about a relearning process...what all does that entail? Also I should not move the throttle plate manually while cleaning correct? Thanks for all your help. Its much appreciated.

 

What a non-sense!! Can you (or he/she) explain why bad coils would make a starter to fail ??????
At any rate, you probably didn't need new coils, but at least you bought the proper brand. Keep them for future use.

 

Your MAF should look like this: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...59222&jsn=1755 . View it from all the angles.
Forget about the re-learning process. There is too much talk about it, but it's not an issue for the 3.0L engine (5-gen). I never had to do any re-learning on my car!
Be careful with the throttle plate, but: It's only a problem on the 3.5L engine, where the throttle plate is electronically controlled and the "electronic state" and the "mechanical/actual state" may get out-of-sync. When/if it happens during cleaning, re-learning may be necessary. The 3.0L engine has mechanical controls, and that's why re-learning is usually not required.

 

Maf is definitely missing something from the picture. Atleast now I know. You've been a huge help. Now I can get the right part. When I find the thread for the ignition / fuel thing about the starter I'll post it and an update when I get all my parts. Again thank you tremendously.

 

So..got the maf sensor..the starter..cleaned the throttle body..and the iacv..did it in a couple hrs due to the previous owners miscare..and just crap weather in ohio. Took it for a long drive yesterday. Started right up everytime i stopped. No hesitation on hills. Drove it to work last night
..great ...then this morning drove it home and noticed a couple times i could here it in the exhaust it wanted to hesitate under acceleration..thought i was being paranoid but then coming home under hard acceleration up a hill it started to do the same thing as when this all started..the exhaust sounded like it was cutting out and it felt like it was gonna stall then it would accelerate. I'm losing my mind...thus far..fuel filter fuel pump..maf...cleaned throttle body..cleaned iacv..I did buy plugs but hadnt put them on yet. I bought 2 coils thinking I bought 6...thought they were cheap. Now I do know I have a code for the fuel tank filler-neck..and my exhaust is broke at the flexpipe so leaking directly in front of that and then behind the flexpipe at the little bend. I dont know if my exhaust could be causing the problem and a knock sensor is going bad or one other question is could cheap gas cause my knock sensor to go off and this whole problem be cheap gas? Just spinning in circles trying to figure what is up with this car.

 

Well...I may have figured it out. I took the plugs put and replaced them..started looking at all my coil packs...2 out of the 6 are rusted pretty bad while another 1 possibly 2 could also be bad from less rust. Ordered a whole set..won't know till Monday. Happy wrenching.

Decent amount of rust.

 

crank sensor? - you said it just cranked and wouldn't start (although true maf can do that, too lol)
There's two of them and they're infamous for going bad/getting dirty.

Driving symptoms sound like maf...what new maf sensor did you use?

 

Cheapest one on rock auto. Pry not the smartest move but..

top of pic.

 

No bad reviews though and a yr warranty. That's the bad thing with this particular problem. Could be alot of things. Even a costly diagnostic might not be that much help. I would have sworn it was the fuel pump in the beginning. All I can honestly say is if this isnt the problem..my next guess is injectors. Though it could have been a combination of things. The plugs themselves have obviously been in the car most if not all of its life by the look of them.

 

I'm 99 percent sure everything I have installed is ok. The car starts right up and runs fine till you get to about 40 mph. If you are on a hill or accelerating it starts to misfire. Thats why I decided after everything else to look at the packs. I cant see it being the fuel pump or filter I replaced because I can hear the pump and it starts up and runs. I even took it all apart after it started doing it again to make sure all the connections were good and hoses were in the correct position after I started having the same problems. Throttle body was cleaned ...iacv cleaned..looks new. Maf was never touched near filament..during installation. Honestly think it was a combination of the pump going bad and the coil packs and plugs. Hell the old maf could have been bad because of age as well. 20 yr old car with 20 yrs of neglect. Just my work beater so wont be putting much more money into it. Just tired of throwing money at it at this point. I dont mind working on cars just frustrating when there's a long list of things that could still be a possible problem.

 

Swipe some from junkyard that look clean and original. I don't think a single aftermarket maf has ever worked, although, your symptoms are still the same...so idk.

Check fuel pressure with obd app or NDS2?

 

Haven't been able to find a 00 maxima in any junkyard ...or a 5th gen for that matter.

 

Does your engine light flash when driving?

 

I have a service engine light on but ran the code and only a filler neck code comes up.

 

Haven't bought the filler neck replacement because its not affecting anything that I can tell. I was told that it goes bad from continuous overfill and it shouldn't cause me any problems. Just gonna try the coil packs first and go from there.

 

what is the code number that you are seeing?

 

Forget the actual but its an evap for filler neck. Found an 01 and a 00 for parts so going to get the filler neck in about an hr.

 

I had the evap code, and two consecutive fuel fillups with two bottles of this cleared the code last year and hasn't come back.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has a high level of PEA which supposedly helps fix the stuck flap.

 

Doesn't have to be a maxima. Any early 3.5 also works, so all of the early RWDs, too.

 

I believe this is the list:

2000-2002 Infiniti G20 All Models
2000-2001 Infiniti I30 All Models
2000-2001 Nissan Maxima All Models
2000-2001 Nissan Sentra All Models

 

Well that would be great...lol but I'm sure that i finally found the problem. One my filler neck is rusted. Two the outside line that connects to the gas tank from filler neck has rusted completely off at the gas tank and the line is simply hanging. So gas tank and new filler neck after I have the money. But thanks anyways.

 

Thanks for that list. Pretty sure that will come in handy.

 

Just want to thank everyone that has replied to this thread. You've all been a big help. Glad I found this forum. I'm not a auto tech just mechanically inclined parts changer ,it's been nice having someone to bounce ideas off of.