I have a 2007 Nissan Maxima SE with 121k miles on it. I have only owned it for the last 11k miles, but I have a weird problem.

I randomly have starting issues. Often times I start the car and it struggles to start, but it eventually does. The RPMs float around 500 for a few seconds and it sounds like it is going to die, but then it goes away and runs perfectly.

I can usually reproduce this if the car has been off for a few hours or if I try to start the car before all the beeping stops when I turn the key to the on position.

Just the other day it was running for an hour and then i shut it off. Came back five minutes later and it wouldn't start. It struggled like it did in the past, but wouldn't start. I waited 30 minutes, came back and then it fired right up and has been fine ever since.

I also noticed that my driver side door button on the outside handle has been acting up. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The other door and trunk still work fine though. I changed the battery in my fob, but still the same problem.

Have you seen anything like this before? My car is completely stock and I think the previous owner took really good care of the car.

I have been told it could be a bad cam angle sensor or the IPDM. I am lost and I don't want to take it to the dealer.

Thanks guys

 

Well, I have the same starting issues, at times. It is not consistent and does not throw any CEL codes either. To add to that, it only happens,in my case, during the warmer months (May-Nov), for my car fires up strong in the winter. I have no idea what it is either. I have tried to track it with temp/humidity levels, but discovered that there was no pattern to find except for the winter months and warmer months.

I went to the Dealer and they looked at me like I had three heads since their was no code to be found. The service manager said to leave it until it throws a code since it would be too costly (time/parts) to try and track it down. Cam shaft sensors, parasitic battery drain, worn timing chain tensioners...the list of possibilities is endless. I feel your pain, bro.