Has anybody had a problem with the starter? I heard this is a common problem for Nissan and Infinity owners. How much does it cost to fix it? My friend told me that it is more expensive than any other car because whoever fix it has to take the axle out. Is it true?

 

I'm not sure about common, mine needed repairing the other week after doing 240,000km's, I consider that to be fairly good

Um, who ever told you about taking the axle out is wrong, lol. All I had to do was remove the intake system (follow the instructions given for the Maxima on cleaning the throttle body), then using a socket extension, undo the two bolts that hold the starter motor in place, undo the bolt holding the positive wire on and unclip the ground wire. Took about 30mins

Then took it to an auto-electrician who replaced the bearings, brushes and re-greased it for NZ$295 (US$163.70) all in 2 hours . Not sure how much easier other cars are, but that seemed fairly simple to me

 

wow...thanks Matt. My car won't start or crank today and I had it towed to a shop and the mechanic told me it was the starter problem.

I just need 2nd or 3rd opinions about this. What kind of questions do i need to ask the mechanic tomorrow regarding the starter? So you think it won't be more than 200 bucks to fix this? I don't want to get ripped off, although i feel like I am being ripped off. Thanks again

 

I suggest you have a look in the yellow pages and call up a few Auto Electricians and ask them if they repair starter motors and what they usually cost to repair + labour

 

When I had my starter replaced a week ago the total price, including P&L was something like $370. Dealership wanted $750!!

 

I put in a starter this evening, took about two hours. I picked up the starter from the nissan dealer (Infiniti will rape you for an extra hundred for the same part, same part #, same box even) for about 250$. I don't know about anyone else but the larger of the two bolts was almost impossible to remove. If you have some skill this is something that you can do at home.

 

Well that conforms that I should have looked for this site a long time ago. I let a friend borrow my 1997 t and when he was ready to bring it back, the starter went out. It was raining so bad and it was in a bad location that I couldn't let it sit. I took it to the dealer after figuring out what it was and they took me for about $470. That's not too bad compared but this thread would have at leaset told me to take it home and fix it myself...

I think the new starter is a bit different though as it sounds tighter and has a different sound to it. Perhaps though it is just new...