so, right now im missing class though because my car wont start. its the first time it actually hasnt started in the morning, use to start, drop RPMs and then rev the RPMs back up but today its just "crank, crank, rev(to about 300rpms), stall, crank, crank. its cranking and cranking but wont start. any ideas? 119,300ish miles on my 99...

ive done: coils, plugs, fuel filter pcv valve, cleaned throttle body, cleaned MAF

i was planning on trying to clean the iacv tomorow. i heard something about a coolant temp sensor? could this be? or bad grounds? (i hope not grounds cause i dont know how to do that **** lol)

and giving it gas didnt do anything

 

check the connection on the cts make sure there's no corrosion. could be iacv. Its also friggen cold outside and maybe you have some moisture in your lines. get some dry gas. check your battery too

 

yea i was about to edit my post and ask how to test the battery? haha do you just put the multimeter across the terminals and see if it reads 12V?

 

im guessing something (probably my subwoofers) was drawing power from the battery overnight. because i just got a jump and it started up. im going to hook up my subwoofers the correct way tomorow, then see if that helps. if it still does it ill probably take it to the shop cause i hate electrical work.

 

Any codes? Maybe you fucked up your MAF cleaning it?

 

Do you have the dreaded bad grounds problem?

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=452286

 

good point.

 

Take it to Autozone or Advanceauto to have the battery tested. I just had mine checked there because my airbag light came on and was flashing. My battery was 7 years old and did not pass. I got a new one and reset the light and it has not come back on yet after 4 days.

 

nope no codes...its been doin it long before i did anything i listed. and i dont know about the bad ground....couldnt tell ya...it started fine this morning when i had my subwoofers unhooked...leading me to believe that they were drawing power overnight(remote wire wasnt hooked up to the deck, im doing that today...it was on a back speaker lol)

 

Do your grounds man! It's really easy, and I'm not just saying that. The thread Crazy posted has pictures and is VERY clear on how to do it.

 

Sounds like a fuel pump problem

 

ok it starts fine now.....it was the battery. thanks.

 

Is there a reliable way to test voltages, etc. to test the battery myself (I have a meter), or should I just bring it somewhere? I always wonder if when I bring it in if they are just going to tell me my battery is no good, or so-so even if it is fine...

 

Putting the leads of your meter across the terminals of the battery will give you the voltage of your battery.

 

If you put the leads across the terminals with the key off, you should be looking for voltage higher than 12V. A fully charged battery should read 12.66V, a 75% charge would read about 12.4V. So if your meter reads 12.0V your battery is only about 25% charged, which is pretty low to start the car on.

 

I have a 96 and it has the crank interruption also. It only does it first start of the day...but still starts. I just bought a 95 and it cranks but won't start. Has the same crank interruption. Seems like too much amperage is drawn from the starter cranking for the cars electronics to do their thing. Interestingly when i crank the 95.....the tach reads 2,000 rpms which is way off. If i leave the key in the run position and push start the car......it starts immediately and runs totally normal. I'm going to go through the car and find out what the cause is. I know this grounding helps....but it seems to me it is a band aid to something else. Between battery,starter,wiring degredation.....i mean the cars started fine when they were newer right?

 

vacuum lines?? check those, also check your maf sensor and your iat sensor (intake air temp.) its the sensor thats in the same electrical hose line as the maf sensor check both of those to make sure they plugged in

 

Just a quick note - my 96 had a bad starter, and bad ignition key. Since they were replaced, it starts beautifully now. I also had RPM issue, which cleaning the IACV and replacing the PCV valve fixed. I also put in the extra ground wire to the started in case I was suffering from that - it DID make a big difference, but I noticed the starter was starting to crank slower and slower - battery checked fine, so replaced the starter, and everything is great now!