I have looked around and could not find a thread that helped me, therefore I am making this thread.

The first problem is when my car has been sitting for a while I have to push the gas pedal for it to start and it's an automatic so I shouldnt have to do that. It runs pretty rough when it does start so I give it a little gas and it starts to idle normally.

The second problem is that when my car is warming up, I get a grinding noise and it sounds like it's coming from the belts, but maybe not necessarily the belts making that sound? It seems to go away when the engine is warmed up.

And NO, my check engine light is not on, however, every now and then when I do try to start my car it seems like a code is trying to display(blinkers flash a few times, etc) but it stops once my car begins to start. So I think my check engine light wants to come on, but I dont really know what the hell.

Help please. =o)

 

Have you done anything to try and solve the problem yet?

Could a be a few things that can cause trouble starting, but from what you've described I'm leaning towards a bad starter motor.

The grease inside them dries up after several years and gums up the internal parts. When the car is cold, it will make a grinding Errrr kinda noise when you try to start it and sometimes take a few seconds of holding the gas down a bit to keep the engine from stalling. The noise should be coming from the driver's side of the engine. Easy enough to replace yourself. See the FAQs.

 

It was recently replaced and it was happening before the motor was replaced also. No, the sound is coming from the passenger side near the belts.

 

Have you tried checking for ECU codes?
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=104931

 

That part confuses me.

Is it the CEL blinking or the O/D light? If the CEL is blinking, it would be a misfire (aren't there different classifications for those? Diff levels of misfires or something, I know NmexMax knows, he'll be in here as soon as he sees I've posted here ).

 

Nevermind. I was just stating the obvious.

Another thing I forgot to mention was that everytime my car starts, it sounds like a belt squeeks really loud just for a second or so. It may be the belt, it may not. I would just like to get some opinions before I take it to the shop is all.

 

No, I will def. try that tonight though.

 

Anyone? Come on this is maxima.org

 

belt noise is cuz your belts are little lose. As for no waiting to start, id clean out the throttle body, take it off and really clean it if your up for it. Check plugs. Seems like might be carbon built up or the ivac is not set up correctly.

 

The noise is likely a bearing starting to fail in an accessory or pulley, and may quiet down once it heats up and expands. The starting issue could be so many things, If there is no CEL, you may need to do some serious houskeeping and clean some carbon and buildup, you may have a dirty fuel filter/ fuel problem, vacuum leak, and the list could go on.... Try doing some problem solving and narrow it down a bit.

 

Thank you so much. Can you direct me to a link maybe that shows me exactly what to clean? I just got some carb cleaner so im ready to go.

 

Is there a link?

 

FAQs my good man. Reading can be very enlightning!

 

Let me ask you a few questions. When was the last time your car got a complete tune-up? You know, plugs, air filter, fuel filter, cleaning the throttle body? All those things will affect the way your car runs. Also, as it has been mentioned, scan the car for codes and go from there.

 

New NGK Iridium plugs about 4 months ago(along with 6 new ignition coils! ), also have a K&N air filter that can be cleaned whenever, fuel filter is a great suggestion and also cleaning the throttle body is a great suggestion. I know how to change the fuel filter, but my next step is how to clean the throttle body. I will do these things this week and get back to you when they are complete. Thanks!!!