When I start my car something makes a wineing sound. It doesn't do it all the time but it still does it a lot. It has been doing this for a long time but I just never really worried about it. It starts fine and everything but it makes that sound like soon as the car is started. Someone told me that the brake in the starter isn't working or something similar to that. Anyone have any ideas what it could be?

 

Sounds like the grease in your starter is drying out, which prevents the starter from disengaging as fast as it should, creating the whining noise. It should be worse the colder it is and is a typical Nissan problem. http://www.motorvate.ca , has instructions on how to fix it. It's pretty easy.

 

mine has done that ever since i got it

i even replaced the started and it still does it

i dont really care, it starts fine it just sounds ugly

if you look up consumer reports its 1 of 2 problems complained about with 1995 maximas -- as compared with a 95 ford taurus that has about 1000 complaints

 

thanks

 

Kyle...search previous quotes for links on how to remove and re-pack the starter motor. It may take you a couple of hours to do the first time, but it is essentially a "free" fix. One note...many of the postings say that the problem is with the grease drying out, etc....well, that is sorta the problem. What is happening is the grease is working it's way out of the cluster of three small gears and contaminating the large spline gear on the center shaft that enables the starter mechanism to engage and disengage from the flywheel. The splined gear need NO lubrication. It is the gear that is on the center shaft and can be seen without disassembling the starter. I re-greased my starter last year and made the mistake of putting grease on this spline. The fix worked for a while, but reappeared this fall when the weather got cold again. So...grease the small cluster of 3 gears, and don't grease the center splined gear. And definitely don't grease the gear that engages the flywheel. By the way....go and get a biodegradable grease solvent like Finishline for de-greasing the splined gear...it works extremely well and doesn't tear up your hands! Good luck!

 

I am the same whiney type sound when I start my car. However the noise only occurs when there is a lot of moisture. I thought from a previous post that it was because the belts in the general area is wet, and thus is the cause of the noise. The reason we all thought of this because a lot of folks get this noise only when it gets cold or wet out--creating more moisture in the air?

 

i'm trying to picture this because i did this job a few weeks ago. i removed all of the old grease, and then greased the "gear set". then, i removed that pesky o-ring and greased another gear located on the center shaft that was somewhat hidden. the grease on it was hard AND more importantly the gear teeth were somewhat worn on the edges. i'm not sure if this is the gear you're referring to, but i figured it needed greasing since it was showing wear. let me know if this is the one you said NOT to grease. it's fine now, but we'll see what happens. these starters ARE poorly designed.

 

It's not only the 95's. I think it's the whole 4th gen group. I have a '97 and it makes that horrible sound now and then. I talked to a nissan rep. and he said that something is not desengaging at the proper time. What i don't know is how to fix this problem. He said to just replace the starter motor because it's gonna died a lot faster than a "healthy" starter.
But xarfox did this and it didn't fix it? Any suggestions beside greasing up the gears.

 

I wouldn't mind the sound, but it makes my car sound like and old junk car trying to start.

 

i'd say go ahead and re-grease it first. the job is fairly straightforward. like i said before, it worked for me (so far).

 

I just replaced my starter again and the sound is gone

ill see how long it takes to start up again

my mechanic said somthing about the bendiflex ? somthing i forget how to prounounce it or spell it...

id rather pay the 50 bucks labor that take it out and clean it myself...time is money, and i don't have time

 

Today when I started my 97 max auto, it wouldn't start (tried 6-7 times), all I got was a whining noise. Battery is fine because after I shaked the shift **** it started. This is the first time I had this problem, I have 33,140 miles. Do I need to change belts?

 

This also happens to my 97 Max too. I had a mechanic from a sears auto center checkout why is this happening, and they told me that the belts needed to be replaced, since it was dryed out. Or when i read in the chiltons repair book, that its possible that your belt just needs to be adjusted.

Check this thread too this might help.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....threadid=80386

 

HUH??

 

Sorry to take so long to reply....have been eating too much turkey and wasn't able to access the site for a couple of days before that! All I re-greased were the three small gears that are closest to the motor windings. I never removed the o-ring to take the rest of the Bendix gear apart....I just used Finish Line degreaser (biodegradable) on that part and got all of the gook out of the gear on the center spline. That center spline had grease that had oozed out from the three smaller gears over 4 years. The center spine shouldn't have grease on it at all. Think about it this way...that center spline is exposed to the air, dirt, etc. inside the bellhousing...they wouldn't have greased that part for that very reason. The three smaller gears are sealed off from most air, dust, etc., so they are designed to be greased. If I were you I would go back in there and just clean off that center spline completely. You shouldn't have to take the rest of the starter apart because you have already regreased the inner three gears. Make sure the bendix assembly slides very easily after you have cleaned it. As far as the wear...the inner spline should really show NO wear. The gear that engages the flywheel may have worn edges if you have tried to start the car while it was already running. Good Luck!

 

isolate the noise. is it coming from the passenger side or the driver side? if its the passenger side then the belts are a possibility. if is the driver side the starter might be the culprit.

 

check your belts, i had the same problem

 

This is weird b/c about 2 weeks ago my starter started to make that whining noise, and then last friday my car wouldn't start. My problem sounded just like, kry4u. It wouldn't start for about a day but then it finally did. But my question is why would black smoke come out my tailpipe when it wasn't starting? I have a 95 with 75K on it and just had the 60K service about 5K miles ago. I am confused, but it starts fine for now.

 

the black smoke probably came from an overly rich fuel mixture as a result of your failed start. it shouldn't happen again unless this wacky starter problem you have continues.