Hey guys,

I followed both these great how to guides to change my fuel filter

http://www.shiftice.com/fuel_filter.html (for 2002-2003)

and

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...-thread-5.html (for 2000-2001)

I am pretty sure I did everything correctly, it did NOT take 15 minutes , instead it took 4 HOURS for me because I am a noob ... I started at 6pm and ended at 10pm. The instructions were clear but it was kinda of obvious what you have to do when you take the thing out. Also, pulling the hose out was a l31+c|-| so I ripped it in half with a plier (The hose that was connected to the old fuel filter).

Alright let's get to the point. I can't start my car. I tried turning it on 10+ times but it would not start. I let the gas cap lose and tried it again and it still would not start. So I unhooked my battery ( big mistake ) and hooked it back on ... and now all the car does it go " click " when I try to turn it on. I am like 100% sure I did everything right and plugged everything back to place. Not sure why car wouldn't start. Any ideas?

These are the two videos that I was talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHXIJSYeEko

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWquh5Q303I (weird *** noise?)

 

Just a guess.

Did you remove the fuse and forgot to put it back in?

 

Nope I put the fuse back on. I even took it out and placed it back again. Didn't work.

 

pump the gas pedal a few times and then crank it again

btw 00-01 fuel filters are under the back seat too or are they some place else?

 

Yeah I tried pumping the gas 3-4x then cranked it but nothing happened.

Yeah it's under the back seat too.

 

Does the fuel pump prime when you turn the key to the "ON" position?

 

Sounds like you have two different issues.
First lets start with the "clicking" issues. If it cranked before you unhooked the battery then most likely you left the battery terminals loose. Since it's dark out you should be able to turn your dome light or headlights on. Are they dim? What happens to your dome light when you crank?? Check your battery terminals. If they are good hook up a set of jumper cables from another car so you can recharge your battery.

Second, is there an arrow on the Nissan filters or are the connections on both sides of the filter different sizes? I'm just checking to see if the filter could have been installed backwards.. I'm not sure about Nissans, but I know GM's filters can be installed backwards which is way they come with an indented arrow pointing to the front of the car.

 

I'm not sure what prime means ... but the car tries to start up but it can't...

When I crank them, my dome light kinda turns on but fades away slowly. Sorta like dim. I'm not sure why I would need to recharge my batteries though because I changed the fuel filter.

I don't think the filter can be installed backwards ... at least it was not mentioned in the how-to. You basically pull the fuel filter out, take it apart, replace filter, and put it back together and that's it. But I'll double check with the installing backward thing.

 

The reason I mention the battery thing is because you said the car just "clicks" (the engine doesn't turn over) indicating that you left a battery terminal loose when you disconnected the battery or killed the battery by cranking it so many times.

EDIT: I just checked the how-to write up for the fuel filter. I didn't realize it was an intank filter. I thought it was connected on the line somewhere. That kind of changes things. Like mentioned earlier check to see if the fuel pump is priming. Put your ear by the pump when you turn the key to the on position. You should hear the pump kicking on. "priming"

 

I think I probably killed the battery from over cranking ... not sure though.

I'll try the priming thing tomorrow morning. It's midnight now ... sigh

 

Why are you replacing the filter? Did it start before you replaced it? Maybe the pump is bad.

 

Well ... there are MANY reasons to replace the fuel filter. I am 100% sure nobody has ever replaced the fuel filter on my Maxima (107k miles). I will cut up the old filter and show you how dirty it is inside. I don't think the pump is bad, when I pulled the two pumps out, gasoline gushed everywhere ... so it proves it is functioning I hope.

 

So....it cranks but doesn't start?

 

basically ... I can post a video tomorrow

 

if its making a clicking sound its not cranking. loose battery terminal?

 

Turn the key to the ON position about 10 to 15 times, but don't start the car. The filter is empty and needs to be primed.

 

if it only clicks and doesnt crank then their right, either the terminal is not making a good connection or the battery's charge is low from cranking it so much. your starter draws a good amount of power. now if it cranks but doesnt start then there's a number of things it could be but you have to start somewhere and verify your getting whats needed(air, spark, fuel) starting with fuel since thats what you've been ****ing with, make sure the pumps turning on. Take the gas cap off, take a screw driver and put the metal part into the fuel filler spot. Put your ear to the handle and have someone flip the key forward. You should hear a buzzing sound(the pump turning on) but it only turns on for 1-2seconds(its pressurizing the system i.e. priming) If that checks out your pump is at least powering up. The next step is to see if fuel is getting to the fuel rail.(the shiny metal tube that your fuel injectors come off of) Since you probably don't have tools to test fuel pressure(if you do it should be 34psi,and 43 if you pull the vacuum line off the regulator), you can just pull the fuel line off the fuel damper(gold rounded thing right before the fuel rail) put it in a tall cup, have someone crank it and see if fuel sprays into it. Now there are two hoses going to the damper, fuel line and vacuum line. The fuel line is the bigger one. If it is getting fuel there, that iliminates everything from that point back. hook the hose back up and take the fuel return line off the regulator(looks identical to the damper except it comes off the second fuel rail,the one closest to the fire wall) hook a small piece of hose on that and crank it with it pointed in the cup and watch for gas. Now it wouldnt be a bad idea either to pull the vacuum line off both of those and make sure theres no fuel in it. If there is then the diaphram inside is ripped and it needs to be replaced. if that all checks out, then you need to make sure your getting spark. pull one of the coils off the plug, stick the screw driver tip inside there with the shaft of it real close to metal that is grounded and have someone crank it and watch for a spark. make sure you are holding the handle and not touching the metal cause it is up to 40000 volts going through there. Also i am pretty sure that it is grounded through the bolt that holds the coil in place, so if you dont have a jumper wire to clip to that and a ground, take a regular old wire, strip off a couple of inches of insulation off, put it through that hole and wrap it back around itself. Stip a little off the other side and ground it somewhere. If you dont have spark then there could be any number of things causing that from a fuse to the ckp sensor. if there is spark then the next thing i would suspect would be that maybe the injectors are not firing. but go ahead and check those things first and let me know and we can go from there. Before any of this i would check all fuses in both juction boxes that deal with ignition or fuel or modules(pcm,ecm,ecu) or anything like that, and cross your fingers its something simple like that.

 

Not a bad explanation, but put some line breaks and paragraphs in your replies.

It's way to hard to read that way. And no one wants hard.

Especially on an early Sat morning after being out late the night before.

 

OMG!!! I don't even know where to start....

 

That's a lot of potential problems from replacing a fuel filter ... if I knew this was gonna happen I wouldn't have done it ... Well I gotta fix the clicking problem first so I'll get back to you on that. I am pretty sure the battery terminal is tight. I took it off and back on couple of times and it should be good. The only possible reason it is not working is probably because of the low battery charge.

 

UPDATED: Here are two videos I took 5 minutes ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHXIJSYeEko

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWquh5Q303I (weird *** noise?)

The first link shows how my car doesn't turn on. The second link shows how my car TRIES to turn on without the key. Any ideas?

 

lol, love the waving of the key in front of the camera proving that your car has a mind of its own.

Anyways, looking forward to seeing if anyone can diagnosis the problem.

 

Reset your battery cable. This happened to me just a month or so ago. Make sure they are really tight. Any looseness at all will make it not even try to turn over.

 

Sounds like you've run the battery down trying to start it. I'd also recheck the work you did on the filter, could be something obstructing it or something go into the fuel line which would cause your original no start condition.

 

Starter solenoid is confused by a low voltage. Charge (or boost) your battery, and clean and tighten the cable connections.

 

Sounds like a dead battery. When you worked on changing the filter did you have the dome light on the entire 4 hours? Maybe that is how the battery worn down.

Have you tried jump start?

 

I just tried jump starting with my friends car. Nothing happened. The radio, wind shield wiper, and lights work though ...

I also tighten the terminals to see if anything changes. Nothing happen ...

 

Alright this time I got my dad to use his v8 truck to power the battery. My car can crank now but it won't start up. I really don't think I installed the filter wrong since I followed both the guides at the time I was taking replacing the filter. My dad thinks its the battery so we are gonna pick it up from pep boys tomorrow to see if anything changes.

 

did u check the pump fuse?

 

Grab one of those 99 cent terminal brushes too...get the inside of the cable end shiny for your new battery.

 

Man, if changing the fuel filter is this much of a headache forget it. Based on this thread, my car now has a lifetime fuel filter.

 

This is why most people don't replace them. Even though they get a lot of dirt inside, they are designed to go along time.

If I was going to go through all that trouble to replace the filter, I would have replaced the whole module.

 

Yeah thanks for the tip, what are they called exactly?

When I took my oil filter out, I can see the black filter inside through the filter itself. I pried it open with fence cutters(not sure the name) and it was FILTHY black. My air filter was not even nearly as dirty as my fuel filter.

It wasnt as if I was not aware of what I was doing. I did weeks of research before I actually took the initiative to start. I looked up threads for potential problems and I couldnt find any.

 

I still think you should double check your filter install if a new battery doesn't start the car. You might have something loose so the pump is sucking air or there is an obstruction in the fuel line.

 

prior changing the filter and removing the pump assembly ,,shud have disconnected the battery terminal...maybe you shorted out something electricial,,,always disconnect the battery before doing any work on these cars ...also if the car is running good leave it alone,,,

 

actually I got beotched at by my dad for not taking off the battery terminal because the car could have exploded with any small amount of electricity. Luckily it didn't and the people who wrote the How-To guides should definitely include that ...

I want to double check to see if I installed the filter correctly but my mom does not like the smell of gasoline in my backyard. If worst comes to worst, I guess I will have to take it to a mechanic.

 

^^^^+1^^^^

 

the second video is halarious and also scary lol.. idk why it does that but heres what i would do in this order,...
#1-check fuses,- if your not sure what exactly to check they sell a fuse checker where u touch the ends to each fuse without pulling it and it has an indicator light, check all of them, in the car and under the hood http://cgi.ebay.com/SEALEY-CFT1-AUTO...3286.m63.l1177
#2- buy a new battery- prob needed a new one anyway before all of this.. get the most CCA you can for the same size...and make sure your connections are good
#3- with the new battery installed- turn the key to the on position without starting~5-10 times to prime the pump.. then try to turn her over...
#4- if its not running yet smash your fist on the steering wheel, and teach your car a new swear or two,.. and take apart everything you did and put it back together, being extra careful of what is what this time,.. but dont go by how you have it together go by the how to's incase you made a mistake..
#5-if the car is still not running at this point and your re reading this.. maybe you blew up the pump and need a new one...re read what elite max said and check to see if fuel is getting pumped to the block,.. have some one pull the fuel line and turn it over and see if it squirts fuel(potentially dangerous) lol do at your own risk

 

I did mine last week and I didn't have any issues. However, I would remove the filter again and go through the whole procedure one more time.

If it still doesn't start... then take it to a mechanic.

Let us know what went wrong... so we can all learn from this.

 

Alright just got a Gold Duralast battery from Autozone. Car does not crank but instead makes that "brrrrr" sound ( refer to video 2 ). I am officially out of ideas and may have to have the car toll to a mechanic to fix.

$25 for fuel filter + $112 for battery + $150 ( tolling ) + $200 ( hopefully under ) to fix at mechanic. Looks like I have lost more money than I would have gain ...