1999 Nissan Maxima Automatic Transmission 165k miles

In the mornings, I have no issues starting the car but if the car is driven, shut off for a few minutes to get gas or if I have to run into the store, it tends to crank long before it catches and sometimes does not catch at all at which point I need to turn the key into the "off" position and start over.

Yesterday, something worse happened. After driving in traffic for a few hours, I stopped by the gas station, parked the car and turned it off. A few minutes later, attempted to start the car up again but nothing happened. There was no crank at all as I turned the key, no sounds or clicks...completely dead. I attempted to start her a few more times with no success.

I opened the hood, and tapped the starter a few times. Then I put the key in, put the gear shifter into neutral and let it roll a few inches. Then I put her back into park and attempted again to start her with zero issues as it fired up right away.

A little history, the battery is fairly new, the starter was replaced with a Beck Arnley re-manufactured unit 35k miles ago and I had an intermittent issue with my stereo, lights, turn signals and winddhield wipers cutting off while driving until I would wiggle the key in the ignition at which point everything came back alive. This issue with the ignition has not showed itself in almost 8 months so I thought that it somehow fixed itself. I also have a CEL on for the EGR valve inefficiency (P0401 I believe). This valve is most likely gummed up with deposits and just needs to be cleaned.

What do you guys think this could be? From all the research that I've done, it seems the ignition switch can cause this problem in this car. It most likely isn't the starter or the parking solenoid but who knows as I tapped on the starter and moved the shifter out of park before attempting to fire the engine up again.

Can a clogged EGR valve cause this issue or is this most likely the ignition switch? Even if it was the EGR or a dirty throttle body or IACV, it would still crank, just not fire up. Research also shows that this could be something with fuel delivery but no cranks means a separate issue all together so a fuel pump issue is probably excluded from this.

Any way to check before taking the car apart? I'm leaning towards the starter or ignition switch at this point.

Why does this happen only after the car has been on before and still warm?

 

Replace the ignition switch. Every circuit you mentioned goes through the ignition switch and is dependant on a good contact. If you have a lot of keys on your key ring you'll want to slim it down as a weighty set will prematurely wear it out. PN safet6y swith may also be worn out.

 

I had a very similar issue with my old civic. I lived with it for a while, but eventually it wouldn't start at all. My distributor seal had failed and allowed moisture to rust the bearings and eventually fail. If you begin to hear a squealing sound, its the end of the line for the distributor.

 

I would change the camshaft position sensor and the crankshaft position sensor.

I just fixed the same problem on my 97 manual at the time it had 198K. Cleaning the sensors did not fix it. I also did an ohm test and the sensors tested fine. It turns out you need to heat up the sensors to measure them properly.

Here is the link where I posted: here

Here is the topic name : Cranks all day but wont start =(
I did not realize it what a hot no start issue at first.

I also re-did all the grounds because I have rust in the underside of the car. That smoothed out the idle real nice and it appears to start on a real quick crank.


The car would not start hot.
I have a scanguageII and the car would start after I saw the temp drop to 135 degrees on the guage.
my2cents

 

check the ECTS.
engine coolant temp sensor.

 

We don't have distributors.

 

EGR wont cause this and electrical resistance increases with temperature.

 

Im fuzzy on this so dont quote me, but on the 1999s i think i have read EGR might cause starting issues. Again dont quote me on this.

but agree with ASAND1, it sounds more like your ignition switch is going.