I have a 97 I30 and for a few weeks it has been progressively harder to start. There are no other symptoms, no check lights, but in addition, when I crank it I can tell it runs backwards or tries to at times when hard starting. I have searched the forums and found nothing conclusive. I think that is because many people do not follow through to the end with a solution or result. The other is I seem to have the additional weirdo symptom of the backward run. Can anyone help. I saw some evidence in forums of the crank sensor, the one near the trans, but nothing conclusive, any final results out there?

 

I'm not sure if you have a distributor cap or coils. If a distributor cap, then I'm guessing it's out of time? Just loosen up the bolt and turn it clockwise or counter clockwise and try cranking.

 

4thgen maximas/i30s are COP=no dizzy.

 

97 I30 is coils.

There is an FSM in my sig OP.
Start there.

 

Sorry, I have coils no distributor, any ideas anyone? I have seen this problem often, but I have not seen the fiX!

 

Check the grounds from the battery negative to the engine block, clean it if it's rusty.

 

The other weirdo symptom is you have to turn the ignition all the way around to the very end to get a crank.

 

?? what ??

Are you referring to turning the key?



And what the fuq are you talking about when you say "backward run"?

 

I have had this exact thing happen and the only way i could fix it is remove the trans and sand down the corrosion that built up where the trans meets the engine, and running a ground from the trans to engine to bypass it doesnt fix it. ive tried.

I had the harness out twice, inspected the injectors, the cam and crank sensor, checked spark plugs, and a veteran nissan tech told me this happens, only to maximas/i30's. I know it sounds stupid, cause the entire time i was pulling the trans and sanding down all the built up corrosion i was thinking i was wasting my time, but it worked like a dream and i fought it for over a year, now i kiss the key and it starts every time.

I actually did post my conclusion if you search hard start it should pull it up.

 

Post a video of your attempt to start the car. This will help a lot.

 

Last night I installed a "grounding kit" as a preventative maintenance item.
Though the engine was running fine before I installed it. I understand grounding kits have been used to resolve grounding issues.

I had a hard to start issue a while back that was aggravated by cooked/clogged cats. It's symptoms were like the old "potato in the exhaust" trick. The root cause for the cooked/clogged cats turned out to be two injectors with deteriorated pintle caps and a faulty EGR.

Items installed to make it start like a new engine:

Installed Injector Refurbish Kit
Cleaned EGR pipes
Installed new EGR (the old one would throw 1405 after I cleaned up the EGR sensor, pipes and valve)
Installed new IACV (the old one would not allow me to properly make adjustments)
Installed new WS Y-pipe to replace the cooked/clogged cats.

The cooked/clogged cats kept the car from starting on a regular basis. The new Y-Pipe made a huge difference.
I had a misfire on Cyls 2 and 5 that were caused by the deteriorated injector pintle caps.
I suspect the failing EGR contributed to the clogged tube and possibly clogged cats.
The old IACV caused idle issues.

To identify the cooked/clogged cat issue, I removed the upstream O2 sensors from the exhaust manifold while leaving the sensors hooked up to the wiring and started the car.

Once the car could breathe and run with the open O2 sensor holes I was able to dig into finding the other "root cause" issues.

I'm not saying this is the OP's problem, but I suspect there may be multiple problems that all converged at the same time to produce the issue.

How many miles does your Max have on the odometer?

How long have you owned the car?

Can you provide maintenance history for the past couple of years?

As stated above by another member, a video helps a great deal.

Where are you located? We use your location to factor in environmental issues (usually rust or extreme temperature related) and to direct you to a service providing member in your area if you seek help.

Many years ago, I had a muffler/resonator that rusted on the inside and collapsed. It blocked the exhaust just enough to force exhaust gas back through the intake system. When it first happened I thought it had jumped time and it felt like it was trying to run backwards (push exhaust out of the intake).

If you remove the O2 sensors and run the car and you experience a big change for the better, you may have something obstructing the exhaust gas flow that could may explain a condition where exhaust appears to be trapped or flowing in the opposite direction.

 

Yes exactly, another words you have to turn it millimeters further than any other car key I have turned. I buy and sell cars, so I have many different makes that I have had experience with, almost so far you feel like you are going to break the key. Just had the battery and alternator tested, ground wires to, all good, baffling to me. Every once in a while at a traffic light, it feels like someone is pulling a cable off the battery, not stalling but almost for a split second. As far as backward running/cranking, it will crank and seem to get stuck - stop - and then attempt to "diesel" or run backwards for a second or two.

 

im telling you remove the trans and check that upper portion where the trans and engine mate, both engine and trans side.

is it auto or manual?

 

upload a video of how it cranks, Im curious

 

I live in California (OC), the car has 175K and we just bought it, no records, have had it less than a month. I appreciate your in depth examination and explanation. Your effort is applauded! Usually, with these different cars I encounter, most have issues that are readily solved because they all have inherently very similar engineering, thus the same "fixes" as a result of many years of postings. I deal with cars always older than 2000 and this helps also since these problems have been worked through to single solutions normally, like a coolant temp sensor, egr, correct spark plug brands, etc.
The two major noticeable things it does is the hard starting and the feeling like someone is taking the battery away for a second or two at traffic lights, but it doesn't stall, and eventually stops doing that after running 30 minutes or more. One of my favorite mechanics liked to replace the coolant temp sensor(s) on cars that had strange and unpredictable running, he was right more than not. That is the next thing I am doing since I have a 95 Maxima with all (most) the same parts like coolant temp sensor, crank sensor and air filters., will advise! As far as the cats, the car has too much power for clogged cats I feel. Finally, opinion on Seafoam in general or for this situation, it shouldn't hurt it and may solve it?

 

The 95 and 97 should be most compatible. Are both CA emissions equipped cars?

How old is the battery? Every 4th gen Maxima I have purchased had a battery that was over 42 months old and on its last leg. I think my three 4th gen's previous owners may have charged a failing battery so the car would work long enough to sell it. I usually take a newly purchased 4th gen to Advance Auto and get one of the guys to run a complete charging and battery health check. That usually gives a preview of future battery charging issues.

It sounds like you are already familiar with the items to address with a mid-life Maxima. Your 97 is at the similar point in its service life as the past three 4th gens I have purchased over the past 4 years.

Check out the following thread. I bet you can relate to the service regimen.

http://forums.maxima.org/8957774-post19.html

 

We have narrowed it down to this puppy-link below
http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1h/bl739h.htm

 

That's only for the 1989 maxima. You have a 4th gen maxima which only consists of ignition coils and camshaft and crankshaft sensors. The Infiniti i30 is a maxima with the practically the same body and the same exact engine. It's just branded Infiniti to make it look luxurious and make some more money. Your engine might be backfiring which makes you think it is reversing the crank. You don't need to ground anything because you have automatic transmission and not manuals which have grounding issues. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think auto trans cars have ground issues.

 

The final conclusion was as another post said- BAD NEGATIVE GROUND to the block! However, the coolant temp sensor replacement was needed only reading 1500 ohm in cold engine. Dropped to about 600 ohm when warm. The above link is also a great thread though as I have seen some twisted wiring harnesses like the picture.

 

Thanks for letting us know you found the culprit.

I take it you got a decent price on the replacement sensor while buying it on a Saturday? I recently replaced both sensors as part of a mid-life maintenance refresh.

Sometimes I miss out on debugging sensor based issues by taking an all out technical refresh approach while aiming to prepare the car for another 150,000 miles of service.

If you are selling one of your 4th gens, you should list it in the Maxima.org classified section. You've already got some maintenance history started.

Last night I respectfully declined a $4,000 offer for my 99 SE 5MT from one of my neighbors. At this point, it would cost way more for me to attempt to replace it with a comparable vehicle. However, I'm glad to see my neighbor did find another a nice 99 model that he is buying tonight. So I've agreed to help him with his 4th gen mid-life maintenance refresh project as I have a bunch of specialty tools in even numbered metric sizes.

If you can, let us know which coolant pipe sensor (left or right) in the following picture that you replaced.

 

I live in taylorsville, UT. now come make my engine bay look that damn clean!!!

 

Step one, this is a given. Replace the ignition switch.
It's a common failure item and an easy replacement.