Hello. I have a 2001 Maxima. Came out of work last night to a no crank, no start. Came back to work today and messed with it all day trying to solve the problem.

Have all the dash lights that come on for a normal start, but nothing clicks or blinks when turning the key.

Checked the battery, and it's ok.

Disconnected the gray connector on the signal wire going to the starter solenoid, and tested it while turning the key. Zero volts!

Jumped 12Volts to the signal wire on the side for the starter solenoid, and it cranked with no start.

Went and got an Inhibitor Relay, came back, popped it in, and still no start, no crank. Again jumped 12v to the starter solenoid signal wire, and it turned over, started, and ran well. Reconnected the wire, tried the key again to start the car, and just like before, nothing.

Guess I can open the hood every time I need to start the car, and jump 12v to that wire, but that's not me. I want it to start with the key.

I went and checked every single fuse with my meter and they all ring out good.

Installed a jumper wire between pin 6 & 7 on the Inhibitor Relay to jump out the neutral safety switch, turned the key, still nothing.

Went and picked up a new ignition switch, installed it, turned the key, still nothing. Same as before. All the normal lights, but no clicking or turnover.

Going to jump the signal wire to 12 volts in order to start it, and get it home, but what am I missing? As far as I can tell, I have tried, tested, or replaced everything in the loop. I'm obviously missing something, so please help!


Jay

 

You are saying that: Turning your ignition switch ON does not deliver 12V to the starter, although the starter works just fine when you directly apply battery voltage to it.
There is a fuse (40A) between the battery and the ignition switch. That fuse (or one of the associated wires/connectors) must be broken.

Good luck, and let us know how it worked out.

 

Tested those large 40 amp fuses under the hood. They checked good, and I even changed the position of the 40 amp fuses to no avail. 😔

 

Well, that's disappointing but ..... you know it has to be something in this path: Battery Positive -> 40A Fuse -> Ignition Switch -> Inhibitor Relay -> Starter Solenoid. So, get your meter out and find out how far does the 12V voltage get before it disappears. And be very stubborn and meticulous about it.

 

**** it, run a new wire from the ign switch to the starter.

 

Either you have an intermittent wire connection problem or you didn't jumper pin 6 & 7 in the inhibitor relay socket like you thought you did. Look on the bottom of the relay, the connector pins. The relay has tiny numbers next to the pins.

I would remove the inhibitor relay and check for voltage on 2 pins in the relay socket, pins 1 and 6, when you have the ignition key in the start position. Pin 1 is to energize the relay, pin 6 is to make the starter crank. If you can get a consistent 12 volts on pin 6, then the problem is between pin 7 and the starter.

 

If I could find a schematic for the ignition switch, and also the inhibitor relay socket, I could start tracing where I have 12v when I turn the key, and where it stops. If anyone has a link to them online, it would be a big help. Haven't bought a new style Chilton's type book in a long time, but if I have to do that to get the info I will.

 

 

Another version:

 

Do I ever feel stupid! Forgot to mention I took the car for an emissions test Friday. When the guy brought it out to me, the car was running, so I drove to work and parked as normal. Came out at the end of the day to the no crank, no start.

Fast forward to today. Talked to a buddy that works for the same "family" the car was bought from, but rather than working for the Nissan dealership, he works for the Hyundai one. Told him what was going on, and he asked what happened prior to me shutting the car off for the last time. Once I said emissions, he asked if I got a green key fob when I bought the car. I said yes, it's still on my key ring, but I don't know what it's for. He said the family started putting dealer installed security switches in their cars as soon as they received them to cut down on off the lot theft. He told me to go wave the key fob over the round magnet looking thing under my dash somewhere. He said it will beep and your car will start as normal again. Sure enough, I did it and everything is normal again. He went on to say, he isn't sure why, but my car wasn't the first one that had that alarm tripped by going to emissions. He said it happens more often than one would think. I'm just glad it's fixed! That, and I'm glad I know my starting circuit a lot better than I did! Thank you for the help!

 

More wtf. Useless dealers. They were so stupid that they didn't know that it was IMPOSSIBLE at the time to steal these without the consult.

For future reference: If anyone needs diagrams just ask.

 

You can go on-line and look at or download the Nissan service manual.

Go to http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/

 

Thank you all for the help. Dennis, thank you for the link to the manuals too! That's a great source of info for future reference.