I am so ****ed. To the point where I don't even want a Maxima any more. I have e-mailed/pm.ed some of the 'boost brains' (and already tried their suggestions) on here but I haven't really thrown out a thread on this.

Nutshell:
Car has a severe starting problem. It runs perfectly fine - once/if it starts. It has been to 3 shops in 11 months and no one can figure out the problem.


More detail:

Symptoms:

SC installed Jan 2002. Ran fine for a year. Starting problem started and went from bad to awful in about a 2 week period. When trying to start car, it makes loud noises. Metal clanking noises, sometimes loud, popping and thumping noises. There is often a strong chemical smell and sometimes smoke comes out the exhaust. However, once the car starts, there is no indication that anything is wrong. It runs strong, no loss of power, no roughness, no stalling, no decrease in gas mileage, etc. I get better results trying to start the car by keeping my foot on the accelerator. Car has an even harder time starting if it has been driven recently and engine is warm. When trying to start car, the engine always sounds very, very close to turning over.


Attempts already made to resolve problem:

Took out one-step colder plugs and replaced with stock plugs (NGK platinum), replaced fuel pump and fuel strainer, purchased big 800 c.a. battery, replaced upstream O2 sensors, replaced knock sensor and harness, replaced starter (I tried a 10-tooth and an 8-tooth starter with equal results - right now there is an 8-tooth starter installed), I tried bypassing the Vortech auxiliary fuel pump. And the shop(s) has done a million things as well (I will get a complete list next week when I pick up the car). He is convinced it is not SC related. He strongly feels it is electrical (perhaps somewhere in the ECU harness).



I just spoke with him (it is at a very reputable local tuner shop right now). He basically said he doesn't want it anymore. So I will pick it up next week. Nissan refused to work on it with the SC. So my next step is to put it back to stock and bring it to Nissan.

Any last ideas from you guys while the SC is still on is very, very much appreciated. Thanks guys.


-Jsh

 

Holy Crapola, Josh! Sorry to hear of your problems!
I've not come across the kind of problems you've described.

 

According to the FSM the high possibility items are Fuel pump circuit, fuel pressure regulator, IACV-AAC valve circuit, ignition circuit, Main power supply and ground circuit. Looking at the FSM it seems you should focus your attention at the Fuel Pump Control Module.

The FSM state's when the FPCM flow is high during engine cranking, coolant temp below 45*F, 30 seconds after engine starting, under heavy load. All other conditions the FPCM flow is low. This seems to match the problems you've experienced.

 

FIRST guess is starter, but you've already replaced it.

Second guess is bad SC.

How come they don't think it's the SC? Have you tried spinning the SC by hand if possible? If you have blade/housing contact, it should grind or be hard to turn. Once you get it going though, it may "seem" fine, but not really.

 

does your fuel pump turn on briefly when you turn the key to the ON position? have you recently removed your transmission? if so, check to make sure the mating surface between the tranny and engine is clean, as it grounds the starter.

 

I know this sounds bad but have you pulled any codes? Please explain the noises and where they seem to be coming from. I know I had some problems in the past with a intermittant fuel pump circuit but I never had any wierd noises like you are getting. I would pull codes and diagnose starting there.

 

But wouldnt that be REALLY loud once it starts up? Thats why I would say its not the S/C..

 

Just slap the stock belt on and start it - then you can at least be 100% on the SC thing.

 

I think the first thing you need to do is check is if the problem is mechanical, electrical or both. Try disconnecting both your fuel pump and/or all the coil packs and try starting it. See if it is still making all the noise. If it is still making the same noise, remove the sc belt and see what happens. It will be a lot easier and cheaper diagnosising a problem when you can rule things out and concentrate on a single area.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I really appreciate it.

Due to all the fires here, things have been on hold this week so it looks like I will be picking up the car next week instead of this week.

Nismo: Thanks man. I will look at this when I get the car back. Where did you see this in the manual?

Ice: You might be right but I really don't think it's the SC. But I will try turning the fins like you said.


Sx: Yes, the fuel pump (stock and auxiliary) turns on. You know what, I did have my transmission bullet proofed and 'VBed', etc. shortly before all this. So where exactly do I need to look to see if the mating surface is clean?

Allgo: Yes, codes have been pulled and all addressed. None have solved the problem.

Ian: Is it that easy? Just route the stock belt around everything but the SC? How will the car get air? I will try that before I take it out.

Lonely: Coil packs were replaced.

Coolkids: You sent me a great pm but I never heard back from you after I replied.

Thanks guys.

This blows goats. I only got a year with my SC before the car went caplooey. And for the last year I have been paying shops who can't fix it, paying insurance and registration for a car I can't use, I had to go out and spend $5000 on a commuter car. I want my baby back. This really blows goats.

It's getting to the point where I just want to ghost-ride the Max off a cliff and go get an S4 or an M3.

 

mating surface would be where the bell housing of the tranny bolts up to the engine. see pic below:

 

I really doubt it's the SC but like Ian says, it's an easy matter to just pull the SC belt up out of the way and put the stock belt on. The engine will draw air through the blower even though it's not spinning.

 

(Sorry for the length)


Well, thank you everyone for the replies. Here's where I stand right now. After posting this, I didn't have time to try any of the things you guys listed because I needed to concentrate on finals and then after school ended came the holidays. So last weekend was my first free weekend to do anything with the Max. I was just about to start doing some of the items discussed here - when I had an idea. When Nissan of Escondido could not (would not) fix my car, at least the didn't charge me (unlike the other two shops). So what did I have to loose by trying one more Nissan (of Temecula)? I called and was completely honest with him, I even told him Escondido refused me. Regarding the the fact that the car has an SC in it, he replied 'What do I care? A car is a car, right?'. So I liked this guy from the beginning! I brought it in last Fri. along with my huge list of symptoms, attempts made, etc. Well on Monday he calls and says 'I need to put in a new starter before I can even continue'. And I said 'No way, that starter is good and I know it is not the starter because I have tried 4 different starters already. And even if it is bad, I have a lifetime warranty so let me come and get it and I'll bring you back a new one'. He asked 'Where did you get it?' When I answered Autozone, he worked me over. 'Autozone?! Get your money back. No wonder. There's your problem right there'. Etc... He says 'You need a genuine Nissan starter'. And I'm like 'Come on Bob, the starters from Autozone are fine, they are rebuilt Nissan starters'. And he continues with how they are inferior, they are just bad starters with the problem fixed, etc. He claims the Nissan starters have been redesigned and are better. So he can see I am hesitant so he said if he puts in the new starter and it makes no difference, he won't charge me. So I said o.k. I authorized him to put in a Nissan starter for $200ish just so he can then continue to diagnose my car. He calls me the very next day and says 'come pick up your car'. And I am speechless. After a long pause, I ask 'What was the problem'? He said 'The starter'. I asked 'So you mean to tell me the car starts perfectly fine every time?' He claims yes. I couldn't get there by close of yesterday and I can't today but I am going to make an effort to leave work early tomorrow and pick her up. I still don't beleive it. I will beleive it when I see it. But boy am I hoping! Wish me luck. What do you guys think? Is it possible a had 4 bad Autozone starters and all it needed was a genuine Nissan starter?!

 

I've heard of two bad ones, but 4 is a record.

I hope that's it.

 

My buddy replaced the starter on my friends 2K with one from a local parts shop...

It started fine the first time, although it didn't sound like the factory one did, but after shutting it off and trying to start it up again, it did the grinding sound...

So he replaced it with a replacement, from the parts store, and that one was bad too...

So he pays another $100 for the OEM starter and bang! Workin' like a champ!

 

This is the first time I have read this thread. But I also had similar problems with the starter(s) on my max last summer. With one of the new ones, I installed it, turned it over and instead of hearing a whur-whur noise, I heard more of a scraping noise. The car started, but slowly. Not totally terrible sounding but enough to make me suspicious. After I pulled the starter out and looked at the starter gear, I noticed burrs running along the tops of each tooth on the gear. Then I compared the new starter gear to the old starter gear, it was about 1/4 of an inch shorter in diameter! So the teeth were just barely reaching the ring gear and chewing the crap out if it. It was hitting just enough to start but just barely.

If I was turning a SC blower back then, I seriously question if my car would start either.

I'm not sure what starter I got but it sounds like this happens more than I care to know.

If possible, I would suggest that you take a look at a few teeth on your last starter or on the ring gear on your flywheel and make sure that you don't have the same damage I got.

But in any case, congrats on finally finding that magic-mechanic.

D

 

(Sorry again for the length)

I can't beleive this guys. Guess what? The car runs fine! It was the starter. It needed the newer design, genuine Nissan. I guess a rebuilt, older design Autozone starter didn't cut it. You would think I would be jumping up and down for joy, right? Well, I think I would be - and to a partial extent, I am - but I think I am still in shock. I am 33% happy, 33% sad and 33% mad. I have been out my ex-ex-baby for a whole frickin' year now!!! I say ex-ex because she was my baby, then became my ex-baby and is now my baby again. I am happy because it is fixed. I am mad because I think one of the shops along the way could have figured this out. I am also mad at Autozone. I am sad because it was something so simple and I have been out my car for a year. In that year, I bought an $800 commuter car which died after 6 months, spent $4000 for a SHO (but at least I still have it and it's a half decent car and it is nice to have two cars), I have spent $130 in towing, $1000 between 2 shops for services not needed, the $300 I paid last night to Nissan (that doesn't really count though, because it was well-spent) and about $300 in parts on my own - in addition to the the insurance and registration on a car I wasn't enjoying. Not to mention all the headaches, damage to the two front doors during the tow, I rarely visited maxima.org, missed a whole year's worth of plans (I have '97 bumpers and front/rear ground effects and '97 headligts and foglights, black SE window trim, uncut grilling, Homelink visor and more all sitting in my garage), I couldn't finish my back seat folding write-up that people are waiting for, etc. I probably would have had all my body work done by now, I would have my VI on by now and I would have a smaller pulley on by now. Lost time, lost money and a year's worth of frustaration.

Oh well, I guess I need to look at the bright side. My car is fixed and runs great! Now it is time to make up for lost time! I want to just finish the body so I can then focus on performance. Thanks again everyone for the help, kind words and support.

P.s. PLEASE learn from this guys! And please pass on this information. I don't want anyone to go through what I went through. If you need a starter, get a genuine Nissan starter. It probably goes without saying but make sure it is the redesigned model which, from my understanding, was redesigned in '99.

 

I'm glad you got everything running!!



As I was reading your post I was remembering an issue I had with my 90 SHO that I had prior to my max. I went to a friends house, was getting ready to leave and it wouldn't start. I went round and round trying to figure out what it was, and decided it must be the fuel pump. Went and bought a fuel pump and came back to fix it about a week later. I got into the trunk and there is a fuel cutoff switch in there that had been tripped somehow. Reset the switch and viola! At least I found this out prior to putting the pump in...
Needless to say, as I kept reading I noticed your commuter car is a SHO...

Good times.

(Pointless story)

 

thats a crazy story.. you are understandably mad/sad/glad.. look at the bright side -- you prolly replaced everything that could be replaced so nothing should break now.

 

Once again kids, ALWAYS USE NISSAN products.