# Slow Crank turns to No Crank...



## stringa (Jun 17, 2009)

Hello. I have had problems with my car for a while. Before it completely died, I was noticing that it was cranking slower and slower everyday. Eventually, it just don't start anymore. 

What I'm getting now.

If i leave my car off for a while, it will slowely crank ( last time about 8 - 10 times ) and then it will just stop cranking. If I try to start the car again soon after the previous attempt, I am lucky to get 1 slow crank before nothing.

All the interior lights are working and have worked. I have tried jumping the car, but I get the same result as above, so I don't think it's the battery. I keep thinking that I need to replace the starter, but I'm not sure. 

Any idea's?

Any place to go for trouble shooting this problems?

thanks,

stringa


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## 1ATony (May 13, 2009)

Welcome to the site. I'd take the battery and alternator to Autozone and have them tested. If you need an alternator we offer brand new ones that are not rebuilt like the local parts store,and there is no core charge on them.

Here's a link to that section if you would like to check on pricing.

Nissan Maxima Alternator


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## 4X4D21 (Mar 9, 2009)

after it stops cranking is it clicking? if its not clicking then the selenoid on the starter might be toast, which would mean you need a new starter. If it is clicking, could be the alternator, check all the connections to alternator and starter make sure no connection is loose.


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## Nissan1981 (Jul 4, 2009)

*slow start*

yep that the same thing my car is doing


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## spetznazer (Jun 5, 2009)

It could be an ignition switch. I had same Problem - crank or no crank. Ifter cleaning contacts and prying them a lil bit in ignition switch it works like a sharm. If all lights on and no crank now I am advising first check battery -> ignition switch -> starter. And it is very easy to disassemble ignition switch just take off covers from steering weel, then unscrew 2 screws from opposite side from key insertion point. Disconnect wire and open assembly but be carefool not to loose parts. Clean contacts and pry just a litle. Keep original shape (round and flat). Assemble back.

It took me 3 times before it started work good.


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## rita margarita (Mar 29, 2016)

4X4D21 said:


> after it stops cranking is it clicking? if its not clicking then the selenoid on the starter might be toast, which would mean you need a new starter. If it is clicking, could be the alternator, check all the connections to alternator and starter make sure no connection is loose.


HI, I've had the gamut of starting system problems - replaced the starter twice ( painful pain in the __!) and the relay twice and the ignition key set and it fixes it for a while then it doesn't start. Lately it cranks slow and today it wouldn't start again. Crawled up in the dash and exercised the clutch button, it starts now! sprayed silicon to free it up a bit. but I still have slow cranking, which began about two months ago. The battery and alternator are fine according to tests at AutoZone and Walmart. A while back ( before this all began...) I was traveling and the wiring fell apart and fried itself from the battery to the wiring harness ( power side). I took all the crumbled connectors off and replaced with straight wires. Maybe, do you think the slow cranking could be from sketchy wiring connections? too much resistance from splices? corroded connectors? do things like that cause a low power situation where the starter just isn't getting the full cranking power of the battery? the guys' thread here sounds similar to my odyssey, and all the forum stuff is exhausted, 'cause I have replaced all of that stuff. What do you think?


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## OhmsLaw (Mar 29, 2016)

Possible causes:
-engine is difficult to crank
-high resistance in the crank circuit (battery, cable, connections, solenoid)
-bad starter
-low battery voltage
-high contact resistance at some connection

with some being more likely than others.

I'd look up cranking current for 4, 6 & 8 cyl. Gasoline engines on the Web. 

In the cranking circuit, "high resistance" means over 0.01 ohm (which can be tricky to measure, you need a clamp-on DC ammeter and a voltmeter).

I'm more leaning toward an intermittently bad connection that you haven't yet found. The resistance can vary with time, temperature, humidity, vibration, current flow, etc., etc..
"contact resistance" - Google Search

You can do it, we can help!


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## rita margarita (Mar 29, 2016)

I have the feeling it's bad connections/too many splices/ = too much resistance. Did I mention I spend a lot of time driving in dirt roads? I seem to have come full circle back to the original problem of fried wiring. Thanks for responding! I will let ya all know when I've re-done the wiring again.


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## OhmsLaw (Mar 29, 2016)

rita margarita said:


> when I've re-done the wiring again.


The only wiring & connections you need to redo are the two 4' lengths of heavy wire that runs to the starter and back again to the battery. 

It is a simple "series circuit" and is probably posted somewhere on the Web.

None of the skinny wires can cause slow or fast cranking but the skinny wires can prevent any cranking. 
In effect, and for technical reasons, all the other wiring in your vehicle need not be there providing the solenoid is somehow energized to complete the loop.

If still a problem with new heavy cables, it's the solenoid or the starter motor or the battery or the engine resisting cranking, and poking around with a voltmeter can narrow these possibilities.

Your time & effort is worth something. Buy a meter. . .without one you are flying blind.

BTW, don't wear rings when working around the battery. The hundreds of amps of current may heat up the ring and then you may need your finger amputated.


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## rita margarita (Mar 29, 2016)

Have a volt meter, and thanks for the suggestion re the two heavy wires to the starter. and thanks for the reminder re rings, although I learned about that decades ago when Dad welded a wedding ring to his finger! and a friend jumped off a big machine and left his finger up there on the door... BTW for the Pathfinder, Beergarage .com has a great sketch of the circuit. Now to find out what it ought to read when cranking.


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## rita margarita (Mar 29, 2016)

but the thing I am worrying about is the idea of the engine resisting cranking. what would cause that?


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## OhmsLaw (Mar 29, 2016)

rita margarita said:


> but the thing I am worrying about is the idea of the engine resisting cranking. what would cause that?


I don't know and you may not want to know, either. A bearing seizing? Broken ring? Bent crankshaft? Clutch dragging?

You'd need a small dynamometer to measure cranking hp while spinning it at 180 RPM or whatever the cranking RPM spec is. That may not even be an assembly test fixture at Nissan.


Bosch says max 1/4v drop along starter cables while cranking, 0.1 volts for all other wiring.

At 200A, each cable would then have a resistance of 0.25/200 = 0.00125 ohms. 
Working backwards and knowing the cable length and gauge and material (copper?) and with the help of the AWG table you have a shunt to measure the current draw, to possibly enough accuracy.


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## OhmsLaw (Mar 29, 2016)

If hooking up a known good, fully charged, battery to a known good starter motor, with heavy cables (don't use jumper cables) to the engine doesn't give you enough RPM on several occasions, I think it has to be the engine or clutch. 
The rest of the vehicle wiring is uninvolved and you only want to crank it, not start it.

If you want to use jumper cables, have helpers squeezing the clamps to get very good electrical contact. The metal-to-metal contact area with these clamps is minimal but you can make up for it with high pressure. Dig those clamps in.

A long term workaround would be to crank the engine using 18v or 24v with extra batteries but you'd need relays and whatnot to go back to 12v once it starts, plus room for the extra battery. 
This, or an engine teardown. 
What a choice.


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## fgalvan84 (Apr 29, 2016)

It may be your alternator, keeps the batt charged and when no good your car will die due to loss of voltage. You may have a bad batt due to the batt recharging. The alternator may be trying to recharge batt and it's just no good. 

Eather way if you take it to the shop they'll diagnose, if you fix it your self Atuozone will check both, and you don't have to remove the alternator to check it. 


Make sure your batt has plenty of water if it requires it, check for bad connections on your batt, and alternator. Use a multimete, you can buy one at walmart for 20 bucks. Good luck.


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