# 95 maxima very hard to start



## alphadog12 (Dec 14, 2010)

:wtf:First, i think this forum is very helpful. i have been reading different forums for weeks. This one is by far the best. my son has a 95 nissan maxima. we bought it from a friend. he had just had a engine installed with 114k miles on it. After installation it was very hard to start. i can crank the car with short cranks and after bout 9 or 10 tries it will act like it wants to start and few more turns and it will start up. once started this car runs like brand new. good power, great idle, smooth acceleration. i can drive the car for hours and it does fine. cut it off and it still hard to start. sometimes doesnt start for a while. i have done the ground mod, thick ground cables on the intake to the firewall, one on the timing cover to firewall and extra ground to battery ground to firewall. change both crank sensors and cam sensors. install new plugs, coolant temperature sensor, maf sensor, and tried another ecu. same thing happens. excessive cranking to get it started. this is the third starter i have put on car. cel is not on with one ecu but is on with other ecu. ive gotten same identical results with both ecu. when car is trying to start sometimes to hear a poping or sputterin noise. it acts as if it want to start but doesnt. i have taken sensors of my 96 maxima which runs perfect and put them on the 95. same thing. only thing i havent done is drop the tranny and sanded the mating surface between tranny and engine. or changed out fuel pump. All my light burn bright even the dash lights. i have read alot of post with the same problems but havent really found any solutions. Any help wud be greatly appreciated. my son is a freshman in college and we dont have alot of money to waste. he loves this car and i would really like to have it ready for him to drive after christmas break. Thank you again and everyone have a merry christmas. Oh yeah all nissans rule. Especially the maximas.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

THe issue with the poor ground between the engine and trans would make, what some people call, a "wrenching" affect while starting...similar to an engine starting with improper ignition timing. If that's what you have, and very possible if the replacement engine sat for any length of time unbolted from a trans, you would be best to drop the trans and sand the mating surfaces of the AT bellhousing and the engine block. I've found the ground strap mod doesn't always work.


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## alphadog12 (Dec 14, 2010)

thanks for the reply. When i im cranking it most of the time it just turns over as if it not getting fire. i checked the coils when it was doing it when i first got it and found only two are firing when it its doing this. it sometimes cranks to a point as if the timing is off. shortly after it does this it might start. if i crank the engine constant this it just hits as if it is not getting proper gas or fire.


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## UT_Max (Dec 20, 2010)

I had a serious starting problem on my 96 Max, similar to the one you described. The shop I went to swapped out the starter with no effect so I started reading up on this and found that a lot of people had this same problem. The solution I read about and that worked wonders for me was simply to run a wire from the negative pole of the battery to one of the bolts attaching the starter to the car. Use a pretty substantial wire by the way. This solved my starting problem instantly. Should take you only a few minutes to temporarily jury-rig something to see if this approach works for you. Good luck!!!


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