ofsalesmen

iTrader: (2)

My 2000 A/T Max is having major starting issues. Basically, when I turn the key, I can hear the starter motor whirring but most times, the engine won't turn over. Sometimes it'll "catch" and the engine will barely start to crank (tach will rise a few hundred RPM). In that case, I have to furiously pump the brake pedal to get it to start.

It's gotten pretty bad lately, to the point where the engine won't even turn over after 10-20 tries. Occassionally, I've been getting P0335 and P0430 codes, which indicate a malfunction in the crankshaft and camshaft position sensors.

After searching the forums, here's what I concluded:

1) These sensors are known to go bad--at least in the older 5th gens like mine.
2) The recall for them seemed to only apply to 2002-2003 models. I have a 2000 (it'd be nice if the dealer can fix it for free).
3) People who have had P0335/P0340 codes have experienced cutoff issues; my engine has run perfectly once I manage to start it.

So, does it sound like the sensors are faulty? I feel like my best bet at this point is to replace the sensors. What's the best option for this? Going to Advance Auto and buying replacements? Or going to the dealer? Needless to say, I prefer the least expensive option.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

ofsalesmen

iTrader: (2)

Anyone?

Amave

my Maxima is having the same problem, altho i am getting dtc P0336 and sometimes when i start it, the starter will crank, then sound weak , then crank then start.

i had this issue since buying it , but it has never not started ....changing the coils ( misfiring ) and spark plugs seemed to help , but on occasion it will kinda crank, crank, crank, then fire up....


i figured it was either the crank sensor or the flywheel tone ring....will have to take a video of it one day

Max_5gen

iTrader: (2)

If you're getting those codes I'd start from replacing the sensors after making sure the obvious stuff is OK like battery voltage and sensor's connectors. I believe they're not expensive even from the dealer and easily accessible to DIY.

pcmike

I just bought a 2nd 2000 Maxima SE Manual a few days ago & am having really hard time starting it as well. Brought it to my garage last tuesday to replace the flywheel because I could hear the starter slipping like if it was missing teeth on the flywheel...

The car hasnt started since then...

Pulled the Crankshaft Position Sensor off my tranny, starter, Coil Packs, ECU & MAF from my other Maxima which I'm parting out...

No luck...

BTW the kid who I bought the Maxima cut the O2 sensors off the car so once stated the car was really rough on idle.

Keep you posted tomorrow on what my mechanic finds.

Hope its something small & stupid!!!

Max_5gen

iTrader: (2)

Crankshaft position sensor is not the only cause leading to no- start condition. The previous member pulled the codes so it looks feasible to me to change the sensors in his case. If you did the same we might have better idea what is wrong with your Max. Keep in mind probability (albeit low) that your part car's parts might be faulty as well. I usually start from general troubleshooting - battery, spark, fuel and of course - codes. I bet some of the above is not right in your case.

Amave

did you replace the flywheel? because iirc it only goes on one way...

e-subliminal-2

iTrader: (7)

Cut o2's shouldn't cause problems except a ses if they're secondary sensors. If he cut the primary ones he's just retarded.

Also i'm assuming the car started when you first bought it? Do any work to it since then? Sometimes the slightest most obvious fixes are just over looked in your moment of fear. If you're familiar with the vq motor just look around and make sure everything is in proper order. I recently had this problem but it was due to fuel injectors being blocked by gasket sealer.. Kinda surprising nothing you swapped fixed it..... Keep us posted.


Edit: Thought this post was the op's. Sorry to *****. Op go with the sensors, Or try unplugging one and seeing if it causes the same problem. If it does you know it's bad.

ofsalesmen

iTrader: (2)

From what I've gathered, it's most likely the crankshaft position sensor causing the problems. The VQ30DE-K has two crankshaft sensors and one camshaft sensor (opposite of VQ35). I think the camshaft sensor detects misfires, while the crankshaft sensor on the side of the engine block detects when cylinder 1 is at TDC (and therefore when fuel should be fed to the engine during starting). Does that sound about right?

The car runs beautifully once it's started, so I suspect that it's the side crankshaft position sensor and not the camshaft position sensor. I'm getting some work done on my car Thursday and I'll check out the sensors then. I'll keep you guys posted.

I read somewhere about measuring the resistances using an ohm meter to determine if the sensors are good. Does anyone know what values to expect? (I read around 1500-2000 for the camshaft position sensor.)

Amave

hitachi senso resistance is 1440-7760 ohms and mitsubishi sensor is 2090-2550 ohms...

pcmike

Thanks for the advice guys!!

Max 5gen no codes pulling since batterie was removed!!! :/

Amave ya i did replace the flywheel... But what is iirc?

e-subliminal-2 ya the old owner is retarded... thanks for your .2 cents its really appreciated

ofsalesmen will def. havethose checked!!!

Keep you posted

Amave

iirc= If I Remember Correctly ...


the flywheel only goes on one way, it's keyed to fit on the crankshaft ....you might have installed the flywheel incorrectly.

if when you crank it over, can you hear popping coming out of the throttle body?


that might explain your cam and crank sensor codes, they don't agree with each other and the ECU has no idea where TDC is, so it doesn't fire...


i know this 1st hand because when i replaced an engine ( my 1st Suzuki engine ) on a Suzuki Grand Vitara, i accidentally installed the flex plate 90 degrees out...so after 3 days of getting cam & crank sensor codes i finally came to the conclusion that the flexplate was keyed and only went on one way.
here you can see where the notch is for the flexplate to go on....sorry if pic too big

ofsalesmen

iTrader: (2)

Things just took a turn for the worse. Nothing happens when I turn the key, just that really lifeless click sound. Either the starter finally crapped out, or something else has gone wrong. At this point, I'm SOL.

I'm getting the car towed and repaired tomorrow morning. We'll see what happens.

Amave

you probably killed your battery with all the start attempts

ofsalesmen

iTrader: (2)

Battery was drained but the starter did crap out. Got everything replaced--starter and all three sensors. At least it works now.

pcmike

Finally got it to start!!!! But still takes a few turns before it actually starts...

Seems as though the ECU was preventing gas & spark... All I had to do was clear it... My mechanic is telling me I might need to go back to Nissan Dealership to get my ECU reprogrammed??? Not sure about this one.

I am also suspecting that the starter had something to do with it mainly...

Cant believe I actually paid to replace a perfectly good flywheel... Thats what happens when you take advice from a kid... My bad... should of checked it myself...

Was able to pull 3 codes:

P0110 - Intake Temp. Sensor 1 Circuit
P1335 - Unfound Code
P0131 - O2 Sensor # Activity Detected (Bank 1 Sensor 1)

pcmike

P1335 = Camshaft Position Sensor...

LOL -

MyGray96SE

iTrader: (3)

I had the camshaft sensor on bank 2 go out on my 03. Same starting issues that you had. There is a recall for these sensors. I think it was just for 03's though. I was pretty pissed that mine is an 03 and it didn't fall in the recall list. I ended up replacing all three (cam bank 1&2, and crank) because with my luck lately, the other two would fail and I would get stuck somewhere again. Was about $225 for all three, from what I remember.

pcmike

I'm stating to get pretty irritated with this thing!!!

Changed the sensor today from other Maxima (parting out) which started beautifully proir to removing a whole bunch of stuff....

My mechanic is telling me that the timing is off... Not sure what to do here!!!

Anything else I can check before I dig myself deeper in dept.

Jreed2008

iTrader: (5)

OMG I have the same issue i have a P1 and P2 code front and back Camshaft position sensors bad.....The car stalled on me a couple times took to a local rinky dinky shop and got the mechanic to replace both cam senors and the crank sensor........and I still have a hard time starting it up and I have a CEL, TCF off light, and Slip lights are on.......I have a 2003 so hopefully If i call the dealer I can get it repaired under the recall mentioned above

Amave

pcmike, i think thats where your problem is, before replacing any parts i would make sure the flywheel is lined up to the dowel pin on the crankshaft, if the crank sensor gets incorrect information as to where top dead center is,the ECU won't allow the injecots or coils to fire.


as i said in my above post, the flywheel has to be in a certain spot/position on the crankshaft, you can't just install it in any random particular way.

I hate to say it but the transmission might have to come out again to recheck and make sure this isn't where your problem lies ..

keep us posted

pcmike

Thanks AMAVE will have that checked for sure...

I took the car for a spin yesterday... Its slow as hell .... would this indicated the Flywheel issue you mentioned above?

Thanks

Amave

hhhmmm well, to be honest it IS possible i suppose. I figured if your car wasn't starting it would be the most likely culprit.

Does it backfire out of the intake by any chance? Like when you rev it up?

usually if the timing is off ( only way it can be is mecahnically since the timing is controlled by the ECU ) it will backfire out of the intake

97maximachief

iTrader: (1)

I'm having a simular problem. I'll start from the beginning, I have a 97 maxima gxe 5 speed. Tranny crapped out on me. Got a tranny, spec stage 2+ clutch and lightweight flywheel from my cousins maxima (setup was installed 3 weeks before he totaled the car) so I have the shop do the clutch and flywheel while They swap the tranny. I get the car back and I drives fine for 3 days. I take it to another shop to weld my lower radiator support (support rotted out like they all do so I had a peice of angle iron and welded a bracket) and it would not start. I pushed it to pop start it, turned on fine. It had a misfire! I had no check engine light on! I checked the bulb in the cluster and it was burnt. I swapped a coil and that took care of the misfire. Before I discovered the coil I changed the starter, plugs, fuel filter, crank and cam shaft positioning sensors, boost sensor I even changed the ignition switch and ecu but still no start! What should I do and where else should look? Input plz! I love my max and would hate to see it go. Sorry for the long post but I'm stumped

97maximachief

iTrader: (1)

Left out that it pop starts and runs perfect when on just won't start when it cranks. Even if I hit the gas a bit

Jreed2008

iTrader: (5)

Starting issues resolved, had to take it to the dealer and let them rape me but she is back up and running 700bucks later!!!!!! All 3 sensors were replaced again it didn't work the first time because I used non OEM sensors.....Damn u Nissan

03blackmax

JReed- man I'm having the EXACT issue on the same car. Already replaced the 2 camshaft position sensors with parts from Advance Auto. Can't decide whether to replace the crankshaft sensor myself or take it to the dealer like you ended up doing. THIS SUCKS!

lilmanvc

man my car did this to me this weekend i was so pissed off took it to a gas station to be looked at it was such a headache to be honest but i got both the camshaft sensors replaced and throttle body assembly and now i just have to get the idle relearned but i am not sure i should for some reason

shrader22

i have starting issues with my car also....except....when i go to crank it about 90% of the time it takes 5 to 10 seconds before it actually fires up. after that it acts like its missing for about 5 seconds then it idles great and runs great. ive replaced all the spark plugs and ignition coils and that didnt help although i did see a increase in power.
so i took it to autozone and got the codes checked. one was for the oxygen sensor bank 2...didnt say which one was though.
fuel vapor canister....bought a gas cap...waiting to see if that fixed that problem...
and it had another code but i dont remember what it was so im gonna wait till the check engine light comes back to to see what it was.....
but the car always starts....and runs great after the whole missing for around 5 seconds after starting
just message me or let me know something for me to check
thank you

ndscrub212

iTrader: (4)

I am having similar problems. I have a 02 6-speed that I just did a engine swap on and the p0335 came on. The car took about 10-15sec to start up but it finally would. I checked all the wires, they were fine so I replaced the crankshaft position sensor and the car started up fine for the first week, then I started having trouble starting again so I replaced the starter. The car starts up great now but the light is still on. I also have a IAT light on and bad hesitation. I am getting the IAT problem taken care of but my question is, do I have to have the ECU reprogramed when replacing the CPS? I did read that I should double check the sensor to see if stuff might have gotten in when I first replaced it, I will check that out tomorrow and let you know what I have found.

ndscrub212

iTrader: (4)

Anyone have any suggestions???

jtm02011

iTrader: (16)

Did you sand down the transmission to engine mating surface...if not, I'd check out Tavarish' write up on NYC maximas about running a ground wire from your battery to your trans.

ndscrub212

iTrader: (4)

No, I didn't sand it down. When I put everything back together it looked fine. Can you post the link that you were talking about so I can read that thread.
thanks

David Fitzpatrick

It's very possible that is the issue I think tho it would be one or the other not both, however it is possible...I'd try cam first easier to get to

J P D

10 years later, he's probably junked it.