Replacing a 98 Maxima Starter

Seem slike the starter has gone bad on the 1998 maxima. Is this a hard
job? Or is this something I can do myself. Rather, is it something that
will not require dropping the engine/transmission etc. I can fix most
anything on a car, just want to know how difficult it is before I go
crawling under the car...



Thanks!


dnoyeB

P.S. I determined it was the starter because it was dragging and sluring
during start and sometimes it wont even start, yet the lights do not dim.

dnoyeB wrote:

Seem slike the starter has gone bad on the 1998 maxima. Is this a hard
job? Or is this something I can do myself. Rather, is it something that
will not require dropping the engine/transmission etc. I can fix most
anything on a car, just want to know how difficult it is before I go
crawling under the car...



Thanks!


dnoyeB

P.S. I determined it was the starter because it was dragging and sluring
during start and sometimes it wont even start, yet the lights do not dim.

Starter is easy - in the Max you tackle it from above. Just remove the
air intake piping and it's right there in front of you. One of the
starter bolts tends to be really really tight - so keep a long breaker
bar handy, and as NissTech suggests, make sure you've eaten your
Wheaties!

I would recommend an OEM replacement.... you can buy one for $180 and
it will last you a heck of a lot longer than the local parts store
remans... yes there will be a lifetime warranty with the local ones,
but do you really want to do the job over and over?

Cheers,
Nirav

njmodi wrote:

dnoyeB wrote:

Seem slike the starter has gone bad on the 1998 maxima. Is this a hard
job? Or is this something I can do myself. Rather, is it something that
will not require dropping the engine/transmission etc. I can fix most
anything on a car, just want to know how difficult it is before I go
crawling under the car...



Thanks!


dnoyeB

P.S. I determined it was the starter because it was dragging and sluring
during start and sometimes it wont even start, yet the lights do not dim.


Starter is easy - in the Max you tackle it from above. Just remove the
air intake piping and it's right there in front of you. One of the
starter bolts tends to be really really tight - so keep a long breaker
bar handy, and as NissTech suggests, make sure you've eaten your
Wheaties!

I would recommend an OEM replacement.... you can buy one for $180 and
it will last you a heck of a lot longer than the local parts store
remans... yes there will be a lifetime warranty with the local ones,
but do you really want to do the job over and over?

Cheers,
Nirav

Or, use these excellent instructions and pics from motorvate to

re-grease your starter. Maybe that's all it needs;

http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/516

CD

On Thu, 02 Nov 2006 07:04:28 -0800, njmodi wrote:

dnoyeB wrote:
Seem slike the starter has gone bad on the 1998 maxima. Is this a hard
job? Or is this something I can do myself. Rather, is it something that
will not require dropping the engine/transmission etc. I can fix most
anything on a car, just want to know how difficult it is before I go
crawling under the car...



Thanks!


dnoyeB

P.S. I determined it was the starter because it was dragging and sluring
during start and sometimes it wont even start, yet the lights do not dim.

Starter is easy - in the Max you tackle it from above. Just remove the
air intake piping and it's right there in front of you. One of the
starter bolts tends to be really really tight - so keep a long breaker
bar handy, and as NissTech suggests, make sure you've eaten your
Wheaties!

I would recommend an OEM replacement.... you can buy one for $180 and
it will last you a heck of a lot longer than the local parts store
remans... yes there will be a lifetime warranty with the local ones,
but do you really want to do the job over and over?

Cheers,
Nirav

Great, I will do this. Thanks!



dnoyeB

On Thu, 02 Nov 2006 10:25:32 -0500, Codifus wrote:

njmodi wrote:
dnoyeB wrote:

Seem slike the starter has gone bad on the 1998 maxima. Is this a hard
job? Or is this something I can do myself. Rather, is it something that
will not require dropping the engine/transmission etc. I can fix most
anything on a car, just want to know how difficult it is before I go
crawling under the car...



Thanks!


dnoyeB

P.S. I determined it was the starter because it was dragging and sluring
during start and sometimes it wont even start, yet the lights do not dim.


Starter is easy - in the Max you tackle it from above. Just remove the
air intake piping and it's right there in front of you. One of the
starter bolts tends to be really really tight - so keep a long breaker
bar handy, and as NissTech suggests, make sure you've eaten your
Wheaties!

I would recommend an OEM replacement.... you can buy one for $180 and
it will last you a heck of a lot longer than the local parts store
remans... yes there will be a lifetime warranty with the local ones,
but do you really want to do the job over and over?

Cheers,
Nirav

Or, use these excellent instructions and pics from motorvate to
re-grease your starter. Maybe that's all it needs;

http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/516

CD

Thanks for that. It shows clearly where the start is, so I should be able
to get to it. I doubt re-greasing it will help. Grease is used to keep
it from wearing out. So if its broken because of lack of grease, then the
teeth will be ground down, etc. It does not sound that way at all.

On Thu, 2 Nov 2006 15:04:28 UTC, "njmodi" <njmodi2 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:

I would recommend an OEM replacement.... you can buy one for $180 and
it will last you a heck of a lot longer than the local parts store
remans... yes there will be a lifetime warranty with the local ones,
but do you really want to do the job over and over?

Follow Nirav's suggestions to access it.

And, if you have the skill to repair it, may I suggest to repair it.
It
will be good for your checkbook and for the environment.

About two months ago, I did it on my 1995 Maxima. Two of the four
copper brushes were worn and the armature commutator was a bit rough.
I had the two worn brushes changed and the commutator polished at an
auto electric shop: 15$ Canadian instead of 439$ for a Nissan rebuilt!
The choice is yours...
--
Jean Castonguay
�lectrocommande Pascal

Jean Castonguay wrote:

On Thu, 2 Nov 2006 15:04:28 UTC, "njmodi" <njmodi2 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:

I would recommend an OEM replacement.... you can buy one for $180 and
it will last you a heck of a lot longer than the local parts store
remans... yes there will be a lifetime warranty with the local ones,
but do you really want to do the job over and over?

Follow Nirav's suggestions to access it.

And, if you have the skill to repair it, may I suggest to repair it.
It
will be good for your checkbook and for the environment.

About two months ago, I did it on my 1995 Maxima. Two of the four
copper brushes were worn and the armature commutator was a bit rough.
I had the two worn brushes changed and the commutator polished at an
auto electric shop: 15$ Canadian instead of 439$ for a Nissan rebuilt!
The choice is yours...
--
Jean Castonguay
�lectrocommande Pascal

Jean - as an FYI - they updated the starter design in 1997 sometime to
use a different reducation gear - one with more teeth to enable faster
cranking of the engine. When I replaced the original starter in my 96
- I used the updated starter and without a doubt, my starts were
quicker and more consistent.

Since I had to return my old starter as a core, and not being able to
afford downtime of the Max, I didn't even bother dismantling the old
one to see what had gone wrong - basically symptoms were occasional no
cranking, slow cranking, loopy cranking - it may have been a simple as
replacing the brushes - but with severe winters and a family, I just
didn't want to risk being left stranded with my "whack the starter with
a stick" trick failing on me!

Chers,
Nirav