94 Nissan Pickup Won't Start

[honestabe49]

Originally Posted by MMCCMM

I actually found a bad starter ground wire. Cleaning the contacts and reattaching it seems to have solved my problem.

Hello MMCCMM On the ground wire was it the one on the bottom attached to the bottom starter bolt , Mine has a Braided Grnd wire that goes from the starter bolt to the frame it plugs in at a terminal on the frame it appears either weathered or half the plastic either burn't or dry rotted maybe replace that ground or is there a more significant grounds for the starter?
Where is this ccs relay is it the two blue plastic plug in boxes on the passenger wheelwell near the battery and if so can those two one bigger than the other be ByPassed? what I always called the starter relay. I put a new battery and all I hear is the relay clicking on the wheel well near the battery. The truck is my only transportation and I live way out in the country. Any Help would be appreciated.
Greg

[Raider Mike]

OK, I've read most of the treads here, I have a 93 D21 Pickup V6SE, well maintained and clean. Most of these intermittent starting problems were solved with the Clutch switch fix. What about the guys/ gals with Automatic Transmissions? I turn the key and no clicks ( the only click I hear is when the ABS light goes out) I, too, have new battery and starter. I see (two) ignition relays near the fuse box, Which one should I replace? Both? Where is the "starter" relay? I can't seem to find it anywhere and I have the Chiltons book. As everyone above, any help would be appreciated.

[wavconqueso]

My 94 Hardbody is now starting to act up like the previous posts and as my girlfriend's 93 Pathfinder did. She ended up getting rid of it, having spent a lot of money on starters, battery, relays and it still wasn't fixed. I'm seriously considering it myself because there seems to be no rock solid solution that I've found over 4 years. I replaced my clutch relay and that seemed to work for a long while. Now it's happening again. There are as many reasons and fixes for the problem as posts. The bottom line; I'm too old to put up with this and can't afford to get stuck. I bought this because Japanese is supposedly the most reliable. Now it's not and it's apparently one of those major and pervasive flaws that makes an otherwise good vehicle a dud. At least this Japanese make. Toyota here I come.

[scrockern8r]

1992 D21 w/5spd. Had intermittent start issue, usually when going to work in the morning end up driving the wife's "tank" to work. When I come home in the afternoon it usually starts right up. I happened to catch a break and I had the key held in the start position and banged the steering wheel with the heel of my other hand. Started right up. Turned the key a billion more times to get a no start and did it again. Took the cover off the column and found the electrical portion of the ignition switch has an occasional open circuit. I still can't get a ready repeatable start failure but am sure the switch is the core issue.

[wilkolima]

Two days ago my ignition died (Nissan Mistral 1996). Prior to this, I had been starting to feel that I had a bad connection somewhere in the steering column key switch itself. On dying, the starter turned, became slower and stopped, as if electric power had slumped and run out. Since then, I get only a click from a black box above the front passenger wheel when I turn the key. However, headlights, dome lights, dash and radio all seem to work, with significant dimming on attempted ignition.

When I looked at my battery, the positive battery clamp was badly corroded (green/white powder collected around it). Suspecting heavy discharge (the vehicle had recently been unused for three weeks, with two weeks of daily ten-minute dashes to work thereafter), I bought a charger, recharged the battery overnight, and tried ignition again - nothing. I have checked the battery for voltage and sufficient amperage: all appears OK. The CCS - which, having read through this forum, I think is what is under the black box attached to the passenger fender - clicks when I turn the key, so I am assuming that this works and does not need by-passing or replacement.

A lot of people seem to be going round in circles with this same ignition problem. Is it the infamous CCS, battery, starter, solenoid, key ignition, or what? I have no idea where I should start - but I'm sure not going to start hitting unfamiliar engine parts with a hammer, or spending greenbacks I cannot afford when there might be one simple idea to try. I have come across this problem and solution: http://www.samscars.com/mage9.html . Given the corrosion on my battery lead, I am certainly going to investigate further here first. It being Sunday, in Lima (Peru), when it's the mother-in-law's birthday AND I also have a rugby club BBQ to attend, and with mechanics galore champing at the bit to needlessly replace solenoids, etc., a hunch tells me this might be where my problem lies...

Has anyone found simple corrosion to be at the root of this ignition problem?

[B-Sel]

!!!!SOLVED!!!!

Nissan intermittent start problem solved.

It is a ground strap, if your Nissan won't start, it is because your truck for whatever reason does not have a ground strap between the engine and body. It has a battery ground, a main ground, but most trucks from the factory shoul've come with a strap between the intake plenum and the firewall, and another one from the transmission to the frame.
Up until this point, your truck has probably been grounding itself through the motor mounts or something, which is why it doesn't always work.

Go to the autoparts store, buy a 4 dollar ground strap (14" would be plenty) and attach one side to an intake manifold screw, and the other one to the firewall, if you still have a problem, add another one somewhere else between the engine and the body or frame.

[ohmmoto]

Right on, with the ground wire problem. shorted the ccs [ couldn't get it off to replace] ; plus it helps to have the solid body ground from the strap [mentioned above; way cool] to the rear of the starter on transmission. mine are rotted inside and do not work electrically. relays can be checked with a couple wires and a volt/ohm multimeter.

while you are in there, check the ground for the alternator [to the block] if you can you can save yourself a misdiagnose for an alternator failure. when you have these electrical problems they spread throughout the system through *dirty electricity.

great suggestion about taking the tire off. mine is lifted so it did not matter.
my way for the starter top bolt is to use a boxwrench [yes, the tom and jerry kind] for the top bolt 14mm/closed end. coolant lines are kind-of in the way.

i undo the top bolt first taking it off and the reverse installing.

took the starter off and bench tested it on the battery, be careful!
I should have done this when the starter was on the car but I could not even see the wires I was dealing with and their condition. very strong cranking amp electrical hazard! the solenoid is bad, and the motor is pretty bad as well.

thanks everyone for this! i will update.

for search :

88 4cy 2.4L z24 tbi
88 nissan d21 truck king cab [XE] 2door

[ohmmoto]

link with great info about the electrical circuit and starter relay.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...9/ai_n9452048/

[riloh]

hey i had same problem- 1st started with a new starter. Would have bet money on it. After 3hrs. Figthing the starter out and new one in, i jump in press down the clutch. Then with a big grin on my face, i turned the key and nothing.

How could i have been wrong? Messed around checked some other things still nothing. Then i swollowed some pride and found my way to this sight. After reading all the post on this page. I concluded ignition problem.

very easy fix. i took the steering coloum cover off. Then i tightened all screws on the ignition switch. Pushed in all wire connectors to make sure they were all snug. I think the one on the bottom of ignition was loose. Turned the key and praise the lord. It started right up. Still does everytime. Hope this helps alot of frustrated folks. Thanks for the posts.

[Milam]

Hi, I have a 95 Nissan pickup I bought recently. My Problem is it won't start at all. They only way I can drive it if I give it a push start. So far I have replaced the starter that still did not work then I replaced the ignition and that was not it either. So then I tried checking all the grounds and the wires and relays and I still am stumped oh yah I also wired the nuetral saftey switch together and that did not seem to be the problem either anyone have any other Ideas? THanks

[Milam]

Hi, I have a 95 Nissan pickup I bought recently. My Problem is it won't start at all. They only way I can drive it if I give it a push start. So far I have replaced the starter that still did not work then I replaced the ignition and that was not it either. So then I tried checking all the grounds and the wires and relays and I still am stumped oh yah I also wired the nuetral saftey switch together and that did not seem to be the problem either anyone have any other Ideas? THanks

[wildstone]

It was fascinating to read this thread - so many different solutions/problems all lumped together as "Won't start." Well, here's my story. '90 pickup I've had for three years with no problems, suddenly won't start. I'd recently had a small battery problem so immediately went there - got a little wiggle on the cables, played with them and then got it to start. Half hour later again no start, battery appears strong, no sound at all from the starter. Tapping makes no change, nor a jump so we push start it and I get home. From my fairly limited experience, I figure it must be the starter - and even though I can see what a monstrous job it was going to be to pull it, I decide to pull it. Fortunately, I did have the sense to take it in for a free bench test. The starter was fine, and, of course, the guy who did the bench test would be happy to start running multiple guesses on my truck at his shop rate...

So I reinstalled the starter (grr I say to you, Nissan) and then read the above forum as part of my research on my next step. Getting ready to start bypassing relays and such fun things I started first with the clutch pedal. Lo and behold, up at the top of the pedal, where the pedal meets the starter safety switch there is a hole in the pedal's arm that allows the pedal to go fully back without activating the switch. At first I am totally baffled, then I have a realization and searching the debris of the floorboard comes up with a broken blue plastic piece, kind of a rubber grommet that used to fit in the hole and push on the switch and make the car go vrrmmm.

Thought I'd pass it on, fwiw,

wildstone

[the kuz]

1990 pickup with 180K miles, would not crank/start. After reading this thread, checked the clutch lever where it engages the safety switch and sure enough the plastic button was missing so there was nothing to press in the rod on the switch (found it broken on the floor). A small round head screw/nut through the hole in the clutch arm and works like new. Thanks for the posts - you saved me a lot of work pulling the starter and/or chasing down the electrical circuits.

Best Regards, Bob K

[devonian]

OK - Having the same problem with my 95 XE reg. cab 2WD. I have owned it from new. Currently around 135,000 miles and never had any real problems. It had been slow cranking for about a year or so, and this gets worse when hot but it has always started. However, a couple of days ago, it refused to start altogether. When I turned the key, I could hear the load shedding relay clicking off and another click from the starter relay and/or solenoid but no starting. After about 100 clicks, it finally started. Did the same thing again a few hours later. Since then it has started every time but the sluggish cranking seems to have gotten worse. I have checked the clutch interlock and that seems ok (I get no click at all without the clutch depressed). The battery seems to be fine so I am thinking starter solenoid and some other issue with the starter leading to slow cranking.

I can get a rebuilt starter fairly cheaply and plan to install myself (I do all my own mechanical work.) Have seen one or two people state that it's pretty easy if you go in from the wheel well, pulling back/off the fiber-board wheel well liner but have a few other questions:
1. What other problems can I expect to encounter getting to the starter (someone indicated the oil filter had to come off for example)?
2. How easy is it to get the wheel well liner to stay back in place when replaced? Will I need to buy new clips for example?
3. Is there (as some have reported) an extra ground cable connected directly to the starter?

Thanks!

[oldwisky]

new here..have had the same prob.with my 94 xe not wanting to start sometime and traced it to the aftermarket anti-theft switch.unwired it and starts fine now.