HELP! Trey's car won't start! Think it's the starter
 

OK, I did a search and, while I love this site dearly, the search was less than helpful for this one. :(

Trey got up this morning to go to work and the car wouldn't start. We hooked it up to my car and still couldn't get it to turn over or anything.

When we turn the key we get a single click and that is it - no other sound AT ALL. No fuel pump sound or even the hint of it turning over.

My assumption is that the starter is toast BUT the one thread I found that seemed to be addressing a similar situation mentioned the starter solenoid as the more likely problem than the starter itself.

The car is JUST out of warranty with like 62K miles on it :mad: so I'm not taking it to the dealer unless I have to. Any suggestions on how to determine the problem without buying a bunch of useless parts? If we have to replace the starter, is it the same part for the Z and the G? I'm hoping so because there are about 5 Nissan dealerships around town but only 1 Infiniti dealership :(

He has gone to work and I am here to sort this out and fix it if possible. Any help is much appreciated :D

I've had a couple of instances where a completely dead battery would not even allow the car to jump start. You may try swapping batteries when he gets home.

When the starter was failing on my old 944, I'd just squeeze under the car and bang it with a wrench. This would shake it just enough to rotate the brushes and it would crank successfully.

Sound like the battery drop dead
try bigger,better jump cable and give it little time before you start.
my car once like that and i try to jump start using my wife car...no luck
so i called infiniti to sent a tow truck in to haul it to dealer.the guy came hook up a bigass jump cable to his truck and bam...

if it's not the battery (and provided he checked all fuses!), it may well be the starter, but unless he has remote start, i don't see how starter could have fried... it could also be the solenoid, but then you'd hear the starter spin. check the fuses and get her towed to the dealer... when my unattended remote start fried my starter (there was some supposed pre-existing damage to the starter from sitting too close to crawford headers) it cost me $900 to get a new one.

I wouldn't play with it my self, if its not a dead battery take to a dealer or a local vq/nissan specialist.

I'm not taking it to the dealer unless I have NO other option. I'm not paying them 3 times as much as it should cost to fix it. We have plenty of people who can help with fixing it and we have the factory service manual. Trey is going to see about the battery and the solenoid/relays this afternoon. Hopefully, it is one of those instead of the starter. A rebuilt starter is about $290 and takes 2 days to get :mad: - not exactly a thrilling thought really.

Oh in that case if you got a group of people that are ready and know what to do, goodies for you!! Good luck and update us when you find out what the issue was :)

Yeah, getting the work done isn't the issue. I just want to know if anyone knows about the parts and if there is way to check the relays without just swapping them out. I have figured out how to check the solenoid without swapping it out but that method won't work for the relays. :(

We have a guy about 2 miles from us that has a shop for Z's and another couple of guys who are general mechanics. The good thing is that if we can get enough people to help push it, then we can start it with the clutch and see if that charges the battery back up. :D I'll be sure to video that one though since our driveway and street are basically flat LOL

Well first off... i'm assuming that when u turn the key into the on position that the lights go up, you hear teh dingy dingy that you've got the key in the ignition with teh door open.. so the battery isn't the problem. starter solenoids have a problem with failing when they get extremely hot. as far as i know G's don't have that much problems with starters.

now how i check to see the starter is working(i really DONT recommend this and i'm NOT responsible if you set ur car on fire.... but when all you've got is common garage tools this is the only way i can think of doing it)
use a screwdriver or wrench, anything metal to connect the lead wire to the other stud... problem is, when you touch the two together it will spark and actually start welding the wrench/screwdriver.... so just tap it real quickly. but when it sparks/completes the circuit the starter should turn over.... like i said NOT recommended especially when your on under your car thats up a foot or two by a jack stand and your face is right in front of the starter... but it works.

I've done this before, as i've worked 2 years as a R&R mechanic at a transmission specialist shop. We actually have another tool especially used for doing this that doesn't cause sparks and such, but if you don't have the tool this is the only way i can think of atm.

but now after reading the rest of the replys(lol oops), if you can push start it the fuel injection system isn't the problem... and neither is your battery. i'd say replace not only the solenoid but the starter completely.

My starter went out last year, the dealership had one in stock so that tells you something about that part. RWD FX same starter as most G35s.

I would advise against rebuilt... It's great to have the lifetime warranty that usually comes with them - but trust me, you will be doing the install over and over (because the rebuilds never last)... I've done it in the past with a couple of my cars and my GF car - you end up spending more time installing starters than the savings is worth.

Get a new one from Nissan (even if you install yourself) - the extra $ is worth it!

as another previously mentioned - if the battery is completely dead (to the point it won’t start your car) you won’t have any lights, radio etc... I presume this was already checked... you can always remove the starter and have it checked at local auto parts place (out here: Pep Boys, Kragen, AutoZone)...

Where has Trey been anyway?... Does he use a different user name now?...

Its the starter as it sounds like it has a bad spot on the armature.When this happens you cannot jump start it or do anything to make it turn over.

OK, there was no dinging from the door but I didn't even think about that until I read it here but no, it didn't do that this morning. Trey did turn on the radio and it worked and the clock was still running, etc.

We took the battery out and took it to the auto parts place and they checked it and said it was DEAD. We bought a new battery and put it in and thus far it is fine. I didn't have that option this morning because he had to get to work and I had no means of transport since he took my car. Apparently it was just too dead for it to jump off even :(.

This doesn't rule out any other problems that could have caused a dead battery but at the moment we are good to go. :)

No, just working too much. When he is home, he is either playing games with Lee or reading or watching his movies.

To give an idea - they are in the final testing for their current project and he found out today that someone overwrote a bunch of their code with bad code and now he has to fix it all :( :7: There are times when I wish he wasn't as good at his job as he is.