I was on my way to the gym and started my car.I have a 2004 G35 coupe 6mt. The car started right up but i noticed the e-brake warning light was flickering without the brake applied. Me being OCD about the warning lights I turned the car off after maybe 10 seconds of it being on and attempted to start it. This time I got only one click and no start. Using a no start no crank flow chart I checked the battery. It was good. Just bought the optima a month ago. I checked fuses. Could not find any blown ones. All the lights on the dash and everything else work fine. I figured I had narrowed down the problem to a bad started. I jacked the car up and removed it,took it to oreileys to have it tested and they said it was bad.Installed the new one and still no luck. Took it off and put it back on several times. Finally the car started twice and I took the car of the jackstands. Once I got the car down however the same thing. No start and one click. Got a different starter and had it checked 3 times before leaving. Installed it and still nothing. When i disconnect the ignition signal cable and stick a test light on it i get the light on when i turn the key. I am lost as to were to go from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

A bit beyond my abilities but I'll offer a couple ideas... Your new starter included a new solenoid, right?
Grab "sc.pdf" from here:
http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/G35/Coupe/2004/
(big thanks to nicoclub)
This is the service manual which shows the start and charging circuits for your car. Main things to check are GIANT fusible link which connects directly to the starter (always hot, switched by the solenoid). Clutch switch. Then you can look into the IPDM, several fuses, starter relay, etc...

 

Awesome. If nothing else at least i got a pretty good manual for any future problems. I shall be going through some tests and will post updates tomorrow. Thanks.

 

Try doing a voltage drop test on the positive cable of the battery to the starter. Possible corrosion on the cable.

 

Thanks for the help guys. It seems I made a very rookie mistake. I had checked the voltage on the battery with the 1st new starter I had acquired and did a cable test and everything was fine. Took that back and it tested to be a bad refurb starter. The second one i received was tested 3 times before we left. It checked out. With the new install I did not take into account the multiple attempts at starting the car with no avail so when I was going to check the cable again today I checked with voltage on the battery and it was low. I hooked up a jump machine to it and the car started up just fine. I let it run, took it for a short drive and turned it off and started right back up. So for now I am saying problem solved. Thanks for the inputs and for the manual.

 

Excellent. Thanks for posting the results. It's not easy when dealing with several factors at once so it's good you figured it out. Which Optima did you get? I had an issue with a red top that fully discharged while parked up for a month and it couldn't be revived... Switched to an Odyssey PC1400 and got a trickle charger for when the car is hibernating.