Starting issues

[kilroy2215]

Hello. Im new here so I just want to say hello to everyone who loves their pathfinder. Ive owned a 94 pathfinder for about five or six years now. Ever since Ive owned this vehicle, Ive had issues with it starting. When you would go to start it. You would turn the key and nothing would happen. You can hear a click at the starter it seemed. After fooling with the key for awhile it would usually start. I assumed it was an issue with the starter solenoid or a loose connection from my starter cable. Eventually my starter did fail and I had my first experience with changing out the starter. That was a real life experience.

 

Got the starter changed out and it seemed for awhile I had fixed my problem. However after awhile my vehicle started having starter issues again where you would turn the key and just a click. And again, after a few attempts it would start. I learned to live with this problem. Here recently, its been about a year since Ive changed the starter, Ive been having issues with the starter dragging badly. Went to the auto parts store and the person assumed my starter had started failing because it had been getting soaked from a leaky high pressure power steering hose. So I replaced the hose and the starter. They also said my battery was bad so I replaced it as well. After replacing all of these things about a week later, I was still having the problem with the no crank starter crank and click situation. Also my starter was acting as if it was dragging.

 

So I go back to the parts store and the dude told me he thought that maybe i had a bad starter even though it was only a week old. I understand, it happens. I change another starter. I notice in the starter box a paper stating that when you change the starter that you need to change the starter relay and the inhibitor relay if it has one. No one could tell me where the inhibitor relay was at and the starter relay they said was for my model wasnt even on my vehicle. The starter relay had two, two pin plugs that i could not find anywhere on my vehicles engine compartment. I finally found out where my inhibitor relay was and ordered it and replaced it. Didnt fix my problem. Note. I usually deal with Oreillyes.

 

I checked with Advance auto parts and Autozone. Those two places didnt even list the inhibitor relay as a part for my vehicle and told me I would have to order it from the dealership. At different times I had checked with Oreilleys about starter relays and inhibitor relays, when they would look up the parts it would show no parts listed for my model. All three parts houses were clueless. I also checked with the local Nissan dealership. Again they told me they had no clue. So after installing the inhibitor relay the other night and it not doing nothing but clicking. I got out the meter, and my battery was only reading 11 volts. I put the jumper cables on it and it started right up. Drove the vehicle the whold week with no issues. Started just fine. So today i had stopped somewhere for something and went to leave and bam. Same thing. Turn the key and no crank and just click. Had my wife come and I put the jumper cables on and it started right up. So here is the questions I need answered.

My vehicle is a 01/94 production model and A/T

1. Does my vehicle have a starter relay.The one the parts house says i have, I cannot find anywhere on or in my vehicle. All of my relays are the small standard looking relays with a single plug. The starter relay they say i need is two plugs with two pins in each plug. Ive seen some pictures online showing this relay on the passenger side firewall but nothing in mine. My inhibitor plug was on the drivers side firewall attached to an L bracket with a blue relay which I believe is the park neutral relay.

2. With the issue with the low voltage, is it possible or likely it may have something to do with my alternator. When I check my battery while the engine is running it says it is at 13 volts. Is it possible the alternator is coming and going?

3. Ive read online in some blogs that the inhibitor relay is considered to be starter relay. Is this true. None of the parts houses seem to have a clue about this.

[adamzan]

Only the manual ones have a relay. Check your ignition switch. Its common for it to be intermittent, as it passes full current to the solenoid on the automatic.

[SpecialWarr]

Your 13v reading was with a digital multi-meter? And at the two posts _on_ the battery, not on the clamp, right? If both of those are right then I would suspect that the alternator's voltage regulator is on it's way out. Take a look for the '94 Maxima alternator or the one for a Nissan Quest / Mercury Villager, they tend to be considerably less expensive than the ones of the Pathfinder.

 

Your battery shouldn't ever read anything below 12.2v IF everything is working as it is supposed to but WORD TO THE WISE: get a second multi-meter to make sure the the first meter is reading correctly. I had to learn that one the hard way and spent $$$$$$ on a new alt, a new battery, and a new starter. A $30 mechanical multi-meter is waaaay cheaper than a $150 alternator.

[kilroy2215]

Hey all. Thanks for the info so far. Adamzan, I did replace the ignition switch. Im pretty sure it was the original switch. The connector at the end where all the wires are soldered on to it was fitting loose in its aluminum housing. So it was a fairly cheap fix. This wasnt the problem but it did need to be replaced as the contacts did show a lot of wear. All these years Ive had this vehicle, I always thought when it didnt want to start right up. You know the fiddling with the key until it started, was an issue with my starter. I never once thought, hey, lets check the voltage. I would just start beating on my starter. But in the last few weeks since Ive been replacing everything related to the ignition and starter. I think its voltage related. Im going to change out my alternator and see what happens. Ive had someone in the past check my charging system and they tried to tell me that my alternator was not putting out enough voltage to keep my battery charged up properly. Hopefully this will fix my issue.

 

Okay so here is a question maybe someone here can help me with. Okay so my model doesnt have a starter relay. Can someone tell me what the inhibitor relay over on the drivers side firewall is for. Or what it relates too. One person at the parts house was trying to tell me it had something to do with climate control. I know when its disconnected, the vehicle does anything when you try to start it. Its a grey relay. There is a blue relay next to it that I think has something to do with the park/neutral switch.

[Slartibartfast]

The inhibitor relay is there to prevent you from starting the truck when it's in gear. If the shifter's not in park or neutral, the relay disengages and breaks the circuit between the key switch and the starter solenoid. Think of it like two switches wired in series. Battery + --- ignition switch ---- inhibitor ---- starter solenoid. That's why it doesn't crank when you unplug the inhibitor. A proper starter relay would connect battery + directly to the solenoid when switched by the ignition switch, providing a shorter path for the current and also reducing the load on the ignition switch.

 

The EL section of the factory service manual has a diagram of the starting system, though it's a little tough to follow thanks to Nissan illustrating multiple models/options in the same diagram and also mislabeling the battery terminals. (Bottom diagram on EL-12.) EL also has a set of "location of electrical units" diagrams which are helpful for tracking down relays and sensors and whatnot. EL-76 shows the location of the interlock relay for auto or manual (different sides of the engine bay for some reason).

[kilroy2215]

Well. Ive started the process of swapping out my alternator. Thought it was going to be easy. Boy was I wrong. The two front bolts werent too bad but the bolt on the back side of the alternator was awful trying to get too it. I finally got the alternator out and got it set back up in there and got my electrical connections reattached. I ran out of light this evening so I'll try to finish it tomorrow. It seems like its going to be a pain getting it back up in there and getting the bolts aligned and started.

Slartibartfast Thank you for the link to the factory service manuals. That is a wealth of information. Got to get these downloaded and installed on my tablet and phone for easy access when I need to look something up.

 

[kilroy2215]

Hey all. I finally got the new alternator installed. Thought maybe I had solved my starting issues. I thought the alternator was not charging my battery to the degree it needed to be to complete the circuit for the starter to engage. After getting it back together last night. Started it up and everything seemed good. Got in it this morning and drove to work and ran a couple of errands after work and stopped at the grocery store. Went to start my truck up and bam. Same thing happened again. Turned the key and nothing but a click. You could hear the starter do its click and the other relays clicking. So at this point ive got a new starter, new battery, new alternator, new inhibitor relay, and a new ignition switch. And again after a few key trys, It started right up. Get home and restart with no issue. I just dont know where to go from here or what I should check. I know I need to get some voltage readings when it acts up again but it seems like whenever it does this, no one else is around to help me with checking these things. If anyone here has any suggestions for me, I would very much appreciate it.

[SpecialWarr]

Well since everything is attached, new and good-ish then the only thing left to check is every single grounding point in the engine bay. I sanded and cleaned every point where a cable was attached to the body so that should work for you. You have to remove every cable and sand and clean the ends, sand and clean the body down to the metal and reattach the cable ends where they come from. Then you can be sure that your electrical connections are not the problem. If that don't work: y'all need to take that to a electrical specialist!