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95 Nissan Altima "Crank, No Start"
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eip1
New User
Dec 30, 2010, 9:34 PM
Post #1 of 2
(4725 views)
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95 Nissan Altima "Crank, No Start"
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My 1995 Nissan Altima is sitting outside my house, and I am unable to start it. I think this qualifies as a "crank, no start" situation.
Here is an audio recording that I made half an hour ago of myself trying to start the car (twice in a row) which will give you an idea of exactly what is going on:
http://soundcloud.com/ow924d/car-noise-1
I am not sure if that sound is considered "cranking" (I think it is), but that is what I am going to refer to it as for the rest of this post either way.
I did read the "IF YOUR STARTER CRANKS THE ENGINE BUT IT WILL NOT START" thread, but unfortunately the diagnostic stuff is above my knowledge/skill level, so I'm hoping if I give a little background info here someone can help me narrow this down based on that.
This problem first manifested itself maybe 2 weeks ago. I drove the car to my mom's house, and when I went to leave (I forget how long I was there that day), it wouldn't start. I have left my lights on numerous times in the past, so I know what it is like having low juice, but that did not seem to be the issue (low battery juice). I hadn't left anything on either. It was basically the same situation that I am having now (see my audio recording), except that sometimes after doing that for a few seconds it would kind of start rumbling a little like it wanted to start, but would never fully start.
My brother and I tried jumping it, and the situation was basically still the same. In other words, jumping it didn't seem have much of an effect, which makes sense to me since it didn't seem like the battery was low to begin with.
Eventually (with it still hooked up with jumper cables) the car did barely start -- the "cranking" turned into some rumbling and the car slowly "caught" and began running -- and I was able to drive it home.
After that the car worked for at least a few days, maybe a week. However, it did seem like it would sometimes "crank" a bit longer than usual before starting.
Then the other day I went outside and the car would not start. Exact same problem I am having now. Car would "crank", but would not start (see my audio recording). No rumbling like the first time around. Battery once again did not seem to be low on juice. I called AAA, and they sent someone out. He thoroughly cleaned corrosion/acid off the battery and made sure the connections were good. No dice. He tried jumping it, no dice. So it did not seem like a battery issue. He tried a few other things including banging on something on the underside of the car while I tried to start it, nothing. So he called for a tow truck to come out, and the tow truck driver (second AAA person) was there about 15 minutes later. The tow truck driver/second AAA guy asked me a few questions and I gave him a quick overview of what was going on and what the first person had tried, and he too tried banging on the underside while I tried starting it, with no success. He concluded that it was probably something with the fuel system. You could smell fuel when we tried to start it.
So, I got it towed, but my mechanic was closed. Before I had a chance to call him in the morning, he had already for some reason concluded that the battery needed to be replaced and done so. He said it started right up after that. I was a bit skeptical that this had actually fixed the problem given what I've already explained here (and also the fact that he has misdiagnosed problems before), but he seemed convinced, and it did start right up, and I needed a vehicle, so I left with the car.
That was Sunday. The car worked fine Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Then today I went out and once again I have the same problem I had before I took it to him. Again, see my audio recording, which I just made about half an hour ago. Battery juice does not seem low at all. My friend and I tried jumping it anyway, nothing. If I hold the key in long enough and let it crank I smell fuel.
Any ideas?
Final Note: I am not sure if this is relevant, but I have had the "check engine" light on in my car for a while now. I had my mechanic diagnose this before, and he said it was because of some part that he said was not particularly essential. He said it would be fairly expensive (maybe $200?) to replace, but that I didn't necessarily need to do so. He said that by not replacing it I just may get slightly more fuel efficiency and slightly less power, or vice versa. So, I have opted not to replace it. (I know this is probably not a great idea simply because then if something ELSE goes wrong I won't have the check engine light to alert me since it's always on.)
I'm not sure if he tried re-diagnosing it the other day when it was in his shop, but my guess is that he did, because (1) why wouldn't he? (2) the check engine light was off for a while when I first got it back, making me think he probably reset it. It came back on after a while.
(This post was edited by eip1 on Dec 31, 2010, 12:04 PM)
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 30, 2010, 11:51 PM
Post #2 of 2
(4706 views)
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Re: 95 Nissan Altima "Crank, No Start"
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IMO that's a normal cranking sound and you have to chase down lack of fuel or spark,
T
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