Well, just yesterday I went to start the G20 to take it on a little cruise and then all of the sudden it won't start!!! When you turn the key, all the lights come on and the radio works fine. The battery is perfect. There is no clicking sound, it just acts dead. I have checked every fuse and electrical connection under the hood. I am very puzzled as to what it could be. I haven't had any problems starting it, and now it acts dead. Do I have some sort of starter problem? Any other suggestions? I really don't want to trailer it to the dealer.....

Any help would be appreciated

Thank You

this may be a really dumb question but are you getting fuel? is the gas tank full? Is the fuel pump working?

Yep, the fuel pump is good, the tank is 3/4 full.

Your starter is either 1) Dead or 2) the ground to the starter is bad, check those two and Ill be youll find your problems....especially if there is no "click" If not, it may be the switch in your column, but everything else works so that is probably not it...

If you can yank your starter, most auto parts places will check it for free...

can you push start it? it might still be your battery, mine did that where everything worked it just did not turn over. you should push start it and take it to autozone and they will check your battery, and your starter for free.

If you have a 5 speed, the clutch pedal has to be almost touching the floor in order for it to start. I guessing it's an automatic, though. In that case, buy a 5 speed: they're much more fun! :D

If you have a multimeter, you can check to see that the battery is giving you enough voltage.

The same thing happened to me last September.
What I did was take a piece of wood and tap the starter (car on jackstands, of course) and then the car would start. The brushes in the starter were going bad and a little tap on the starter housing would help the car to start again. You can either replace the brushes or buy a remanufactured starter.
I took my starter to my local Pep Boys and they tested my starter and it worked fine for them. So, if the starter has just started to go bad it may not be diagnosed at your local parts store.

After replacing my starter, I have not had any problems with starting the car.

Good luck. =)

The same thing happened to me about 5 months ago sometimes it would start and then sometimes it would play dead but all the lights and radio came on. It is the starter that needs to be replaced, trust me its nothing else when it comes down to it if you dont replace the starter, quick fixes will only prolong the inevitable. To check if its the starter or not take a hammer and hit it from underneath and that will release the coils inside of it. Then I bet your car will start. :nerd:

same shit happened to me too. my lights an radio an everything worked but it wouldn't start. At first it just happened randomly, maybe once every week or two it would die and i'd have to push start it. Then one day it just shit the bed. I got a new starter and haven't had a problem since. I'd say it's definatly your starter that's junk.

The give away as to whether it is you battery or starter is: When you crank the bad battery, everything else will die too. The load from the starter (20+ amps) drags the whole system down.

The starter failure: Everything else will work fine. Turn your highbeams on - if they work your battery is probably good. Starter failure has TWO major symtoms: 1) you turn the key and nothing. It's the starter silenoid (relay). 2) You just get a click. The starter it self.

Like someone else mentioned: Make sure you connections are clean and Tight. Corrosion and loose connections can produce similar failures.

This just happened to me today. It worked when I went into Dunkin Donuts but when I left nothing ... I needed starter shop anted $ 366 part and labor...

I bought used one from Andre Miko for $75 bucks and learned to do it myself....;)

Mine did that one day, the problem was remedied by opening the gas tank. When this happened, a rush of air came out (or in, I don't remember). Car started up just fine after that :)

Don't know how or why, but it worked, and haven't had that problem again :cool:

Originally posted by P10 WRC
can you push start it? it might still be your battery, mine did that where everything worked it just did not turn over. you should push start it and take it to autozone and they will check your battery, and your starter for free.

I never knew we could bump start our cars with the electric ignition? Maybe I was wrong


Originally posted by Money G20
If you have a 5 speed, the clutch pedal has to be almost touching the floor in order for it to start. I guessing it's an automatic, though. In that case, buy a 5 speed: they're much more fun! :D

You dont need to depress your clutch on a nissan 5spd to start em.



Originally posted by 95Gee20Tee
The give away as to whether it is you battery or starter is: When you crank the bad battery, everything else will die too. The load from the starter (20+ amps) drags the whole system down.

The starter failure: Everything else will work fine. Turn your highbeams on - if they work your battery is probably good. Starter failure has TWO major symtoms: 1) you turn the key and nothing. It's the starter silenoid (relay). 2) You just get a click. The starter it self.

Like someone else mentioned: Make sure you connections are clean and Tight. Corrosion and loose connections can produce similar failures.

I agreee with this suggestion

trust me you can push start any manual car ever made

nice to know, I let out my clutch all the way going downhill and it wouldnt turn over

with my p.o.s. 91 sentra gxe, if it does that, i pop it into neutral (if you have an automatic) and it starts EVERYTIME. i also rally with that car so thats probably why i have that problem. i just bought a new starter so its not the starter on that

I am going to change my starter today for the veary same thing. It took 2 weeks to find the problum. But It is the Starter for sure. I hade the charge SYS checked all fusea and relays. Even the kill switch for the alarm. I found that when this happen the last time I tapped the starter with a little hammer and the bitch started right up. It sounds like you have the very same thing have. But I am fixing it today. I have 135K an this the only thing that that has gone wrong. I LOVE MY G-20. So I say do the starter.

Good luck.:cool:

GTA_G20,

Actually on my new 2002 G20 you can not start the car if the clutch is not pushed all the way in. This may be a safety feature put on the P11 models.

I don't know what you guys are talking about with the clutch. On every manual transmission car you have to depress the clutch in order to start the car. It disengages the clutch disc so it won't turn the transmission. So if your car is starting with out depressing your clutch then you likely have a bad clutch or a tranny problem.

Brit,

Actually no you do not have to push in the clutch to start a manual transmission car. All you have to do is put the transmission in neutral. While the clutch will still be connected to the engine, the gear set in the transmission will not be, so the drive shaft is not going to turn. Most recent cars have an ignition interlock on the clutch pedal to keep people from starting their cars while still in gear. In this case you have to push in the clutch to start the car even if you are in neutral.

John

yet another G20 doesn't start. today i go shopping for my vacation coming up. when i leave, the car won't start. no click, no nothing, but the electrical still works (high beams, stereo, etc). my friend gave me a ride home and when my dad got home we went to go check it out, and the son of a bitch started right up. we drove it straight to the mechanic, so i'll let you know tomorrow what the deal is. i imagine it's the starter.

Originally posted by BritCG20
I don't know what you guys are talking about with the clutch. On every manual transmission car you have to depress the clutch in order to start the car. It disengages the clutch disc so it won't turn the transmission. So if your car is starting with out depressing your clutch then you likely have a bad clutch or a tranny problem.


The clutch is not needed to start the car. I own the same car as you and if I want I can start the car in 1st gear.My battery is so powerful that I can make the car move by turning the key whenn its on gear and the car will start running with no clutch and will actually start driving.

Its really jerky but it worksb

what battery do you have?

Sears. Die Hard Gold.

Do you really have toclutch to start your car? Have you tried to do it without clutching?

Maybe you have an aftermarket theft system or something added on

as i expected it is the starter. total cost $383.35 not too bad for everything including new starter and labor. i'm going to pick it up now.

as for the clutch issue (i have an auto:*( ) i can't talk specifically about our cars, but a lot of older cars i know can start w/o putting the clutch in.

Originally posted by GTA_G20
Sears. Die Hard Gold.

Do you really have toclutch to start your car? Have you tried to do it without clutching?

Maybe you have an aftermarket theft system or something added on


Interesting. That's the exact same battery I have. I still have to clutch to start. I've tried it w/o clutching and nothing happens. I don't anysort of security system. Even the stock one doesn't work. So I have no idea how our cars could be different.

I hate to say it, but i have the same problem. I'm going to try tapping it w/ a hammer for now like a few suggested earlier. I'm hoping to get it into the shop maybe Friday. My mom is in Colorado until Monday so i've only got one car (the G). But i'll be 17 on Tuesday, so not all is bad. After reading this thread i know now that my problem is definitely the starter. Thank God for G20.net!!!

I don't want to appear to be flogging a dead horse here regarding having to depress the clutch pedal to start a modern M/T, but...

What ijacob said is correct. Aparently, some time ago, the Gov/manufacturers decided that N.American drivers (weened on A/T) were too stupid to ensure that the car was in neutral before starting and decided to make them "childproof". I'm not knocking U.S. drivers here!

In the "olden days", before the Gov. decided to treat everyone like backward children, there was no need to depress the clutch on a M/T if the transmission was in neutral – because the drive train is not connected to the engine – similarly, if you depressed the clutch in any gear, you could crank the starter.

It's nothing to do with the battery – if you have a regular 1990+ car, marketed in the U.S. with M/T that will crank the starter without depressing the clutch, it simply means the "childproof" safety device has failed.

Someone else said that you could "push-start" any M/T car (but not an A/T car unless you push it to about 50mph). I think that they meant that only in the case of a dead battery. If your clutch is gone or you have no plugs, engine, wheels etc., then no, it push-starting won't always work!

If your starter is jammed (on a M/T car): Rather than banging the starter with a hammer, put it in gear and rock it the car back and forth a little, then try starting it.