Starter Whining. Tested&passed!!HELPP??

[RyanJerome07]

Ok, I drive a 1996 Niss'Maxima. It's a manual.

One night while driving on the freeway, 20 mile drive home, it was about 90-100 degrees out around 8pm, (Phx, AZ). I pressed the gas and my car wasn't responding like it usually does, i looked down and the temp gauge was up. Apparently my radiator hose blew a hole in it, released all fluids, and car overheated. (*Fans won't turn on, relays are good?Will have question for that at end*) It shut itself off while doing about 70, in gear. I coasted for a while before I REALLY even noticed and threw it in neutral (loud music). I waited and waited for it to cool, starter just whined. I got towed that night.

Now I'm hoping, being that they are aluminum, that my heads didn't warp. The cars cpu just told it turn off when too hot, yes? Now.. a warped head would result in a seized engine, right? would that prevent me from pushing it in gear? because if so, was able to. And was able to turn crankshaft pulley manually. *fingers crossed*

The problem that remains is when I turn the key the starter makes a high pitched whine. I thought it was the solenoid. Autozone tested, said it all checked out. Came home, checked teeth on flywheel as well, they were fine but i hand-turned the crankshaft a tiny bit anyway. Threw it back on there, it caught for BARELY, what sounded like, a partial turn & continued whining.

I heard it could be battery connectors or bad ground, so starter wasnt gettin enough juice. So i trickle charged battery, and even tried to start it with jumpers. Still whines.

I also thought to myself, could the solenoid engage at Autozone and the guy just say its fine, but when put under the weightload of a flywheel, it fails? Resulting in a customer have a thought-to-be perfectly fine, FAULTY, starter?

Could it be as simple as bad mounting? SOMETHING happened when the car died in gear, i don't know the anatomy of a starter.. but hey, please someone suggest something, anything, and I will try it and come back. I will attempt to push start it this morning with my brother. I pop clutch in 3rd/4th for easiest starting cuz of gear ratio and compression? or 1st? k.

Thankyou for your time, I have been stuck here in my apt for far too long and have somethings i need to take care of, it's a big city and too hot to walk in August. Thx again.

Fellow Maxima Enthusiast,

~Ryan



*If you have enough time or just have a knack for helping people, one last question. Fans won't engage. Checked relays. Switch all fan relays with AC Clutch relay, car started (before accident) with all of them. After the incident I replaced cooling sensor but am yet to run car to see if they turn on. How do you manually engage cooling fans 1 & 2? How EXACTLY to jump relay with paperclip or something, or even bring it inside to test. I do have a voltimeter (not digital) to test, just dont know what it should read. I really need those fans, the heat is murder for my car. Also, hole in thick rubber hose, not at radiator but other end, fixable? Or only replace. Thanks.

[loystock]

Your starter may be sticky. Grease on the front side planetary gear may have dried up. You can disasssemble the starter - clean the front mechanical side with carb cleaner and then apply lithium grease. For the motor side at the back, you can use contact cleaner.

Refer to the link below for the starter assembly, page EL-30

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/1996/EL.pdf

[RyanJerome07]

Today I pulled the starter out, and disassembled it. Using your diagram I confirmed that nothing was dried up or stuck. Actually, everything (including the planetary gears) rotated around with the slightest push of my pinky finger. Well greased, I'm no expert but nothing was obviously wrong. And it DID pass the Bench Test at Autozone. I put it all back together, tried it again in my car, she turn about 2 times & then lost'er grip, the whine returned. I walked away. It is so HOT here, it is absolutely draining to even be out there for an hour or longer at a time under a hood. Anyhow, the ground wire looked kinda chewed up, well not the wire itself but the covering. I could see the wire, actually two? That were encased in a rubber tubing, looked as though they should be intertwined but a lot of the rubber was missing. Could be as simple as she's not getting enough juice? I removed the battery posts and scowered them.

Tube that leaves the radiator expelled water at far connection point, the hose is done for. I'm sure it blew a hole and caused my vehicle to overheat, but how did that simultaneously cause my whining starter problem?.. I dont have a duralast warranty, new starter is about 125.. I can't afford it right now, and im supposed to make it to community service tomorrow. Ah jeesh.

Please, great ideas are appreciated, thankyou.

[RyanJerome07]

Got a brand new starter. Did the same thing.

I am dumbfounded.

[loystock]

The problem here is that you created 2 threads of the same topic. I will delete the other one to make it simple.

When you disassembled the starter, did you clean the motor side? Another possibility is that your engine has seized due to overheat and the starter is having a hard time turning it. Since you have a stick shift, if you could push-start the car, then the problem lies somewhere else. If you can't, the engine has seized due to overheat.