Rapid clicking, hard to start [SOLVED - bad negative wire]

[Upgrayedd]

Ugh, if it's not one thing then it's another. So my daughter's '02 Pathfinder LE is making a rapid clicking sound when trying to start it. It doesn't always start, sometimes you have to try it several times before it starts up. No check engine light or any other light and the engine sounds fine once it is running.

I am guessing it is the starter and/or starter solenoid. I replaced the alternator recently but everything was fine afterwards. The clicking sounds like cards in bicycle spokes and only does it when engaging the starter, or like when you have a dead battery and the starter just clicks once except in this case it keeps clicking rapidly. Maybe the solenoid is working but not fully engaging so it's making the clicking sound? I thought maybe the battery but it does eventually start so I figured it was ok. Thoughts?

ETA: Ok, reading some more sounds like it could be the battery. Either a poor connection or the battery is on its way out. I will try that first.

[centralcoaster33]

Yeah, sounds like low battery to me. See if a charge up can't help or get it replaced.

[Upgrayedd]

I think it was just a poor battery connection. The negative cable terminal was stretched so much that even with a lead terminal shim it wouldn't completely tighten. $110 later I got a new negative battery cable from Nissan, nice and tight now and it starts up fine.

[EdBwoy]

You called it! Thank you for the follow up, I shall update the title. And I'm glad that you got the issue solved.

[Upgrayedd]

Oddly enough, looks like I had multiple starting issues hit at once. The battery cable fixed the poor connection and "bad starter symptoms", hopefully that's all it was. But it started having a hard start issue immediately after, so soon that I thought I hadn't fixed it. It would crank over but take a long time and multiple tries before it started, and when it did it would stumble just a bit. Turns out the fuel pressure regulator and fuel pressure damper were both shot. I pulled the vacuum lines and there was fuel in both. Got new parts installed and it fired right up. Fingers crossed that it is fixed now.

Side note, the screws for the regulator are extremely soft, and most likely extremely stuck. I had to use vise grips to break them loose as a screwdriver will just strip out the head.