i'm thinking starter... but leaning towards starter signal as well.

when i turn the key it clicks once.. i'm used to bad starters clicking in very short intervals repeatedly when the key is turned...click click click click...i dont hear any of that, just one click.

maybe our cars only send one starter signal per key turn... *shrug* at any rate, i don't suspect wiring, sometimes, after an hour or two of attempts, it'll turn over, putting the key in the door and unlocking it (to deactivate any anti theft) never changes it, it still wont crank. $130 including exchange is a little steep, i'd be happy to just pop my hood before i kill it every time and use some speaker wire to bridge from the battery to the starter (if i knew the right terminals on the starter to connect to) until i get a new one.

if anyone has any idea, i'd sure like to know. i just put a new alternator belt on it, so its not that, i'm quite sure the alternator is fine (but to my knowledge those only recharge battery and keep electrical equipment running off of the combustion of th eengine as opposed to the battery when running) so....we're left with wiring, ignition, or starter... *cry* this car hates me

the single click is coming from the dash....i guess that'd be the signal being sent to the starter.....so my starter is probably completely dead huh

a friend is tellin me theres a way to bypass a starter...anyone ever heard of or done something like that? if i could try that, and it works, then it'd certainly narrow down the possibilities of what the problem is

does anyone have any idea? this is driving me insane, and the GF is giving me a coronary, and i've GOTTA get outta this house...great time for this POS to not start

I had the exact same problem, it's your starter dude ! Once I got my new
starter in it started up like new =)
Hope it helps !

damn, i'm gonna go insane before the new starter comes in, 2 days.. hell. i wish i had a few hundred to just go ahead and order all new belts, hoses, wirings harness, fuel pump, water pump, radiator, thermostat, oil press gauge, and fuses.ugh....aight...well i guess i'll try my luck with a few days of insanity and cross my fingers that i can order a starter and have it come in as soon as possible

damn fourth of july might mess you up...

>< UGH! forgot about that, and i'm off work to, gonna be stranded here all day.....i'm bout to go experiment with push starting again....maybe i'll learn something new that makes it move

Maybe you could go to your local Kragen (or what it's called in Texas) and order it online and pick it up same day. That's what I did ordered it online, waited an hour
for the order to process, then picked it up and installed it and drove off !

Have you tried jump starting it from another car? If it starts, then it is the battery, not the starter. Also, places like Autozone will check your battery for free.

its not the battery, this is the second new battery in 2 weeks. the first time i bought a new one, it was just because the one that was in it already when i bought the car was half the size it shoulda been and wouldn't hold charge.

second time my alternator belt broke off and didn't realize it. so it ran off the battery for a while. luckily i got a free one.

and last night we push started it, so its for sure the starter. everything ran fine, just startin it sucks. push starting this car was much harder than i thought, maybe one day it'll be a little easier once i've got a bunch of other stuff running a little smoother

lucky for me workin at a shop, we gets parts rush delivered same day, from the same people who told me as a customer "nah we dont have it and it'll take one to three days (autozone / advanced) to come in and we need money up front. we called one of the stores from the shop before lunch, and they're like "Yea we'll bring one over around 130. lol, same day delivery FTW talk about speed

man, its gonna be REALLY easy gettin parts for this car so long as i have this job

ugh, now i've got starter in hand, and can't find the old starter under the hood... i dont see anything under the intake manifold, and nothing above the tranny...

can't anyone lend a pointing finger please?

go under your car and look in the general area where the intake manifold is
there will be a black metal place that looks like a V and it's right on the other side,
or at least that's where it is on my 98' 200sx SE-R !

yea, i see that v shaped support piece under the manifold. but dont see a starter above it

i just looked at a newer nissan today and spotted the starter in 5 minutes, though that was at work, with someone in the pit under the car and me up top.

go under the car and reach on the other side of the V plate and you should feel it !
Hope this helps

yea, i found it... no idea how i'm gonna get to it, it looks like the only way is from the top

am i wrong?

or does that A frame thing under the starter unbolt and come off

yea, theres no way for me to get to the starter....this book is sayin i'd have to drain all kinds of fluids (fuel system and coolant) and disconnect umpteen hoses, two dozen wiring harness connectors, and not screw up my throttle body, or anything else for that matter in the process...

from what i can tell its almost impossible to get to in from underneath. the other option. theres no room to spin a ratchet on either the A frame support, or the tiny hoses bolted to it.

i'm very dissapointed... i was all excited about having my car for this two day "weekend" and excited that i'd gotten the starter in 3 hours after making 1 call. and just dropping my jobs name.

anyway....if anyone has any ideas, i'd be happy to hear them. is there a way to do this without having to drain the coolant and fuel? i dont have a single catch pan at this apartment. is there an easy way to get the intake manifold off? do i need any extra parts to put it back on? grrrr, the wiring and tubing on this car is so screwey, i'll be glad when i never have to change anything thats behind the engine again. its like they designed it to prevent you from touching or seeing your starter

i had this problem a few days ago. I just jiggled my connector on the starter saw it was loose pushed it in more and bam no more problem:biggthump

Well what I did was take off my pop charger and and the hose connecting to it. So
that you could get to the bolts that hold the starter in place. And then you loosen the
4 bolt that hold the V plate in place so that after unscrewing the starter you just
wiggle it out. Then you install in reverse order. There's a write-up on the forums with
pictures you just have to search for it !
Hope your able to fix it man and get it running again !

thanks who knew, it sounds like you went from beneath. i've been so hell bent on getting this done as fast as possible, i guess i didn't go about it in the right way (sitting down and researching for hours on end) sometimes i just get lost in the forums, and easily side-tracked on other various interesting threads...i mean i'm interested in every aspect of this car

very good to know that V / A (whichever way ya wanna look at it) between the intake man. and the backside of the engine, is removable.

btw, whats a popcharger...nm, i'll look that one up