The Nissan Path

Hi,

original owner 2008 V8 here. 128K miles.
Started this morning: turn the key on and one click. Car won't start.
Battery is good and recent (I tested it).
No codes stored.
I unplugged battery for 10 min and same.
Terminals look good and I did clean them up as well. No rust to be seen.

solenoid ? relay ? loose ground cable ? starter going bad ?

Any ideas on things I could try ? thanks !

A single, solid "thunk" and then nothing usually indicates bad starter brushes or a bad contactor ring in the solenoid. The solenoid is working mechanically (that's the thunk) but the juice isn't making it to the starter windings. You can try tapping on it with a hand sledge while someone else turns the key. If it spins, the starter brushes are definitely shot. If it doesn't, this may help you with diag:
https://www.nicoclub.com/archives/under ... tests.html

Ooh, didn't notice it's a VK. Forget tapping, you can't reach it. See if you get voltage drop across the battery when the key is turned. If not, you can still be pretty certain the starter is the problem.

thanks. I hooked up a wire from the +12V to the + of the starter relay and the starter is not starting.
I followed all the steps in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_UBQDPR5pM

I'm thinking it's time for a new starter. (and it'a bitch to change on the V8)

15 years on the original starter so I guess it's not too bad.

V8Pathy wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:52 pm

I'm thinking it's time for a new starter. (and it'a bitch to change on the V8)

15 years on the original starter so I guess it's not too bad.

Like I said, the single, solid "thunk" is usually a giveaway. It's had a good life, somebody play Taps.

Yikes...the starter sits under the intake manifold??? Here I thought it was so much easier to work on the VK. It's just as bad as the knock sensor of the VG33E located under the intake manifold/supercharger too. At least relocating the knock sensor is easy.

Why does Nissan like to put electronics under intake manifolds. Geezuz!

silverarrow27 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 13, 2022 12:59 am

Yikes...the starter sits under the intake manifold??? Here I thought it was so much easier to work on the VK. It's just as bad as the knock sensor of the VG33E located under the intake manifold/supercharger too. At least relocating the knock sensor is easy.

Why does Nissan like to put electronics under intake manifolds. Geezuz!

With the knocks, in the "V" is the best place to put them for sensitivity. Relocating them may get rid of codes and make servicing easy, but it makes them less effective. If Nissan ECM's were better in general at employing the knocks, it might actually make a difference. In practice, the ECM's are pretty stupid about it and relocation doesn't hurt.

Now, about the starter on VK's...

Almost as smart as putting the oil filter right above the starter on VG30 engines so that oil can poor all over the starter ever time you change the oil!

smj999smj wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 15, 2022 10:26 pm

Almost as smart as putting the oil filter right above the starter on VG30 engines so that oil can poor all over the starter ever time you change the oil!

You Melicans not cliticize Japanese engineel. Japanese engineel do good job!

Ended up taking it to NIssan dealer. They couldn't get an oem Nissan starter as it was back order for over a month so they installed an aftermarket one to get me back on the road and gave me 2 years/24,000 miles warranty on the aftermarket starter.