Intermittent electrical problem

I have an old Maxima wagon (1984 vintage) with an intermittent electrical problem. The problem occurs randomly (e.g. 3 times in the last month) when I try to start the car and nothing much happens. There may be a very faint click, but I'm pretty sure it's not the starter solenoid and there is definitely no heavy demand for current. If I have the lights on they are bright and they don't dim during these start attempts. I also notice that when this problem occurs the instrument panel "battery" guage (which normally pops up to 12 volts when the key is in the :on: position) stays at zero volts. So far each time the problem has occurred it has seemingly fixed itself and after 2 or 3 hours everything is back to normal and the car will start just fine. I realize that asking for a diagnosis of this problem is asking a LOT, but I'm just hoping someone can offer a suggestion or two for things I might look for or try. Thanks for any insight or suggestions. Art Replace deadspam with yahoo to reply.

Reply to
Art Renkes
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I have an old Maxima wagon (1984 vintage) with an intermittent electrical problem. The problem occurs randomly (e.g. 3 times in the last month) when I try to start the car and nothing much happens. There may be a very faint click, but I'm pretty sure it's not the starter solenoid and there is definitely no heavy demand for current. If I have the lights on they are bright and they don't dim during these start attempts. I also notice that when this problem occurs the instrument panel "battery" guage (which normally pops up to 12 volts when the key is in the :on: position) stays at zero volts. So far each time the problem has occurred it has seemingly fixed itself and after 2 or 3 hours everything is back to normal and the car will start just fine. I realize that asking for a diagnosis of this problem is asking a LOT, but I'm just hoping someone can offer a suggestion or two for things I might look for or try. Thanks for any insight or suggestions. Art Replace deadspam with yahoo to reply.

Reply to
Art Renkes

Remove and clean the battery terminals and the battery connections at the starter.

Reply to
JimV

This is a just a wild guess I had no power problem and after the local non Nissan shop they tried replacing about everything... They then wanted to replace the computer they even started taking it out. I said STOP!!! wait... We had it towed to a real Nissan dealer and what it ended up being was the small power relay that sends to juice to the computer. It was a small part that Nissan gets $25 for but it was the labor putting that computer backin that cost. $300 but the other shop wanted $1800 for the computer alone and $500 to stick it in. I got off cheap. Give the power relay a look.

Reply to
floatingupstream

Thanks to both of you for trying to help. I'm quite sure that the problem is not one of poor contact between the battery posts and the cables, but I may double check that anyway. The "small power relay" theory sounds like a distinct possibility though. Is there any chance you (or anyone) could tell me where it might be located on my '84 model (if this model uses one)? One other question that occurs to me is this -- there obviously must be an interlock switch of some sort that prevents start attempts when the transmission is not in "park" or "neutral". Can anyone suggest where I might find this switch? -- Art Replace deadspam with yahoo to reply.

Reply to
Art Renkes

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