My 97 SE sometimes refuses to start. I turn the key, and - nothing, although the lights come on, etc. Battery is 1 yr old. When it happened the 1st time, breakdown truck woman came along and whacked the starter with her stick. Bingo--Maxima started again. Now I carry my stick in case the car doesn't start again, which it tends to do, every 4-5 days. Just giving the old starter a little whack seems to temporarily correct the problem.
Is this likely to be a solenoid, or an actual starter problem? As I understand it, replacing the solenoid is simple and cheap, but if I go to the trouble and find out that it's the starter, well, I guess I'd like to know that beforehand :)