my max wont start!!!

first things first.

1. make sure the battery is in a good state of charge and the battery terminals are not corroded. you can clean them with baking soda and water or pour some Coke-aCola on them and scrub them with a an old toothbrush.Be sure to wear eye protection, you don't want any of that junk in your eyes.

You can remove the battery and get it tested at most auto parts stores.

It is most likely not an alarm problem.

It is most likely either a battery or a starter.

And it also helps to know the model year of the vehicle in question

sorry... thanks for replying, my max is a 97, and it has 143k miles on it. i was thinking that it could be the starter, or, my biggest fear, the timing. what do you think???

It cannot be the timing. It might be a sensor like the Crankshaft Position Sensor or Camshaft Position Sensor (which the ECU uses as a timing signal), but these are easy to diagnose and fix. (simply read the code from the ECU, replace). Make sure you remove the key in between attempts to start - if it's a marginally functional sensor, this will 'reset' the computer each time.

But like the others said, the initial impression is to verify the battery and connections, and then consider a new starter. At 143k a new starter is no big deal - but buy a Nissan one because cheap starters never last long.

Dave

THANX DAVE....

Your charge voltage might be low as problem seems to deteriorate. Verify; should be above 13.8V as engine runs. If lower, correct problem: first check belts, next alt wiring connectors and/or bad alt. Lots of connectorss to clean, see -93 model also p.5:

You have the same symptoms as when my starter went south.

You have the same symptoms as when my starter went south. Youre right, still 'same symptoms' may have various causes: here 'south' means Germany :) smtimes source of hi quality. To die, here starter has to go to east, =siberia to have all broken & shoddy :(

Best is to Test.