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2004 Nissan Xterra won't start.... won't turn over...?
A few days ago, my Xterra wouldn't start. It was making a noise as if it were trying to start, and sounded like it was "slowly dying." My husband took a look at it and cleaned the battery terminals. It was back to normal afterwards. Today, he bled the brakes as sometimes they don't grab and then the abs kicks in. Anyways, he test drove it for the brakes and told me the brakes were fine now but the abs was still kicking in whenever we braked while turning. I remembered that I had put air in the one of the front tires today, and checked to see if the tire pressures were even. Then I went to start the Xterra to see if making the tire pressure equal would kick off the abs, and it wouldn't start. It wouldn't turn over... just kind of making a hissing noise. The radio and wipers work fine. He checked the battery and its fully charged. I checked the alarm system and that's not the cause either. He checked the battery/starter connections and everything was fine there. Any ideas?
2 Answers
- ?Lv 710 years agoFavorite Answer
Make sure that the interior surfaces of the battery cable terminals were cleaned when your husband cleaned the terminals.
I'm wondering if the "hissing" sound you described could have been the solenoid failing to engage the flywheel.
If the solenoid fails to engage the flywheel, it won't turn over the engine. The starter will make what is usually described as a high speed "whirring" sound, but I guess it could also be described as a hissing noise.
You could also have a defective solenoid on your starter, or even a bad starter.
Take your car to an auto parts store and have them check out your system for you.
Source(s): Personal experience - 10 years ago
Check all fuses and relays. Also check the alternator, an easy way to make sure its charging the battery is check battery voltage while car is running, it should be over 12.6V. If battery is fully charged and fuses/relays are good than it sounds like your starter is going, what you can do is take a screwdriver (plastic handle try not to shock yourself it stings a bit) across the battery connection on the starter and the connection on the solenoid (the small can on the side of the starter). Hope this helps, best of luck!
