Schundg

I have a 2011 SL550 with 21k miles. I have owned it since July, 2018. Yesterday, after a short drive and a couple of stops at a restaurant and shopping center everything was fine. When I stopped at my daughters house for about 1 and 1/2 hours. I went out to start the car and leave, the starter turned over a short bit, then nothing. Future attempts to start only showed guages activate, idiot lights on (as usual) then nothing. I had AAA service come out and the (starting) battery checked fine. I had to have it towed to a dealer and there it sits for diagnosis tomorrow. What could be preventing the starter from even engaging? Repeated attempts in neutral, in park, with key, keyless start, all produced the same no start symptoms. Any Ideas?

gaazmon

It could still be the starter battery. For me once, AAA came out with a regular pickup to jump it and it wouldn't jump (even with the portable jumper). When the tow truck came, he jumped it and the car started. Ended up being the starter battery.

Adi-Benz

After that, maybe EIS/ESL?

Rudeney

It could also be a bad starter. When mine went out, it started mimicking a weak battery - slow starting, then clicking.

Schundg

You called it Rudeney. It was a bad starter. All relays and other electrical checked out including the battery. So the dealer originally charged me $1347 for the diagnostic work, labor and the $535 starter. I negotiated them down to $999. The went ahead and did the work when I called and told them not to do the work. We settled on the $999 because that is what it would have cost me to take it to an Indy (which was going to charge $700 all in), Towing from the $tealer to the Indy shop, and the $170 diagnostic fee I would have had to pay the $tealer.

All in, I'm good but found a great Indy shop that's a bit across town but well worth the savings. German Motor Works (Dallas) were really great to deal with in trying to set up the transfer tow, Part and Labor.

Thank you to all who provided possible causes.

alk247

It's a god thing I'm DIY. Starter could be had for $140 from reputable store. https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/SR0827X

Labor is $0. Towing might still have been required.

By the way, more often than not, all that is needed are new solenoid and new brushes.

Rudeney

@Schundg Glad it's fixed! And good work on negotiating with the dealer.

@alk247 I think I spent about $200 on mine. I bought a rebuild Bosch unit from Auto Zone that cam with a lifetime warranty. It's an easy job - disconnect battery, lift, unbolt, replace, tighten bolts, lower, reconnect battery. You are right - it's probably easy enough to rebuild one with a new solenoid and brushes, but easier to just toss in on that's ready to go. i did notice that the new starter runs very fast - like starting a 4-banger, not a big V8.

alk247

I had at one time gone through three or four remanufactured starters for Maxima with lifetime warranty. Got really good at swapping them. So I suggest fixing original starter not to save money, but to make sure that you know what you put in.

Rudeney

This one has been in for about three years now with no issues. But I know what you mean abut those reman issues. My eldest has an old Ford Windstar minivan. The alternator went out, so we put in a lifetime warranty unit from Advance Auto. It lasted less than a year. That one failed about a year later. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. I think she's had six now and would have more except the van is dead now and she's just trying to dump it. Luckily, it could not have been easier to change - right on top, four bolts counting the negative battery terminal.

gaazmon

Starters seem to be a common issue on the R230s based on what my Indy said. The one on my car was replaced with an aftermarket unit by the previous owner and my indy told me he wouldn't expect to last for more than a couple of years depending on when it was changed.

alk247

I hear you, man. A few years ago I asked my son to order original Nissan alternator for another Maxima of ours off the net, so it would be there when we come back from vacation. We came back - no alternator, he decided, that it was too expansive. I am out of time, we need a car, so I got one from NAPA, or some other store, and got it installed by an Indy. It is a major pain in the rear, needs to be installed from below, need to remove belts, move aside AC compressor, etc. And it is a middle of the winter to boot. Shop charged me like $200 or so (it is my cut-off point for labor, if it is more, I usually do it myself). The damn thing failed within a week. NAPA gave me new one for free, but this time I did it myself. It lasted till we got rid of the car. So that is how my son saved me money.