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We had the van checked out by a mechanic who said it needed a rear brake job, had a leaky high pressure power steering hose, and a leaky valve. We had the repair work done by someone else. That evening it began to sputter and die so we took it back in and they realized that they had accidentally pulled loose a spark plug wire and replaced them all for free. A few days later, it wouldn't start but we thought we might not have closed a door tight and the battery was run down. We were able to jump start it. The next day, it wouldn't start and so we jump started it again and went out to run some errands. When we went to leave, it wouldn't start or even turn over, but the headlights and interior lights all come on so it doesn't seem to be the battery. My biggest question is could this be related to any of the work we just had done on the van or is this just incredibly bad timing that after we repair $600 worth of crap, something else is now broken. I don't know if I should take it back to the guys who just repaired it if it's their mistake since that would the second one, but I also don't want to have to pay to have their mistake repaired by someone else. Up until all of this we had never had any problems with it dying that weren't because of an old battery or something. We've held onto it this long because it has been a great vehicle.
Answer -
Anything is possible and it would be my guess that the vehicle is old and you could have a bad starter. Remember that engineers do an analysis on what is known as a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF). So, in the case of vehicles we all expect them to last ten years and the Japanese really had this down to a science. It is amazing that things start falling off close to the same time. My 86 Nissan Stanza that the daughter drives has had the battery, airconditioner, brakes, distributor, power steering pump, control arm bushings, fuel pump and headlight switch all fail in the last year. I bought this car off my Aunt last year and she never did a thing to it except for normal maintenance. So, I would say that it was not the fault of the mechanic that worked on the car. If your diagnosis is correct I would think it was the starter.
Follow up -
I think you might be on to something there. Back in September, we repaired loose bolts on the exhaust manifold and replaced the belts. That's why this is so frustrating because after years of just routine maintainence or expected repairs (brakes, etc), we're running into some rather hefty repair bills. The timing was what really threw me off though because we had just had it out of the shop a few days and it's not starting. anyway, we had it towed back to the repair shop and it started right up - 20 times in a row and they never could get it to duplicate what it had been doing even when arming the alarm system. The guy gave me a tip on how to tell if it's the starter the next time it doesn't start so we'll see. I'm now thinking it may be the alarm system malfunctioning or something so I'm not using it. Thanks for the info. I think I was more worried that if the mechanic screwed up, and I went back to him then he would just lie to me and I wouldn't know the difference. After all this though I really feel like this is a pretty good guy and he's being straight with me. And the vehicle is old so it only makes sense to expect some hefty repair bills at this point - I just wish they weren't so close together!
AnswerThanks for the reply. At some point when the cost or repairs outweigh what a car payment would be is when you make the decision to move on to another car. I currently have three Nissans and the old one is the trouble maker. But, at seventeen years old even the parts guy at Nissan is amazed that I am sticking with it. But, I like the car and all the goodies it has. Japanese vehicles are amazing with all the goodie gadgets that they have. My newer maxima does have goodies but not as many as the old Stanza.
