2nd Starter Wire in Nissans Does What?

Are you guys sure the second start wire doesn't provide more power to the actual OEM engine starter or the engine starter's solenoid?

If the second starter wire, powered up independently, causes "clicking" from relays .. it must relay significantly more current to whatever it supplies than the actual gauge of the 2nd starter wire would have us believe.

So when turning the key, the second starter wire actually gets power BEFORE the 1st starter wire? 

BTW .. what are we calling "COLD" ?? What is technically a COLD engine?

50 degrees or below? 40, 30, 20 degrees or below?

This '97 Maxima that is haunting me has this WEIRD problem when it sits overnight in EXTREME COLD .. i.e. cold weather below 20 degrees. (if it's25 degrees or higher, it'll start fine .. no problem):

- when you hit the start button -- the car chirps, and you hear the HIGH pitched revolutions of the OEM starter .. that IS NOT engaged with the flywheel .. the tach then reads that the engine has started, because the starter is spinning so fast, and the car's parking lights come on and stay on and the Accessory and ignition are powered.  I then hold down the start button (on the keyfob) to shut down the r/s .. it chirps twice, shuts down.  Then I press the start button again, and it starts up NO PROBLEM -- starter successfully engages the flywheel .. it doesn't struggle or anything... starts up no problem.

Now .. when I was having this issue, I had the 2nd start output of the Ultrastart r/s brain triggering another SPDT relay that powered the 2nd starter wire with fused 12volts directly from the battery.  So I was thinking, perhaps the second starter wire (which in the remote starter situation is getting powered AFTER the 1st starter wire) is in charge of powering the Starter solenoid to help the starter pinion engage the flywheel?

So this was next resolution -- I JUMPED the OEM first starter wire and second starter wire .. and so far it has not replicated the problem -- but I am waiting for another very cold (i.e. less than 20 degree) day to evaluate what the remote start does.

Soooooo confused.

On that vehicle the ignition switch is mechanical so I can't see how either crank wire is getting power at different times..simply impossible..well who knows actually..it just doesn't make sense..as does what "cold start" really means...and the original mystery as well which is what this wire does..why it does it..and where it goes to.

Anyone know yet???

We may figure out how to build a Perpetual Motion Machine and defy all laws of physics therein before we figure out what this mysterious second starter wire does...

Wonder if any of you guys know a master tech at a Nissan/infiniti dealership we can email ..

I, too, am intriqued by this second starter wire.  Just got off the phone with a tech at a local nissan dealership, who said that there are inhibitor relays (basically NSS) that it goes into.  He is faxing the the starting circuit diagram for a 96 Sentra, which also has the 2nd starter wire.  I will post up again in a little bit to show my findings.

How is the tach reading the RPM of the starter?  If the starter is free spinning (roughly 2,800 RPM) the motor won't be spinning.  If the motor isn't spinning then the distributor/crank won't be spinning, so no tach signal would be generated. 

Where did you hook the tach up at?

As stated before, the starter is actually wire directly to the battery, so I don't see how the 2nd start wire would provide more current to it.

KPierson -- interesting point --

I'm tapping into the tach via the ECM wire .. it's a GREEN / WHITE wire. 

I never VMM'd that wire .. I just assumed it was the tach wire -- perhaps I've been using the voltage sense this entire time

Should I just get the tach from the injector?

With Ultrastarters .. there is not way to know that the device has been successfully programmed to tach sensing mode or voltage sense (tachless mode).  After you install the r/s brain, you're instructed to start the car with the key and wait approx 30-35 seconds -- the car will then chirp 5 times and the parking lights will blink this many times to indicate successful tach/voltage sense. 

Maybe this entire time I've been using voltage sense and on extremely cold days .. this is the problem with my starts -- possible?

I wouldn't think voltage sense would work either!  Your starter pulls about 90A when free spinning.  This will cause your voltage to drop quite a bit.

Either way, tach or voltage, after a few seconds of the car not running it should realize that the vehicle has stalled or shut off and should kill the ignition!