Hey guys - I'm having a fun electrical issue where my 2000 X will start sometimes, and sometimes not. No codes are thrown.

Most days she fires right up with no issues, but once in a while I'll go to start her and as soon as the key hits the 'start' position I lose power to everything before the starter even thinks about turning over. No lights, no alarm, no windows, absolutely no power. Key out, key in, nothing - absolutely dead.

I've learned the trick is to simply remove the negative battery cable, reinstall (that's it) and try again. Once I've removed and replaced the negative battery cable she will have power to the doors lights, etc. Most often after this removal/replacement she will fire right up, although sometimes it takes 3-4 iterations. While the first few iterations fail, she'll always have power to the headlights, radio, windows, etc until the key hits the start position (after the battery cable has been reinstalled). At that time she'll either fire up immediately, or instead cut all power again (with no sounds, no starter turning, absolutely nothing) until the negative battery cable is removed and reinstalled.

I am at a loss on this one, and it's getting more frequent! This has been happening for 8 months or so, used to be once every month or two but last weekend was twice in the same day - so we're at an unreliable level now. The battery is new, distributor is new, all fresh tune-up items, etc. Something is causing an open circuit in the system it seems like, that's fixed by removing and replacing that battery cable.. Any ideas of where to start? Might replace the negative battery cable first and go from there..

Thanks!

Have you tightened the negative cable at the other end where it bolts to the wheel well? Maybe it's loose there and manipulating it when you take the other end off the battery sometimes makes it contact better.

The cable is tight at all points, but not the freshest looking piece after 180k. Will be taking a look at that this week..

Having the same problem with a 2004 Xterra. Replaced the terminals with no avail.

I've had this problem on several vehicles, Bronco, F250, it was a grounding problem. I would remove the ground wire and check for signs of corrosion, clean the wire up and the point at which it grounds to the frame or replace the wire. I did have a problem with my 04 Xterra negative terminal coming loose, the original was a poor quality clamp style connector, I replaced it with an older style connector and it has been fine.