Flooded Nissan maxima 2004

Timing is off.

I suspect you may not have enough fuel pressure.Fuel injection requires very high pressure to start car and by pumping the gas pedal the car is flooding itself and that let's it start.

Old post but , this answer covers all , of this type symptoms.
new head,
ran for 30 minutes
so does it crank ? ok? if not dont crank, it can start.
so crank is next. (first)
backfiring (true to the air cleaner) usually means TIMING IS way off and sure engines can start with timing way off and then stall and flood out.
nothing new there.
you did not time the engine correctly.

get the FSM on engine. read the pages.
or go to alldata.com and read that.
for others searching using google, my lil. contribution;

Its possible you have air in the fuel line which would take a while to run out. Its also possible you clogged up the screen in the tank for the pump.
A mechanic would check fuel pressure at the injectors and probably replace the fuel filter.

Tom check your timing belt it is probably broken

sounds like it might be flooded. Try and remove the fuel pump fuse from the fuse block that is just in front of your left knee. While it is out crank the car and see if it wants to start and hold down the gas pedal all the way and then relase it and back and forth and once you get it to run have the fuse ready in your hand and in front of the spot to install it. and then keep the rpm's up with the gas pedal until the smoke clears out behind the car.

Hi, you may have it flooded. Try holding the accelerator all the way down while cranking the engine to clear the gas out. Let us know if this doesn't work, and thanks for using FixYa.

if its a stick/manual,push start it,if its auto,crank it but dont step on the accelerator,sometimes,u can flood the engine when u put fuel in and u crank with your foot on the gas pedal.follow your air filter all the way to the carbuerator,open it and then crank,be careful,u might get a flash bang from all the air flow,good luck

if it ran out of gas it just may be air locked, you can't just crank the engine turn the key to the run postion for 3 seconds and shut off and do this 7 or 8 times then try starting it. The fuel pump will not pump while cranking it is a fail safe if the car is in a wreck and the pump won't continue to pump gas out and catch on fire. This should fix it for you.

i have a 1998 nissan maxima when the engine is cold the engine will cut off when you first crank it. It will cut off but i can usually get it going the second time. After engine warms up car runs great. Why does this occur