djmaverick

Ok... After doing much searching on here I have a problem that I can't seem to find the answer for. I have a 96 SE 5sp. All of a sudden, my keyless entry, radio, and dash clock stopped working. This leads me to believe that it's a fuse or a relay issue.

The security light no longer flashes when the car is locked and I've checked pretty much all the fuses I can think of. One post during my searching said to check the #40 fuse - Done. One post said to check the BCM fuse under the hood - Done. I stopped at the dealer and they tested the remote - it works. I haven't tried re-programming the remote because with the other two components not working, I'm fairly confident that it won't help.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

black_maxed95

iTrader: (41)

check these threads as a reference:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....+radio+keyless
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....+radio+keyless

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

Sorry but it is fuse #40 (7.5 AMP) either you did not check the correct fuse or you did not check it properly I think its located at the very top of the fuse box under the dash, check again. Otherwise have you or anyone else worked on the wiring/electronics. Just stopped working out of the blue?

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

Is your power antenna and interior lighting not working also, this would mean fuse #40.

djmaverick

No offense but checking fuses isn't that difficult. I did check the fuse and it wasn't blown. It was working when I parked the car at work and when I when I went to leave at the end of the day, the keyless entry didn't work as well as the radio and the dash clock.

I have an aftermarket stereo and the power antenna is wired to the head unit. It will not work if the radio isn't getting power. All other interior lights work (dome light, dash lights, etc..) and the climate controls work and light up as well. I'm not sure what else to check

black_maxed95

iTrader: (41)

did you read those threads i linked to?-did you check the BCM?

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

No offense taken, I have advised quite a few people on their electrical problems with Fuse 40, many of them said that they checked all fuses already but it turned out that the fuse was blown. Chance fuse #40 is causing your problem 95% chance it is something else 5%. How did you check the fuse with a tester? With it in the circuit. Have you actually taken the fuse out and tested it? Just trying to help.

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

If either vanity mirror lights up fuse 40 is OK if not fuse 40 is blown.

djmaverick

If by check the BCM you mean the BCM fuse under the hood next to the battery then yes. If you are referring to the BCM relay in the trunk, no. I tried to find it earlier today but I was unsure as to it's location. (btw the parts department at my local dealer is nearly useless with regards to that)


I pulled out the fuse to see if it was blown/broken. I do not have a fuse tester at the moment but I am planning on getting that tomorrow. And I do appreciate the help. I'm pretty much trying anything and everything at this point.

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

If either vanity mirror lights up fuse 40 is OK if not fuse 40 is blown.

It's as simple as that, no tester required.

If a new fuse blows right away than you have a short somewhere.

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

We'll get you going, I enjoy helping to solve these kinds of problems and have helped others on this forum. If the old fuse #40 is blown and you replace it, and the new fuse blows than it get a little more complicated but it's still a very fixable problem. This kind of issue is rarely all that complicated.

djmaverick

Ok... You're right, I'm wrong. (I know... Hard to believe...) Apparently I checked the wrong fuse. The right fuse was blown and when I tried to replace it it instantly blew again. Just for the hell of it I tried a second time and got the same result. Now I have to play "find the short"!! Yay!

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

Happens all the time. As far as finding the short you should probably start with your aftermarket radio connections or anywhere else where the wiring may have been "modified". Check for any wires that may be uncovered or bare wires touching each other. You may consider removing your radio and then installing the fuse and seeing if the fuse blows, if not then the radio connections are the problem. It's easier if you have an ohmeter and know how to use it but that's another story.

djmaverick

Yeah... Some crackhead broke into my car a few weeks ago and took my LCD screen I had put in place of the factory unit and in the process destroyed most of the center dash. He didn't take my HU because I ALWAYS take off the faceplate. The HU worked up until the other day so I didn't think it could have been that (once again I am probably wrong... lol). It probably is.

coachholland

iTrader: (2)

I did the exact same thing and I owed Nopike one.

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

I know fuse # 40 better than anyone on this forum don't doubt me.

snowboi1289

iTrader: (3)

The Bose stereo's are bad,Mine stoped working after awhile,I guess its a fault in the radio,theres nothing wrong with the car,its the readio and the clock.As for the keyless entery,I dont know about that.Sorry I cant be much help.

mikeg75

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I'm trying to troubleshoot the in-dash digital clock and factory Bose/Clarion head unit displays working very intermittently on my '95 Maxima SE.

Both work fairly well in cooler/cold weather, but in the summer they stop altogether. In fact, the last time I recall both the clock and radio displays working was about mid-May, and it is now the end of July. I think there must be some dampness near a ground, or perhaps one of the fuses is going but not quite gone, if that is possible.

The other problem is that the rear power locks don't work, and these too, seemed to degrade rather than die all at once, because over the course of a couple weeks, we would hear them crackle like there was a short inside the door, and then both rear power locks stopped working.

Are my problems related, or are they simply just electrical system components that die after 17 years of operation?

All other interior lights work, the red security light blinks like it always has.

The only other problem I can think of is that the cruise control hasn't worked in years, but I care more about the clock, radio and power locks at this point. I'll come around to that once I work my way to it.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

rf97

Check your ignition switch. Sometimes my clock, radio and wipers would stop work and I would have to gently tilt the key back while it was
In the ignition to get them to work.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Does the radio still play when the display is out?

Does the clock show the correct time when the display works?

What to look for on these depends on your answers. The may be separate problems.

The door locks could be that the child safety levers are flipped.

The cruise control may be the easiest problem of all. Look up the brake bedal and you will see a flat piece of metal forming a T on the brake pedal. If you can see an empty round hole on either side of that T piece of metal, you have found your problem. If the hole is on the driver's door side (IIRC), the cruise control won't work. If it's the other side, your brake lights will be on all the time. There should be a plastic plug in there. These plugs have a habit of drying up and falling out.

mikeg75

Thanks Dennis for all your help! I'll check into these and report back in a couple days, if it takes me that long.

Yes - both the tape deck and radio still work without the display. The CD Error problem came up about 10 years ago, but I understand that to be a separate problem from the display not working. I don't use this car as a DD, so the HU issues are annoying but have not been worth fixing, except that we're planning on driving to Maine (10+ hour drive), so it would be nice to get the radio working again (or replace the HU which my wife thinks is a waste of money).

Yes - it keeps time even though you can't see it.

Thank you - I'll try so see if that is the problem there, but I do distinctly remember hearing crackling / slight fizzing sound over a couple days.

I'll check it and report back. This would probably be the most beneficial problem to fix for our long drive.

We have a portable DVD player for our 7-year old to watch videos, my wife uses a tape deck adapter to play her digital music, but I just want my Maxima to be fully functional again, as much as possible!

mikeg75

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll try jiggling it in there a few different ways and see if that makes a difference. I've been more conscious about not having my entire key chain hanging from my Maxima keys, trying not to damage the ignition but for years I had a slew of keys attached to my ignition keys.

When I was a kid, my parents had a 1984 Maxima (which my sister totalled before I ever got to drive) and then got a 1985 Maxima (which my brother totalled before I ever got to drive), and I know one had to have the ignition replaced and I think I remember my dad telling my mom not to have her huge key chain pulling down on the ignition.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

The display is supposed to illuminate when the radio is turned on. This is all internal within the head unit. The head unit is bad.



There are 2 12 volt wires going to the clock. One is hot all the time and powers the clock to keep the time. The other power wire comes through the ignition switch and when power is present, causes the display to light up.

What is most likely the problem is cold solder connections on the clock's printed circuit board. This problem was a plague on the 3rd gens. The same clock was used in the 4th gens, but Nissan claimed they had fixed the problem. That claim was bull... The clock in my 97 stopped displaying and I had it replaced under warranty. A year or so later that clock stopped displaying. Having had a 3rd gen that I resolded, I pulled the clock out and sure enough, cold solder connections. I resoldered them and it works just fine years later.

Check out this link - scroll down to posts 36 & 37 for pics of the clock printed circuit board with cold solder connections.

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...al-repair.html

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

^^THIS^^

When I first bought my car, the clock wasn't working at all. So the first repair / mod I did was the clock. Take it out and resolder the connections there on the circuit board as mentioned above. BAM clock will work again. It'd be a great time to do the "never dim clock" mod as well...simply snip the dimmer wire.

mikeg75

Thanks Dennis and also Americaner23. Guess I'm going to learn how to solder electronics. I figure I'll try to fix both the clock and the radio display at the same time, since it's a be-otch to get them out of the dash.

While fiddling with the Bose HU, maybe I'll also try to make the CD changer into an AUX port, like a thread I read yesterday. The pictures are no longer in that thread though, so it's going to be a pain.

In addition to this thread, here are a couple others I'm going to print out and try to work from, when I start this project:
Fix Bose display and CD Error problem
Add AUX to stock Bose stereo

Have either of you tried these? I figure why not, since I'm going to go through the trouble of taking it out of the car.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

I have not, since I don't have bose. Sorry. The soldering is actually really easy, just basically re-heating the pins on the circuit board.

mikeg75

I took everything out and tried the clock first, but after just hitting some but not all of the pins with the soldering iron, it didn't do the trick. I noticed some of the solder joints actually looked like a donut with a bite taken out, as if it was done that way on purpose. I didn't touch those ones. After I try working on my radio, I'll come back to the clock. I looked on ebay and they are dirt cheap for used ones, so if I destroy it or it's still not working, I'll have to buy one.

Will post an update tomorrow, hopefully with better news to report on the radio.

mikeg75

Everything is back in the car and my score is 1/3 - the radio display is at least working again, no dice on the clock, and no dice on the CD error. I watched two videos this morning on how to solder on circuit boards that I should have watched last night before trying the clock. Today, when I was working on the radio, I missed one of the resisters mentioned on "madchef's" website. He claims that the CD Error problem is fixed by resoldering the resistor at the R529 location on one of the inner power boards (you have to take the whole radio apart to get to the resisters that fix both the display and the CD error). I took off and resoldered R510 to fix the display and added some solder to R519 which he mentions should fix some audio issues (mine buzzes on AM stations when I get near radio towers, so I wonder if this will fix that).

I have to go back to being a dad and husband or I would take that damn thing out and try again, but I don't have the time this weekend. Maybe next weekend.

Least I gave it a shot and didn't break anything. On the plus side, I learned how to solder which I think is cool to know.

mikeg75

Damn it!!!!! Went from elation to now feeling like a dope dad that shouldn't have screwed around with the car. Started the car, and drove down the street and the car stalled. Then it started back up, but every corner it stalled again, as if the MAF is fubar. Luckily I have a manual and I've driven crappy cars in the past, so I know how to pull the emergency brack while revving to prevent stalling.

Limped it back home but I can't drive the car tonight, unfortunately...

In the meantime, I have a few theories:

1) I wonder if I created a short in my system, after having fooled around with the radio and clock, and shorted out my PCM /ECU (or whatever the computer is called).

2) Right after I hooked up the radio and everything else, my son and I were sitting in the car listening to the radio and had the AC on and I wonder whether I drained the battery down? I ran the car for 10 minutes at 2500 RPM after the first stalling episode, in front of the house, so that the battery could recharge a little but it stalled right after I got to the first corner and hit the brakes (similar to when the MAF was screwed up in the past on this car).

3) Maybe I should have unhooked the battery before I took out the radio in the first place? When I put the radio back in, I noticed something not right - I plugged the harnesses in before plugging in the antenna, and I noticed the security light blinking way faster than normal, until I put the antenna plug in, when the security light went back to normal (the security light was pulsing so loud I heard a noise). When I tested the radio after starting the car, and it seemed ok, I thought I'm good to go... . Could this have caused something else to short?

I checked for codes with my code-reader and nothing came up.

I'm going to disconnect the battery overnight and then reconnect and try running the car tomorrow. I hope this is just the ECU needing to relearn/reset itself or I just learned an expensive lesson that I'm not qualified to work on this car anymore.

If I can't get it working right tomorrow I'll have to take it in to my mechanic on Monday.

Anyone have ideas on what I can start checking or should I just leave bad enough alone?

mikeg75

Car working properly again after I cleaned engine ground for battery terminal and two other grounds, and took out the MAF and swapped it with the my old OEM one after I cleaned it.

So relieved :-)