bank2me

Hey guys I have a 99 Maxima SE 5 speed. Over the past few months I have been driving and had the radio and time clock turn off out of no where. This has happened about 3 times. Every time it happens, they will turn off for a few minutes then I hear a "click" from under the dash and they turn back on. Now this morning I went to go move my car and noticed the security light stayed on after the car was started?? It has never done that before. I shut the car off and turned it back on and the damn light was still on. I barely ever use my keyless entry and don't really ever lock the car. Any ideas?? Thanks in Advance.

bank2me

Any ideas anyone??

CS_AR

Personally I haven't seen this issue before. I have experienced the expense of dealing with the security light being one as a result of my 99 model being immobilized. You are lucky if the light is on and you can drive the car.

Take a look at the symptom chart on page 301 in the Field Service Manual in the link below for items to check.

Do you also have a check engine light?

http://www.boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/1999/EL.pdf

maxfever1987

iTrader: (93)

Have seen this many times, I once had a car I had in my possession for 8 months, it was a 99, my friend owned it previously for a year and anytime the car was on and running the security light was always, it never gave an issue with the immobilizer, I also had the security light on at all times,it was a customers car I had for 3 days it also never gave me an issue, it's strange why it stays on but I have never had an issue with it,

bank2me

Thanks CS_AR I looked at that manual. That is somewhat hard to follow what exactly they are doing in the manual. What exactly is it that they are doing in the manual??

CS_AR

Are you getting any check engine codes? If it were my car, just in case it was some fluke, I would disconnect the battery for something like 30 minutes while I cleaned the battery connections. Then hook up everything and see if the light returns. In the mean time I'll look to see if I can find a similar issue on the org.

Take a look at the following thread with another 99 model to see if you see any similarities.

NOTE: CHECK ALL FUSES..

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...ghts-come.html

bank2me

Ok I will disconnect the battery tonight for half hour and reconnect and check all the fuses and see if anything is blown. As for similarities with the other thread I can lock the doors from the inside driver door panel and close the door and the light will stay lit for like 30 seconds then just blink like normal.

bank2me

Yes the check engine light is on for the P1490 code but that is all. That is the vacuum cut bypass valve.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

I'm wondering if the click you hear is the accessory relay energizing. The next time this happens and the radio is dead, see if the windshield wipers work. If the wipers don't work, you probably have a bad ignition switch.

bank2me

Ok so I disconnected the battery for 45 minutes and checked all fuses. All fuses were good. And yea I will try that next time the radio and clock cut out. I am wonder if my key is just wore out or the ignition switch is going bad?? Is that possible?? I have read a couple threads like this that have said something about the key/ignition.

CS_AR

From one 99 model owner to another, just make sure you have a working copy (backup) of the ignition key. A friend of mine had to pay roughly $700 in tow, key make, and NATS reset charges at the dealer when the chip in her ignition key failed a few months ago.

All she needed was a working duplicate that would have cost less than $80 to have made when the car was running. There is a link in dark red text in my signature line that every 99 model owner should read with information about avoiding accidental NATS immobilization.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

If the key wears out, you won't be able to turn the door or ignition locks. The first sign of your key getting worn is that you have to jiggle the key in order to turn the lock.

The ignition switch is a separate unit that attaches onto the end of the ignition lock cylinder. It is prone to wearing out, the end result being that one of the many contacts inside it fails to make a connection.

One question that I forgot to ask you - when the clock and radio go off and then come back on, does the clock still have the correct time and the radio still have the station presets? Or do you have to re-enter all the stuff just like when you unplugged the battery?

bank2me

Ok thanks again you guys for your input and time helping me. CS_AR I do not have an extra ignition key for the car but will try and get an extra made this week at the dealer. You said it should be around $80 for a new key and for them to program it?? And to answer your question Dennis... Yes the time stays the same and radio presets remain the same as well when they come back on.

CS_AR

No need to go to the dealer.. Places like Ace Hardware that can duplicate a "chip key" will cost a lot less than the dealer. I've had three chip keys made at Ace Hardware over the years. All are still working.

bank2me

Really Ace can make the chipped keys?? I thought it had to be taken to the dealer to do so.. like they have to program it?? If I go to Ace I can just get it duplicated and no programming necessary?

CS_AR

If the Ace has the key duplicator like the one in the video you can a new key made. The duplicator software will program the new chip key.

bank2me

Ok I will stop in Ace tommorow and ask if they can do so. I just wish I could get the security light to go off. Damn thing is annoying.

CS_AR

The Ace in my neighborhood usually doesn't stock blank keys for 99 Nissans. However, they do get the keys in a couple of days from their regional warehouse when I need to get a key duplicated.

bank2me

Ok I'll stop in there tommorow and ask them.

bank2me

Ok so I'm going to test and see if I have any power or ground loss. My buddy and ASE certified mechanic said to test for that at the radio harness. Then if all checks out there then I will proceed to testing the ignition switch. The ignition switch appears to be easy to replace. So I will see what happens after testing tommorow.

CS_AR

Good plan. We see a few ignition switch failures over the course of a year. So its not uncommon.

CS_AR

Here's one last thought on replacement keys. I keep the original Nissan chip key in a safe place in the event the duplicate is lost or fails. The duplicate is for daily use. I know that if problems arise with the ECU at some point in the future that requires a NATS and key reset by the dealer, they will only re-sync Nissan keys.

bank2me

Well I went to Ace today and they do not have a chip key maker. So I will probably have to go to the dealer and get one made. I'm going to probably test the switch tonight. I tested the radio harness and that checked out ok. So I will see what happens after testing the ignition switch

CS_AR

Where are you located? There may be other hardware stores in your area that can duplicate a key. The dealer will be more money. Some dealers charge more than others.

Sent from my Z998 using Maxima

bank2me

I'm in Portage, WI

CS_AR

There is an Ace in Madison with the equipment. A 99 Maxima key will need to be ordered. Call for pricing and such..

Ace Hardware
209 Cottage Grove Rd
Madison, WI
(608) 441-3200

bank2me

Oh thanks I know where that's at. I will call them tonight. I am waiting for my friend to get done with work to find out how exactly to test my ignition switch. I looked in the Haynes on how to test it but it is kind of confusing. Would you know how to test it CS_AR?

CS_AR

For switch testing, I think DennisMik and others on the ORG will have more information.

Here's a video of the switch being changed with some information. Remember the chip key is expected to be in or near the ignition lock for the signal to be satisfied for starting. Be careful to avoid accidentally immobilizing your Maxima with unsuccessful starts. I think the limit is 5 but I try to work with 3 in mind. I've had mine accidentally immobilized mine during a compression test once while leaving the door open while hitting the started to run the test.

bank2me

Ok thanks for the video. I watched that last night. It is very helpful. I will have to find out how to test it.

bank2me

Well I called Ace and they are going to try and order me a spare key. My buddy doesn't seem to think the ignition switch is bad. I didn't end up testing it but I think I still should test it. How do I get a hold of Dennismik to find out how to test the ignition switch? ? I didn't find an option to message him privately.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

To pm someone, click on their name in a post that they made. A menu drops down and pm is one of the choices.

But to the point of testing an ignition switch, I don't know of or have a test. It is just a matter of troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting is a process of gathering all the details of a problem that you can and then look at the sequence how something is supposed to work. The details of a problem should point to some spot in the sequence that is not doing its task. The challenge is that you have to know how something works in order to figure out where the failure is.

With your radio/clock problem, I know that both the clock & radio use the same fuse for power. Assuming the fuse is good (I will talk about this assumption further down), where does the fuse get the power from? In this case it is the ignition switch.

I asked you to see if the windshield wipers worked when the radio & clock didn't work as a test of my theory. However, the windshield wipers do not use the same fuse as the radio/clock. So why ask that? The answer is in the details of the problem.

You said that you hear a click and the radio/clock come on. A click would most likely come from a relay. The windshield wipers get their power from the accessory relay. The energizing coil of the accessory relay gets its power from the same contact in the ignition switch as the fuse for the radio/clock. So I am trying to verify if other things that rely on that ignition switch contact are working or not.

Going back to the part where I said that I am assuming the radio/clock fuse is good. You have an intermittent problem. Fuses usually are not intermittent. But once in a while they are. For sanity's sake, I would suggest that you replace (or swap) the radio/clock fuse, a 10 amp labeled AUDIO.

bank2me

Ok I will change the fuse to be sure. And thanks for the info Dennis I appreciate it. It all makes sense. Do you suppose the radio problem and security light problem could be related??

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

I don't think the radio and security light problems are related. The security light can be turned on by 2 different parts of the car, the NATS theft prevention system which is the chipped ignition key thing and the regular car alarm system.

I would guess that it is not the NATS because if the NATS system hiccups, you can't start the car. So that leaves the alarm system. Maybe there is a problem with the hood switch, or the trunk switch or one of the door switches. When the hood/trunk/doors are closed, the switches are open (no connection). When you open something, the switch closes and connects to ground. Maybe one of the switches has shorted. You could unplug the wires from the switches to see.

bank2me

Ok maybe I will try and unplug the switches tommorow. Will it hurt anything if I unplug all the switches??

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Not really. The body control module will not know if the door, hood, whatever has been opened. You will be able to lock your keys in the car, the door chime won't sound, little things like that.

bank2me

Ok thanks Dennis I will try unplugging everything later on in the week. It's cold here today so I will try another day and report back.

bank2me

Where about is the trunk switch located?? I can't find that one.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

I am not 100% sure of where that thing is hid. It is not that well documented and isn't a big problem causer so it remains elusive.

Where I think it is is inside the trunk lid. It is probably mounted on the trunk lock key cylinder. According to the service manual, the trunk lock cylinder switch uses a white 3 wire connector. Probably close to it is the trunk light switch.

bank2me

Ok Dennis I will look again. When I unplugged the hood and door switches, the security light remained on. I hope unplugging the trunk switch will do the trick but I'm not getting my hopes up.