I would doubt any problems with the wheel bearings. They are covered in grease which seals water out off the bare metal parts. And if water affected them I think driving in the rain would mess em up overtime which doesnt happen

 

Mike,
I've got a pair of stock black leather seats if you want them. drivers side is pretty rough (tears and missing chunks of leather), pass side is just ugly but is in better shape.


been sitting in my garage/attic for about 4 years now... they're free if you want them. I think you still have my number?

 

I might still have your number, and I might want them, but as of this morning my 3rd gen ownership is in question...

I was about to drive out and look at stuff, started up real strong, but then all kinds of crap started happening:

- Check Engine light came on, probably O2
- Idle higher than normal, probably IACV
- I Shifted to reverse, it stalled
- Radiator fans are blowing regardless of temp or AC status, probably a short

So between that stuff, the fact that the transmission was already in bad shape, and prior to me spending a lot of time and money to pull the engine and repair its other issues, I am faced with a decision here. Plus who knows what other electrical issues are going to surface in the coming months.

I'll tinker with it a bit more to get a better feel for whats happening. Going to check the MAF, O2, clean harnesses all over the place. I think the ECU may have taken on water as well, there is condensation on the inside of a clear sticker thats on it. I'm already looking around to see if I can find a good value on some other cars I'm a fan of.

 

We also have "the big one" to worry about, and i'm not talking about Greg Oden

Damn Mike, that's tough seeing all the work this has caused you, and all just to get back to pre-condition. Hope it all works out in the end..

 

I read the FSM a bit, and apparently all of these symptoms are explained by an ECU failsafe mode, other electronics may be just fine. It also wont go in any diagnostic mode, the red LED is just constantly on.

Matt, I want those seats now

 

Hmm, failsafe mode meaning ECU might be toast? cuz if so....my fans run NON STOP regardless of temp and I blew a couple of fuses back in July, guess I got somewhere to check too.

I do have pics of the seats when they were installed, but I can get some updates if you're still interested.

 

Since Matt has a set for the front locally I'll just get those, and they're free, cant argue with that.

Is your Check Engine light on? Because that is one of the features of Failsafe mode. Also, my fans run just if the key is in the On position, without even starting the car. Normally that only happens with AC on.

 

Mike, the seats are yours.

If your leather/cloth is still in good shape, you can use the foam from mine and re-skin them with your covers and they should be good to go.

I PMd you my new contact info.

 

my friend has a 2001 altima, and his fans will continue running if the ignition is OFF his key is in his pocket, if the ECU deemed it necessary. it's not a malfunction, rather, a feature, to cool it off even with the engine off, i suppose.

 

Give the car more time to dry out,there's probably some water still in some sensors/electrical connectors/etc.

You may want put a old box fan or two inside the car/under the hood to aid in drying out each area..

 

reminds me of the Malibu I had. It would always run a little hot so I looked up the schematics for the fans. They were not designed to keep running with the car off unless the temp was past 270. At that point it would be pointless casue the car would be toast.

also for letting it dry out more

 

Could be, but nothing under the hood has been exposed to water for two days, and yesterday I had it warmed up and running for 20-30 minutes.

 

Unplug ALL the electrical connectors your can reach under the hood/dash/etc. check for water/rust/corrosion..

 

No check engine light...until I EFFed with the ECU for codes but then went away. Yes my fans are on as soon as I turn the key as far as I can before starting the car. My alarm also stopped working. AND my seatbelt light is ALWAYS on now instead of just randomly poppin on while driving.

 

I just got myself an ECU! $50 + shipping, and they say there will be a refund if it doesnt work, super.

This handy PDF helped a lot:
http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/wolfpdf/ECU-ID.PDF

It has part and model numbers for very many Nissan ECUs, so I was able to get mine cheap because they didnt even know which Nissan it was out of, just listed some numbers from the outside of the box.

 

plug and play? if so I think I should get myself one as well...

 

I can save you some money and send you mine. 90 se auto, from my first maxima, same one the auto tranny was out of.

~Alex

 

She lives!

Got the replacement ECU in and the engine is back to normal, although I havent driven yet because it is still on stands. This was the point of no return for me, because it didnt work correctly with a replacement ECU, I was ready to get rid of it and buy another car, even looked at a 99 740iL today after already having been approved for financing...

Thanks to Matt I have some front seats. Now I just have to find front lap belts, carpet padding, a rear seat, possibly fog lights, and put it back together. This week I looked at two potential parts cars, but both had badly ripped leather.

 

Was your leather destroyed?

If not, pull it off your old seats, spray some disinfectant (and maybe Febreeze) on the backing of it, then stretch it over the seats I gave you.


(or you could buy a full set of junkyard leather seats for $100)

 

I didnt have leather, but now that I am replacing seats I feel like I might as well have a set. I've looked around at junkyard seats, but all I've seen so far have been quite bad.

 

I see, said the blind man.

I'm sure you even told me that at one point while you were here, but I was too busy flapping my gums to hear you.

 

if only all car owners were as enthusastic about thier cars,
Anyone would of junked thier pride and joy after events like this, but you held strong and worked it out. I hope the ECU works out ,
Mike you are definately passionate about that car.
Props, and good luck with the remaining concerns.

 

Thank you. This month marks 5 years since I bought it. Many people around me ask when I'll move on, but I've always said that it will either take a natural disaster or someone running into it. The former did manage to take it off the road for a week though.

Earlier this year, I had to decide whether to keep it or not because there were a lot of problems. I chose to fix it myself and learn more concurrently. With both VTCs rebuilt, new front exhaust studs, new front suspension, and new wheels/tires, the car became so much greater. After all that I cant bear to let it go, especially since I was about to finish the last repairs and start adding performance parts.

 

I spent 10 hours rebuilding the car last night, 7pm-5am, so tired... but I really wanted to just have it done. I replaced the dash too, so that took some extra time, it was something I intended to do earlier and had a replacement sitting around already, the old one had cracks. I also drained and refilled the ATF three times while I was doing all this.

My seats dried very well over the course of the week, as well as the front lap belts. They didnt smell at all and there was no mold, so those just got put back in, Matt I think I'm throwing yours away unless you want them back for whatever reason.

For the carpet, I got a roll of padding at Home Depot, and some 3M spray adhesive. I cut pieces to match the size of the original padding, and it actually worked out very well. On the other side, I sprayed it with some auto carpet cleaner and scrubbed for a while so it looks great right now.

Once I had the audio hooked up again, I started listening to music while finishing other stuff, and ended up draining the battery, doh! But on the plus side it looks like the OmniFi may have survived, even though it was probably completely submerged at one point.

So if your car floods, take out all seats to let them dry, and put new padding on the carpet after it dries, and then assemble.

 

what's OmniFi? the hard drive under the passenger seat? or is that something different.

 

OmniFi is a car audio product from the company OmniFi Media, which no longer makes anything: http://www.omnifimedia.com/home/

It is a hard drive + USB Wifi adapter + control interface that plugs into the Aux input on a head unit. It allows you to navigate through folders and subfolders of MP3s and some other formats, and also sync on WiFi with a home computer to download/delete files while the car is parked within connection range.

Overall its not a bad product, but has its drawbacks, so I was planning to get rid of it soon. I'm in the process of getting a computer into the car to handle music, using this as the display/interface:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/produc...1/a2413-01.asp

 

this omnifi product you here mention sounds cool... glad you got cho' car put back together. props on the handywork

 

some ****** stole my brother's H/U and ripped the controller for the omnifi off.
they couldn't get the omnifi out though, I had it installed to well :P

 

dedication cant beat it.

 

Good luck. It's good to see someone who cares so much about their car.

 

good luck, hope all goes well wit the max. lol i could always cut you a section of the roof out of my parts car if you ever needed it

edit: i posted this in the wrong thread somehow....

 

bump.

how's the max?

 

Been driving around for a bit over a week now, everything is fine. I still have a bit of a smell inside though, but its not very noticable. I didnt clean the door panels so they are my main suspect.

The transmission is much better than it was before, but I guess it was overdue for new fluid. Hopefully this coming weekend I'll get a chance to clean the pan and screen, as well as the door panels.

After that, I'm on still track to pull the engine later this month in order to replace main seals, oil pan seal, rear studs, perhaps add upgrades, and clean up all over. More on that here: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=524049

 

nothing but props