99 SE with the factory anti-theft system (NATS or NVIS). Car wouldn't start on Christmas eve after taking me and the wife over to the mother-in-laws just 3 hours earlier. (That's not fair.... why couldn't it have not started in my garage BEFORE driving to see "mom" ?)

"Security" light stays on with ignition on and car cranks but no start. I spent all day with my multimeter and the factory service manual checking all the connections, etc, to no avail. (ECM has no codes, so it really is the NATS system....)

Anyone ever had this? Anyone in the Denver area own the Nissan "Consult" tool that I could borrow? I am a dedicated do-it-yourselfer and hate giving into the dealers, but might have to this time. Any ideas on a quick fix/workaround for this that's not in the service manual? Any help appreciated.

 

It's happened to a few on here. Nissan has to reprogram your cars system to recognize your keys. You can't do this one yourself.

 

Just closing this out with the solution to the problem. It was NATS that was out of sync with the keys, so after a tow to the local Nissan dealer, a hook-up to Consult for $95, and a "reinitializing" of the NATS box, the car starts and runs fine now.

I still don't know WHY NATS needed a cold boot, but I speculate that because it happened on Christmas eve, Santa's sleigh must use EMI pulse propulsion....

Happy Holidays to all Maxima.org readers!

 

Ahh yes...Santa's trickery and his damned EMI pulse propulsion.

lmao