Shoulda listened to post 4, coulda had it same day, I've got access to a consult I'm just bustin' your ***** though, I know it's far for a tow-in.

Without a consult or the light there's no way to tell if it's the nat's system or not. But are you sure that it didn't run for about three seconds and than stall? That would almost guarantee a nat's issue, however I don't think that is always the case. Definitly try the spare key first for sure.

 

a nats issue?

Yeah it did start up at one point for 3 seconds, i was able to to give it a WOT and then it immediately shut off...

 

Damn you wasted your money changing the crank sensors.



You HAVE TO tow your car to the dealership to get them to reprogram your keys if you ever want to drive your Maxima again.

 

Good posting!

 

Tried spare key...didnt start...

I dont think its the immobilizer system cuz i think my car doesnt even have one...yes i have one of those ghetto SE-limited maximas.

The mechanic says its the ECU chip...So that could be the problem and may need to be replaced.

 

oh ya forgot to mention that its $895 ! ! !

 

Bump! anyone???

 

I'm pretty sure you can get an ECU for much less on the org, if you need to go that route.

 

If you have a 99 you have an immobilizer as far as I'm concerned. BTW spare keys won't do jack ish if your immobilizer kicks in.

Damn it, have you even towed your car to Nissan yet? Seriously, your mechanic is just going to end up wasting both yours and his time.

Want me to give up on you? Keep on chatting/sipping long island ice teas with your mechanic and being without your Maxima.

Want a working car?

TAKE IT TO THE DAMN DEALERSHIP!

 

ecus usually dont just go bad. i work at an acura dealer and we laugh evrytime a tech orders one. i would say 75% of the ecus we replace are still good. i think you mechanic is throwing a dart. why dont you take everyones advice and tow it to nissan so they can look at the immobilizer.

 

I like this guy!

 

I REALLY HOPE THAT I DONT COME BACK ACROSS THIS THREAD AND READ THAT THE PROBLEM WAS THE IMMOBILIZER!

 

Thanks for the help guys...Thats what probably gonna end up happening. Just gonna have to tow it to Nissan and get the immobolizer checked out.

I'll let ya'll know what it is.

 

Finally, sadly enough to say, but thank you.

 

Not trying to thread jack here at all. But quick Q, I worked at a Porsche/BMW shop for a spell and we had a couple 20-something year old BMW's come in that definitely had bad ECUs (not grounding injectors). And Mr. I'm-the-best-mechanic-ever was telling us nOObs that ECUs have a life of about 20-25 years. Is that complete crap?

 

they usually last for ever. most ecus that i find are bad are from some outside source. i had one that got soaked and shorted from a cloged a/c drain. water filled up the evaporator and poured over into the ecu. i also remember an rsx that was smacked in the front and the throttle body and the tps broke. well when the tps broke it also shorted the ecu. it is possible that after 20 years of winter and summer temps the solder in the bmw ecus broke causing your open and not grounding the injectors. i think most 20 year old cars wind up being junked before the ecu goes bad.

 

I think xenomaxs' 75% estimate is a little generous actually.I am a "noob" here (great forum by the way) but I worked at a 10 bay shop for about 7 years that only worked on japanees cars, and out of all that time I can remeber replacing ECUs maybe 3 or 4 times. Me personally twice,and one of those was due to a overcharging alternator that actually fried just about every electric device in the car,which as chance would have it was a max.I do get a little leary when people start shouting ECU esspecially after they have already "guessed" at other parts.I just hope he gets it fixed before he spends too much more money.
good luck

 

i was just saying with some of the hacks at my dealer we are probably around that %. if you work at a dealer were everyone spends the time to diagnose a car properly than if you come up with a suspect ecu it probably is. guys at my place are more worried about making a buck so if your car is under warranty the guys i work with used their diagnostic dartboard.

 

so true...

 

I think we are on the same page.
unfortunately there are a lot of "parts changers" out there posing as mechanics,and it more often than not cost the customer alot of wasted money...I hate to see it.
note: if a tech seems like he is guessing...he probably is.
we'll see...

 

what did nissan say about your car? did you tow it yet?

 

hey guys, finally got the damn thing back today.

Well, it WAS the key/immobolizer thing...Thanks 99grnmaxgxe, u were quite helpful and persistent. I just can believe that somethiing liek this would actually happen.....How does a KEY get its memory erased so that the car no longer works...thas some ****!

 

arent you glad your bobo mechanic didnt replace the ecu

 

holy cra this thread seriously freaking me out. what if my cars keys forget its code i will be screwed. i dont even have money to get a tow. also what if you have a remote starter with the keys already in the car would it start then or it wouldnt make a difference at all?

 

Holy ****! But really atlest you have you car back and didnt do anymore useless fixes. You might want to remove that system so it doesnt happen again 99grnmaxgxe = your

 

yeah dude! well the mechanic did put a used ECU chip in....the car ran for a minute then shut off...so now i have a used ecu chip lying around.

how do u remove the system? do u think this will happen again?

 

Yeah, it happend to me twice, so I just sold the car.

 

Are you serious? So u dont have a maxima at all?

It sucks, cuz i seriously just stopped to get gas. the key were still IN the ignition! I didnt know this was a problem at first, but it can happen to anyone, anywhere!

 

Hey at least you have a good reason not to have to fill your gas tank.

 

Gotta question, do you use a Speedpass from Exxon to fill up?These are transmitters that sometimes can cause havoc on transponder keys.

 

Oh man, the 2nd time it happened to me I was so pissed. I was about to take some food for delivery and it happened. So I had to use the cook's car. :<

 

Dude i i had the same issue moth ago car did not start and it was because of the key which lost codes to the computer on the car, it was resolved by reprogramming the keys or if they still wont work means the chips inside the keys are dead and you have to buy a new key, im pretty sure thats the issue, if you have any questions feel free to ask!

 

not sure if it's the quality of gas. I have noticed that the quality in the kroger gas station varies a lot. My engine seems very picky on gas.

 

The keys don't get programmed at all, it's the ECU which loses the programming for the keys.

I've yet to see a chipped key fail in any sort of way. Usually if the programming won't take, it's the NATS IMMU unit that is faulty.