Yesterday everything to my knowledge was working fine. This morning as I started driving I noticed my head unit didn't turn on, my clock, cigarette light, wiper blades, power mirrors, etc. So I checked in the driver side fuse box and I noticed from the label behind the cover, that anything connected via ACC didn't work; however, anything connected via the Battery did work.

The car still starts up fine, but do you all think its an ignition switch problem?

 

you have a ground issue take it to electromech before u really have a bigger issue like a wire fire

 

Really, dang it I was hoping I could fix it myself. But any idea why it might happen all of a sudden, everything was working fine yesterday.

 

maybe blown fuses also... Alternator issue maybe?

 

I started it up during lunch time and everything worked! I don't know why it happened this morning. Anyone come across this issue?

 

pull out a wiring diagram and try to find out if all those stuff u listed weren't working in da morning share the same power or ground 1st. you might have a loose connection on which ever side they all share.

 

There is an "ACC" (accessories) relay that powers all of the things you mentioned. Odds are it is starting to fail and got hung up. According to the schematic for my '97, the relay is located in the "J/B" fuse block, which I believe is the main one under the drives side dash. Looks like there are three relays - ignition, acc, and blower. Good luck.

 

I think you can switch the ACC relay with the ignition relay to see if that is the cause.

If it's not the accessory relay then good chance it is your ignition switch. Try playing with your ignition key the next time it happens. Unlikely it's a ground issue. No offense to the poster but that's what everyone who does not know a thing about automotive electronics loves to blame. This should not be a difficult problem to fix.
The problem is intermittent because the relay or ignition switch contact is only failing sometimes.

 

huh? I work on electronics every single day and the most common electrical problem I see on a 4th gen is a dirty ground causing intermittent failure. Clean the ground and it works. Everybody knows Maxima's have terrible electrical issues. You probably can fix it yourself my man, if it didnt work before and all of a sudden worked now? It could be a dirty ground, commonly given as a possible cause of problems for a good reason lol, or a loose wire. When electronics work and then shut off its not a fuse(unless its loose too) its something failing. Dont take it to a shop and get ripped off yet as previously recommended, research where all of your grounds are(yes this will take some time) and take them off, insure flat surface on bare metal and then move onto the next one. While your in there and gettin nice and dirty, go ahead and replace it with new ground wire as well. you will be nicely surprised by the better performance your car has just from new grounds.

 

Grounds can go bad and cause problems but that is usually the exception. Faulty relay contacts, switch contacts and wiring issues not related to grounding are much more common.

If a ground is located in an area where water or salt can cause corrosion you can have a grounding issue. For that reason most grounds are placed where they are not exposed to those elements.

If you read many of the posts on here whenever someone has an electrical problem many people say check your grounds because that is all the advise thay can give.

 

This is all very true. On older car with oil leaks the ground issues come and come though its crazy how many I have fixed. Maximas have electrical problems and my advice to any owner is to read up and get a basic electronics knowledge or you will be spending alot of money fixing electrical issues. A few years back, my door locks were going crazy, locking and unlocking at a fast rate back to back. the fix? maybe if I had 20mins to type it up goodness it was complicated. They didnt need to make literally everything electronic. A lot more could have been cable driven IMO

 

I agree with this. I suggested the ACC relay first because it is easier to remove/test and cheaper to replace. The ignition switch is also fairly easy to replace; a new one from Nissan is only about $35-40 and can be replaced in less than 30 minutes.

 

Have you recently replaced your radio.

Did u make sure to tape off any unconnected wires? If not do so.

 

Jus saw this...yeah man replace your ACC relay...it takes two secs...grab a few from the Junkyard and call it a dey

 

There is a 65 amp fuse under the hood alongside the battery to check/re-seat. It is in the front left corner labeled "FL65A ACC". This fuse is what the accessory relay switches. Also a possibility is a flakey contact in the ignition switch. The Accessory relay is energized by the ignition switch.

 

+1 on the 65AMP fuse. The cause of the problem is almost certainly one of the three items mentioned.

 

had the same problem with my 95 its only the clock though, my best guess are the fuses for grounds like people are saying

 

It's your grounds or fuses inside car..mine was doing it..did a ground kit & swaped out some fuses....