For what its worth, I have spacers on my 3.5 and still use the intake manifold as a ground for the injectors without issue.

 

 

Alrighty, well I was able to get to my car and get all of the crap out of it and I got a new battery since mine was 4 years old, but unfortunately I'm not hearing the fuel pump kick on like normal when I turn the key I tried to set the alarm to valet mode but it didn't seem to respond. I'm gonna have to call that alarm shop back on Monday or Tuesday and see if they can help troubleshoot. God I sure hope this is just my alarm being stupid, but I highly doubt it. So if I'm not even getting the fuel pump to kick on, what could that mean?

 

You know, I was just out there looking at it and realized that's probably where it was grounded when it was in the previous car, since I can't think why they would have moved the ground. I also can't see another location in that area where those wires would reach to.

 

Ive extended the ground wires for my de-k swaps and used the extended wires for the 3.5 swap

 

That could be an issue... Do you know if you are getting a spark for sure? That would eliminate another barrier from getting your car fired up. Another way to check if it is fuel related is to spray starter fluid into the engine, try turning it over and if it fires for a bit and dies you know you have a fuel issue but it is firing.

 

When we had the tester going on Sunday we we not getting any spark. So, no spark and the fuel pump isn't even kicking on. I feel like something very big would have to be wrong for the car to be acting like this.

 

Well shit. I figured out how to get the alarm into valet mode successfully, but unfortunately that did absolutely nothing for my problems. I'm still not getting the fuel pump to kick on when I turn the key to the on position. What the hell am I missing here? No amount of grounding issues or swapped fuel lines would keep the fuel pump from kicking on, would they?

 

FWIW, the fuel pump will "prime" when the the key is turned on, then waits for the engine to turn over and trigger the crank sensors to actually pick the fuel pump relay. A clever man would pull out the bottom part of the rear seat, identify by FSM color code which wires go into the tank cover, (there are two for the pump - one is ground) unplug the +12V wire and put a voltmeter on the incoming power and have someone turn over the engine and see what voltage comes out.

Once the pump-in-the-tank wire is identified, run a long wire from the battery (+) terminal to the back seat and apply battery voltage directly to the wire. If that doesn't spin the pump and make a constant fuel pressure under the hood, you know where the problem is. Otherwise, it's up front.

 

Awesome, thank you. FSMs downloaded, beginning research.

 

It may seem basic, but did you reconnect a second, smaller connector near the main ECU connector (about 15-20 wires IIRC) under the dash? That connector contains the fuel pump wires that run back to the fuel sending unit and will keep your fuel pump from priming when you turn the key.

I only mention it because I nearly went crazy trying to figure out my my fuel pump wasn't priming after replacing my ECU connector, only to find out I had forgotten to reconnect that connector.

 

I'll have to double check that, but I can only assume it's connected.

I spoke with my mechanic who did the job and he told me one bit of info he hadn't told me before, which is that when they reconnected the battery for the first time, there was a click/pop from the front DS of the car. He then proceeded to check every relay and fuse in the car, but they all came back fine. The only one he didn't check was the fuel pump relay down by the driver's left foot, since he didn't know it was in there, but I know because I replaced it on a whim two years ago, so I can only hope that is what blew. But even if that is blown, I can't figure how it would also not allow the car to spark. Either way, we're getting together on Saturday to go through some things again and see if we can't figure it out.

Edit: I should probably mention my battery is in my trunk.

 

Alright, we spent a few hours going over things today, and here are the results.

The ~20 wire connector under the dash is connected.

We have power and grounds to the coils, but no signal. We can hear the injectors click on when the key is turned on. We can hear the EVAP solenoid kick on with the key. The interior lights, headlights and wipers work. All grounds on the engine/trans have been tested as working.

All interior fuses have been tested and work, but we have not tested the FP relay. At this point, we're assuming the fuel pump works, because why would it not? We have not checked the FPCM because we don't know where it is. Can anyone advise?

We tested all the relays in the front DS corner of the engine bay and they're all fine. We have power going to the FP relay. We're trying to find the "dropping resistor" (on top of page 12-27 in Haynes) for the fuel pump system. We also couldn't figure out which wires for the FP to hard wire, but we're assuming that's not the problem.

The one thing we're thinking about but can't figure out is the pop that was heard the first time the battery was hooked up. I'm starting to wonder about the FP relay. I'm going to dig around in my closet and see if I can find the working one I pulled out of my car two years ago (as a dumb troubleshooting exercise).

aackshun: You mentioned an ECU fuse. I didn't see anything labeled as such, does it go by another name? Is it one of the small interior fuses?

 

Just check all your fuses and make sure everything is plugged in. Why did you change out your harness if there was nothing wrong with yours??

 

We have done that already. The reason we used this harness was because it was still attached to the engine and already had the 3.5 injector wiring done. It should have been plug and play, whereas using mine would have added to the work.

 

The FPCM is in the driver side of the trunk if memory serves me right.

 

I remember when i did my first 4g63t swap in my mirage the car would turn over all day but wouldn't fire up. I found that my ground was not tighten all the way. To be honest I bet its something simply thats being over looked

 

That's what Google said, but I checked and didn't see anything that looked like a FPCM. I'm pretty sure what I saw was the trunk release mechanism.

Yeah, for the FP to not even prime I'm thinking it's something extremely simple, but we have double and triple checked all grounds, fuses and relays, so I'm kind of out of ideas at this point. It's really quite depressing and I'm quickly losing interest in this car...

EDIT- Does anyone know off the top of their head what is required for the fuel pump to prime when you turn the key to on? I feel like I'm missing something here.

 

Its underneath the trunk liner. A small box bent out of sheetmetal.

 

I hear yeah man, did you you actually see this motor run before you installed it???

 

Oh yes, I was very familiar with this engine. It ran very well.

fartsy- I'll double check but I don't think I saw anything like that.

Is it possible there's just something about this being an Infiniti that makes it not get along with the Maxima wiring? I can't decide if I want to put in my harness so it matches the rest of the car, or find a 96 Maxima harness to match the ECU so I don't throw any codes.

 

"FWIW, the fuel pump will "prime" when the the key is turned on, then waits for the engine to turn over and trigger the crank sensors to actually pick the fuel pump relay. A clever man would pull out the bottom part of the rear seat, identify by FSM color code which wires go into the tank cover, (there are two for the pump - one is ground) unplug the +12V wire and put a voltmeter on the incoming power and have someone turn over the engine and see what voltage comes out. "

 

im just catching up. The ECU should not be an issue outside of awkward codes. Im running a 95 maxima ECU in my I30 with out issues, ive run a 97 ECU on my wiring but it threw codes car drove just fine though. I dont think you had to change your ECU and harness for a 3.5 swap your car had 95 spec wiring in it, the 95s are easier to work with and tune NA because they have less emmisions BS going on around them. The missing coil pack wire looks more like the plug for a map sensors. +96 maximas have MAP sensors. Pics from my 97:



The plugs look identical(coilpack on the left Map sensor on the right):




You probably want that, its the only tuning advantage the new ECU has over your old one , although personally i think its most useful only with boost, the MAF is more effective way of measuring airflow for an NA car having both of them wont hurt. I would have never known about that difference if i had not worked on Grant's car(NCSU_MAX) when he was doing his 3.5 swap. i was actually making fun of his "useless" boost sensor and called him a ricer.

But could it be in the process the FP went out? I have had to hunt down the simplest issues and it took me forever to find them embarrassingly. Sensors control spark(Crank/Cam position), so their wiring harnesses to the ECU should be checked make sure they are lined up especially that crank position sensor. If in doubt of the wiring buy a new subharness they are only $20 at the dealer IIRC.

Checking the power to the ecu should not be hard if you have a multimeter it should be less than 30 seconds to see if its getting power:



Stick one end into the power pin, the other should just touch a ground on the car see if there is any power. I would also suggest using your old ECU just to double check, just plug it up and see what happens all ecus for 4th gens outside of 99s basically function the same. The most helpful thing to me has been having multiple parts for these cars. So multiple ECUs to test from, coilpacks etc

But get a local member who has done the swap to come take a look at it sometimes it just takes another set of eyes just to look around and say "Ay what's this???"

 

I downloaded and tried to find the appropriate wires in the FSM, but I couldn't find the correct page for the fuel pump wiring. I looked in Engine Control System and Accelerator Control, Fuel and Exhaust Systems sections. Am I just looking at the wrong sections?

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/I30/1996_I30/

 

It would be funny if your fuel pump is bad, Ive seen some strange things happen

 

Hey man, thanks for dropping in It's funny you brought up and explained the boost sensor. Darius actually gave it to me in a pile of random parts, so I just plugged it in. Obviously, this didn't make the car start though. I have tried three different ECUs, so I know that's not the problem either. I replaced the FP with a brand new OEM Nissan (Bosch?) unit about 2-3 years ago, so it's unlikely it failed just like *that*, but I guess stranger things have happened.

I just got done trying out a new relay for the fuel pump and ignition, and of course, that didn't solve the problem either

I didn't have time to try out my new (and really, first) multimeter on the fuel pump, but that's next on my list of things to do. If you couldn't tell, my confidence in electrical issues is pretty non-existent.

I went back in the trunk to look for the FPCM, and saw this on the DS:


But I think I found it on the PS!


Now if I only knew what to do with it....

 

lol the first time i used a multimeter i had the look of a virgin when he first gets a woman.....blank. But its not AS difficult as it seems. Start by checking your ignition signal circuit in the FSM. That would be the best place to start. If the multimeter confirms no shorts anywhere then you can rule out wiring. But def check that fuel pump, see if anybody will let you test it on their car.....now find that person is gonna be hard.

I just remember my no start issue i was chasing down everything, coilpacks, sensors, battery, ECUs, wiring.......Spark plugs was the reason my car would not start. SPARK PLUGS. And i had plugs in my car that were no older than 3 months. So dont overlook anything because its newish

 

On the DS that's the electrical part for the fuel pump, think its a drop resistor.

On the PS that's the module for the stock remote. Unplug it and the remote won't work anymore, I know this from experience.

 

In doing some digging around I came across this picture which shows two circuit breakers in the area of the car where to pop sound was heard. I've never heard of anyone doing it, but is there any chance these breakers could need to be reset?

 

In my '99 manual, under Section TABLE OF CONTENTS, EC-523 TROUBLE DIAGNOSIS FOR NON-DETECTABLE ITEMS, starting on Page 524, sub-section Fuel Pump Control, there is a lot of information about the fuel pump operation including wiring diagrams and wire colors and testing procedures... Learn to love your voltmeter - I may have more digital voltmeters than screwdrivers.

For instance, in my car and the wiring going into the tank, my fuel pump GROUND is B (black) and the power wire is B/Y (black / yellow). My Walbro 450 E-85 pump is now controlled by a custom relay tapped into those wires, for an example.

 

^Yes the first thing i would honestly do is find out if the fuel pump is getting any power period. I would test that at the fuel pump. If its not getting power its a wiring, relay or fuse(i honestly doubt that), if it is getting power than the fuel pump is gone. To be honest i have never seen or had any wiring issues on any 4th gen i have had so thats why im skeptical, the only issue i had was blowing fuses which turned out to be a shorted taillight bulb. I honestly think from what im understanding the fuel pump has gone bad.

The multimeter is very easy to use. Just test it on your battery first test its voltage, do a connectivity test, and other simple things to get the hang of how to use it. Its very soon going to become invaluable to you when diagnosing problems especially with changing wiring, adding tuning devices etc.

 

Put everything back stock and see what happens. Swap the other engine back in with the harness and the sensors when you had the car running last.

 

God I sure hope you're right, but things are never that easy on my car. I tried playing around with the MM a bit last night but I'm not super comfortable with it yet. It's auto-ranging, and the numbers were all over the place, so I'm thinking I'm doing something wrong.

TurboA32- That's easier said than done my friend. The swap was done in a garage on a lift, and the car currently sits in my cold and snowy driveway. While your idea has some appeal, with my luck we would swap everything back over and the car still wouldn't start. I'm more inclined to throw on another harness, but even before doing that I need to do some more testing.

 

Yea I hear you but you have to go back to what you know works. I bet the car will start when back to the way you had it. I had a similar problem to what your having on someone else's car I know. The car had no spark or fuel so I sanded the mating surface of the bellhousing on both engine and transmission and sanded the battery ground that the battery cable goes to the engine and sanded the transmission ground and the injectors ground on the manifold. I used a wire wheel. Then spark came back but car wouldn't start on its own but started with starter fluid. So I swapped the fuel pressure regulator and same thing nothing. So I swapped the fuel pump because I didn't hear it priming and nothing again. So this pump wasn't priming either so i looked up a thread that i saw a post that "aackshun" had jumped the pump to get it started so I asked him how he did what he did then I did but had to jump the relay under the steering colum for the fuel pump. Then the car barley started then I went back in the tank and found a break in the line. Cut the line connected it back then it started with no problem.

 

Also a damaged timing ring on the flywheel will give you no spark too

 

At this point, still no spark and no fuel?

If so, asking the experts here, which problem do you attack 1st, or does it matter?

 

Thanks Turbo- We reused my old flywheel which was less than two years ago and the flywheel teeth were in perfect shape..

dwapenyi- Yup, no real progress has been made. No spark and the fuel pump still won't prime. I'm hoping to test the voltage to the FP today or tomorrow and then hard wire it if necessary. It's slow going when you (I) suck at using a multimeter.

 

So guys, what do you think the odds are that I can separate the trans far enough from the engine to sand down the surfaces without having to completely take it out of the car?

And I guess I should also ask if doing a ground test on the trans (which we have done and it passed) is sufficient to confirm it's grounded or if that test doesn't tell us what we're looking for.

 

No way Jose don't be lazy

 

You must sand it good not using sand paper use a wire wheel not just the mating surface but around it too including all the other ground wires too just to make sure everything is good