Hello, I am not very car savvy at all and this was the first website when I googled my issue. I have a 2010 maxima sv, 87k miles and doesn't get driven a whole lot. Around 18 months ago it wouldn't start and the local dealer replaced the wiring harness, insurance covered it and it was all good for about a year. Six months ago it wouldn't start again, turns out the alternator killed the battery so replaced both at the Nissan dealer and was fine until this evening. Was on my way to the movies and going about 45mph, all of a sudden speed starts dropping and steering wheel almost locks up? I've driven a car with manual steering before and this was not that. The radio stayed on and every single light imaginable turned on on the dash. Was able to slightly turn it up a ramp into a local mcdonalds and was able to move it a little by standing outside the door and pushing with my shoulder on the door frame into a parking spot. This was my dads pride and joy(who was a car guy) and when he passed I took it over with sort of a nostalgia thing I suppose. It's been quite a headache the last 2 years and I'm wondering what yall think the issue might be? I had it towed back to the dealer a little while ago and walked home. Had relatively fresh oil, and gas tank was 80%. Thanks in advance to anyone who has any insight.

 

First off, comdolences on your loss.

Hard to say, what went wrong but it could be everythimg from a fuel.pump to alternator. Did you try to start it? What happened you did?
Give us a bit more data and someone might be able to help.

 

Hi, thank you. Once I got it pushed out of the way and into a parking spot and tried turning it back on, all the electronics came back on, radio, dash lights, headlights etc. But it didn't even try to turn over. Holding down the push start etc did nothing to make the engine react at all is the best way I can describe it.

 

My guess could be something electrical, maybe that alternator went bad. It isn't unheard of for a recently replaced alternator to fail prematurely. Even if the dealer replaced the alternator recently, they may of used their value advantage line which imo isn't that reliable on quality, and isn't comparable to their OEM. Whenever I order parts for my car through the dealer I request their Genuine OEM part and not the value advantage line they offer. I would have them check that alternator. Please let us know how you make out. User1 may be able to give you his thoughts on this when he comes through the forums. He's another reliable source around here.

 

Yea so you were spot on. Somehow in the 2 months since it was last at the shop squirrels destroyed the wiring harness which in turn ruined the ecm and battery is what they're telling me. I guess the non dealer shop I used between the first and most recent visit for the alternator installed a belt/band backwards or something and also used a cheap battery which also died. So they're saying its around 2k for a new ecm, plus 600 for fixing the harness, which if it can't be fixed is 1200 for a new one of those as well. He offered a used ecm for 150 plus labor but said they won't guarantee it past 90 days. Add in the tow and other general repairs and it's looking like this will be north of 4 grand for all new parts... Is that worth fixing? I'm a sucker for the nostalgia of the car but wondering if I should just ask if they would buy it or something. Wasn't prepared for this potential expense. I guess the silver lining is that the dealer battery that died initially had a fault and they're giving me a new battery for free?