No Start. No Crank.
Corrections attempted:
1. Battery checks good.
2. Checked and cleaned battery terminals. All lights, radio, etc. work.
3. Replaced starter.
4. Have attempted to start with shift level in “Park” and “Neutral”.
5. Checked circuit breakers. All were good.
Not sure where the starter relay is on this vehicle. But checked the under hood relays, all seemed good.
Check for battery voltage at the “S” terminal on the starter while someone else holds the ignition key in the “START” position. If you see battery voltage, check for good ground. if you have this, I would guess the battery is shot.
How did you test the battery? Did you use a load tester?
If you do not see battery voltage at the “S” terminal, you will need to trace back.
The ignition switch is provided with power from the Large 40 amp fuse. Once the ignition switch is placed in the “START” position, battery voltage from the 40 amp fuse is sent on the BLK/YEL wire to the inhibitor relay(which only allows the voltage to pass if the nuetral switch sees it is in park or neutral), from there the voltage goes to the “S” terminal on the starter on the BLK/WHIT wire.
If the vehicle is equipped with anti-theft, check Fuse #25(10 amp) as it provides voltage to the Theft warning relay and then to the inhibitor relay. So if you are not seeing a constant voltage at the inhibitor relay it may be from the Fuse#25 or the theft relay.
Thank you for the quick and detailed response. It made steps very easy to follow. Here are my findings:
1. No voltage at “S’ terminal.
2. Question regarding 40 amp fuse. Should there be a reading here with the ignition switch off. I get a 12v reading on the outward pin (closest to left fender), but nothing on the inward pin (pin closest to engine). However, the readings are the same with ignition switch “Off” or “Start”. Resistance checked good on the fuse.
3. FYI. The battery is new. But for certainty, a week days ago, I took it to Advance Auto, and it checked good.
4. Will check the inhibitor relay and neutral switch after work today.
Regarding the fuse. If you see battery voltage on one side but not the other, the fuse is bad. I know you said you check the resistance and of course there should be none, but there may be a hair line crack in the fuse. Again, you should see the same voltage on both sides of the fuse. The 40 amp fuse should be HOT at all times.
For your convenience here is the Wiring Diagram:
1999 Nissan Altima Starting Wiring Diagram
If this was useful, Make a Donation
I think the part that failed is the Neutral Safety Switch. Everything else seems to read out as OK. None available in my area right now. Have ordered, will arrive tomorrow. I will get back to you once I have installed it.
My explanation regarding the 40 amp fuse was poor. The pins I was talking of, are within the slot where the fuse is installed. I had to pull the fuse to get readings.
Changing the NSS did not solve the problem. I am revisiting the inhibit relay. I’ll toss you these readings in case they reveal something: 1) There is continuity between pin 1 and pins 2, 3, 4, and 7, but not 6. With the ignition switch on, there is voltage at pins 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 but not 6.
These readings are of pins in the relay box [those the relay plugs into], not those on the relay itself.
This vehicle was given to me, so I do not have any history of how it ran before this problem. The previous owner indicated, it was running fine. He went on vacation for six weeks when he returned, it would not start. Also this vehicle has had a remote start installed. From paperwork, looks like it was installed over ten years ago.
Since you are not seeing voltage at pin 6 then you have been able to narrow down the issue to being between that pin#6 and fuse G.
So with the fuse plugged in you should be able to check for power on both sides of the fuse by touching the top corner pins. You should see voltage on both sides if the fuse is good. If you do see voltage on both sides, then you are left to trace between there and the the #6 pin. Check the wiring and the ignition switch.
To isolate the circuit, remove the fuse and the relay and check for continuity between the 2 locations when the key is held in the start position.
Not sure, what’s the nomenclature for Fuse G?
The ignition switch power fuse as labelled as “Fuse G” on the wiring diagram provided.
Thank you…little bit of a brain drop on fuse G question.
Fuse G checked good. I also get voltage up through the ignition switch, as well as continuity through the ignition cable. After the ignition cable, running into the remote start bundles [after market, previous owner had installed some 10 years ago]. So it seems the problem is somewhere between the remote start bundle and pin 6.
The remote start bundle is quite a grouping of spliced wires. For instance, the yellow black wire coming from ignition gets spliced to two other different colored wires. I thinking it may be better to remove the remote start system and reset the wiring to original design in an attempt to get voltage to pin 6.
Any thoughts as to whether this is a bad or good idea?
I think this is a good idea. A remote start is useless if it won’t start at all.
Just wanted to let you know I am still at it. Removed the remote start and associated wiring. Still no continuity after ignition cable. Do you know if that wire is continuous from the ignition cable to pin 6. Thinking to splice in a wire between the ignition cable and pin 6. If it starts, then make the spliced in wire permanent in the wire bundle.
That did it. Replaced the wire from the ignition cable to pin 6. Started right up. Thank you so, much. No way I could have done this without your coaching. 🙂
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