N/A Nissan possible NATS triggered

jsstevens

jsstevens

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jsstevens
I've searched high and low on the internet for answers to this question. And I'm posting this here because while I found answers, that's the problem, I found a plethora of purported answers, but haven't yet been successful.

My son has a 2004 Nissan 350Z. Last weekend I helped him replace the valve covers, spark plugs and spark plug "wires" (actually just short, insulated connectors from the coils to the plugs). Early in the process we disconnected the battery to avoid issues with the computer. When we reassembled the car, it turns over nicely, but won't fire. It seems to be no fuel. (Initial crank fired a couple of times, but never started and that was the last time it fired). It's all computer controlled spark, fuel injection, etc. and based on our research it seems to be the 24 hours plus may have convinced the Nissan Anti Theft System (NATS) to trigger. It (strangely enough) allows the car to turn over, but shuts the fuel off.

Online I found at least 3 different ways to reset this from holding the door lock in the unlock position for 30 seconds to repeated switching of the ignition key from lock to on lock, etc. I also found a post that claims only the dealer can reset this.

Does anybody have any experience with this?

John
 
nope, but I have a completely unrelated NISSAN gripe that has nothing to do with your situation, so I'll obviously share it here.

they have another anti theft mechanism, the steering wheel locking doohickey that had a recall that ended several years before I ran into the issue. they refused to fix it or reduce the price or anything for me, so I had to do it myself. fargin PITA and annoying. first time it happened was when I brought the car in for inspection...the mechanic came in and said "how do you start your car?" I was like duh, you push the button that says 'start'. well, that didn't work. anyways, finally got it fixed, no thanks to nissan.
 
You pulled stuff apart and put it back together, I would confirm that this didn't cause your issue before you start looking elsewhere. You could have gotten junk parts, especially if you bought off of Amazon. If it ran with the old parts, I'd put them back in, if after some basic diagnosis you can't figure it out. If it runs then you have your answer. Make sure you put all the parts in for the new wires. That happens.
 
PaulS said:
Lots of Chinese knock off cheap counterfeit
car parts on Amazon and ebay. Better to go to your local car parts store.....usually.
Click to expand...

if you buy an oem part, it's an oem part, no?
 
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OEM parts in the case. Other than a gasket (not sure how that could be causing this
 
eman1200 said:
if you buy an oem part, it's an oem part, no?
Click to expand...
There are unsavory characters that knock of stuff and sell it as OEM. It's very difficult to discern what is real and what is fake. I wouldn't trust Amazon for car parts. Not worth the aggravation for me.

**** critical car parts, brakes, calipers, sensor, plug wires etc. Things like tail light lenses and other stuff like that, I've had good luck.
 
jsstevens said:
OEM parts in the case. Other than a gasket (not sure how that could be causing this
Click to expand...

The wires, I'd pull a plug, hook it all up, have someone crank it and make sure it's firing. Start with what you changed. Also while valve covers and gaskets shouldn't cause this, removing and replacing them could have disconnected something, or broken something. Check any connectors or wires near by. For the theft system, you can go to places to rent a repair manual for a day. It's usually relatively cheap, it will have info on the various systems that may be an issue and how to check them. An OBD tester might help, an OEM tester would really help, but those are usually big bucks. Start with what you messed with first and work from there.
 
It may be different on the 350Z, but when I had my '90 300ZX the method was to close the hood, hatch, and doors, then lock the driver's side door with the key. Watch the security light on the dash until it goes off, then unlock the door with the key and the anti-theft device should be reset. IIRC, there was a relay in the system that was located in the LF wheel well and I had to replace it once.
 
I only ever owned one Nissan, a small truck from yesteryear. It was stone simple, rock solid and ran with no problems for 14 years, until I gave it to charity. Wasn't driving it enough to keep it from developing squawks. While I'd buy another Nissan in a heartbeat I disdain all the electronic gizmos in the cars now that don't make them go faster or do anything better but increase the price of the car and can break and cost you money. I just test rode a bike with ABS and traction control and some other stuff I neither wanted nor needed. I have to admit, the quick shifter was really cool.
 
Assuming the integrity of the repair is good, I’d probably try to find a cooperative Nissan dealer who could give you some insight (over the phone). A 350Z enthusiast forum might also work. A scan tool might give some insight, but you might need one which can look beyond the generic OBD system.

I had a 2006 Nissan Frontier which experienced a sudden transmission failure at 140k miles. Fortunately, the failure occurred in my driveway. I was basically forced to have the Nissan dealer replace it because while third-parties could replace or rebuild the mechanics, Nissan used a proprietary transmission controller which was both integral to the transmission and which only Nissan dealers had the equipment and data to program. It would have cost as much or more to go third-party, as a tow and expense for Nissan to program the controller would still be required. Fortunately, with some arm-twisting, the local dealer provided a reasonable price to do the work, and the truck otherwise had a bit of life left in it.

I’ve replaced plugs and done other work on both the Frontier and a 2010 Murano (which we still own) without any operational issues.
 
BTW - some forums have rules prohibiting the discussion of vehicle security systems as they don’t want to take the chance of helping a car thief.
 
Half Fast said:
BTW - some forums have rules prohibiting the discussion of vehicle security systems as they don’t want to take the chance of helping a car thief.
Click to expand...

Good point, and if that’s the problem then it may be true that only the dealer can reset.
 
He found it this morning. He'd left a ground wire loose on the front of the engine. (I guess I'd have to say "we" left it loose but he acknowledged that he'd taken it loose.) As soon as he attached it, it started right up and ran fine.
 
And a follow up. He had a small oil leak so he pulled one of the coveres again to fix the gasket. While he was reassembling, he carefully cleaned the ground wire mentioned above. Reattached everything (as far as he can see) and same symptom: turns over but doesn't fire. :(:mad:
 
Do you have an OBD-II scan tool? Maybe there are codes, maybe if the car/scanner support it you can view live data. My WAG is something like the computer not getting a good signal from the crankshaft position sensor. Although could just as easily be any broken wire or bad connection somewhere. Too many possibilities, going to have to start narrowing it down systematically.
 
cowman said:
Do you have an OBD-II scan tool? Maybe there are codes, maybe if the car/scanner support it you can view live data. My WAG is something like the computer not getting a good signal from the crankshaft position sensor. Although could just as easily be any broken wire or bad connection somewhere. Too many possibilities, going to have to start narrowing it down systematically.
Click to expand...
He does, but the Nissan 350Z 2004 will not pass codes to the ODB II interface if there are a wide array of things wrong. It (the ODB II interface) is an add on module to the native Nissan computer which has its own proprietary set of codes and readers ($50/month subscription, thanks Nissan). He can get the dash lights to blink the native code by doing some switching on/off the ignition and playing with the pedals. When it did this before (see above in the thread) there was no code.
 
Rule number 1. ALWAYS back feed power to every modern car before disconnecting the battery.
The how on this will vary from car to car, but I use an old cigarette adapter and a lithium battery to keep the computer alive.
 
So the end to the saga is this: He found another wire loose (used correctly!) on the back of the engine from when he removed and replaced the valve cover gasket to fix a leak. Then the car had a dead (and old) battery so he bought a new one. Car clicked but did not turn over. I went over to help troubleshoot. We had voltage at the starter and the solenoid (attached to the starter) clicked but the starter did not spin. Removed, tested at Autozone: bad starter. Replaced and car fired right up. Still leaking oil. :( Two days, a broken bolt and some creative machining, he now has a drivable car again.

NATS was never involved.
 
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