Ok, I have searched for about an hour on here and Maxima.org..the only two maxima forums I know, but to no avail.. I have a 1998 Maxima and I was going to unlock the doors when I walked outside today and hit the panic button. I just got the car yesterday and I havent pushed it yet, just wanted to make sure everything on the car works. I push the panic button, nothing, hold it in, nothing. I figure something it messed up, I push the unlock button, dome light comes on, doors unlock like normal. As soon as I get in the car and turn the ignition switch on the horn comes on...not the normal *beep**beep**beep* but one long blast...and it wont stop, I start the car, it stops for about 2 seconds then continues. I take the keys out, push the panic button again, hold it in, close all doors, lock with remote, lock and unlock with the key in the driver door. Finally I open the hood and while the hood is open I start the car again and it stops. I go outside to close the hood and as soon as it closes, it starts again. I open the hood again, start the engine, horn stops then starts again, I turn it off, start it again then it stops. I go back up and close the hood again and it stays off and I drove home.I am not sure how that damn button is supposed to work but on any other car (including Nissans) you push once, alarm starts, push again, it stops. I think something may be wrong with a sensor or something but I am not sure. Looking for advice and the car did not come with an owners manual.Thanks to anyone who helps

Update: When I went to start it this morning, after the engine started, the horn started again, I tried everything again, the only thing that would work was to pop the hood and start then engine, turn it off, start, off, start, off, then finally one time I started it and the horn stopped. For the time being I am just going to unplug the horn fuse. I posted this in the Elec/Stereo/Security forum but it gets no traffic so hopefully someone here can help me. Thanks!

Sounds like there may be an issue with the sensor on the hood latch that tells the alarm system if the hood is closed.

Kinda what I was thinking too. Would that make the panic button not work, then set the alarm off when the engine is running though? Any quick way you know of to pull it off and test it?

edit: I just got a minute and went out and unplugged the horn. When I closed the door and hit the lock button on the remote the secutiry light was flashing(hood was still up), Closed the hood and the light was steady on(the 30 sec arm period). So I guess that means the hood sensor is working. Heh, more suggestions?
Modified by Maverick7687 at 11:33 AM 12/6/2005

You may try reprogramming the remote and see if that helps.zerothread?id=33952

Reprogramed remote... no dice...Also isnt the radio not working a common problem for the 4gens? Mine just kinda comes on sometimes then will go back off, I think it is a wire loose or something but I dont want to have to take the whole radio and stuff out to get to it.

Yes, the Bose can be problematic.

It's not Bose, surprisingly enough. I tried to get the dash out last night but it was about 28 degrees outside and dard so I didnt want to break anything. I will check it out one day when it is warm. So.. 3 day old car, Problems: Buggy alarm, cyl 1 misfire, and broken clock. For some reason I still feel that I got a good deal seeing as these are all small things. Hopefully!

Mav

On my car, when I hit the panic button and set off the alarm, I have to hit the unlock (or maybe it's lock? Eh, pretty sure it's unlock, I'll try it today) to turn it off. It's been like that on every other Nissan/Infiniti product I've used as well.

Don't know if that helps any though.

I agree, seems like something in the hood pin switch is messed up.

Have you tried posting on the org yet? I'm sure someone's dealt with it at some point there.

Havent posted on the org yet..just got the initial 15 posts. I will post on there today.

Unlock button will unlock the doors but still will not turn the alarm off.

Try disconnecting the hood switch to see if that is the problem. The switch should be connected via a Y/B wire.

In a normal situation, simply putting the key into the ignition should shut off the alarm. It is design this way just in case someone has it armed and their remote is not working properly. If this is not shutting off the alarm, then you have some other problem.

Now, When the horn is going off, is it always 1 long blast and are the flashers blinking? The normal alarm should pulse the horn and cause the flashers to flash. If the horn is simply going off and the blinkers are not flashing, then I doubt it is the alarm causing the problem, but may be a stuck horn button on the steering wheel.

I don't believe the lights were flashing..and the horn is one long blast... not pulsing but it only did it when I started the engine. Then when I would turn the motor off, then start it back it would stop for 2-3 seconds, then start again.I used the horn since then (before I unplugged it) and it isnt getting stuck or anything. Its not a huge problem, it just gets annoying because I would like to have the functionality of the horn as well as the alarm.

Mav

Here is the diagram:



To test the hood switch, use a multimeter and test pins 1-2. With switch pushed should not show continuity, released should. It if doesn't, replace the switch

Now, I doubt you are going to find anything wrong with the switch. If the horn is being triggered via the alarm system, it will beep intermittantly instead of one long blast. I would look at horn relay E55 or the two joint connectors. This could be a relay problem or a short somewhere. E55 is located on the drivers side front section as seen in the second diagram below.

So your thinking it is just coinsidence(sp?) That this started happening after I pushed the "Panic" button on the remote? I will go buy a cheap multimeter ****Mart today and test it. Any suggestions on testing the horn relay?

Thanks for all your help by the way.Tim

I'm not sure if it is coincidence at this point or not. It seems the issue may not be caused by the security system because the horn is not acting like it. The lights should flash and the horn should beep instead of stay on. That's why I am thinking it may be wiring or short of some sort. To validate, test the hood swithch to make sure it works OK and test the horn relay.

To test the relay, pin 2 (G/B) should be battery + (per diagrams). Pin 1 goes into the passenger compartment and pin 3 goes to the horn joint connector. Pin 3 should only be hot when the horn button on the steering wheel is pressed.

From looking at the diagrams, there seems to be 3 horns (I've never owned a 4th gen, so I'm going by what I see). Two up front and one on the passenger side. The front two horns should be connected through to the steering wheel and the passenger side horn goes to the security system. Which horn(s) are going off? The main horns or the security horn?

I could only find one horn up front, right under the hood latch, unless there is another one somewhere. Also, even when I push the panic button on the remote the lights still dont flash. Maybe its a bad button in the remote? But that horn thing is still strange.... I just went to take a look, I saw the "Theft Warning horn" and it has never made a sound.. Unless it was the one going off and I unplugged the wrong one but it still hasnt done it again.. Not sure where I was going with this but I will test both horns and the relay and hood sensor later today.

Mav

Yeah, test the horns and the connections. Hook it all up and see if you are still having a problem and which horn is going off. We can start backtracking from there.