4th gen Maxima. Keyless entry alarm wont disengage.

[preludexl]

note: I'm not sure if I should post this here or the Nissan Online Mechanic subforum.

I'm stuck. My car 96 Maxima GLE wont start. I parked it overnight. The next day when I went to start my car, the ignition didnt start the car. I noticed there was no electrical activity. So I thought it was the battery, got a new one and replaced it. After I put in a new one, it still didnt crank, so I knew it wasnt the battery.

Anyway, I reset the alarm one time, last year, but I forgot how to do it again.

When I press the keylock and unlock, the locks make a lot of noise like is is trying to lock, but then it doesn't. The security light flashes intermittently, like it normally does when it is armed.

I do notice that if I remove the battery terminal overnight, the next day I can lock and unlock the car, but when I stick the key in, and turn, all the lights go out again (interior light, door light, and clock).

I tried going inside, locking the doors, pressing lock, then unlock, and then trying to start it, but it always triggers the kill switch somehow.

I tried pressing the unlock button, unlocking all the doors, and unlock the trunk, close the trunk, and then get into the car, close the door, and turn the engine on, but as soon as I turn the key to start, the kill switch turns on again. Then the alarm led flashes like it is armed again, my keyfob's lock/unlock features become inoperable again. The locks would just keep on clicking when I press on the lock or unlock buttons. I would have to manually unlock the car to let myself out....funny thing is that the horn doesnt sound like it usually does if I armed the car and then open the door or something.

I'm pretty sure it is a factory alarm since it is built into my keyfob and there are fuses labeled antitheft security on both fuse boxes in the engine. I called Nissan and the service tech told me that my car didnt come with a factory alarm, it must be aftermarket. I told him that wasnt the case, but he just wanted me to tow it into the shop.

I know I've disarmed it before but I dont know how to do it again.

I dont know if resetting the ECU would do anything but I dont want to do that again either.

Anyone have this happen, where the car's kill switch just activates itself one day out of the blue???

I just need to get the car running, even if the stupid alarm is disabled. Will pulling the fuse do it, which one is it? I only saw one fuse box in the engine compartment on the driver's side. I pulled the antitheft relay, on the passenger side of the engine compartment, but the alarm was still armed....the security light still blinked. If I am desperate enough, will car alarm installers be able to do it or do I need to tow it into the stealership after all?

Modified by preludexl at 4:47 PM 12/11/2007
Modified by preludexl at 5:30 PM 12/11/2007

[the converted]

Can you post a picture of your security light?

[preludexl]

i will post pics tomorrow as soon as i can.

[the converted]

Throw in one with the remote too if you can.

[preludexl]

My keyfob. A little worn but works. Big gray one is lock. lower left is unlock. Looks factory to me. driver's side panel below hood release. front view sideview top view top view topview wires seem to lead to ECU.

[the converted]

Thats an aftermarket system that is designed to integrate with the factory keyless entry. I'm not sure how adept you are with wiring and all that fun stuff but I'm going to say your best bet is probably to take it to a shop and have them remove that and possibly reinstall a new system if you have need for an alarm.

[preludexl]

thanks "the converted".

i'm not too bad at wiring. i'm more a computer guy than car guy but i can follow diagrams and directions fairly well. i could try to locate the alarm brain and yank it out, but not sure which wires i need to splice back.

no way i can shock that POS back into shape??? i'm not sure that's the alarm in my pics. car has an old car phone installed too.

would removing the alarm fix the problem or do i still have to do something else?
Modified by preludexl at 3:37 PM 12/12/2007

[the converted]

Actually that changes things a bit. I wouldn't be to surprised if those wires go to the cell phone. Your problem with the car starting might actually be a bad ignition at the steering column. I had assumed that it was a aftermarket alarm after I saw those wires.

[preludexl]

Well I know it is the alarm because the door control panel's lock/unlock doesnt work. When I press lock/unlock on it, I just hear a lot of clicking, like it's being overridden, and the LED flashing fast. If it's just the ignition column, then the lights (headlights and radio should still work) right? Power is cut off, that's for sure.

Dont all alarms come with an override switch or something? Cant I just stick the key into ACC, look for the hidden override (valet?) switch, and press it? My roommate told me that's what I need to do to reset it. I dont know. It is hidden pretty well if there is a switch. I didnt see it anywhere under the steering column, I didnt look very hard or anything but they usually dont hide the reset switch that well, do they?

[the converted]

I wish I was able to take a look at this because I'm starting to think that there are a few different problems going on at once. I don't know if there is anyone out there that you would call a "good" stereo installer but I might try to talk to one of them, throw around a few theories, and see if they would take a look and see if they can figure it out.

[preludexl]

Thank you for taking the time to look anyway. I will probably have to have it looked by an installer guy. I do know stereo guys who can fix and build their own cars pretty much but they dont know alarms.

[the converted]

Yeah I hope you can find a good one. When I was doing this for a living I would have looked at it and fixed it if I could (I'd at least be able to tell you what was wrong if I couldn't) You are probably looking at about $150 or so if they can fix it.

[preludexl]

Well if I had the money I would pay for it. School is on break and I'm still in college. A buck fifty is a lot, considering I only spend about $40/week on food. :p

Between studying for my chem finals and working on this stupid alarm, it wasted a lot of time I prob could've spent cramming.

But I traced the wires that were shown. They all go to the built in car phone. It's an audiovox brand. There is also a orange and red wire spliced into the driver's side fuse box. When I took one off, the security alarm went out (no more blinking LED) plus all power was cut (door light was off). Still couldnt start the car. So I am guessing the audiovox is also a car alarm??????? VEry confusing to me.

I thought maybe if I disconnected one of the wires, it would bypass the alarm.

What would happen if I spliced the orange and red wire together directly?

p.s. I managed to reprogram my keyfob after removing the orange wire and then replacing it back. I guess maybe that reset something.

[preludexl]

Nevermind, I give up. I'm whooped. Those wires are only for the car phone. After removing them both, and reconnecting the battery. The secuity LED came back and the car locks itself out as usual.

The only other thing I was going to do was reset the ECU. Not sure what good that will do though. I figure if it is a factory alarm, maybe resetting that will reset the alarm as well.

[the converted]

Do you have a multi meter? If you do I think you should drop the dash and check the ignition wires by the switch and see what you have for power. If your going to do this let me know and I'll tell you what wires should do what.

[the converted]

Actually try opening your trunk with the key and then starting your car and see what happens.

[preludexl]

do you think maybe it is the starter? i'm not sure how the starter can keep my car from unlocking/locking my doors. But the autozone guy said it might be the starter.

[the converted]

I'm surprised that half of the people that work at "the zone" can turn on the computer that gets them part numbers. Did you try the unlocking the trunk with the key yet? Let me know.

[preludexl]

Oh yes, I unlocked, left it open, unlocked my doors, and then tried turning the engine on. I dont know what the alarm is doing. Did I tell you that the horn never sounds? It's just the LEDs flashing. The horn works. I honked it manually.

The door control panel does let me lock my doors, it just wont let me unlock them. I've unplugged the trunk relay too to rule out that maybe a bad connection was shorting something.

Maybe I'll post a video on Youtube.

[preludexl]

paying a guy $50 to diagnose what the problem is.

[preludexl]

Theconverted:

Well something odd happened today. I got full control of my door control panel and I can lock and unlock my doors, turn on my headlights, and even unlock the trunk. Last things I did was play around with the trunk latch (there is some connections there for whatever reason) But I dont think that was the reason.

I also took some advice and took the neg terminal off the battery, and touched it to the positive terminal. Then left it off the battery for a good 30 minutes, went back, plugged in the neg terminal. Didnt see the LED blinking anymore, turned on the headlights, they came on. Stuck my key in and reprogrammed it. It worked b/c I can see the hazard lights flash.

I then stuck the key to On, rolled my windows back up finally, and tested he locking and unlocking. They work. I dont dare try to try to start the engine. It'll probably cut off the electricity, trip something and then the door controls become unresponsive again.

The guy who was supposed to come and troubleshoot for electrical problems cancelled until tomorrow.

I wanted to show him that it is the security alarm. I'm going to show him how all the locks work, headlights work, but as soon as I start, it locksdown.

[the converted]

Your car makes no sense to me. I wish I was in your area these are the kind of things that I hate and just have to know why it's doing what it is at the same time. Hope he's got some experience because this is something that will test even the best people.

[preludexl]

The guy flaked on me 2 days in a row. First day he ran out of time, which is understandable since he said he would swing by after 5pm which is pretty dark in winter. Today no phone call at all even though he said he'll show up around noon and call beforehand.

Not sure if I can even depend on a guy like that. But $50 for a diagnosis is decent I guess.

Man, I hope it doesnt take a great car guy to find the problem, I dont think most are that good.

[preludexl]

All fixed. I think I am going to kick myself. The leads were corroded inside and not enough power was going in to turn the starter. Beats me why the door locks were nonfunctioning etc. Did cost me $50 though.

But I do appreciate you spending all this time for the concern and advice. merry christmas.

[the converted]

Awesome! You wouldn't elive how many times the little stuff is what bites you in the ***. Hope you have an awesome Christmas with a running max.