So my car is in the shop getting a wrap done and they seem to have tripped some sort of immobilizer. The headlights will work, the door locks will work when I put the key in the door. However the dash does not light up, when I get in the car the LCD does not show an icon for pressing the brake pedal, the start button does not show any lights and I cannot put the car into ACC mode.

The only light on the dash that is on is the security light that is flashing red. It looks the same as when the car is parked and locked. When I bought the car the dealer also installed a Karr security system. Never got any special remotes or anything for that though. The light for that is flash green like it always has been and is located under the steering wheel kinda by the hood release lever.

All fuses check out good. The batter is about 6 months old and good. The alternator is about 2 months old and good. Key fob batteries were changed at the beginning of the year. Both key fobs will not start the car.

I looked up a bunch of stuff for how to reset the immobilizer but everything pretty much requires the car going into acc or on mode. Which I cannot do as the car will not go into any other mode.

Does anyone know if this is indeed the immobilizer system or the karr system? And how to go about fixing this to start the car?

Hard to diagnose from here and I don't know if these cars have a NATS system on them (immobilizer), but in the 4th Gen Maxima world (95-99), the NATS was a somewhat common issue. I had my NATS go bad and my key lost its ability to start the car. I was able to start it for a second using starting fluid, but that won't help you since you can't get it to crank. I ended up towing it to Nissan and they reprogrammed it for $84...

You may need to take it to your local dealer and have the CONSULT run on it after they are done wrapping it. Or have that shop do it (pay for it).

There's probably a malfunction in the push-button ignition switch or its circuit. The intelligent key unit is also a suspect.

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 3:22 pm

I looked up a bunch of stuff for how to reset the immobilizer but everything pretty much requires the car going into acc or on mode. Which I cannot do as the car will not go into any other mode.

If there's been a loss of memory, resetting the immobilizer is not a bad idea. With a capable key programmer, the process starts with what is called steering lock release. You don't need the acc mode (ignition power source) to do this so long as the intelligent key unit is not faulty.

Is your steering wheel stuck in the lock position?

For models equipped with the Intelligent key system and NVIS/IVIS, an electrically controlled steering lock mechanism is adopted on the key cylinder. For this reason, if the battery is disconnected or if the battery is discharged, the steering wheel will lock and steering wheel rotation will become impossible.

There is a specific procedure to follow to avoid this before doing repair work, but it sounds like that was missed.

To get the key to turn to the ACC position you'll need to unlock the steering wheel. To unlock your steering wheel, use your left hand to wiggle the steering wheel left and right with significant force. At the same time, use your right hand to turn the ignition key from the LOCK position to the ACC (accessory) or START position.

These are generic alarm immobilizer reset procedures and they apply to most vehicles.

Drivers Door Key Reset
Exit the car with all doors closed and the windows rolled up. Also close and any rear doors such as the trunk, rear hatch and front hood. Lock the car using the drivers side lock and walk away from the car at least ten feet. Wait for fifteen minutes and unlock the door, this should reset the security system.

Activate the Key Fob
Many manufactures will not allow the car to start when the panic button has been pushed. Hold down the panic button for five seconds to reset the immobilizer. Next, push the lock button two times and wait ten feet away from the car for ten minutes. Then hit the unlock button on the fob twice this should deactivate the security system which should be accompanied by exterior lights flashing or an audible horn beep.

Each of these procedures should be followed by the cancellation of the security light. If this light is blinking while you are trying to crank and start the engine the system is not reset.

Thank you for the replies, everyone. An update to the situation:
The car was left to sit with the battery disconnected overnight. Yesterday afternoon the shop hooked the battery up again and this time the car started fine! It is acting like there was no issues and never a problem. So the situation is sort of solved. I am now worried about something going bad like the BCM or some other part of the ignition system though. When this issue first started the shop had the battery disconnected for a while and then tried hooking it up to see if things worked, as well as leaving the battery disconnected for an hour and then hooking it up and trying again. During those times the car was still dead. So either something in the car is going bad, or if it was indeed an immobilizer system then it seems that leaving the battery unplugged for about 24 hours reset things.


@Rogue One, Yes the steering wheel is/was locked during this issue. Brake pedal also locked.
I have changed my car battery out plenty of times over the years and never encountered this before. What is the procedure that is supposed to be followed when disconnecting the battery to keep this from happening?

I tried the other things you suggested in the quotes. Either I wasnt using enough force on the steering wheel, or that simply wasnt working because the ignition button seemingly had no power. That advice seems like it would work with a physical key that can be inserted and turned though.
I also couldn't try the second quote, because the windows would only roll down and would not roll up. I tried doing it while the windows were down but the panic button didnt do anything like making the horn and lights go off. Lock and unlock buttons on the fob do nothing as well, only physical key in the door with lock or unlock all the doors electronically. This would make me think it is something to do with the key or the receiver for the keys, but with power out to the whole dash and the steering wheel and brake pedal locked it seems more like the whole unit that controls the dash, as well as the power to the key receiver, is gone.


I did look up some info on KARR security systems, and while information is conflicting it does seem to hook into the BCM. So it is looking a lot like the karr system immobilizer was tripped and that is cutting power to the whole BCM and key receiver.




So anyway, as of yesterday afternoon things seem ok. I pick up the car today and plan on taking it to the dealership. I doubt they will find anything given that it seems to run fine now, or they will just tell me a bunch of expensive stuff needs replacing without knowing for sure. lol. But I feel better playing it safe and at least paying for a diagnosis and tech to look things over and I need my transmission oil flushed anyway so Ill do that at the same time.
Ill update again if the dealership does find anything

Rogue One wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 24, 2020 8:03 am

m35.jpg

This thread is what I believe to be my issue. Steering wheel was locked when I disconnected the battery. This procedure describes using the mechanical key to turn to acc. How is this accomplished? I wasn't aware this was possible. I'm gonna take another look at the ignition switch.

If I can't figure this out I'll disconnect the battery overnight.

eQlipse wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:54 pm

Rogue One wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 24, 2020 8:03 am

m35.jpg

This thread is what I believe to be my issue. Steering wheel was locked when I disconnected the battery. This procedure describes using the mechanical key to turn to acc. How is this accomplished? I wasn't aware this was possible. I'm gonna take another look at the ignition switch.

If I can't figure this out I'll disconnect the battery overnight.

I'd rather you left the ignition switch alone. The procedure is for repairs requiring that the steering lock is released. Just go ahead and disconnect the battery all night.

Left battery disconnected. That did not work. Gonna go with locksmith to reprogram. Thanks for the help.

Interesting article on this topic - Hopefully it'll help someone else down the road!

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/ ... ealership/

I am having a problem with my 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid. I had programmed the keys and it was working except the BCM was not programmed for my CVT. I was trying to get it to program and somehow possibly erased the keys. Now it does not do anything. I was trying to fix it and turned the key in the drivers door to unlock for 30 seconds and hit the start button. The windows opened and will not close, nothing else works. Where can I find out how to turn on the BCM on the bench so I can program the keys and other parameters into it?

There's no good way to "bench" an I-key BCM because the IMMU (doghouse), ESCL (steering lock), and center NATS antenna all need to be online in order for keys to program. Any or all of those being disconnected will cause the programming process to stall and the car will remain "dead" until it's resolved. I'm not sure what you mean by the BCM and CVT not being programmed for one another, the CVT has nothing to do with NATS or the registration process except that it needs to read P or N during the process and the detente switch in the shifter knob needs to be inactive.

Since all the devices were working, and I supposedly tested the steering lock by substituting a "steering lock tester" I still can't see what I am having a problem with. I never get to turn the ignition to "on". When it asks to turn on ignition in the procedure, it doesn't turn on. I was trying to fix the problem with the wrong transmission being selected when the keys got erased or some other thing happened, now I have two BCM's that refuse to allow the ignition to be turned on. I now can't open or close the windows after they opened while I was pushing the buttons on the fob. This probably doesn't have anything to do with the first problem. I think somehow the IMMO locked me out and don't know what to do next. I can program the ECM on the bench, but don't know the connections for the CPU in the BCM or possibly how to connect from the sockets. Although I have the specs for the CPU. Its a freescale.

The ECM won't be the problem, the BCM has to wake it up for anything to happen. I don't think the IMMU (doghouse) can be the problem because it never would have reached program mode in the first place. From the sound of things, most likely your main I-key antenna (underneath the front of the console) is out of action and the BCM is "stalled" with the keys erased but noplace to go. If the BCM will communicate then you need to run an "Inside Antenna Diagnostic" and see if the main antenna is open. If it won't communicate then something more serious is probably going on, maybe a power issue. The BCM and IPDM should both be alive on CAN at all times, even with the car shut off.

I think the BCM and IPDM are active. I have a pushbutton start so no physical key to start. when I put the key fob in the slot it knows the key is there but does not recognize it , likely because I erased all the keys. It might , but should not need the antenna to work. I will try to run diag.

The main antenna must work or the process will stall. Period, full stop.

What key programming tool are you using? Does it request for the PIN code? Did you begin the procedure with the steering lock release? Check too for the steering lock fuse (10a) in the IPDM box. Yes, run a diag of the BCM.

Of course I tried all these things. still no luck.

tedbmoss wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 08, 2023 6:54 am

Of course I tried all these things. still no luck.

Are you sure it is an immobilizer that is tripped and not some other issue with the car making it not start?

Do you have the flashing security light on your dash even after you unlock the doors?

I'm having the same issue. Noticed some corrosion on the battery terminal. Disconnected the battery and purchased a new one. Now the car is dead. Key fob doesn't work, nothing on the dash. It's like the key fob doesnt exist. Tried every "trick" on the internet I could find. One of those said tricks caused all of my windows to go down and I can't get them back up. Never had any problems with this car until I did what I thought was preventive maintenance by replacing the battery before it left me stranded. If any of you can help or know a solution please tell me! Really don't wanna get raped by the dealership. The security light on the dash is just flashing away at me, and that's not the only red I'm seeing with this.

A little over a year later I had this problem:
post6822603.html#p6822603

Sounds similar to your issue, and honestly the issue I posted about in this thread was probably it starting to go bad.

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 07, 2023 9:45 pm

A little over a year later I had this problem:
post6822603.html#p6822603

Sounds similar to your issue, and honestly the issue I posted about in this thread was probably it starting to go bad.

That makes sense seeing how even with the key in the slot the orange light doesn't illuminate. Just threw me off because I was able to trigger the alarm by opening the door, but could only turn it off with the key in the door. I'll look into it. I'd imagine the key fob will need reprogramming after, correct?

Marcw wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 08, 2023 7:27 am

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 07, 2023 9:45 pm

A little over a year later I had this problem:
post6822603.html#p6822603

Sounds similar to your issue, and honestly the issue I posted about in this thread was probably it starting to go bad.

That makes sense seeing how even with the key in the slot the orange light doesn't illuminate. Just threw me off because I was able to trigger the alarm by opening the door, but could only turn it off with the key in the door. I'll look into it. I'd imagine the key fob will need reprogramming after, correct?

Yes, the key will need reprogramming. I tried one I bought off Amazon that said it could do the M35 I had and it did not work so I returned it. I then called a mobile locksmith and they were able to make the key able to start the car as long as the fob was in the doghouse, but the actual fob functions for locking and unlocking was non-functional nd if it was in my pocket the car would not start. I had to go to a real dealership and pay $80 for both keys to have them program it and they did it all properly and the keys work perfectly with all functionality now.

Ok, I really appreciate the info. Thankyou so much! You wouldn't happen to have any ideas on getting the windows to go up in the meantime would you?