Bizam18

Well I made a very big mistake last week. I took my car to a dealership to gat fixed. I tried everything I could think of to get my car running and I got nowhere at all. There just was no spark and everything checked out fine. Distributor was cool (as far as I could tell, the voltage was all right) I looked to the ECM and that was cool (there was a bad ECM relay but I replaced that) and still nothing. I cranked just fine there was just no spark, I even went as far to put my finger in each boot while cranking and didnt even get a shock. (dumb I know but I had to be sure) So the the shop I go, I took it to the only local nissan dealership. They had it a week and called me to say that the starter had to be replaced. That didnt really make any sence to me so I aked why and they said it was fried. It wasnt fried when I droped it off. Anyways I asked how much and they said it was $480 to replace it. I then asked if they could figure out the problem with out doing the starter, and they said they couldnt do anything until the starter was fixed so not I am picking up the car tomorrow. Any ideas on what to do??? It doesnt run and its my only car. Any help would be awesome. Also what kind of shop horror storys do you guys have??? Just to pass the time you know.

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no se-r I drive what my parents let me.

 

MauiBlueGride

If you, or they tried to start the car a ton of times and didn't let the starter cool, it very well could have fried.

If they didn't replace the starter for you - good, I as well as many others can sell you a decent used one for about $45 + shipping, and its not that hard to change...

Now on to the starting problem.

Do you have a volt meter? You said you tested some stuff so I assume you do.
Put the + probe on the battery + terminal, then the -probe onto the engine block and see what voltage you have.
Then do the same except put the - probe onto a strut tower nut in the engine bay - if the voltages are pretty close (like 12.5 and 12.4) your ok, but if they are off (like 10.1 and 12.5) then you have a grounding problem.

What happened when the ECU relay went bad? Whats the story behind that? Also - check www.se-r.net or search here - there is a way to run diagnostics on the car, have you done that to check for any error codes?

Best of luck

Chris

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2002 G20 Sport - Silver
2003 Olds Mini-Van - say wha????
1997 Corolla - 200+k!!! - Wifeys

Storm88000

Never go to the dealer to fix ANYTHING unless it's under warranty and free for you. They are masters at ripping people off.

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Jordan - '94 Sentra LE
'07 Honda Fit Sport
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Bizam18

I'm never taking it to a dealership again. And thanks for the input. I did look into the voltage difference between different spots. At the battery it was 12.2 and I checked it aginst a handful of different spots and the biggest difference I found through out was a .3 volt drop and I belive that was on the exhaust manifold. About that ECM relay, when my dad and I went to check the codes we found that the ECM wasnt getting any power. I checked back over the path of the ECM and found a bad relay so I replaced that and I still had nothing. Ive been told the distributor is cool but like I said I am out of ideas. Thanks again everybody.

SR20RACER

Are you 100% sure the ICM is good?

Bizam18

Im not really sure on how to go about making sure the ECM is cool. I can get it to flash the "everything is ok" code. And the little red light on it is on now unlike before I replaced the relay. Also am I wrong calling it an ECM (engine control) or is it an ICM (ignition control)? Or are they totaly different pieces. I am talking about the box underneath the dash behind where my cup holder would be. My haynes manual calls it an ECM. Thanks guys.

SR20RACER

ECM=ECU just worded different. So when you run the diagnostic you get the code 55? Hmmmmm. Anyway, the ICM is the igniton control module it is a small sensor/relay that is towards/under the throttle body.
Looks like this: