ECM Replacement?

Tiny
UTVOLS4ME
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 NISSAN MAXIMA
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 61,000 MILES
My 2002 Maxima has been a great vehicle but recently I was headed to work and the CEL came on and the engine would not go above 1000rpm's. I put my foot to the floor since I was crossing traffic and I eventually got out of the road. I got the par parked and the engine idled like normal but when I stepped on the pedal, the engine would not rev up at all. I turned the car off for a few minutes and after about 20 tries, I could get the engine to rev up like normal so I could get the car back home. As I was driving, the transmission shifted really hard from 1st to 2nd gear and then the car went back in "safe mode" and I went about 2 miles an hour (with my foot to tle floor) and got the car home. I pulled out my scanner and it listed 18 different OBD II codes. These codes ranged from the TPS sensor all the way up to the MAP sensor and there were a bunch more. I cleared the codes and the car seemed to be okay. I started off to work the next day and wound up having the car towed back to my house. Is this a sign that the main ECU is about ready to go out or could it be another issue? The ECU was replaced by Nissan a couple of years ago due to a missed diagnosis by the dealership and the only problem was a crank position sensor and not the ECU. Any ideas on what would casue the ECU to throw off 18 different codes all at once unless it was getting ready to go out?
Friday, June 25th, 2010 AT 11:52 AM

8 Replies

Tiny
CMDRDATATX
  • MEMBER
  • 54 POSTS
I have a 2002 and I doubt very much that it is the ECU. The reason you get 18 different codes is that one of your sensor isbad, causing the ECU to go into limp mode, and from there you have a train wreck that the ECU cannot recover from. I'd suggest that you change the sensor pertaining to the FIRST code and see if that would solve your problem. ECU rarely goes bad. My guess is one or more of your sensor is bad. For example, because the 3.5L engine is a V6, it usually has TWO camshaft position sensors, one for each bank. The other possible problem is to check your oil level. Why? Because Maxima uses oil pressure to determine engine timing advance. That happened to me once. My oil was low, and the car would not accelerate and just barely move along.
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Friday, June 25th, 2010 AT 8:16 PM
Tiny
UTVOLS4ME
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Greetings and thank you so much for responding to my question! I was hoping that the ECU was not getting ready to go out but I figured that when all of the codes came up that something major was about to happen. I will see if I can get the check engine light to some on again and then will hook my scanner up and see what code comes up first. I hope this is a simple fix but I will get working on it and will see what I can find out. Thank you again for your response and I will reply back to this post on whatever I find out. Thanks again!
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Monday, June 28th, 2010 AT 5:39 PM
Tiny
BOSSGRUMBLER
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
  • 2001 NISSAN MAXIMA
  • 3.0L
  • 6 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
I drove through a puddle during a rain storm after a few miles my car died had to take it to dealer and they proclaimed that the engine computer needed replacement. If I replace the computer will that fix the problem and will I have to replace any wire harnesses?
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Saturday, November 16th, 2019 AT 11:02 AM (Merged)
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
Honestly thats a impossible question to answer from the information I have. You drove thru a puddle and sounds like water got into the computer some how and shorted it out the dealer says. The only reason they would have to replace the harness is if the water caused corrosion to the connectors from the water getting in there. If they blew the water out of the connectors and added some silicone paste to the terminals that would help the chances of that happening. So how big was this puddle?I will also see where your computer is located.
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Saturday, November 16th, 2019 AT 11:02 AM (Merged)
Tiny
BOSSGRUMBLER
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Some people were stalled out but the water did not come above the bottom of car at the point I drove through I went on the high side of the road. It was during all the rain we had in texas last month.
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Saturday, November 16th, 2019 AT 11:02 AM (Merged)
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
That was a big rain storm out there the computer for the engine is inside the car behind the dash to the drivers right foot. Did water get inside the car?
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Saturday, November 16th, 2019 AT 11:02 AM (Merged)
Tiny
LEIGHSCHROYER
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA
  • 180,000 MILES
Does the computer have to be re-programmed when replaced?
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Saturday, November 16th, 2019 AT 11:02 AM (Merged)
Tiny
DOCFIXIT
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,828 POSTS
No but needs to go through relearn this will take numerous key cycles some driveability will occur till PCM completes relearn.
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Saturday, November 16th, 2019 AT 11:02 AM (Merged)

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