Car shut off, replaced everything, then I noticed ground wire snapped in two places reconnected them, will not start?

Tiny
BMAN1G
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 NISSAN MAXIMA
  • 3.5L
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 144,000 MILES
The fan running while key is on fuses good relays good.
I'm out of ideas.
Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 12:10 AM

11 Replies

Tiny
AL514
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,099 POSTS
Hello, did you not replace the ground wire? If it's broken in two, it most likely rotted apart and is no longer any good. The fan running constantly is a sign that the engine computer may not be powered up. Does the Check Engine light or service engine light come on when you first turn the key to the "on" position? It should come on for a few seconds at least. If not, that is another sign the engine computer is not powering up. I would replace the broken Ground wire and make sure to put it back exactly where it was and clean the bolts that hold it in place so there's a nice clean connection. I'll pull up the wiring diagrams, are you comfortable checking for power with a multimeter? And what have you replaced already?
Here are all the Ground locations for the vehicle, it looks like there are 7 in the engine compartment. The engine computer grounds are on the passenger side at the end of the dashboard, most likely down by the foot area. There are 3 Ground connections there, but if you are missing a body ground like you described, then there might not be any connection between the engine computer and the battery negative.
All the ground wires are black solid color wires.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-voltmeter
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 10:07 AM
Tiny
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I replaced the battery alternator sensors fuel pump, and no check engine light at all it cranks fine but will not start.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 10:56 AM
Tiny
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And when I try to start it the RPM needle doesn't move.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 11:00 AM
Tiny
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The Tachometer is not moving because there is no crankshaft position sensor signal. And the lack of a check engine light means the engine computer (ECM) is not powering up. Was the ground wire you found broken, was it rotted in half? If so there are probably more that are like that. You should go through and inspect all the Ground wires, If the location they bolt on to looks rusty or corroded, that's not a good ground connection. Do you have a 12v Test light or basic multimeter to check dc voltage? If the car just died like that, I think you're going to find other wiring issues. I would also check to see if you have an ignition spark, but I don't think you will. But you will need something to check for 12volt power at a few places, and I'll get the Ground locations to check as well.
Here are all the Grounding locations in the engine compartment first, the third diagram with the green mark is just where the headlight would be, and the diagrams 4 5 and 6 go with the third. So, check those. And once those are checked and okay, we can check for some power at a few places and make sure the main power module didn't fail or something else happens when you lost that ground. Hopefully there isn't anything major.

What ground did you find broken? I have a list of them here, I'm just curious. I want to see what it goes to.
Diagram 7 is a Ground location for the computer that is behind the Instrument Cluster, so you may have to look up under the dash on the driver side to see those grounds. Donta remove the cluster though. And I did find a Technical Service Bulletin on the ECM grounds, and it needs to be repaired. The TSB is for U1000 and U101 codes which are communication codes, but you won't have any codes if the computer is not powering up for whatever reason here. Diagrams 8 to 11 are the TSB.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-voltmeter

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-for-ignition-spark
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 11:44 AM
Tiny
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The fusible link connected to transmission and another from the transmission to body.
I don't have a voltage reader only a test light.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 12:40 PM
Tiny
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And was wondering are the cam sensor and crank sensor work the same because they're slanted like cam sensor.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 12:43 PM
Tiny
AL514
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A fusible link? For a ground wire? This TSB is saying to clean and retighten all the grounds.
A test light will be good enough for now. With this bulletin, the grounds are the most concern. But we will need to check everything until we find the issue here. Check on the passenger side foot well for grounds, they might be behind the glovebox or the lower panel where your right foot would be. The engine computer is on that side too.

These are the ECM power locations, The Fuse panel on the driver's side dash, fuse number 1 10amp is powered up at Key On should be hot on both sides.
The second diagram is the ECM relay, if you pull the relay out, 2 out the of 4 pins should have power even with the key off. Fuse 35 in the Power Distribution module powers the ECM relay.
The 3rd diagram is the ECM memory fuse. It's fuse 35 also, hopefully these diagrams are correct,
As for your question on the cam crank sensors, they are both Hall Effect 3 wire sensors. The cam sensor detects where the number 1 cylinder is, the description says the vehicle can actually run without the crank sensor, I'm sure they are referring to after the vehicle is started.
But with no check engine light, nothing is going to be powered up. The sensors are powered by the ECM.
One thing you can try is if you have some jumper leads, you can run a ground from the battery negative to the engine block and also to the frame(body) and see if anything changes, just as a very temporary test. If the check engine light comes on, or it starts, we'll know it's a bad ground.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 12:50 PM
Tiny
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Okay, thanks. I'll give that a try.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 1:23 PM
Tiny
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Thanks, 2CarPros, that trick with the battery to body and engine alerted me to the problem now my check engine light is back on fans stopped running. Thank you again, I was about to scrap her.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 2:23 PM
Tiny
AL514
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Cool, glad it worked, but make sure you don't just run ground wires to everything. They need to be where they were originally. If grounds are placed in the wrong place, you can end up with crankshaft and camshaft that get magnetized because the current is not returning on the correct path. For example, if the ground path is not supposed to be through the engine block, that's when shafts can become magnetized, and the cam and crank sensors will never read correctly again. So, locate the bad ground and clean them up good. And replace the broken ones. You don't want to have to replace camshafts. Or an engine because of a bad ground location.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 2:40 PM
Tiny
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Okay, thanks.
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Sunday, August 28th, 2022 AT 3:10 PM

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