Bassomatic Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) I have a 2003 LE, 125,000 miles, just cleaned the battery terminals to remove a bunch of corrosion. Removed the battery leads of course and then cleaned them. I put them back on. Now when I start the car I have to give it gas. In other words, before I did this I could just turn the key and it would turn over and idle fine. Now when I turn the key without giving it gas it dies instantly. If I give it gas while starting it, it's fine, business as usual, drives fine, idles fines etc. Before I disconnected the battery and did all of this there were no problems. Also, I did connect the neg. terminal first then the pos., which if I recall is the wrong way to do it, but I can't imagine that would cause what I am dealing with. Thanks in advance for the help. This is the first problem I have ever had with the car. Edited February 15, 2009 by Bassomatic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) Have you taken it for a good drive since? If it still does this afterward - the next time you want to start it, turn the key on without starting and then off. repeat that twice and then start it without gas. If it starts fine this way, it could be a fuel pump/regulator issue. Edited February 15, 2009 by BowTied Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180sx Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 It could be just that since you unplugged the battery, you reset the ECU settings. Basically, your ECU knew what to do with the fuel to get it start right up before you reset it. Now, it will have to 're-learn' the settings again. Give it about a week or so. If it's not resolved in that time, then I would suggest the same thing 'BowTied' just said about the pump/regulator. Jose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassomatic Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) Have you taken it for a good drive since? If it still does this afterward - the next time you want to start it, turn the key on without starting and then off. repeat that twice and then start it without gas. If it starts fine this way, it could be a fuel pump/regulator issue. So you are saying that if I do the aforementioned and it starts OK then it could be a fuel pump/regulator issue? Or if it does not start fine after doing the aforementioned then it could be a fuel pump/regulator issue? Thanks for the help and quick response!! Edited February 15, 2009 by Bassomatic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 So you are saying that if I do the aforementioned and it starts OK then it could be a fuel pump/regulator issue? Correct. Turning the key on and off a few times cycles the fuel pump a few times to help build pressure. Normally this isn't needed, but if one of them is failing, this can help over come the problem temporarily. This test does not 100% tell you what the problem is, just more of a quick check. The ECU reset mentioned is what I was thinking when I said to take it for a good drive (hour). I would be surprised that disconnecting the battery (wrong order of terminals or not) would cause this type of damage, but anything is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassomatic Posted February 16, 2009 Author Share Posted February 16, 2009 Just did what you mentioned, turning the key on and off twice without starting. I will say that before I did that it started fine. It seems to be haphazard, in other words, it will start fine then I will start it again and it will turn over and die instantly. It is starting OK for now. It is just random. It seems that the ECU acting up is what is happening, since it was not doing this before I disconnected the battery. I have not had a chance to drive it for an hour, but I will do so in the morning. Thanks again for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morpheus Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) If it happened right after you disconnected the battery, it won't be a pump issue. Whenever a battery is replaced/disconnected on new-er nissan's (and possibly other makes too) the ecu will loose all it's base settings. In some cases, this will also include window top/bottom settings, sunroof open/close positions, INCLUDING base idle settings. At the shop we would do a procedure caled an "idle air learn" and that would cure your starting problem. I'm not sure if simply driving it would relearn it, but it's worth a try. If not you may need to stop into your local dealer and ask for the above procedure to be done. Edited February 16, 2009 by morpheus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassomatic Posted February 16, 2009 Author Share Posted February 16, 2009 If it happened right after you disconnected the battery, it won't be a pump issue. Whenever a battery is replaced/disconnected on new-wer nissan's (and possibly other makes too) the ecu will loose all it's base settings. In some cases, this will also include window top/bottom settings, sunroof open/close positions, INCLUDING base idle settings. At the shop we would do a procedure caled an "idle air learn" and that would cure your starting problem. I'm not sure if simply driving it would relearn it, but it's worth a try. If not you may need to stop into your local dealer and ask for the above procedure to be done. Can I do this - "idle air learn" - or does the dealer need to do it? If they do it will it cost $$. I am going to damage anything if I cant make it to the dealer until mid-week? Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexrex20 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) the power windows operate on the same principle as the power antenna. whether going up or down, once it stops, it stops. yes, the ECU will relearn everything it 'forgot' but it may take a few days. you don't need to take it to the dealer. if it were me, i'd wait it out and see what happens. it really doesn't matter which terminal you reconnected first, as long as you didn't switch them between each other. an open circuit is an open circuit. Edited February 16, 2009 by alexrex20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morpheus Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Can I do this - "idle air learn" - or does the dealer need to do it? If they do it will it cost $$. I am going to damage anything if I cant make it to the dealer until mid-week? Thanks for the help. I've never looked into if you could do it without nissan tools (because I've never had to) If you have access to a service manaual you can look it up. (I'm not at work at the moment to look it up for you) I'm fairly sure that most aftermarket scanners (snapo, etc...) cannot do it, so you might have to go to the dealer to do it. It won't do any damage I would charge a customer 1/2 hour labour to do this procedure, ($45 bucks) so it's not super expensive to do, but I can't speak for other dealers of course.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassomatic Posted February 16, 2009 Author Share Posted February 16, 2009 I've never looked into if you could do it without nissan tools (because I've never had to) If you have access to a service manaual you can look it up. (I'm not at work at the moment to look it up for you) I'm fairly sure that most aftermarket scanners (snapo, etc...) cannot do it, so you might have to go to the dealer to do it. It won't do any damage I would charge a customer 1/2 hour labour to do this procedure, ($45 bucks) so it's not super expensive to do, but I can't speak for other dealers of course.. It drives just fine, it is just the starting issue...but now it seems that the starting issue has resolved itself. When it is acting up, it either dies right after cranking or if it does not die it idles rough for a few seconds then it is fine. I checked the power windows and sunroof, they are fine. I am sure everything will be just fine. I am an optimist. Thanks for everyone's input and help. I will let ya'll know what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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