Immobilizer/throttle body/ignition issues

Tiny
ADAM MAHONEY
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 NISSAN ALTIMA
  • 2.3L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 140,000 MILES
The car sat for 6 years, nobody touched it literally. Then my buddy went to put a new battery in it and start it the key that he had was the wrong one so he proceeded to break the steering wheel lock and remove the ignition switch. The tumbler is trashed. I went to go start it, and put a brand new battery in it, and it started right up but the dash lights did not work and I drove it home. On my way home I noticed that it would not do above 30 MPH at the top of first gear. It would not shift. So I ran some codes on it and I saw that I probably need to replace the transmission throttle body sensors. So I wanted to clear the codes so I connected both battery terminals together with no battery to drain excess power. I left the car like that overnight. When I went to go hook a battery up to it again I got no power. I reset the ECU by turning the plastic screw with a flathead screwdriver all the way off then all the way back on. Keep in mind I do not have a key for this vehicle whatsoever. The only thing that I replaced was the ignition switch. I read somewhere that there is an immobilizer immobilizer that is preventing the car from doing anything. How do I deactivate it with no key? And why aren't I getting power after I cycled the contacts together in order to reset the ECU? Did I leave the cables on too long? And do I need to get a new tumbler assembly? It does not have a transponder key or fob. I am starting it with a screwdriver.
Friday, February 26th, 2021 AT 3:32 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Is the theft light remaining on? If so then you are correct that it is active. The only way to deactivate this with no key is to trick the module to think you used the key to turn one of the front door locks. See the attachment below for this detail.

So take a look at the wiring diagram. If you ground this circuit it will think that you used a key to turn the lock and it will deactivate it. You do this by back probing the Smart Entrance Control unit on this wire and then touch that back probe to ground using a jumper wire.

Take a look at this material and let us know what questions you have. Thanks
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Friday, February 26th, 2021 AT 12:49 PM

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