Nissan SUV help needed

[DoubleAron]

Well our old reliable 188,000 mile 2000 Xterra died today on an off ramp. In order to get it out of the way on the off ramp I had it towed into the Nissan dealer. I have AAA.

It started chugging and then just died according to my wife. When I got there to pick her up I tried to start and it just cranked.

The Nissan dealer just called and said the ECU is shot. $1400 just for the part without labor. He told me he is not even 100% that is the complete problem but he needs that just to even get it started and investigate more from there.

What do you guys think? Any cheap places for ECUs? Junkyards? Any input would be great.

Thanks,Aaron

[Yooformula]

do a search on ebay. there are some regular ecu repair guys that sell them for decent prices.

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=nissan%20ecu&_dmpt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282&Model=Xterra

[Crawlin]

that sucks, and a hell of an expensive part! Sounds like they are just shotgunning their idea

not something simple like a fuel pump or fuel pump relay? that's what it was for similar symptoms on the old GMC Safari.

[Flicktitty]

check www.nicoclub.com there is a few Xterra guy's on there.

or clubxterra.com

[theavenger333]

there are 2 different options for the V6 (i assume it's the 6) on car-part.com they're about 150 bucks in milwaukee, and they're quite plentiful under both options for the non california v6 Automatic trans ecu. can't really go wrong there.

Rockauto only re-builds them, it's 367 dollar for that computer.

[spooln30]

Get the truck back and check for fuel and spark. Also did the dealer say if there were any codes in the computer. If they say they couldn't get into the computer that may be the reason they are calling it the ECU. If they say they couldn't get into it I would get a used one using the website car-part.com. Sometimes when putting in a different ECU it might have to be reprogramed. Especially if your truck has a anti-theft system. If the ECU is not the problem it could be one of the following parts. Fuel pump, distributor/coil, cam/crank sensors or if it has a timing belt. I don't remember if they have a belt or a chain. Hope that gives you somewhat of a start. Good luck.
Keith

[DoubleAron]

Thanks for the help guys.

The timing belt was done about 44,000 miles ago and the distributor was done less then 8,000 miles ago by me.

They say they cannot get into the ECU for codes etc. because of it being bad. They say there might be other issues but they cannot be 100% until they replace the ECU.

[jbiscuit]

I would think that if they can't pull codes out of it that should be a tell tale sign that the ECU is jacked. Get on the Nissan Xterra forums and search the classifieds. I bet someone has a truck they are parting out or an ECU for sale. Gotta be cheaper than having the dealer throw parts at it. If the ECU shit, I would think you will find the source of the chug and die/no restart also.

[spooln30]

Yeah if they can't get into the ECU get a used one. That maybe your only problem. Like I said the ECU may need to be programmed. And at my work we have to send Nissans to a dealer for that. We don't have the right equipment. Even small shops like RK Motors who has factory scan tools can't program Nissan ECU's. So be prepaired to take it back to the dealer. Unless someone on this forum has the right tools to ^do the reprogram. I would just put the used ECU in the parking lot of the dealer to save the money and then have them reprogram it. Haha. GL.

Keith

[spooln30]

One quick question. The dist you put in, was it new/used? And if new where did you get it from. I had a couple of reman dist from Napa and Car Quest fry out the ECU. Weird but it happens. It's called pro quality control.

[DoubleAron]

The distributor was from Autozone.

[spooln30]

It may be covered under warranty. If that is the main source of your problem. But get a used ECU and go from there. And more questions just post them and I'll give you my insite.

Keith

[DoubleAron]

Well I bought a used ECM and tried it and still nothing. Before when it would crank there be no sense of starting at all. At least now there is a little bit of a rumble like it is trying to start.:mad:

[spooln30]

Like I stated you may have to have the ECU programmed to the truck but try the things below first. Also the dist may have been the true source of your problem and fried the ECU. Check if it has the correct amount of spark and firing in the right order then you still may have another issue. Pull the plugs and clean them off. They may be fouled out with gas. Hope you get it figured out and keep us updated.

Later Keith

[DoubleAron]

Well I toke the distributor cap off Sunday and the rotor was totally loose. It looks like the shaft that the rotor is connected to is held on by a screw which came loose.

Autozone gave me a new distributor under warranty but I am just hoping this doesn't point to a timing belt issue.

[spooln30]

Sounds like your getting closer to getting it to run again. I think when you put the new dist you should be up and running again. The rotor being loose will def cause a non running condition. Keep us updated and good luck.

Keith

[DoubleAron]

Well last night put in the distributor with no change, reinstallled the old ecm as well to see if there was any change there, nothing. Another thing is the pulley with the timing marks has no numbers listed so getting the distributor in the right place seems to be a crap shoot anyways.



One thing that did stand out last night was i heard a buzzing sound inside the car. I opened the door and there was a blue Nissan relay making a buzzing noise like I have never heard a relay make. It was fairly loud. It has a part number 252309B900 on it and by doing a search it says it is a engine control module relay. Since I have been screwing around with this thing it has never made that noise. It didn't do it while cranking just while it was sitting there.



Any ideas?

[team beater]

She ran out of gas............LOL jk hope you find a cheap solution

[lilws6]

see if you can't find anouther relay(of the same kind) under there and swap them see if it starts. is that relays bad your control module might still be good.

[spooln30]

I believe there might be the same relay in the relay box in the engine compartment that you can swap. The main ecu relay under the dash is the only one of that kind. Damn this sucks. I was hoping you would have this solved. Make sure you check that the dist is in the right spot and you have the plug wires running to the correct cyclinders.

[spooln30]

Also there are marks on the outer part of the pulley it's just hard to see. There is 5 marks. First on the left is 0 or TDC then each other mark to the right goes up by 5 degrees up to 20. And there's also a timing indacator that comes to a point.