300ZX Swap needs help....again....

NYSpeed Automotive
1

ok so i got the new TT fuel pump…hook it up, but car still wont start. we notice the pump doesnt hum or prime itself at all when turning key into on position so we assume it’s not getting power…check for power, and nothing anywhere…then we notice none of the dash lights are on with the key in the on position…and the relay box isn’t making any clicking noise when turning the key on like it should…we try to check for codes…and the ECU has no power going to it. car will turn over but not fire up, all other accessory shit works, but anything controlled by the ecu…spark, fuel pump, etc are not getting any power. we bypass the fuse and get the pump to work so we at least know it’s not bad…some relief i guess…

we call my wrench that did the swap for me, he said check the security system…i didn’t know i had this, but behind the board/interior body panel that is like in front of the driver’s knees…right under the steering wheel…there’s a little black box with a switch that i guess is the main power switch for this gay security system…and i also guess that if this security system is tripped or set off, it causes the car to go into some safety mode where it will not provide power to the ECU, not allowing it to run, i guess to keep it from getting stolen or something…

we reset that by just like playing with the switch a few times, and the car fired right up…drove it a bit, was fine…parked it…turned it off, then it turned right back on when i tried…

i turned it back off assuming all was well, but just to be on the safe side decided to let it sit for a bit before trying to start a third time…and after about 10 or 15 minutes, it wouldnt start again…same shit as before. no pump priming noise, no lights on the dash other than the obviously flashing “security” orange light.

i tried to turn it on, nothing…radio came on, pissed me off because i didn’t wanna hear it, and as soon as i hit the off buttom on the radio, the dash lights came on, and i was able to start the car…turned it off again, and then it wouldnt turn back on…just kept turning without firing…so we aren’t sure how the security system is connected with the radio, how that would have caused the car to start…but we are totally confused…

what i’m asking you people is if you have any idea what could be causing this strange electrical problem…we checked all relays, all fuses, all wiring…everything else seems to be good…

and if it is my gay security system that is causing all these problems, and if it is somehow tied in with the radio, is there any way i can just totally bypass or override or just get rid of this do-nothing-but-cause-problems security system? i really dont need or want it at all, i’ll save up and get a good security system soon enough…

i also noticed that we hooked up the light in the boost guage to my headlight switch…but i noticed the wires from the light on the guage go into this little black box that has the switch for the security system in it…is this box for all of the interior electrical accessories? because if it is, that would explain why messing with the radio might have had some effect on the car starting that one time…

thanks again for the help guys…

2

Wrong section n00b :stuck_out_tongue:

3

my bad…sorry

4

God damn nissans…

Good luck man. Mark told me about it earlier.

5

Hook up boost gauge power to ignition relay so when you turn the key the boost gauge will light turn on. Thats good the fuel pump is working and atleast you found the problem now all you have to do is fix it.

6

dude. whoever wired that alarm into the car did some crazy shit. Im telling you thats the source of all this. The wire that the light for the Boost gauge is wired into is right from the lighting switch. That black box is the alarm system which is such a cluster fuck. I didn’t remove it because i have no schematics for any of its components…

7

is that security box thingie stock? doubtful…i’ll have to check it out tomorrow when i’m back to work on it, and look for a brand name or part number on it, so i know where to look for, or what to look for online as far as disconnecting it all…i do not want it, me and mark are pretty much convinced that it is the problem, and now newman, who worked on it on and off for 6 months, states the same thing…so i hope we have the problem cornered…

but i’m still confused kinda as to why turning the stereo off woulda caused it to start, unless it was just totally by chance that when i turned it off, the dash lights came on that second, and the car was able to start…

will be working on it for a little while again tomorrow after the bills game, and maybe before a bit if i’m up that early…anybody that wants to help again is more than welcome, bit thanks to jeff (jltalon) eric (blk300tt) and mark, not on this board…but in the local auto scene…for helping out so much the past 2 days in getting everything done and diagnosed that we have been able to…i owe you all drinks

8

your
car
is
doomed

9

i think hes f00kin with you lol whata prankster

10

sounds good to me…i think i remember reading on 300zxclub or tt.net about someone else having this problem with the stock alarm and im pretty sure yours is stock cause my car has the same orange security light…i could be wrong tho

do some searches on those boards and see what you get good luck

11

eric…bring your car back over and i’ll be able to look and see if you have the same black box…if so, then i know its stock…and it shouldnt be hard at all to find some info on it and how to get rid of it…

i already posted on 300zxclub.com and zdriver.com about it, about to check if anybody on there posted now…

12

pull out the radio i bet theres a ground to this alarm behind it and its loose. i wonder if the alarm had a remote start. with remote starts u have to tap into a wire that would turn on when the cars started that way the remote start doesnt stop engaging look at ur radio harness and see if there are any wires coming out of it.also ur fuel pump doesnt cycle unless u push the clutch pedal down

13

i have a new cd player i’ve been meaning to put in anyway…i guess i can put in the cd player and check for that ground at the same time…

but sadly that means no more retro removable-faceplate tape player any more…that thing was pimp

14

No problem man which I could of helped out saturday

15

ok so i got to play around with it today with the hour or so of sunlight i managed to have left after getting home from school…and here’s some things i did, and observations i made…

first i played around with all the fuses under the hood that would in any way seen to be connected with the alarm or the flashing sidemarkers that it sets off…thinking that the alarm and the lights it flashes would both have the same fuse…but that did nothing…

next i dug out that black plastic box for the aftermarket security system…unplugged it to see what would happen…it stopped the flashing, the stock security light was still going off on the dash like always, but that’s just because the door was open…once it was closed that stopped…so i turned the key, and still no warning lights came on like they should when the key is in the on position…so i didnt bother trying to start it…it wouldn’t have, not worth it

next i hook the black box back up so i could go look for a blue relay that supposedly exists by the ECU, which i was told is the relay for the stock security system…but in hooking up the black box, that gay alarm started going off again, but differently now.
before when it would go off, just the orange sidemarkers in the front would flash on and off…but this time when i plugged that box for the aftermarket system back in, the background lights on the guages were flashing with the orange sidemarkers, along with the turn signals as if my hazards were on, and the lights on the controllers for like the ac and such were all flashing at the same time, at the same speed as the orange sidemarkers did when just they were going off. the only way i got it to stop was by leaving the black box unconnected…

next i went to check by the ECU for the blue relay that is for the stock security system, but it was nowhere to be found…there were other small boxes that were obviously control units for other systems in the car, but none had any kind of label, and i didn’t have time to check my manual to see what each was because i was running out of daylight, so i’ll check to see what each of them controls tonight…but since i couldnt find the supposed blue relay for the stock security system, i just gave up on that and went on to my next item to check…

i remember the last time we got it to start, it was immediately after i pushed the power button to the tape player…so i checked behind there for a possible ground for the aftermarket security system…and honestly dont know what i found. there was a somewhat loose ground being held down by one of the screws used to mount the tape player, but i had no time left to trace it back to what it is a ground for…i put it in a new spot, a little tighter…and through the biggest cluster fuck of wires i had ever seen behind that tape player (very sloppy install), i couldnt see any other grounds…but who knows what the hell i coulda missed in that mess…

i did put the face plate back on the tape player while the ground was not connected, and the tape player still worked…so i know the ground isnt for the head unit…next chance i get with enough sunlight time left i’ll follow it back…but even after i put that ground in a more secure place, the dash backlights/orange sidermarkers/turn signals/control backlights started flashing together again…instead of the previous strictly orange sidemarker flashing…so i left the black box disconnected on the driver side floor until i get another chance to play around some more…

summary of entire post: i am so confused…nissan wiring sucks…and hack job installs on aftermarket security systems and head units fuck people over hard core…

16

the only problem is power to the fuel pump? if thats it i would say hard wire the pump, if your real hardcore to a switch, or to another acc. source

17

no there’s no power getting to the ECU, causing there to be no power to the fuel pump, no spark, no warning lights on the dash like they should appear whenever you turn the key…etc…

several people have said it’s got to do with the security system…most likely the aftermarket one…because a lot of security systems tie into the ecu somehow and when the car thinks its being stolen, it cuts power to the ecu, thus causing all the problems i have…and since my alarm is just about always going off, i’ve always got no power to my ecu…

or at least thats how i understood everything i’ve been told over the past week or two regarding the symptoms i’ve been having…

18

shitty…im pretty sure if you ever get thru the mess of wires you will find the problem. have you considered just completely removing the aftermarket security? i know it would be a PITA but long term it would cut down on possible problems good luck

19

oh trust me i would LOVE to get rid of it…but when i totally unplugged it, the problem was still there…because the aftermarkey security system, if it is causing all these problems, is wired directly to the ECU, and simply “cutting it out” wouldn’t fix the problem, i would have to have somebody somewhat professional take it out, and properly remove all wiring from the ecu and all the other places it is rooted into…simply cutting it out, and throwing away the box, would leave the car permanently how it is now, and that would probably be even more of a pain trying to track down the left over wiring from the alarm i hack job removed myself…

i looked the box over, and there were no name brand info or anything on it…just a disclosure that stated it can not cause any problems it is no designed to by law, or if it does, it only does so because the car is telling it to, or becaues there is a short somewhere…some bullshit to cover the manufacturer’s ass…

if there’s ANYBODY on this board that has experience installing and taking out alarms, especially the kind that have a kill wire that goes directly to the ECU, i will be willing to pay you to take care of this for me, i dont wanna screw it up trying to do it myself…and really dont wanna have to go to a place like kustom workz or whatever to have it removed and pay out my ass…

20

try to get a wiring diagram for it
then you can just cut it out of the system… there are also two relays under the dash that were zip tied up there i think. Check those.