# 97 Altima GXE No Start No Crank No Spark



## foxkw (Dec 26, 2008)

Looked around the forum, didn't find anything remotely close. 
My son bought a 97 GXE a couple months back after his other car was totaled but he didn't involve anyone who knows anything about cars (like me or his uncle). 
The car ran fine for a couple months and then he started having problems. At first the car wouldn't crank, and he had the starter replaced. That didn't work so the shop also replaced the ignition switch, and then they installed a start (crank) button when the ignition switch wouldn't work right. That fixed the problem for a couple days, then it stranded him again, and I was called in to rescue. he had it towed up to my place (he's 80 miles away), and I finally got a chance to look at it. 
The garage (wisely) told him that it would not be worth it for him to pay them to figure out what was up and fix it because a previous owner had installed a no name alarm system and they had no way to reasonably estimate the time required.

enough of the back story.

I had hoped it was something simple like a missed or loose connection, bad fuse, bad relay or bad selector switch. 

I charged the battery fully before working on it. I also downloaded the manual courtesy of NICO****

condition: doesn't crank either with the key or using their start switch. When I hooked up a remote starter switch to the starter solenoid it spins the motor over but the car doesn't start with the ignition switched on. There's no spark while cranking, so I looked at the selector switch on the transmission with a DMM and it seems to be OK (no shorts, cycles through connections ). checked the inhibitor relay in the relay box with a battery and that cycles ok.

as noted above, the car had some no name remote alarm system installed by a non-professional. There were literally no markings whatsoever on any of the alarm modules, so I removed the whole mess thinking it might be causing problems. I had to solder some broken wires from the vampire taps used by the alarm as well. That did not resolve the problem.

This car doesn't have any of the factory anti-theft stuff installed (none of the modules or wiring harnesses are present)

At this point, I hooked up my elmscan5 ODBII to see if there were any trouble codes showing, however it can't connect to the car (it works fine with my 96 Camry and my 04 F150). Using the free version of EASYODBII I get the following error: "No vehicle response/ Connection or Power" 

My current thoughts are that the ECU or power transistor took a hit while the garage was replacing the starter or switch.

My brother thought that the new ignition switch might not be the correct component even though the connectors match. 

Before I go off and start replacing components, I was hoping for some suggestions. as to what would prevent it from cranking or starting when remotely cranked.

Thanks.


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