# 2000 Altima: Engine Starts, Then Immediately Dies



## altima_owner (Jul 21, 2014)

I love my 2000 Altima so much that it has 189K miles on it and I don't want to get rid of it. Only problem is, it's at the mechanic and has been there for 7 days ... and he is having problems fixing it.

When this first started I looked in the manual to try and troubleshoot. I thought it might be the Vehicle Immobilizer System. What's happening with the LED for the "Security" button is this: now it's totally blank, when it used to always beep red, but when I turn the key to start it, it stays a steady red. The engine starts briefly, then dies in 5 seconds or so. 

I called two Nissan dealership service departments (one where the car was originally bought and one in my town) and asked them about this. Both said it cannot be the Vehicle Immobilizer System because when that engages, the car's engine will just not start at all. So I decided I'm not towing it to Nissan, but to my regular mechanic.

The first thing he tried was to change the distributor. That did not work. He says the fuel pump is fine and it's also not the catalytic converter (one of my dad's friends suggested that). The battery and its cables are good. The mechanic thought it might be that my key was not being recognized anymore and he made a new key and reprogrammed it. That did not work, although the car stayed started a little longer.

He says he thinks it is an electrical problem with the engine wiring harness. He says he has to go around the harness and try and find the bad part, but it's difficult to do so. He said if I were to take it to the dealer, they would not take the time to find this and fix it, but would suggest a whole new engine wiring harness, etc., and charge me around $4K-5K. The car itself is not even worth that much money, so that's out.

Does anyone have any ideas of what else it could be? My brother wants me to tow the car again to another shop where he knows someone who works there who claims to be "an electrical specialist." He called the guy and the guy said he could fix it; no problem. I really don't like to take the car away from my regular mechanic because he has been good to me. Plus I suppose I would have to pay him for the things he tried and then go pay someone else yet again.

TIA for any suggestions!


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

did anyone try to pull codes??? the sending unit (in the gas tank) has a plastic top that can crack and cause problems and the electrical connections on that top maybe damaged also... can you hear the fuel pump??


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