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Just had a frightening experience with my 2003 Altima...

Wanted to share it with everyone so they don't go through what I went through. (Maybe the rest of you all know this already, but I thought I'd share.)

I went--ironically and luckily--to a Nissan dealer today to see about an item for my 2003 Altima and when I got back to the car, I put the key in the ignition and--nothing. The car wouldn't start. Didn't even try to turn over. Total silence. The electrical system immediately went on, so I knew it wasn't a battery problem (and it should have been; I was parked there a mere ten minutes, so even if I left my headlihts on it should have made no difference) but the car wouldn't even try to start.

Well, I was sweating bullets already. This car is two weeks old and has

400 miles on it. It should not have any problems, let alone one this apparent caliber.

I went back to the dealer and told them what happened. They said they'd be happy to look at it, but I'd have to figure out how to get it from the curb to the service center--half a block, but might as well be a thousand miles if it can't start. They suggested I call a towing service. My insurance will pay for towing, but I don't know who to call or if they'll pay for *anyone* at all or just certain people. (Hmmm...a good time to call them and find out.)

Then I persuaded the service manager to come over and take a quick look. I was parked half a block from the showroom and he agreed, all the while asking me obvious things: did you have an aftermarket alarm installed? Are you sure you're not out of gas?

He couldn't start it either at first, and was truly puzzled. Then he put his foot on the brake, slipped it out of Park and into Neutral, and voila, it started perfectly.

Turns out the shifter doesn't always click firmly into Park, so you might think it's in park even when it's not quite locked. The engine won't start as a safety feature so's you don't fire up the car, slip into Reverse when you think you're still in Park and rear-end another car, or worse, a person.

I was so grateful that it was just this minor issue (and felt so lucky that this happened near a car dealer and not in the middle of nowhere with no one to ask) that it ddn't occur to me, but now I'm thinking, What kind of safety feature is it that I can remove the key from the ignition even though the shifter isn't locked in Park??

I'm pretty sure my old Altima wouldn't have let this happen. Certainly I never ran into this problem with that car, or any other I've owned, for that matter.

Any thoughts from others here?

John

Reply to
John Grabowski
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Maybe this gate-shifter thing is not such a good idea after all. This did happen to my 93 altima a lot, I had to make sure its in park or jiggle it a bit before I left the car since I would use remote start on it and it would not work at times. I think just make sure you push it all the way up everytime and if it persists you might need a new shifter. Check the TSB in altimas.net i think there is one out on this issue.

Rich

P.s. heres the link

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" 2002-2003 Altima Enginewill not crank in Park, but cranks in Neutral"

Reply to
MyCoolToast

Thanks for the link. And pardon my ignorance, but what's a "gate shifter"?

John

Reply to
John Grabowski

I think a gate shifter is what we call the kind of shifter we have on the altima 2002-2003. Used to be you had to press a button to switch from park to drive and it's straight vertical. This feature used to be exlusively on lux cars awhile back.

Rich

Reply to
MyCoolToast

Okay, so why is it (the gate shifter) "better" or more desirable (presumably they see it that way or it wouldn't have gone from luxury cars to mainstream cars)? I never had any shifter problems with my old fashioned "press the button and shift" shifter.

John

Reply to
John Grabowski

SNIP!

MY GOD!!!!

HOW did you manage to SURVIVE?

That's truly "frightening"! You must have been literally scared to DEATH!

Next time, before you call the police, the fire department and the paramedics, try RTFM! There might be something in there informative for you.

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck.K

Oh by the way, asshole (and I don't know why I'm answering you twice, but what the hell) tell me what to do when the valet parks the car and then can't start it to move it to park other cars? You think he's going to read the manual? He's going to call a tow truck and sock me with the bill! You act like it's perfectly normal for a car not to start when it's in park. I'd like to see it happen to you.

John

Reply to
John Grabowski

Valet's park cars for a living. They LEARN very quickly how to PROPERLY engage park (and how to shift to neutral to start if the car won't start in 'park').

See, unlike you, they have the ability to LEARN! They also get screened for the ability to READ (something you obviously failed to learn in grade school).

BTW, it's perfectly NORMAL for a car not to fully engage the starter INTERLOCK (happens all the time) which is WHY it's almost always explained in the owners manual! You ought to try reading yours sometime, if you can figure out where the dealer put it!

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck.K

Valet's park cars for a living. They LEARN very quickly how to PROPERLY engage park (and how to shift to neutral to start if the car won't start in 'park').

See, unlike you, they have the ability to LEARN! They also get screened for the ability to READ (something you obviously failed to learn in grade school).

BTW, it's perfectly NORMAL for a car not to fully engage the starter INTERLOCK (happens all the time) which is WHY it's almost always explained in the owners manual! You ought to try reading yours sometime, if you can figure out where the dealer put it!

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck.K

Well, I can afford something "nicer" (like a Maxima) and I bought the Altima. Thought the Max was ugly as shit and not worth all the extra $$. I don't really need all that "power" when I drive, like 99.9% of the other people who buy one, in urban areas where there's no way in hell you can do 0-60 in 6 seconds without totalling your car. And I liked the Altima more than the competition (Camry, Accord, Taurus [cough-cough], etc.)

John

Reply to
John Grabowski

Not the one who parked my car last Sunday night.

And the garaga, the NISSAN garage, didn't figure it out either, at least not initially. When I got home there was a call waiting for me on my answering machine "We can't start you car!" When I called them back they admitted they'd figured it out.

John

Reply to
John Grabowski

Of course you can. You just like the 4 cylinder engine better because it's "frugal". Just the ticket for the "upwardly mobile, stylish, mid-30's" male. A regular 'babe magnet'!

Anyone want to clue this fella in as to the source of the Maxima's origin!

Well, that's one way to justify being "thrifty"! Or is it just cheap?

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck.K

Yeah.... right. Now you're going to say you had to explain to him how to start your car. Uh Huh!

And so the story changes (again).

Sure. You just happened to FORGET to mention that one in your initial post. Uh huh!

If you remember correctly, you SAID you went to the Nissan garage to "see about an item". They never even LOOKED at your car, since you had parked it (again, I quote) "1/2 a block" away. Then, the service manager resolved the problem by starting the car and explaining to you WHY it didn't start.

NOW you want us to believe that someone CALLED you because they couldn't start your car.

OH WAIT! The Nissan garage valet parks and services cars on SUNDAY! Yeah, that's the ticket!

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck.K

Not all Altimas have fours, dipshit. Some have the same engine as the Maxima, like mine. And they look better too. And I'm more secure than you and don't need a car as a "babe magnet." If that's the kind of girl you're looking for, you're not looking for much.

John

Reply to
John Grabowski

Now, now, children, let's not have this in-family wrangling! Peace!

Reply to
nojap

Thanks for the info!

John

Reply to
John Grabowski

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