91 Max GXE died

What ? fuse (fuses listed:

"...got weak after 200k miles and 16 years? Do I have a chaffed wire..."

- maybe

- maybe fuse just gave out

- do a 'harness tuneup', see page 14

Seems like a bad ground connection. Your car is 15 years old therefor alot of electrical connectons are bound to get rusty. I would check/clean the major ground connections like the black wire at the alternator, the ignition wire to the starter etc.

Also, I'm pretty sure, like 90%, that your car has a timing chain. Most Nissan motors are timing chain driven, and hence almost never need changing unless that car's been severely abused and/or badly maintained.

CD

As usual, outstanding advice. This looks like a sold day job, but worth the effort and certainly won't cost much (except time). Thanks again.

Derek

Wiik> What ? fuse (fuses listed:

Thanks for the tip. I was almost positive this car had a belt and was worried since I let it go so long. I'll have to look into this more, but thanks for the insight.

Derek

Codifus wrote:

... almost positive this car had a belt and was worried ... Distributor = yes = VG30E = belt = ...stay worried until changed...

I verified that last night. Looks like the dohc engines had a chain but mine definitely has the belt. I drove the car a bit last night with some extra 10amp fuses just in case. Drove about 20 miles around town and all is well. If it makes it til mid July without the EMC fuse blowing, I will change the belt and probably be back here for more help.

Thanks again,

Derek

Wiik> ... almost positive this car had a belt and was

AS is correct;

My bad.

CD

Hey All,

Want to run this by the gurus in here and see what they think. I replaced my ECM fuse, checked all wiring that I could and found no issues. Even paid the mechanic 1 hour labor to look also. Fuse hasn't blown yet so I have my fingers crossed. The car did die again last week and this time it was due to lack of cranking voltage so when you hit the key to start, all lights went out, you heard some fizzing, etc. Found the positive cable to the starter was slightly loose so I jingled it and it fired right up. When I got back home, I thoroughly tightened the battery cables, cleaned the terminals, etc. What are the chances that loose cable could have caused the EMC fuse to blow?

TIA again,

Derek

snipped-for-privacy@socal.rr.com wrote:

Definitely a jiggling starter cable, especially any high current wire like the starter, alternator, etc could be enough to spike the voltage and blow the fuse.

CD

...what could cause the fuse to blow? ... weak after 200k miles and 16 years...

- u said it

Fuse is to protect for overload. Loose supply cable/spiking cannot cause overload ...however... at startup a device draws max pwr -and- THAT may blow a fuse... if/when a fuse is bad and/or too small (Note: Playin with supply cable Possibly causes that startup)

15A fuse wont 'hurt' - it will stand the start spike better...

One reason may be oxidized connectors, also at fuses. Volvo recommends contact grease on fuses - works on Nissans too... See link p14 below.

Thanks again for the info. I already did your wiring harness tune up on your site (great site btw). Took better part of a day and a ton of electrical contact cleaner and di-electric grease. I was hoping that the starter wire coming loose blew the fuse, but it just blew again last fri. It lasted about 2 weeks. Both times it blew, was at a stop light, engine running and hot, just starting to accelerate and it blew. I am at wits end now as I believe this could be just about anything on the car. For now I carry a few extra fuses but it's a pain to replace them while in the car. Not sure if I should sell the car or go get a

10amp circuit breaker to replace the fuse so when it does blow I can reset it easily. Thanks again for all your help, I appreciate it.

Derek

Wiik> ...what could cause the fuse to blow?

overload ...however... at startup a device draws max pwr -and- THAT may blow a fuse... if/when a fuse is bad and/or too small (Note: Playin with supply cable Possibly causes that startup)

grease on fuses - works on Nissans too... See link p14 below.

From ECU/Fuse point of view, its all the same if u play with batt cable -or- ign key. All 'it' sees is pwr/nopwr... and surge start spike. That may blow fuse if fuse is 'too small' from the beginning.

Components do change/degrade during lifetime and may start drawing more current. Ambient conditions (heat, humidity) add to that. For example ECU has the pwr consuming driver circuits for injector coils, their pwr consumption varies as pedal is pressed...

I think the 10Afuse is quite 'on the edge' all the time... so...try that next size =15A fuse.