Dead...but Alive. Lesson Learned in Nuts, Power, and how things actually work

The Gas and Diesel Engines - VQ40De, VK56DE, YD25DDTi, V9X, Transmission, Transfer Case, Oil, Differentials, Axles, Exhaust...

Moderator: volvite

TooMuchControl
Posts: 335
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:41 pm

Dead...but Alive. Lesson Learned in Nuts, Power, and how things actually work

Postby TooMuchControl » Thu Feb 24, 2022 4:34 pm

Driving home from work, decided to pull over into a Timmy's coffee on my way back from Peterborough...

hit a rut, and BOOM lost all power, all brakes, all steering...
Glided into, and through a gas station...
past the gas pumps.....
and then finally had enough strength to push on the brakes...stopped the truck...WTF.

All dash lights on. VDC< AWD, etc....
will not crank, not even a click....
But lights are on. Dash is alive....
Radio is working....

I thought...did the battery cable just fall off the truck?
But I have power / lights / radio...everything...

Checked under the hood...serp is there...
nothing lost...fluid....nothing...everything seems good...
Truck will not start, no starter...hmmmmm....
Called CAA for a tow....and planned to go to the Nissan Dealer all worried....

So..I remembered that I purchased a Foxwell Code Reader specific for the truck, and decided that I will hook it up and see what it sees...I had it on me always in my truck.

BUT - two things I noticed

...NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT on the dash.
...NO TRANSMISSION INDICATION on the dash as I switched through all the gears.

Pugged my code reader, and it failed to read the VIN automatically. Weird.
Dead ECU?
Manually entered the truck information, and it reads all the codes finec from the ECU....
But it could not read the VIN, but read all the modules....

I will tease you all in a second post...how I figured this out...on the side of the road, with a multi-meter I had on hand with me...and cancelled my tow... and back on the road in 30 minutes...

I'd love to hear the hypothesis of some, as to what it could have been....


silverarrow27
Posts: 414
Joined: Sat May 02, 2020 1:40 am
Location: Banning, CA

Re: Dead...but Alive. Lesson Learned in Nuts, Power, and how things actually work

Postby silverarrow27 » Thu Feb 24, 2022 6:34 pm

My hypothesis is that then you woke up?

All kidding aside, not the slightest clue. Only thing I can think of is some sort of kill switch or something became unplugged/loose.

TooMuchControl
Posts: 335
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:41 pm

Re: Dead...but Alive. Lesson Learned in Nuts, Power, and how things actually work

Postby TooMuchControl » Thu Feb 24, 2022 7:18 pm

Haha. Yes. but no.

Of all the things that could happen - the nut holding one of the power leads on the battery fuse loosened and killed half the truck in mid flight.

It was the only thing I could think of. as the starter would be isolated from the computer, at the battery.

I got lucky.

The Code reader clued me in. It was as-if half the truck was on, and the other half off.

User avatar
palmerwmd
Site Admin
Posts: 2343
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2017 4:45 am
Location: Mid Atlantic

Re: Dead...but Alive. Lesson Learned in Nuts, Power, and how things actually work

Postby palmerwmd » Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:08 pm

Hmm interesting .

Thanks for sharing!!
I once had a odd situation almost like that, though not as bad.
years ago.
Was loose battery cable.

User avatar
VStar650CL
Posts: 501
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 6:19 pm

Re: Dead...but Alive. Lesson Learned in Nuts, Power, and how things actually work

Postby VStar650CL » Fri Feb 25, 2022 6:36 pm

TooMuchControl wrote:
Thu Feb 24, 2022 7:18 pm
Of all the things that could happen - the nut holding one of the power leads on the battery fuse loosened and killed half the truck in mid flight.
We actually see that once or twice a year from the factory, although the later models are laid out differently and it's usually the nut on the ground cable that's loose and not the hot side. Typically it kills the whole car every time it hits a big bump, but it usually re-connects after bouncing and doesn't stall the engine, so you find a boatload of "past" battery-related codes in systems all over the car.


Return to “R51 Engine, Driveline and Powertrain”