Have a 2000 Infiniti I30. 90K miles. Live in Central Indiana. Car would not start last week. Had it jumped , drove about 8 miles and then car stopped. Had car jumped again and took to nearby mechanic. Nearby mechanic advised bad battery cell and changed battery ( I thought it was the alternator).
Everything was fine till this week Monday morning - car would not start again. Battery was cranking. Jumped and car did not start. A while later jumped again and car started. Took to my regular mechanic - he checked and said battery / alternator / charging system is fine. Ran diagnsotics but codes are wiped out. So he asked me to take car to dealer.
As an aside…have had “service engine soon” light on for some time now. Regular mechanic said it might be “coolant temp sensor” or thermostat. Car does not overheat but regular mechanic feels this “service engine” issue could be connected to starting problem.
Please advise / help…what could it be?
It is a very strange that you have a ‘check engine’ light but there are no codes stored. Diagnosis without the help of the computer telling what problems it finds is going to be difficult. Were the codes wiped because the battery was disconnected? Consider that it might be the computer itself or its programing.
The mechanic can do resistance checks on the ‘coolant temperature sensor’ to determine whether it has a problem. The concern about the thermostat is that the engine may not be attaining running temperature but that would show up as poor fuel economy and poor emissions performance. I am not familiar with the Infinity sensors but if it has a mass flow air sensor check it. Also the throttle position sensor should be checked. Otherwise, look at fuel delivery and ignition on starting because it sounds like the engine is cranking well but not lighting off.
Get back to us with more information. Let us know what the mechanic finally determines to have been the problem
First if the light is on and there are no stored codes, That usually means a defective computer or the reader is an older style that can’t read all the codes and just does not see the ones causing the problem.
About this Service Engine light; Is this the same light as the one related to the non-existing codes relate to?
Note for future reference: Anytime someone reads codes for you, get the actual code (like P1234).
A coolant temp sensor or thermostat is not going to cause the car to refuse to start.
You need to have the codes pulled on the offchance that a code for a power circuit (ignition, fuel pump, or whatever) may be hiding in there.
AutoZone will do this for you free. Post any results back here.
There’s not enough info to get specific on your problem without knowing if the problem is fuel or spark related.
If there is no sputtering or coughing when trying to start it or if it died instantly on the road, I would be inclined to think the problem is related to the secondary ignition or the electrical part of the ignition switch.
Thank you to everyone for the responses. I took the '00 Infiniti I30 to AutoZone. They ran the test and gave me the code (P1126).
Definition: Throttle control motor relay open circuit.
Potential Causes:
- Open circuit condition
- Poor electrical connection
- Failed throttle control motor relay
AutoZone informed me they could not help me further and asked me to take vehicle to dealer for a “PINPOINT” test.
I do not know if one of these 3 causes listed above could have prevented the vehicle from starting. Also do not know if the “service engine soon” light is related to non-existing codes.
Please advise on what the problem could be potentially and how I should communicate to dealer (I usually avoid taking car to dealer as I do not want to overpay).
Thank you
In perusing AllData I came across a TSB that indicates that the Mass Airflow Sensor can become contaminated with dirt or deposits caused by a faulty air filter. To correct this problem the air box and plumbing is to be vacuumed of all dirt, the filter is to be replaced with a new OEM filter, the MAF sensor replaced, and the computer software updated to match the new MAF. The MAF is a critical sensor for starting and running. Its failure may not set a code as the computer may not be able to determine that the MAF is giving erroneous data.
Unhappily the diagnosis and ECM reprograming will probably have to be done by the dealership as a proprietary scanner and connection to an OEM software update is called for in the TSB.
Hope this is not your problem.
What was the final result of this repair?
I just bought my Infiniti i30 yesterday, and this morning while I was driving, the service engine soon light came on. This may be coincidential but the start has been a tiny bit rough every once in awhile. I brought my car to my buddy, who’s a master mechanic and he ran the OBD II sensor and was given a particular code (which I cannot remember but have ir on paper at home) and this code wasn’t on Alldata or other sites. Upon further research he was showing results that this issue WAS due to the the thermostat either having bit the dust or stuck open. Either way, at the most it costs around $24.00 for a new one and is relatively easy to replace. Good luck! -Mike