Nissan Dealer Quoted Over $2000 For A New Harness!!

I have about 1percent of this man's knowledge, and probably 2 percent of his tools , yet people call me all the time to try and fix their cars before they take them to the dealership. Because I'm honest. That's why I love this channel. This guy is a top tier, honest, family loving mechanic. I really enjoy the videos bud, don't ever stop.

I've had a very similar experience with a 2005 Mazda RX8. On (fairly frequent) occasion it would boil the battery. No problem - put a voltmeter on the battery and logged the voltage as I drove. Voltage rose over 17 volts when under heavy load (in this case, like the Maxima, when cranking on the electronic power steering while stopped or low speed). Checked all powers and grounds like Eric did, all good. So I replaced the alternator and it still happened.... Turns out the alternator fitted to these Mazda's (and a lot of newer cars) does not have an inbuilt voltage regulator; rather the PCM has the regulator integrated into it. The logic behind this is the PCM can 'look ahead' for electrical load demand (i.e. it can see the steering angle sensor change minutely before you significantly steer) and then crank up the alternator to compensate. This is especially relevant for vehicles electric power steering as it puts a massive load on the system. I backprobed the PWM output from the PCM to the the alternator and found it would get stuck at 100%, causing the alternator to go full field. Note that the scan tool didn't pick up on this as the data you receive is the 'desired PWM' not the actual... One junkyard PCM later and it works fine. This may not be exactly what Eric is seeing on the Maxima (i.e. no idea if it uses the PCM as a voltage regulator) but figured I would share this story. Don't automatically blame the alternator itself for a high/low voltage fault!

I hope your customers know how much you are saving them . You are an honest mechanic wish I was your customer :)

My girlfriend hates when I go into "limp-mode".

A few years ago my brother had some weird intermittent electrical problem on his 2011 Durango. Two dealers and several weeks in the shop and still the same. They changed the ECM, 2 alternators and the battery. He got frustrated but wouldn't let me touch it because he wanted them on the hook for whatever they did. We drove it around for the day and it went from intermittent to almost constant when it got good and hot in traffic. We ran it back up to the dealership and he was able to get the guy that worked on it to come out immediately. I told him to look for a bad connection because it gets a lot worse when it gets hot. He found the problem in the alternator harness. He said the dealer would only give him 15 minutes with it and that wasn't long enough to get it warm enough to act up.

I have so much respect for this man. I am lucky to have three repair shops run by friends that are similiar to this. A recent issue with my Toyota cruise control was repaired by one in 10 minutes and under $50. The Toyota dealer quoted me over $700!

2K repair bill?? sounds so much like a Simmons and Rockwell quick fix?? Only you take the time to figure shit out you rock!!

Have the same problem with some of the dealers up here. When they can't figure it out, they estimate on something really expensive in the hopes that the customer will decline the repair, but they'll charge them for diagnostic time.

Thanks Eric ... "To Be Continued ... " indeed! Neighbor kid came by the other day with his (not legal in NY) noisy exhaust ... and I immediately shouted "CHEVY THUNDER". You sir, are a good influence on all of us. Keep it up!

I have been amazed that you, working on probably a thousand more cars than I (as a DIYer) ever have, are not encountering bad engine grounds. When I see an electrical system that screwy I start the engine, turn on the lights and blower, and measure voltage from engine to chassis. My 300ZX was measuring over a volt between them... stupid second wire from the battery connector to chassis was corroded in two. My brother was installing audio systems in high end cars for a while. He had put one in a Ferrari, demonstrated it for the customer, and waved goodbye. A moment later it came back - no audio system life at all. Turned out the system only worked when the parking brake was on, because the tension in the parking brake cable grounded the engine when it was applied.

Oh baby! A cliffhanger! Can’t wait to see the solution! Perfect timing posting this too - gave me something to watch during the NASCAR weather delay!

Dealer's new business plan: Take so long NOT fixing a car the customer buys a new one.

I seriously bust out laughing every time he says “ giving it full beans! “ hahaha

Eric you need to go to that Nissan dealer and rip all those tech certified patches off the shirts 👕 hahahaha

This lady deserves an apology and refund in full, for the lack of professionalism with Nissan. Reasons of this nature is why I left the dealerships in my past. The inconsistency in diagnosis, and the lack of understanding of peoples financial situations, such as their fixed income households, can put disabled people without a means of transportation. This leads to losing that customer forever. The shop manager needs to be made aware of such situations, and how to work with those customers, for a better future for both the customers and the dealership. I'm at full heart about these type of situations.

I chased this same issue around for weeks, replacing many modules and chasing OBD codes. All of the input errors to the PCM ended up being the result of a bad alternator, the diode pack was wonky. Nissan has a screwed up logic system that doesn't single out the alternator as being the culprit. I've experienced 3 Nissan vehicles that started killing and/or appeared to be in limp mode and then start throwing errant Cam and crank position sensor codes and even O2 sensor and ABS codes. A battery disconnect to draw down system voltage was a very temporary reprieve. On all 3 vehicles, a defective alternator was the culprit. The bottom line is that Nissan is NOT what Datsun started off as and used to be. IMHO, the corporate fools, lawyers and executives have run the company into the ground for the sake of high salaries and to satisfy stockholder insatiable thirst for dividends, the engineers and assemblers left with orders to cut costs and corners wherever possible even if doing so defies logic and best practices-I heard this from a retired Nissan North America Warranty Division Engineer. Nissan = POS and will not be rebounding, they're on life support only as a result of foolish buyers falling for marketing incentives and financing trickery. Caveat emptor!

I have a Buick Roadmaster where it was doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Driving it, it'd throw codes all over the place, including a code for bad PCM code (94, so pre-OBD-II). It was very intermittent though, it'd run fine, then start acting weird. I did the obvious stuff at first, as power/grounds were all dirty from age, still no change. Using a digital multimeter, I noticed way too much fluctuation on the voltage when running, I decided to remove the alternator trigger wire, took it for a shake, and it drove just fine. Ended up rebuilding the alternator, and it's been a dream since.

I just started work on my nephew's truck that two separate shops either could not diagnose or diagnosed as an "engine with internal damage, need new engine". What did I find thanks to your previous videos and a few other YouTubers' videos? Plugged passenger catalytic convertor. Removed O2 sensor, started truck and engine immediately started running much better with the extra ventilation. Just pulled the exhaust and will hopefully have it back up and running next week.

I had this exact same problem with my 2009 Nissan Maxima. It would stall in the middle of the road I would put the pedal to the floor, engine speed did not change. I replaced the alternator and it has been working perfectly ever since.

This is really intriguing, thanks for bringing us along with you. I can't wait for Part 2 !!!