Hi guys I'm new here. I have a 2008 Armada and recently my friend was trying to jump his battery with my Armada. Well a positive or negative touched the wrong part of the battery and an abnormal spark illuminated. Well since then my Armada will not accelerate and I have VDC, Slip and check engine lights on. I drove it to the nearby auto store and they connected the computer to it and I'm getting 6 codes battery sensor, transmission control module, starter relay, engine signal, throttle positioning on pedal signal and power steering sensor. Do any of you know where I need to start?
the BCM, TCM, IPDM, perhaps the gauge cluster needs to be replaced.
DONT EVER boost a car off with your car or the other way around. DONT DO IT. these cars have computer networks in them and you can cause some major damage if you are not careful....
What kind of abnormal spark are we talking about here? If you shorted your battery, you probably would have used different language to describe it.
It is normal for there to be a small spark when connecting the last (and ONLY the last) of the four clips when jumping a car. When you close a contact into a significant current, there is almost always going to be a spark from the step change in current.
I second marctronixx' sentiment. Do not ever jump start a modern car. Ever. The voltage transients involved can do bad things to the on board computers. Everything in a car is protected against high voltage spikes, but the impulse noise can really confuse the on board computers.
To answer your question, you need to start by clearing the DTCs, then before starting, disconnecting the battery and letting it sit for 10 minutes, then reconnecting it. A complete reset might return it to normal if nothing was actually damaged.
If the 10 minute disconnect doesnt work try 24 hours and pump the brake several times after disconnect. Pumpung the brakes is supposed to discharge and remaining juice in the system. 24 hours is supposed to clear memory.
Turning on any light will do the same thing. You just want to discharge any residuals. From a technical standpoint it happens on the supply side (12V bus) in milliseconds, but the 10 minutes is supposed to ensure that all load side (low voltage busses in devices) voltages discharge to zero and releasing any latched-up logic that may have occurred due to crazy things happening on the supply voltages. (and really, this happens in seconds, not minutes, but you can't go wrong by going and having a cup of coffee and coming back to it)
The 24 hours allows the supercap holding up the battery-backed RAM in the ECU to discharge completely, at which point it forgets everything it has learned.
Ok that did not work for long. I connected the battery and started it up. It drove for about a half mile and my gauges lit up again and my rpms dropped down to 15 mph. This is better than what it was doing before. Because prior to disconnecting the battery, everytime I would start it, the gauges would automatically come on. When this happens the a/c doesn't blow cold either.
Go get the computer scanned again to see if the same codes come up. Also, what's your voltage needle doing? Do you have a digital voltmeter you can use to measure the battery voltage both when the engine is off and when it is running?
When off, the battery should be around 12-13V... when running, about 14.2-14.5.
These cars act weird with a low battery. Take the battery to where you bought it and have them test and charge it. I have had a battery test good then fail while charging.
the car does not run on the battery, it runs on the alternator.
you have damaged the car seriously. you probably need a new ECM just for starters. stop wishing things will fix itself if the car just sits unplugged overnight, and take it in for someone with more experience to eval the damage you have done.
I've eliminated the need for a new Ecm, I swapped it with the fog light relay and it works fine unless for some reason part of the relay works and part of it doesn't... I'm not so convinced that the damage is as bad since the vehicle is doing everything besides accelerating.
ECM is NOT a relay you can swap--thats the IPDM--two different things brother. ECM is the brain.
have you eliminated the BCM too? what about the TCM?
lots of sensors that could have taken a hit on your car. getting it checked out by nissan is worth the 75-80 bux. then come back here and find out where to get goo parts for less than what the dealer charges..
Yes, that is what I'm doing next... I don't want to cause anymore damage
Ok guys after a few days of the dealership trying to diagnose my vehicle, they say I need a new ECM... The part is approximately $1100 with labor at $175... is there any other place where this part would be cheaper?
There's a guy who might be able to quote you lower. He's on either the ClubArmada or Nissan Experience Facebook pages. I think his Facebook is Nissan OEM parts ... or something like that... and as always check out courtesy Nissan parts...