Long one folks, sorry!
So I recently bought an 02 Sentra GXE. Only previous owner was a female with a small child. Couldn't be in better condition for a used car, right? So I thought for the first month I had it. Ran fine, relatively sure it had an aftermarket alarm system, since it armed within 30 seconds of leaving the car. Armed, but did not lock the doors, so you can understand my wanting it to get removed. Then, the check engine light comes on. Check the code, and it says Random/Multiple Misfire (P0350). Bring it to a mechanic, checks it out, can't find much of anything wrong after checking all of the coils, replacing spark plugs, etc.). He removes the alarm system, and returns it. Next day, it doesn't start. I think it's because of the removal, have him check everything, no results. Finally, I replace the crankshaft positioning sensor after a tip from a friend, starts up fine.
I bring it for a test drive, feels great until I bring the RPMs up over 4000, where it surges, loses power, and when I come to a stop, stalls. Start it up again, get it home, but every time it sits still, in park, drive, whatever, it stalls after a couple seconds to a minute. Usually lasts longer after initial start up. Bring it to another mechanic, he checks the coils, wires, everything looks fine, except he says he's not getting power coming from the ecm, so it could be either a bad circuit or a bad ecm. Check light had come on when it first started losing power, no longer has the P0350, now has P0340. Change the camshaft positioning sensor, things seem good again. Drive again, no problems at 4000 rpms, but same thing with sitting still and stalling. In drive, sitting at a light, stalls out on me. Start it up again, stalls within seconds while I remain stopped. Start it, rev the engine, put it into drive, and make it home without having to stop. So now I'm thinking it's a faulty ecm, which I'm going to try to find online and replace. Any tips/advice? Has anyone experienced something similar to this, and if so what was the fix? ECMs are expensive, and I'd like to replace it myself since mechanics charge crazy for something that isn't a whole lot of labor. But before I spend all of that money, I figured I'd check here and see what you guys had to say. I know the main two symbols on the ECM need to match, mine says 4 K, so i need to find the same, do I need to do anything else? I don't have any mods so will I have to reflash the new one? Where can I get one that's cheap?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
So I recently bought an 02 Sentra GXE. Only previous owner was a female with a small child. Couldn't be in better condition for a used car, right? So I thought for the first month I had it. Ran fine, relatively sure it had an aftermarket alarm system, since it armed within 30 seconds of leaving the car. Armed, but did not lock the doors, so you can understand my wanting it to get removed. Then, the check engine light comes on. Check the code, and it says Random/Multiple Misfire (P0350). Bring it to a mechanic, checks it out, can't find much of anything wrong after checking all of the coils, replacing spark plugs, etc.). He removes the alarm system, and returns it. Next day, it doesn't start. I think it's because of the removal, have him check everything, no results. Finally, I replace the crankshaft positioning sensor after a tip from a friend, starts up fine.
I bring it for a test drive, feels great until I bring the RPMs up over 4000, where it surges, loses power, and when I come to a stop, stalls. Start it up again, get it home, but every time it sits still, in park, drive, whatever, it stalls after a couple seconds to a minute. Usually lasts longer after initial start up. Bring it to another mechanic, he checks the coils, wires, everything looks fine, except he says he's not getting power coming from the ecm, so it could be either a bad circuit or a bad ecm. Check light had come on when it first started losing power, no longer has the P0350, now has P0340. Change the camshaft positioning sensor, things seem good again. Drive again, no problems at 4000 rpms, but same thing with sitting still and stalling. In drive, sitting at a light, stalls out on me. Start it up again, stalls within seconds while I remain stopped. Start it, rev the engine, put it into drive, and make it home without having to stop. So now I'm thinking it's a faulty ecm, which I'm going to try to find online and replace. Any tips/advice? Has anyone experienced something similar to this, and if so what was the fix? ECMs are expensive, and I'd like to replace it myself since mechanics charge crazy for something that isn't a whole lot of labor. But before I spend all of that money, I figured I'd check here and see what you guys had to say. I know the main two symbols on the ECM need to match, mine says 4 K, so i need to find the same, do I need to do anything else? I don't have any mods so will I have to reflash the new one? Where can I get one that's cheap?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!