[James_R_MacLean]

I've been trying to fix my wife's 1994 Sentra GXE 1.6L and I'm stumped. It would not start, and when I jumped it, as soon as I disconnected the jumper cables the engine cut out. I took the battery to the vendor, which they confirmed as toast (dead cell). So I got a new one--which I have not put in yet.

However, dying batteries are a recurring problem on this car. Moreover, it seems obvious that if the engine dies unless it has a steady current from another car, then there is a problem elsewhere in the electrical system.

A neighbor recommended replacing the battery cables and I took the old ones into a specialist shop in Snohomish. They confirmed the negative cable was still good but the positive one was bad. Moreover, the positive battery terminal has fusible links that had been blown out (photo).

(Confession: the last time I tried to jump the Sentra I had the wires wrong, but I think the fusible links looked blown before then.)

I don't know how the old fusible link connects with the housing and I don't know how to find out. I've installed the new positive battery cable (other end goes to the starter motor) and the negative (likewise) but I am still trying to determine how to reattach the fusible links without blowing up the car.

In this photo, the "new" positive battery cable + fusible links is in the middle, but the fusible links are not connected and I don't know how they were connected before. Here's a wiring diagram from Chilton.

Any advice? I wish I could figure it out but I've got a female socket I'm trying to plug into another female socket (photos--plugs vs. sockets).

 

[James_R_MacLean]

If any kind soul wants to help, I could use a photo of the connection on a working car.

Also, any cures for severe amnesia? My memory is, uh, what's that four-letter word for fecal matter? I swear it starts with an "sh" sound.

I have no recollection of how the connection was supposed to look before my debacle with the jumper cables.

Once I deal with this I can determine if the alternator is bad.

 

[i68k]

your splitter (the red box thing) is directly connected to the 12v battery. so whether you use the left or right socket, they should be the same, so it shouldnt matter which gets plugged where, left or right socket. i believe the actual fuses/relays are in one of the fuse boxes, left/right of the battery, and passenger fender, and also the one inside to the left of the steering wheel. the best way to figure this out is with a multimeter, so you can check the voltages, grounds, etc. and figure out what goes where.

its been a while since ive worked on a b13, but im not sure what you have and what you dont, rather confusing reading all this. so im not sure how you got 3 females connectors, and 1 male connector? normally a starter is has a relatively direct connection with the battery, and so does the alternator. the only thing i can think of a is a splitter harness, that would take one male, and give 2 male connectors, maybe was on your old harness, or some type of adapter between the connectors. maybe there is another connector down the wire more for your female socket? otherwise, one of those male connector was supposed to plug into the female, which supplies the power from the starter to the alternator when the starter is not in use?

this seems a bit ambiguous, but a new pic of what you actually have now. it seems your old splitter (red box) has wires that have been cut, did you solder/connect those wires to something else thats not in the pics? assuming you didnt solder the female connector on there?

 

[James_R_MacLean]

Thank you!

I got your message at the end of the day, so I can't act on it right now. But that's a really big help.

A few points: one is, vBulletin (the FCGI app that powers this bulletin board) inserts additional hyperlinks, like the one for "jumper cables" (both your post and mine) and the one for "Snohomish." But I included five links to photos of the car--I say this for other people reading this thread.

[T]his seems a bit ambiguous, but a new pic of what you actually have now. it seems your old splitter (red box) has wires that have been cut, did you solder/connect those wires to something else thats not in the pics? assuming you didnt solder the female connector on there?

This is the first time I've worked on the car. My brother-in-law and I discussed it a bit and he doesn't know how the extra female socket got there. It does look like an aftermarket fix, but whoever did it did a very presentable job--the photos were taken after I cut away the conduit (and man, I hope I didn't damage any of the bundled wires). It looked like it came from the factory that way before I cut away the conduit.

I found a photo of the wiring on a 1993 Nissan Maxima, which was similar to this particular Sentra but included an 8"-10" segment of cable with male plugs at each end (link, photo). Relevant text:

Four numbered connectors, three wires:
1. goes to fuse [B1] ...take off =dash lights, no start. (one W/Red stripe -thick wire)
2./3 . Supply charge wire from alternator. This short, gray shielded wire with connectors in both ends, is called Fusible Link Wire GY . It is used as alternator charge current limiter and fuse: it melts if current flow exceeds safety limits.
One Alt-schema shows that this wire comes directly from alternator. Another Pwr-schema shows two extra connections: the fact is, this wire here is also interconnected with Fusebox [B.] and its Fusible Links 4,5,6 - feeding lots of systems.
4. Grey connector; NOT connected to battery: Starter wire loop (one W/Red stripe -thick wire). This loop comes from Inhibitor Switch (see below) and goes to starter solenoid coil pin. (May be used for direct start.)

Starter wiring loop and grey connector (4.)

A Google search for "Fusible Link Wire GY" turns up a few vendors in the UK, and that particular [Swedish] discussion thread, so I think it's possibly a European term. I'm in the USA, and not sure if fusible link wire is available here--or would have any reason to be.

 

[James_R_MacLean]

Why I'm stumped

Here's why I'm stumped: the positive battery cable looked like this when I pulled it out of the car:

FIGURE 1

Now, when you see two stubby, burnt-out wires you figure they must have connected to two other now-stubby burnt out wires, which connect to something else, thus:

FIGURE 2

And yet, the only plausible cables that connect are these:

FIGURE 3

So how is this possible?

 

[i68k]

hopefully youre using the fsm, it does show the wires colors and wiring diagrams for this. its a free download around here somehere, maybe try:
allsentra.com/fsm
nicoclub.com/fsm

again, im sorry im not completely familiar with the b13s.

what im asking is that you have cut 2 wires, to remove your red splitter (first pic). if you didnt solder or reconnect anything, there should be 2 more cut wire ends dangling around somewhere....that lead to something.

so the wires that you have cut, did both of the wires have male plugs on both ends? i cant see your car in person, so my question is the same as yours, 'where did your cut wires go?' i mean obviously, if you didnt remove them, they have to be dangling down there somewhere...

so what you have in your hand (last pic, male+female), where do those wires lead to? there were already bundled together?

in your 'new positive battery cable' pic (your first post), i can see a female connector signled out laying on top of the battery tray.... and the male connector near your distributor... so, i dont see the other cut wires, the other end of those that were attached to the battery/splitter/red box.

EDIT: what does your new battery terminal/splitter look like? and where did it actually melt, inside the red box?

 

[James_R_MacLean]

hopefully youre using the fsm, it does show the wires colors and wiring diagrams for this. its a free download around here somehere, maybe try:
allsentra.com/fsm
nicoclub.com/fsm

Thanks for the link! I just downloaded section "EL" for the FSM and I'm using this extremely rainy day to read through it (we don't have a garage here).

what im asking is that you have cut 2 wires, to remove your red splitter (first pic). if you didnt solder or reconnect anything, there should be 2 more cut wire ends dangling around somewhere....that lead to something.

so the wires that you have cut, did both of the wires have male plugs on both ends? i cant see your car in person, so my question is the same as yours, 'where did your cut wires go?' i mean obviously, if you didnt remove them, they have to be dangling down there somewhere...

I have not cut any wires at all. The severed wires in the photo above were fused that way. They go into male plugs (which were plugged into female sockets).

so what you have in your hand (last pic, male+female), where do those wires lead to? there were already bundled together?

In order to answer that question, I cut away about 15" of conduit before they went out of (easy) reach. When opportunity permits, I'll post a photo.

 

[i68k]

you dont need to cut away the conduit! just watch the wires color and thickness to the other end of the conduit, pull apart a piece where its only tape and match the wire colors. (ie if 3 wires color go in one side of the tube, there must be 3 wires colors coming out the other end, unless of course youre after a split/junction). you could follow your alternator/starter back towards the battery, esp if one goes to the ignition. again, use the wire colors in the fsm, they are usually correct if you download the correct year, and are looking at the correct section (like ser or gxe) and you can download all those pdf files for the complete fsm, usually fwd is the front.

 

[James_R_MacLean]

I took some photos which I hope will make things a little more clear. Unfortunately, I cut away some of the conduit several weeks ago, when I was hoping I could replace them entirely. At the time, I couldn't see any alternative.

This afternoon I had a minute before the wife came home to take some photos. I hunted and hunted inside the engine bay and came up with nothing at all besides the aforementioned cables: 4-gauge white, etc.

Laura bought the Nissan new in 1994 and has never done anything to the wiring.

in your 'new positive battery cable' pic (your first post), i can see a female connector signled out laying on top of the battery tray.... and the male connector near your distributor... so, i dont see the other cut wires, the other end of those that were attached to the battery/splitter/red box.

Yes, that's what's driving me crazy. Actually, I'm trying not to worry about it; I just want to get the wiring to work.

EDIT: what does your new battery terminal/splitter look like? and where did it actually melt, inside the red box?

Here's the new battery terminal/splitter.

FIGURE 4

Click on figure to see different sizes​

I didn't see any signs of melting inside the red box.

ust watch the wires color and thickness to the other end of the conduit, pull apart a piece where its only tape and match the wire colors.

The conduit was unbroken all the way to where it intersected another conduit.

FIGURE 5

Click on figure to see different sizes​

One of which goes through the hole in the engine bay to the space just between the wheel well and the headlight:

FIGURE 6

Click on figure to see different sizes​

and one of which goes around the front of the engine bay to the righthand side of the car, to the alternator.

FIGURE 7

Click on figure to see different sizes​

 

[i68k]

you can replace the plastic tubing, just tape the wires before and after the plastic tubing, of course cut it to the size you need, the just zip tie it again to make sure they stay secure. you can get small rolls of it at the parts store, sometimes even the hardware stores.

now that im looking at the fsm, there are 4 different specs for the starter and alternator. automatic, manual except cali, and manual california spec, also the same models with and without tachometer. assuming youve purchased the car in washington state, you probably dont have a cali spec, but auto and manual has slightly different wiring, also need to know if you have a tachometer, assuming you dont have a canada model. hopefully te person who gave you this fusible terminal gave you the correct one. to me, the cable looks like it was setup to be a grounding cable with the loop on the end...? not trying to be difficult, but this may be better repaired by mechanic/someone who can see the car in person, and check voltages, continuity, etc.

from what i can see, the wires are going under the radiator to the passenger side, hopefully to your alt & starter, which is what youve found. on your new splitter, the wires are white/red, but the fsm shows yellow/red, or all white? however, if you look at both wiring diagrams, for the starter and charging system, the starter takes a direct connection from the battery, and a direct link to the fuse box (connection e24 to e23) then from the fuse box to your ignition, usually to turn off other electronics when youre trying to start the motor. so your charging system also has a similar connection (e24 to e23), but it also has an external fusible link which leads directly to your alternator. so one of the white wires on your alternator will be the same wire thats on your fusible link (connection e25 to e3). hope this helps simplify the wiring diagram, also hope your using a multimeter.

 

[James_R_MacLean]

Sorry about the looooong hiatus....

Sorry I disappeared there. It's been pretty hectic and I was falling asleep when I ought to have been working on the Nissan.

I got some replacement conduit for the cable and a multimeter.

I don't think I want to replace the cable connecting the fusible link to the alternator or to the ignition (Figure 4 & 5, above). Judging by the FSM diagram (el.pdf, p.21), they both go all the way to their destinations--probably about 6' for each, I would imagine.

FIGURE 8

Click on figure to see different sizes​

(I added the red square for emphasis).

It looks as though all I really need is something like this:

FIGURE 9

 

[i68k]

in figure 8, just to clarify, you only need to consider your ga motor, as you have included the sr section in your red square shape, whatever. so youll be looking at the wire colors for the alternator thats to the left in the wiring diagram. remember, the fsm covers all models in your year, so both ga1.6 and sr2.0 motors.

it seems as you need the double ended male, like your figure 9, but i am not positive on the electrical wiring in your b13, be sure to check the wire colors on the alternator and use the wiring diagram, and use the multimeter, as one of the white wires going to the alternator should be 12v, and there should another voltage less than 12v on the other wire. basically, you need to find which wire is e3, and which is e5 for the next step. eventually youll find that missing wire, maybe your figure 9

 

[James_R_MacLean]

in figure 8, just to clarify, you only need to consider your ga motor, as you have included the sr section in your red square shape, whatever

Yes, right. We have a GA16DE with no tachometer, a manual transmission, and non-Canadian, non-California emissions system.

be sure to check the wire colors on the alternator and use the wiring diagram, and use the multimeter, as one of the white wires going to the alternator should be 12v, and there should another voltage less than 12v on the other wire.

Apologies for the dumb question, but is it possible to check that without the battery hooked up?

Also, now that I have a multimeter, is it possible for me to check the viability of the alternator with the engine off? The original problem I was trying to fix was that the car wouldn't start and wouldn't take a jump start (as soon as I disconnected the jumper cables the engine cut out). I'm pretty confident the alternator is bad but I was hoping to test it first.

 

[i68k]

youll need to use some type of battery, whether its your car battery, AA or 9v battery preferably since its closer to 12v, you might need more than 2 hands to do this though. check the battery voltage with the multimeter, and contact the + to where the + would be, and i usually tape a grounded wire to the battery negative to ground the battery. dont ground the battery to the regular battery ground, youll power the entire system instead of just one wire. so if you used a 9v to the battery positive, you should see the 9v at the other end of the wire on the alternator, hopefully you disconnect the harness from the alternator and touch the probes to the pins in the connector. if there is a significant drop in voltage, it maybe the wire going thru the fuse box, and not the direct line.

to check the alternator, you would need the motor to be idling/spinning the alternator at least x rpm (not sure how fast the alternator pulley spins). the alternator is like a generator, when it spins, it creates current. when it spins slow it still creates a small current, too small to measure accurately, so you would need the motor to at least idle. or you can bring the alternator to be tested, preferably at a alternator&starter specialist, as sometimes autozone etc doesnt do very good diagnostics on the alternators.

EDIT: you can use the multimeter to check continuity as well, forgot what setting this is, so if you put the probes on both ends of a wire you get a signal. if you put the probes on different wires where theres no current, you get no signal. this might not work right for the wire going thru the fuse box. maybe practice on a small piece of scrap wire? also remember, if youre using a battery, youll nned to ground the black/negative probe to the chassis, so there is a current to read on the multimeter. how to read continuity should be in the multimeter manual somewhere.

EDIT2: if you have a new battery laying around somewhere, dont leave it on the ground, or on a metal shelf, make sure its on a shelf on a plastic/wood/something thats not going to let the battery ground out. if you leave a battery on dirt, it will gradually ground out the battery over time.

 

[James_R_MacLean]

Another question: what is the plug on the fusible link in figure 8 called? It looks like I'm going to have to make one with the two plugs & about a foot of 8(?) gauge fusible link wire.

 

[i68k]

sorry, i was editting the last post. so reread that one. im not sure exactly what to call the male connectors. have you gone to the junkyard yet? you can probably pull some from the junkyard, and you might find one that was in working order so you can check the wire layout/colors.

theres two fusible links in figure8, one actually is fused going throught the fuse box, on the 30a fuse. not sure which fuse box tho. the other line is a 'fusible link' that has no fuse, and should be a direct connection. hopefully you check that fuse before you try running the entire system, it may have blown and caused your direct wires to melt.

 

[James_R_MacLean]

i usually tape a grounded wire to the battery negative to ground the battery.

What do you do with the other end? The car is outside, on dirt.

 

[i68k]

if youre using the 9v, you find a spare/junk wire, and you ground it somewhere to the chassis and bolt it down, the other end of the wire gets taped to the battery negative.
~OR~
you can ground the battery back to the black/negative probe of the multimeter, ultimately creating a looping circuit.




the positive side of the battery gets contact with the positive battery cable in figure1 (like your new cable), this means you have to plug something into the red box
~OR~
if you can, attach the postive battery to the white wire youre testing, this ultimately simulates a power source.





if you dont ground the battery to the chassis OR the multimeter, you wont read anything because the circuit will not loop.


any battery you have should not be directly on dirt, it will kill the battery, and the environment.



if this is too much for you to understand, maybe it would be a good idea to get a mechanic/professional to help you out, or do the work for you. messing with power sources can cause injury, fires, or unintended welding.

 

[James_R_MacLean]

Update

Shifted focus: yesterday, after a shocking amount of wasted time, I paid a visit to Fenton Nissan/Infiniti in Snohomish and explained what I was trying to do. even had with me fusible link cable (12 gauge AWG) I'd gotten online. I figured I just had to get something soldered and ...

They had a fusible link right there. Feast your eyes!

Figure 10

So now I'm in the process of replacing the alternator.

Dear Readers, I made the mistake of jumping to the conclusion there had to be something wrong with the alternator. This is not the only possibility. Watch this video before buying a replacement alternator for your Nissan Sentra.


Nissan Sentra Charging Problem Solved

 

[i68k]

ohh wow, sorry for your ordeal and glad you have finally figured this out, but it is much appreciated for the help you have provided about your problem for others to see, thank you!