I have a 2010 Nissan Altima with a keyless entry
system. I got in my car this afternoon
put my foot on the brake pedal, and pushed the start button. All the interior lights came on, along with
all the warning lights, but no engine. I
pushed the start button again, and nothing.
The car refused to turn off. The lights
stayed on. When I got out of the car, it
gave me the audio indicator that the key was not in car anymore, but other than
that, no response.
After checking the battery, which was at 11.9 volts. I went to get the jumper cables, but the
trunk button would not respond.
OK, what to do? This
being a shaggy dog story of sorts, I actually borrowed Joanne’s car and went to
the YMCA to do some laps while Alex was in a Political Science club. While there I struck up a conversation with
someone in the locker room and found out that all the back seats of modern
sedans come out easily for back access to the trunk.
Found the switch, opened the back seat, got the jumpers,
jumped the car and …
Still nothing. The lights
remained on, while the engine remained off. Checked fuses, consulted with neighbor, nothing.
I resigned myself to having the car towed to the shop,
watched the Eagles lose, had dinner, then Joanne recommended that I should disconnect
the battery so it won’t go dead. After all,
all the lights were on.
It then came to me that I need to reboot the car. I unplugged the battery for fifteen
minutes. Then jumped it again. Car started.
There was no blue screen of death, but this seemed an awful like
a Microsoft reboot.
