Ha! I was crimping a large cable end with vise grips one day, with my 30 yr old son helping me in the shop, I crimped it as far as I could then gave the pliers another twist and could not close them, so I told him, "here you're younger than me, grab these and clamp them shut". He couldn't, so I grabbed a hold and closed them. He said "dammit Dad. How in the hell can you squeeze that?!?" I told him "remember that if you ever wonder whether or not you want me grabbing you". ;)

Once again we go back to your normal starting point - powers and grounds. A lot of people fail to understand how important good terminal ends are on the battery and why - and you just showed both!

Ivan you should trade mark the 'No Parts Required' line.. 😛 I bet the customer was pleased when they heard it fire up! Skills as always.

Wow, so simple diagnosis!! Bad ground! I would have thought to get aoem ground strap and replace it!! But gotta love NPR jobs!! Great video!!

You should start selling t-shirts with " Pine Hollow - No Parts Required!" printed on it. I'd get some, just out of thanks for you posting your videos.

Alright, I know this is gonna sound crazy….but….Ivan is not a human. He is an Advanced Alien species with superior magical mechanical powers who was sent to earth to fix silly human inferior vehicles without needing to purchase parts. Seriously no other explanation for his level of skills. His “Russian” background is just a cover story. Convince me otherwise if you can. 😂😂. Ivan you’re amazing man. I love learning from you brother.

Good for you, to actually hunt down the problem before trying to fix things. Most of us can't hold ourselves back, we tighten and clean cable connections to save a minute of time. Half way through, when the problem is harder to find, we begin to doubt....

Just wanted to stop in and hopefully you get to read this. You're doing great work keep it up.

For a permanent fix: 1 tablespoon of Table Salt and 1 cup of Vinegar will remove the corrosion from the copper wire in minutes. Then use baking soda and water to cancel the acid of the vinegar solution. Dry thoroughly, crimp tightly and then add a few drops of liquid flux. Use a very high heat iron or small torch to solder the wire to the connector, letting the solder flow into the stranded wires.

I enjoy watching you solve these little mind boggling mysteries makes it look so simple. Thank You😎👍🏼

You are good for a reason Ivan! You think things through! Powers and grounds 101.

Man I learned something today. Wow. Didn’t realize you could do a voltage drop test on the ground to check it. Subscribed!

Home gamer here. Great diagnosis, proof of concept and fix. I'm proud to say that between what I've learned here and from SMA, I came to the same conclusion based on symptoms - check the heavy powers & grounds through the starter circuit and see where the angry pixies are struggling to get through.

Emergency repair, but new earth strap needed for reliabile repair.

Great job as always. I learn something new from all your videos. Keep up the great work!!!!

Someone’s head is gonna explode for using vise grips as a crimping tool 😂

That tape may have actually held moisture underneath it leading to corrosion over time.

Great detective work sorting it all out.

Love the air blend door Motor banging in the background. Good video Ivan.

I just did the Big 4 upgrade on my xterra. It absolutely roars to life now. New ground cables make a big difference.

"The cars that can jump themselves". I like that.

NPR! Well done Ivan. Thanks!

Love it NPR ! Thanks for sharing Ivan.

Deoxit, i like the needle applicator. Really enjoy your evidence based deductive method.

I love your bonus footage

Excellent downrange field repair, I found myself diagnosing my own meter this evening, sadly I think it's time has come

Great skills Sir, repair nicely done. Good video stay safe and healthy thanks 😊

This video literally just saved my life.

Hey excellent video tutorial I see a lot of this on small engine equipment.

This content is so useful! It’s simple enough that any driver can apply it. Admittedly, some of your videos are above my understanding but this is very practical.

Love these NPR videos. Stay cool my friend. Oh BTW Saturn Astra getting new exhaust from cat back also new A/C pressure sensor.. Maybe I'll record some of it.

Having a bit of same problem with my Xterra , after replacing old battery and ignition starter switch . Thanks for giving me something else to try .

That negative battery cable clamp is junk. I went through this with my 06 Nissan Frontier 4.0L V6 on the positive cable end. It would not tighten down. I replaced it with a brass cable end. The negative cable terminal on that Armada had corrosion and heat affect it by removing the coating and exposing the copper. A stronger cable terminal is needed. Having the cable strands exposed is not good. A round closed end terminal is needed to eliminate dirt, air, moisture and corrosion intrusion.

Great job Ivan...... I had a loose block ground on my Toyota that caused intermittent issues... the engine just stopped running every now and then. I believe you would have diagnosed that issue pretty quickly. It took me quite some time and frustration to fix it; including Toyota service costly misdiagnosis. Cure: Tighten block ground bolt! Cost: $750.00 for unneeded repairs.

They still need to replace that cable with a factory piece not some parts store junk.

Time to get out the thermal imager!

Good diagnosis. Amigo. Nice video

Great methodology Ivan you rock bro

The power of knowledge

been there, forget to tighten bolt with ground strap around it after replacing transmission mount

Never thought of proving the ground with a meter, have jumpered a ground before to confirm

Good find Ivan. That connector had problems before and will have problems in the future. I would recommend replacing that Negative cable. They are relatively cheap, and a repeat failure could be very inconvenient and expensive.

Nice diagnosis and fix as usual Ivan! You know what's really weird, after watching your video the next video that comes up was Eric's video from a year ago about the exact same thing. A groundwire causing a no start.. Kind of funny

So cool and to the point, love it

Pretty cheesy terminal to begin with. I would replace it, NPR notwithstanding. Been there, done that.

If after 30 minutes, you can't find the bad connection, look for the one that's getting hot.

You can hear the mode door or blend air door actuator ticking in the background when he was starting the car. My neighbor has the same car with all three actuators ticking.

My 2004 Sequoia has the 4.7 V8 has similar mileage and it has the same engine tick on startup. Replacing the exhaust manifold is a pretty big job so will live with it for now. May decide to get some new headers in the future, will see.

very good. I'm kinda shocked the CEL didn't light up like a Christmas tree with all that spurious voltage freaking everything out.

KZfaq ate my comment :-( Ill try again: Well done ivan :-D High resistance connectons are so sneaky, they are a sleeper just waiting to fail. When i used to work in a auto factory, i had to solder battery cables. If the strands were clean the solder would flow, but there were times i had to clean and tin each strand. The solder flowed so much better :-D I find vicegrips so so handy, a great american invention :-D

First step of any automotive diagnosis... "THOROUGH VISUAL INSPECTION" 😎

FWIW When the battery is on the way out, some Ford models will do the needle tremor on start up like whats happening on that Nissan. The battery in such cases with the F150 etc, appears to start the vehicle ok but its actually in the very early stages of going bad when tested.

Boy I don’t like those thin ends on that cable. Nice quick diag. and repair Ivan. A little Russian Ingenuity, no parts required.

Damn I was hoping for one of those elusive "NO CRANK START" jobs!

Cooool! Gotta love weird electrical problems. I had a client who have 2007 Saturn Aura. She stated battery dies and jump start attempts failed. I looked at it. Battery is not dead 🤔. Whole dashboard dead I mean there no power. Volt meter is still same (12.4) no dropping when cranking. I get power back by moving cables. I saw positive battery cable and wire are dangling and exposed, not touching battery post. It was covered with black tape too. Previous guy must did a bad job on cable/terminals. I wish I can send you picture. It’s bad 🤣. Nice job.

Another Great Video.

I would apply some solder to the crimp lug just in case the same thing happens again,it will provide better continuity as well. That's because this afternoon that dreaded Ford Falcon (Futura) cut out on me with the replacement ECU,the old one has damage to one of the resistors inside of it which is why I replaced it,I put it down to a faulty EFI relay which was causing the engine to cut out as well but the battery terminals were also loose as well. I went through & soldered the crimped on battery terminals to make sure there is good continuity, it's something which is done in car sound systems where gold plated battery terminals are used,the terminals are soldered for better electrical continuity. I know that I shouldn't have to go to that extent with a car because I've never had that much trouble with a Holden which is a GM make of car,the Ford is someone elses. I know that Chrysler solder the crimp terminals in their Jeeps for example !

Nice work

I just replaced the starter in my 97 F-150 this week. I went through an almost identical test as you did in this video, but with mine, the starter was getting proper voltage right on the wire going into the brushes, but wouldn't crank. The tap on the starter test was a no go. Well it lasted from 1997 to 2021 so I'm not complaining.

Baking soda n hot water does wonders to the greenies.

Ivan, I know it’s the wrong answer, but as you’re explaining what happened to the truck, the first thought that popped into my head after I heard the starter, was “oh they got water in the engine from the power washer, and now it’s hydraulic-ed.”

Scotty Kilmer says you shouldn't pressure wash the engine. Great video!

Great Video! But what's that "Thunking" sound when you turn the key on for the first few seconds? Blend door getting hung up/ striped temp door gear?

Thank you very much

I wanted to see you solder like you said you were going to do and complete the job!

Good job

I can’t believe he crimped that with those pliers by hand. He got that Russian grip strength.

Thank u sir 👍

Early early this time, keep up the good work 👌

That was amazing

Looks like one of the last of the proper cars there in the background . Ford Focus Mk1

Good diagnosis but replace the cable corrosion has already set in the terminal will corrode soon without proper sealing.

I guess either there was still some voltage drop which a module didn't like which caused the funny needle behavior with the jumper cable bypass test, OR and similarly, some module saw low voltage during crank and delayed turning itself on after crank just as kind of a power saving thing.

Great find ! Question from a novice? What must be the ground voltage "normal" drop ? Btw, new subscriber here.

My 2005 Nissan Altima 2.5 starter tested good at Auto Zone Auto Parts and at O'Riley auto parts. Brand new battery, check the flywheel teeth and look fine. turn the engine by hand and it rotates without problem, when I turn the key to start, I hear the starter spinning [weeze sound].

Did you use Deoxyit D5 spray? Heard deoxyit in the video but did not see a description or link. Looks like great stuff for battery corrosion.

Excellent

I had the very same problem with the red cable the car would drain the battery and not start very easy arfter some fairly up liquid it now runs perfect

Fusible link assembly on the positive post. Entire thing was shorted after changing spark plugs.

Awesome and no parts required!!!

Good job! 👍Were you the first one troubleshooting this truck? Or did someone else try to figure it out before?

And so..the Spanish Armada was rescued from its electrical demise by Ivan the Conqueror😎👍

That ever present blend door actuator on Nissan Armada/ Titan

Good job in the parking lot. I'd still get a propane torch and some solder on that fitting or find a better negative cable terminal to replace that thin design.

That tape is on there because I will bet this isn't the first time this repair has been done.

gotta love an NPR

Battery corrosion protectant. "Permatex 80370 Battery Protector and Sealer" for future prevention should also be used.

Yes!

bad grounds will get your customers every time...... To their eyes it all looks fine >>>>>>>>NO NO NO!!!! Bad connections That's ALL!!!!! Nice fix brother!!!!

Ah, it also has the infamous Nissan 5.6 cracked manifold issue as well. My Titan had the same thing and they are NOT pleasant to replace. :/

What was that loud tapping sound while you were starting it towards the end? I thought the engine was failing to start.

Would you recommend buying a used Nissan Pathfinder armada over the same year Chevy Tahoe?

Mines was doing the same thing I thought it was dead so I hooked jump box to it and it made the jump box overheat could that issue cause what happened to my jump box?

There’s your problem lady, you got a case of the green crusties. As a suggestion for a future video how about explain the concept of voltage drop.most techs I know don’t understand it, instead relying upon codes and parts cannon - many batteries and starters !

If that is a factory ground it's a horrible design. Thanks again Ivan.

Hopefully your still doing your magic? What is that clicking sound on the inside as your starting the Armada?

What was up with the oil pressure gauge? Pegged high?

Now that the behemoth starts and runs fine, advise the owner to sell it.

You mentioned the exhaust manifold tick at the 7:20 mark. Does that refer to a tick caused by a cracked manifold? I know that is a common issue with the Titans and Armadas. My 2013 Titan is almost at 80,000 miles and has developed some high, yet uneven long term fuel trim issues (between bank 1 and 2) and I am wondering if that could be the beginning of a cracked manifold. There is not a pronounced ticking sound yet, but perhaps that grows as the crack does? Any thoughts/insights are welcome. Subscribed! :-)

What is the "de-oxit" compound that you used?