My "Service Engine Soon" light came on and stayed on for about a month. I checked the gas cap and the exhaust system to see if there were any obvious problems, but there were none. Then I made an appointment with Nissan. Of course, two days before the car went into the shop, the light goes off.
I still took the car into Nissan, and they said that there could be 5 different things wrong with the car. They picked the "cheapest" item to replace, which was the main computer of the car and cost me about $125 in labor.
It's about 1 1/2 weeks later and the "Service Engine Soon" light came on again today. According to Nissan, the next part that they plan to replace is the oxygen filter or tank? Of which my car has four of and it will cost about $500 for parts alone!
Help! All I need is to be able to get my car inspected, which can't be done with the "Service Engine Soon" light on.
You could get teh O2 sensors yourself and replace them... just a guess, but they will be between $60 - $80 each. Ask Mike (chimmike), he is the guru for your car.
To continue the story, the light went off and I took it into Nissan. They replaced the computer, which was under warrenty. Two days before my overdue inspection appointment in New Jersey, the light goes on again.
The Jerks at the inspection station told me that I was going to get "a summons" because 1) I failed inspection & 2) I was over due for inspection.
Nissan now tells me that chances are it's probably the oxygen sensors. This would cost me $500 for the parts and $400 for the labor...about $900 in total. They also tell me that there's a very slight chance that it might be the cat converter, but it would be covered under warrenty so it wouldn't cost me anything in parts.
Is Nissan just trying to rip me off? Or do the O2 sensors really go very easily on Sentras with 63,500 miles on it?
Jaw Drop
As I said before go to the parts store and findout how much they want for the O2 sensors. Yes, they can go bad with bad gas... even one very shitty tank could foul up all your emissions stuff, not likely but I've seen it before.
you can buy O2 sensors that are used for cheap. classified sections here, b15sentra.net and vboard are just a few places to start looking. ive seen new ones in classified sections go for 200 dollars.
you can buy O2 sensors that are used for cheap. classified sections here, b15sentra.net and vboard are just a few places to start looking. ive seen new ones in classified sections go for 200 dollars.
SES lights has been on for 2.5 years. P0420 code - 2 oxygen sensors were replaced. Then another code, forgot which one. cat converter replaced. then another code for the cam sensors, replaced 4 times. now code P1320. any idea what this is? what is going on. I take it to get it fixed and another code comes up days later. could it be the computer? spent over $2,000.00. Help!
If you take your car to a dealer and they tell you it could be a number of things, they are tring to rip you off. With the diagnostic equipment they have, they know everything your engine is doing and the ECU records errors for each device that can fail. In some extreme cases, multiple codes can come up, but it is usaully a ECU or electrical problem causing the multiple codes. If your dealer can't tell you what the problem is and if they can't guarantee a fix in the first try, never go back to that place again. They are taking you for a ride. Not a good ride like a rollor coaster, but a bad ride involving a rubber glove without any lube at all.
Also, read your warranty. Now days cars come with a 7 year 70K mile emissions warranty. I belive that is forced by the EPA in all 50 states now. So, if your cat needs replaced, it is at the cost of the dealer. That might even cover o2 sensors since that is a part of emissions. It covers EGR systems, exhaust systems, cats, cracked headers(any exhaust leak), everything. If you are denyed emission warranty, get all the information from the dealer, manager, and then contact the EPA and inform them. Many people get screwed on this kind of stuff. A Ford dealer tried to charge my poor folks for a new cat. I called the dealer, had a little chat with them, and they took care of everything.
02 sensors can fail as early as 60k, but they usually fail around 80K miles or longer. Pump gas should never cause a 02 sensor to fail unless you are buying gas from bob's greesy spoon fill and puke station.
Dealers make most profits from car service. It is a very ugly game and many many many people break the law and get away with it. You can't belive everything you hear, but dateline does a pretty good job collecting data. They've sent cars out to get repairs and most of the time they were charged for something the car didn't need. Other times the real problem wasn't even fixed. Simple stuff too, not sneaky crap that would be hard to find.
I used to take my car to shops for everything including oil changes. About 8 years ago after getting my car dammaged by a oil lube shop, I started changing my own oil, spark plugs, and all easy mantainance. Over the years I took on bigger task and have collected more tools. Now days I do almost all my own work and I hate having to take my car in for anything. I don't touch a car under warranty, but anything outside of warranty, I'll fix myself. About the only thing I can't do is change and balance my tires. I HATE having to go to the tire shop. I don't like anyone touching my car because I know that 80% of car techs are not very educated and many of them take short cuts. I know a few of them. They are not nice to your car, they don't use torque wrenches, and hell, they might not even bother reading up on how to do the job right.
So, what can you do? Start learning how to do your own work. For the cost of one expensive trip at the dealer, you could buy manuals for your car and a pretty darn nice tool collection. Stanly tools are pretty nice now days and they don't even cost that much. One day I broke a crafsman socket and sears was closed for the day. I bought a stanly set at wally word and finished the job. Sears is the only place I trust to truly warranty all hand tools forever (exluding torque wrenches). Local clubs and forums should be able to get you started.
As far as reading codes, you have to use the local parts store, or maybe borrow a club members code reader. I don't even know if you can buy a afordable Nissan code reader. I havn't been in the Nissan game for very long and I'm getting out. I have one for my other car and I know ford and GM ones are pretty cheap. A universal ODBII reader should be able to grab basic emission and universal codes, but auto manufactures are allowed to have a long laundry list of codes that only a dealer can grab. Now days, they can collect some pretty scary info you might not want them to know.
Hi all...I am new to the forum...I had my 99 Nissan Sentra GXE inspected in Dec..the car has (now dont laugh) a little over 30K miles on it..as you can see, I dont drive around much...I bought it 4 yrs ago with 8K on it..!! Sweet deal!
Anyway, after the inspection, I was told brakes, and muffler were bad, I knew about the muffler had those repaired..now, the jerk who did the inspection, never reset my radio and I did note minor problems when I tried to reset it..the question here is my "service engine soon" light came on yesterday morning...could this yo-yo have screwed up something in the inspection process? I live in NY State so the inspection includes that emmission ck which I was told by a different mechaninc that I might not pass because of the fact that I dont drive around much. The mechanic was supposed to change my oil and forgot so I had to take the car back. I hope he didnt screw something up!
HELP!!
Nissan Sentra 2000 GXE - Service Engine Soon
Linear Mode
