Service Engine Soon Light - For What It's Worth

JBW857 · Oct 3rd, 2005, 02:38 PM

My SES light has been on for several months. I didn't worry too much earlier this summer when it started to come on and stay on. However, as October approached (the month my '01 Frontier gets inspected), I started to worry. No inspection stations will inspect the vehicle if the SES light is on.

I read all of the information on this site related to the codes wrt the SES light. I went to Autozone and he determined that the code was "P0420" which relates to plugs, injectors, O2 sensor and catalytic convertor. I was going to spend some money on the small parts first. However, before I bought the parts, we had a cool front blow in to the Houston region during the day while I was at work. Believe it or not, when I started my engine, the SES light did NOT come on. I drove home (30 miles, 45 minutes) and the light never came on.

The next day I went to have my Frontier inspected. The light was still off. It passed. Later during the day, the outside ambient temperature started to rise. The SES light came back on! Is this a temperature-related phenomenon?
The truck passed inspection, so I'm happy.

One fix that the Autozone rep gave me was to disconnect the battery for a few minutes. This resets the engine computer and will turn off the light.

deathtorice · Oct 3rd, 2005, 02:47 PM

http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_cod...old-bank-1.php

try those things. how many miles are on the truck?

JBW857 · Oct 4th, 2005, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathtorice

http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_cod...old-bank-1.php

try those things. how many miles are on the truck?

I plan to change the cheap items first. There are only about 73,500 miles on the truck.

98FrontiSE · Oct 4th, 2005, 09:30 PM

I have a similar problem with my Frontier. Everytime it rains, it will chug and the check engine light will come on. All I do is disconnect the battery for about five minutes, then hook it back up, that should reset the computer and you should be good to go, it has ALWAYS worked for me.

JBW857 · Oct 5th, 2005, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98FrontiSE

I have a similar problem with my Frontier. Everytime it rains, it will chug and the check engine light will come on. All I do is disconnect the battery for about five minutes, then hook it back up, that should reset the computer and you should be good to go, it has ALWAYS worked for me.

Thanks for the info. I will keep this in mind in 12 months when I have to get my truck inspected. I don't want to spend big bucks on repair just to have my truck inspected for something that is probably very minor!

azrocketman · Oct 5th, 2005, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBW857

Thanks for the info. I will keep this in mind in 12 months when I have to get my truck inspected. I don't want to spend big bucks on repair just to have my truck inspected for something that is probably very minor!

Check with your Nissan dealer. I believe that there is a technical service bulletin to revise the computer software that answers this problem.