I was on the E-way this morning heading to class, and something strange happened. Out of nowhere, my battery light and the brake light in the gauge cluster come on. The car seemed to drive fine - brakes worked properly and the car never sputtered or died, plus there was no SES light. So now I'm on an hour break between classes, and I just checked the ECU. It gave me three codes:

0304 - yea, yea.... knock sensor. I've known about this one.

0705 - EVAP control system. This "jackpot" code could mean anything, so I don't know what to make of it. Considering how wet it's been lately in the Ohio Valley, it may simply be that a part of the system is "saturated with water," as stated in the stickies. But I dunno.....

0309 - an unkown code, which none of the ECU diagnosis resources online acknowledged. I counted along four times to make sure this was, in fact, the code thrown. I plan on checking it again when I'm done with class just to make sure I'm not crazy.

Can the brake light mean something as simple as a blown brake light bulb, or does it point to more serious matters regarding cables, solenoids, master cylinder, etc? And what about the battery light???

Anyone else ever seen 0309? I have no clue what to make of it, and it makes me a bit nervous.

I think my Max is supernatural and it somehow knows that I just received a nice fat check from my student loan, and of course, wants me to spend it ALL on her.

Any help or insight with similar experiences is appreciated - will return at roughly 3pm.......

 

I have the same code. The 0705 is the main code, and the 0309 is the Vent Control Valve. It's just sort of pointing out what the 0705 code is refering to. Once you fix the 0309, the 0705 should hypothetically go along with it. I have NO idea how to fix the 0309, but I will research it later in my Chiltons and FSMs. I don't believe that the 0309 has anything to do with your brake light or battery lights coming on. Another question, was your CEL already on before you pulled the codes? Let me know, and mabye we can help each other out.

Dan

P.S.

The Vent Control Valve should do nothing to hurt your car performance wise. IIRC it's just one of the components in the evap that makes it work correctly. A mechanic told me one time that my exhuast smelled bad becuase of the EVAP canister not functioning properly, but it doesn't hurt performance in any way, but I'm still sick of seeing the CEL on, but what should I expect at 201,700 miles.

 

Maybe this could help: check Diag code p1448

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...esm/a32-ec.pdf

 

WOOT!
Thanks, I've been looking for one of these for a year. Obliviously not very hard

 

Battery and brake light on means your alternator is not charging your electrical system.

 

Which would explain why I had p1448 written down right next to the 0309 on the sheet of paper I wrote on about 8 months ago.


And BTW, don't be suprised if your post gets deleted or this thread gets closed since your posting an illegal copy of the FSM. It's happend in the past.

 

Okay so the 0903 evap canister vent control valve is kinda a hard thing to diagnose? From what I been reading from everyone that code can really pertain to anything wrong with the car huh. I have had my cel on for a year and a half with that damn code in it. I had Nissan put a whole new evap system in and just recentley a crank sensor because it went bad and I almost thought it took away the evap code, because usually in the past the check engine light would come back on 1-2 days after being reset. This time it took 5 days to come back on. Now I'm not for sure if thats going to be the code, but more then likley it will be with my luck. Any clue why Nissan made a code like this that doesnt point to exactly whats wrong with the car?

 

Excellent.... I was hoping someone else had seen this. My SES light is NOT on in this situation, but I also have an electrical issue involved. Thanks for the heads-up on the diagnosis, and I will also work at figuring out the part and its location. There seems to be a bunch of valves and control valves on these diagrams in the link. IIRC part of the system vents tank pressure, explaining that humming noise (from just behind the driver's side rear wheel) sometimes heard after shutting the car off. My car often did this, so maybe there's a connection...... Regardless, I hope it's something that can be accessed at least somewhat easily and replaced individually, without buying an entire EVAP system!

Thanks for the info. Oh well, I'm willing to part with $200 of the loan check. However, my service manual notes that the data required for the vent control valve to operate is (A) that the ignition is in the ON position, and (B) that the battery voltage is between 11-14V. Is it fair to say that replacing the alternator could restore the necessary power, and the valve would operate again?

 

Anyone have any thoughts on this, or am I just gonna have to wait and find out after the alternator's in? It seems quite possible, assuming the voltage has dipped below 11V.

 

Since your a 98 like me, you might have a recall on the alternator, so you might be able to get a free one. My car was part of an alternator recall, but I haven't gotten it replaced yet. Check out the sticky that has the TSB's and look to see if your VIN is involved.

 

I might actually sound like i know wat i am talking about!..lol
That peiece of S*hit eVAP system
day 1 clean Throttle body
day2 2 codes (becasuse i forgot to replug the MAS Flow sensor and another sensor-no problem)
Day 3 great ...car started better and drives better
day4 0705 ITS finally here .... resest the cpu
day 5 0705 then 0309 (had this code only once! and never came back)
day 6 no problem
day 7 it came came back 0705

now i am in my 3rd week.....it comes on about the 1 and last quarter of my gas meter!

So today i check the canister plugs and stuff like that and the stuff was loose so i hope this fix the problem ......

The proper way to fix 0705 is smoke test but let that be last because it is expensive..(still cheaper than the dealer) try to play with the canister! (loacted rear left tire)

 

With the alternator in, the battery and brake lights have vanished as promised. Thanks again to njmaxseltd for the heads up. I have since scanned the ECU, and the 0705 and 0304 returned.... but no 0309. I reset it and will scan again after work tomorrow. I'm hoping it needs a few miles to adjust and realize there's adequate voltage running through the system again (assuming that the part didn't actually fail - maybe that's just my wishful thinking).

 

Any codes that range from P0300-P0306 are cylinder misfires. Check your spark plugs and the coil packs. Make sure that you are using 93 octane gas.
You said P0304 that is cylinder # 4.