ok so I just dropped my car off at the Shell station down the street about an hour ago to have an o2 sensor replaced and have my car re-inspected so i could pass emissions. The thing is that the kid there told me that I have two other codes popping up that he doesn't know what they mean and that in order to pass emissions I need to bring it to a dealership and have them fix the problems. He said he doesnt want to install the new O2 sensors until the other codes are fixed or the new sensors might go dead again (and even though he didnt fix anything he is still charging me $60 for the diagnosis!!!)

A while ago I checked my codes and posted what I got:

0309 - undefined
0510 - undefined
0705 - EVAP Control System

and I was told then told that:

0309 - EVAP canister vent control valve open
0510 - Downstream oxygen sensor maximum voltage monitor fault.

So what should I do? Should I try to fix the problems by myself then bring the car back for re-inspection? Or should I have the dealership fix my problems then have Shell replace my O2 sensors and THEN re-inspect my car? (which would cost a ****-load ) HELPPPPPPPP!!!!!

 

Yeah, I had something similar happen but I took mine to Tires Plus for the diagnostic and they couldn't tell me what the codes were. Only that something was wrong and to go to the dealership...What I found was that the dealership was less expensive for the diagnostic. I just assumed it was more and went to Tires Plus. Lesson, sometimes you need to do your homework and not just assume. Suck it up and take it as a lesson learned.

But first, why were you changing the O2 in the first place? Did they tell you that when you had the emissions checked? Have you tried running the codes yourself? I am about to change all 3 of my O2's. Have been doing lots of reading on the org. You can see a thread posted by me with a most recent update today. The title lists two different codes, 0302 and 0901.

 

when i originally took my car to shell for an inspection they just said it failed because of the oxygen sensor. i took it back today and when they ran the diagnostic they found two more codes and said it wasnt safe to replace the O2 sensors until those two codes were taken care of. When I get my haynes manual i'll do a bit of reading then figure out what i'm gonna do. Since I'm still an amature when it comes to working on cars i'll most likely take it to the dealership where I know it will be done right.

 

Autozone does free diags. Just a FYI. They will pull the codes for yah.

 

any more suggestions/thoughts?

 

Someone who works at the gas staion told me, If you clear the codes and take the car for a ride on HWY and do about 55 miles and slow down to 20 mile, and do this for two times, this will help passing inspection. I don't know how true this is, But something you can try. It does not realy make sense to me, but this guy works at Shell Gas station.

 

Replace the EVAP Vent control valve, clear the error codes and see if the O2 error comes back. If it doesn't show up in a week, have the car reinspected. If the O2 comes back within the weeks time, replace that as well.

 

is the EVAP control valve something that I can order on-line? If so where can I get it? I searched courtesyparts.com and some other nissan parts websites and couldnt find it.

 

you can buy it from dealer for 95.50 plus tax, i changed mine last week and my car has 73k on it. It looks like that sensor is a common problem. It is very Simple to Replace it. You better off buying it from local dealer.

 

well i just picked the part up at a local nissan dealer. i'm going to attempt to install it when my haynes manual comes in the mail. if it looks too difficult i might have a friend do it or bring it back to the dealer. then if that fixes my emissions problem i can get re-inspected and install my new ypipe, if not i will have to replace an o2 sensor first.

 

I don't understand why you have to mail order a Haynes manual, unless you don't live in the area of a decent auto parts store that carries them (probably cheaper than mail order). I have my own Haynes manual, but where I'm from they are available in the public library and you can photocopy the relevant pages.