First off, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all !! Okay, I've had my Maxima now for a year and a half and off and on the that Bi**h of a CEL comes on. I pull the code or codes and check the blinks twice to make sure I have them right. I come here to define them and they are always " Undefined ". WTF ? So I reset until the next time and sometimes it's 3-4 months before I see it again. It came on last night and today I pulled 3 undefined codes!!! I reset the S.O.B. again. I went out to go grocery shopping and on the way, the S.O.B., I mean CEL came on again!!! Do I just keep resetting it? All codes I pull are undefined. And to top it off, the car runs absolutely perfect!!! What gives. I know these cars are code throwing fools, but this is becoming a perpetual pain in my a$$! It's not the easiest position to get under there at that screw every time. Anyone else have this problem ? Thanks and sorry for the length.

 

What are the codes? Do you have a Haynes?

 

Post the codes your getting and we'll define them for you.

 

I've seen "undefined" before. I usually turn off everything and try again. The last time I got the problem was when the car would shut off when warm, and randomly. Does your car shut off by itself?
Jae

 

No, the car runs perfect. The codes were as follows... 0313, 0510, 0708

 

0313 - Downstream O2 sensor maximum voltage monitor fault
0510 - Downstream 02 sensor maximum voltage monitor fault
0708 - Downstream 02 sensor slow response fault.

Conclusion - you have an 02 thats slowly dying.
Your 99 has 2 downstream 02's. One for bank 1 and one for bank 2. Do a search on here to figure out which one it is. My Haynes manual doesn't say.

This thread may help you.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ighlight=p0138

 

I'm having a similar problem. The code I get is 0505. Any help is appreciated.

 

that code means you have no problem codes...

 

0313: Misfire detected, low fuel level

0510: Throttle switch cruise malfunction

0708: Transmission sensor input voltage high

 

0505: Idle air control valve (IACV)/auxiliary air control valve (AAC) circuit is open (disconnected), possibly a harness connector or wire issue.....

 

How do I now have 2 different definitions for the same 3 codes? Which ones are correct?

 

I don't know where JEP in PA is getting his definitions from, but there wrong. From his last post, 0505 means no malfunctions detected.

Jef, please stop posing definitions, your giving people wrong information.

 

First of all, it is JFP; second, the DTC defs came from a Nissan FSM and a DTC code software package from an major OBD II scan tool manufacturerer..............and they both agree, so choose which you want to follow..............and as I have both the tool and FSM's going back to the mid 90's; I'd suggest you dont even go there. And, by-the-by, DTC 0505 had been an Idle air control valve (IACV)/auxiliary air control valve (AAC) circuit code since 1997...........................

 

By-the-by you are absolutely wrong! 0505 is no malfunction detected. So sir please step the hell out of this thread and stop posting misinformation.

 

OK Buttheads, explain this to me:

(1) No Nissan factory serivce manual I have seen (and I have early 80's and 1995 thru current) agrees with you. So, if you will kindly provide the year, volume and page number of the factory service manual that lists "DTC 0505 means no codes", I will appologize ................

(2) When I connect an OBD II scanner to either a 97 or 99 SE (both running fine, no "check engine" MIL), I do not get "0505"; I get "No codes"......

(2) If I unplug the secondary idle control on my 97 SE (manual trans), or my neighbors 99 SE (manual trans), the OBD II system reads "DTC 0505".......and if I reset the ECM, and reconnect the secondary idle control, the code does not reappear.........................

Please let me know, as I am really fascinated by this...........................

 

IF you get the codes from the self diagnosis mode and not the scanner, 0505 means that you have no problems. if you use the scanner and get a code for just about anything it will be different than the code you get from the self diagnosis mode. SO, the 0505 code might mean that if you are using the OBDII scanner but it doesn't if you use the self diagnosis mode built into you ECU.

BUTTHEAD.

 

I bet JFP thinks there's a p in front of his codes...

 

So, it would seem that I'm not so "wrong" after all....................

 

That's why there's a P in front of the the codes read via the scanner.

 

A "P", "B", "C" or a "U", actually..........................

 

I'd rather just count the flashes

 

Unfortuantely, that isn't always so easy.......................in 1997, the Maxima FSM was one volume with perhaps 125 pages dedicated to diagnostic trouble codes, diagnosis and repair. In 2004, the Nissan FSM was a four volume set with over 1,100 pages dedicated to DTC's...........in 2007, when the use of CAN bus technology will broaden, God only knows how may pages it will take to cover the subject. Last week, we had a car in the shop with 9 seperate DTC codes, some "false code combinations" (where you have multiple codes, and only one is real and the one "fix" corrects them all). Somehow, counting the flashes ain't gonna cut it...................

 

You make things too complicated.

In my 95, I've never had a problem with the ECU flashes, and it always fixed my problem.

 

There are far fewer possible codes you can get with the flashes so they are more generic but you don't get a bunch of false codes and one "fix"code. It just gives you a place to start looking for the problem. I think it's rather simple. Counting flashes has always worked for me, on my 97 Max and on my 94 G20.

 

I am not disputing the fact that "reading the flashes" is a pathway to getting basic, non OBD II code data, particularly on older, OBD I vehicles. I've never been able to determine how that approach deals with "pending" vs. "tripped" codes, and on later models, the "pedal dance" routine (for example, the 04 SER-Spec V Sentra uses a combination of throttle pedal pumps and ingnition key moves) dumps out all resident OBD II codes, regardless of their status in a more elaborate and potentially confusing MIL flash pattern. But I have found that when you need to quickly indentfy the problem's source, get it fixed permanently and get the car out of the shop bay; a scanner and a reference set of FSM diagnostics is a more useful pathway.............

 

1) 97 FSM EC-3 top of the diagnostic trouble code index in BOLD CAPS.

2) Using a OBII scanner gives you P series codes which are totally different from the self diagnostic ones.

Now apologize for spouting before thinking.

 

Is it the same for the non-spec V sentra?

 

Item (1): I completely agree. He (I assume you are a "he") is refering to a "Cross-over" chart for comparing SAE J2012 (OBD II Powertrain codes as a scanner will read them) to Nissan controlled "self diagnotic codes" in the 1997 Nissan Maxima FSM. I stand corrected and appologize for failing to recognize that no one on this forum seems to use the industry standard SAE/OBD II P, C, B, and U codes.

Item (2) As a member of the SAE, I am fully aware of what the scanners read, and as most later Nissan vehicles give you only the correct SAE OBD II codes in "self diagnostic mode", and all of the FSM diagnostics are related only to the OBD II codes; I assumed (incorrectly) that this forums members would be using the correct SAE/OBD II codes.................

 

You ***** are just bad as.s motherfluckers.

 

I don't really know the correct answer for this question (mainly because I use a scanner). My understanding is that some non-Spec V's (and other model Nissans as well) do have a "pedal dance" routine to generate the codes, but I am unsure if there is a model or year cut-off as to who has it and who does not. I am reasonably sure that only models with electronic throttle systems will do it, but this is pure "hear-say".

This is the method I am refering to:

SENTRA CHECK ENGINE LIGHT RESET/DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURE

In car ECM Diagnostics/ECM Reset procedure:

1) Sit in the driver's seat.
2) Turn the ignition key to the ON position and wait three seconds. (Do not start the car.)
3) Fully depress and release the accelerator pedal five times in less than five seconds.
4) Wait exactly seven seconds. Fully depress the accelerator pedal for ten seconds until the MIL light flashes.
5) Release the accelerator pedal and start counting flashes to obtain the four-digit trouble code.

Long flashes (0.6 seconds) indicate the first digit of the code; count the blinks one through nine and write down the first digit. (Ten blinks indicates a zero.)
The next three digits follow in turn in the same fashion except with faster blinks (0.3 second) and a 1.0-second pause between digits.

The ECM code repeats itself until you turn the ignition key to the OFF position, at which point the ECM resets itself to standard get-in-and-drive-the-car mode.
You can look up the trouble codes in the ESM/FSM; there's a bunch of them. In the ESM, refer to page EC-639.
Additionally, if you get four blinks of ten (0000), the ECM is indicating no malfunction.

Clearing

You can clear the code (and the annoying MIL) by holding down the accelerator pedal for more than 10 seconds while in Diagnostic Test Mode II. When you release the pedal, the ECM erases the trouble code(s).


Again, this method will yield SAE/OBD II standard codes, not an internal Nissan code............

 

Huh??????????????

 

This works similar to A33B's

 

You people are extraordinarly knowledgeable at Nissans.