Ok so my wife called to tell me that her check engine light just came on. She is driving a 2000 GLE and it has a bit over 39,300 miles on it. She says it is running fine. Is there an Auto CEL when you get close to 40k for service by chance?

Sorry if this is a repost but the search doesn't work so....

 

no auto CEL. search doesn't work because you haven't donated. tell her to goto Autozone where they will pull the code for free. I'm guessing it may be a bad coil. I just replaced all 6 on my GLE.

 

Check to make sure the gas cap on tight. The gas tank is pressurised for better fuel economy and emissions control. I would take the cap off then put it back on making sure it is fitted properly. The check engine light will eventually go out after 4 or 5 start - stops.

 

a few honda products do that to let you know when oil changes should be coming up and so forth but nissan does not do that. you will have to get the codes pulled from an OBD2 reader and see what they pertain to. if you have an autozone nearby, they do this service for free regardless of whether you buy from them or not.

 

Thats not necessarily true. If there is a more serious problem or if a sensor is messed up, then it will not just go away after a few starts.

 

Thanks for the responses. I had already told her to do the gas cap thing and I don't think she has given it enough time as she has a fairly short drive to work.

For whatever reason our Autozone doesn't pull codes for free anymore.

She called the dealer which I think is a terrible idea, I just told her to call them back and ask what they are going to charge her to plug it in. I know the VW dealership charges like $65 for the 5 min it takes, what a bunch of poo.

Should I just go buy an OBDII reader? What do they cost these days?

 

the stealer in my area will charge about $80. So dont bother. Try to find another autozone or place that can do this for free.

 

I agree but the gas cap problem is a likely candidate and simple to fix. No need to spend $80 at the dealer. If the problem persists then yes get the codes pulled and have the car serviced.

 

Well the local dealer wanted $75. She canceled her appointment and I told her to call PepBoys which is right down the road from our house, I figure they can pull codes with an OBDII as well as anyone and they only want $20. Will find out later what the issue is. My guess is that the CEL goes off before she gets there.

 

$20 is still kinda steep. Is there any other place that might be able to do something for you? I mean its your money just that I would look around.

 

$20 bucks is cheap to have the codes pulled. obviously if autozone still did it, then it would be the way to go but dealers and even small shops charge more than 3 times that. i just bought software and a box from harrison R&D and pull the codes with my old laptop from college.

 

make friends with people at auto zone. i got a friend who works there and he lets me just borrow tools and stuff from up there all the time. just make sure you know how to use the obdII

 

Ok So new info. PepBoys just called and the code failure was "Cat Efficiency" What the heck does that mean?

 

A broken gas cap tether made my light come on. what a joke.

 

ask them for the code number. it should start with P then four numbers. PXXXX.

 

Ok so the guy said the code was 0420 I assume that means P0420? Anyway he said that it is typically a bad Cat or O2 sensor. So if that is the case what would make either of them go bad in less than 40k miles?

 

call the dealer and make an appointment. they will use the consult 2 to reprogram the ecu under a federally mandated emissions warranty. this should and normally does cure that code in itself, however some had to replace the main cat as well. this should be covered 8yr./80k miles as mandated by the government. edit- click HERE for a copy of the technical service bulletin if you want to bring it in with you.

 

Sloppymax - wow thanks a lot. So what is the deal with the govt 8/80? We bought this car as a certified Nissan from a Nissan dealer and are the second owners.

Thanks a bunch.

Edit: Well I just read that TSB and it appears to only be for CA emissions cars. What are the chances my car which was originally sold in PA and has always been here to have CA emissions?

 

lots of 2ks are CA emissions and all 2k1 are cali spec. just because you are on the opposite coast like myself, it is a likely chance. you can either call nissan to run the VIN to see if its cali spec or there are a few physical ways. if you look to the right of the manifold, there is a small box with either 2 vaccum lines or one. if you have 2 then you are cali. if you can look under the car, cali spec cars have no o2 sensors behind the main cat.

 

also, if you look on the underside of the hood there is a sticker that should say whether it is california emissions legal or not. The CA also has 4 sensor plugs on the front edge of the valve cover as opposed to two in the fed-spec. Might just be easier to read the sticker though...

 

seems to be one of the typical max problems, that being an o2 sensor

 

Well I just checked the sticker and the car is in fact a CA emissions car. Time to call the stealer. So now the question is can someone point me to this 8 year / 80k mile govt mandate? I can't just go in there saying I saw it on the web.

 

it is kind of lengthy, but HERE is the breakdown according to the epa.

 

Perfect - Thanks very much for all of your help.

 

Get the ECU flashed I should take care of it!
I had same code got it flashed and never came back 40K ago. On some occasion cat is replaced but usually just a flash will do!