CEL Not Working (funny thing about search)
11-06-2018, 03:56 AM
#1
CEL Not Working (funny thing about search)
2003 Nissan Maxima SE
So like the title says my check engine light isn't working. Now the funny thing about searching for this issue is it pulls from the threads and I get a crazy amount of threads not having to do with my issue.
I found out about my CEL after snagging the car from the place I work and it failing inspection. of course my first thought was wow what terrible people in this world to trade in a car and pull the CEL bulb! I was very surprised to find after pulling the cluster to replace my lights with LEDs that there is no bulb behind the CEL indicator
after fixing everything and getting the new car it started idling high so I grabbed the scan tool and ran the codes which it had but still no CEL as I mentioned. so my question is am I missing something ? did the light that's built in die? I replaced all the bulbs behind the cluster that had removable bases so what else ? its really hard to do a Throttle body relearn without the CEL to flash to indicate im doing it right lol also its nice to know when the car has a issue 
any stuff I might be missing would be mint, like I said I tried searching a ton of different combinations of key words but it kept giving me a lot of irrelevant threads.
So like the title says my check engine light isn't working. Now the funny thing about searching for this issue is it pulls from the threads and I get a crazy amount of threads not having to do with my issue.
I found out about my CEL after snagging the car from the place I work and it failing inspection. of course my first thought was wow what terrible people in this world to trade in a car and pull the CEL bulb! I was very surprised to find after pulling the cluster to replace my lights with LEDs that there is no bulb behind the CEL indicator
after fixing everything and getting the new car it started idling high so I grabbed the scan tool and ran the codes which it had but still no CEL as I mentioned. so my question is am I missing something ? did the light that's built in die? I replaced all the bulbs behind the cluster that had removable bases so what else ? its really hard to do a Throttle body relearn without the CEL to flash to indicate im doing it right lol also its nice to know when the car has a issue any stuff I might be missing would be mint, like I said I tried searching a ton of different combinations of key words but it kept giving me a lot of irrelevant threads.
11-06-2018, 12:12 PM
#3
There’s no physical bulb I’m able to take out I guess it’s part of the board vs the light/socket that lights the gauges . I’ll have to pull the cluster again and re-examine . Is there a way to power the cluster when it’s out of the car to further test it ?
11-06-2018, 04:35 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: California
Posts: 1,445
There is a bulb. It's called "MIL bulb" (Malfunction Identification Light). There are numerous references to this lamp, including tests for it being functional. See the FSM - page EC-90 is a good start.
However, it's quite possible that you car does not have this bulb because one of the previous owners removed it.
11-06-2018, 08:49 PM
#5
OP: Check for 12V at pin 33 (light grey/black) of the ECM. Has the ECU not stored a code indicating a fault with the MIL circuit?
11-07-2018, 09:14 AM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: California
Posts: 1,445
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Julian192001
5th Generation Maxima (2000-2003)
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