2007 Maxima
In the order of occurrence:

Check engine light came on one night, driving seemed perfectly fine. Check engine light went away two days later. Didn't give it another thought - kind of assumed it was due to me back into a snow pile and filling the pipes on one side.
The wife asked me if I had noticed it driving strangely. I did notice on my last trip that while on the highway the rpms seemed to move about 200 higher and lower while I was cruising steadily, but everything else seemed fine.
She said that she had noticed something similar with the rpms but also that the abs didn't seem to be working.
The Slip/TCS/ABs light came on a day later when I took it out.
Took it to the local parts store for a scan, it is driving fine at this point but clearly abs and slip are not coming on under slippery stopping conditions. Their scanner doesn't do maxima abs codes. The only code the pulled was old and it was P301, cylinder 1 misfire which I am assuming is the cause of the earlier CEL.
Got a scanner that handles nissan abs. It pulls a C1101.
Take the pass rear wheel off and pull the sensor, it has a cut through one side of the lead where it makes the bottom of the U between the sensor and the first rubber holder. The cut/break went through the shield and into the copper.
Replaced the sensor with a new one from the local parts store.
Lights disappear but NOW the car is in limp mode with NO codes. Unplugged the new sensor and the lights come back on, as well as the code, plug it back in and they disappear.
Slip is working on the snow, but strangely it will always come on when I do a tight turn (to the left, haven't tried right yet just due to where I am being stuck in limp). Not sure abs is working, but I can't get it going fast enough to really test.
I am an hour away from a dealer and would have to have it towed.

Any thoughts on what I might look at next are very much appreciated!

 

You won't be in limp mode with no codes. Scan and post codes.

 

Except that is exactly what is happening. There are zero codes.

 

What scanning tool are you using?

 

Autel ML619

 

Well that should be fine. Did you clear the previous code/s after your repair?

 

Yes, I cleared them. Checked again after clearing them and there was nothing found. Checked again after the last drive as well. No codes found.

 

Car is in limp mode and we have no idea why. I'm stumped. Sorry. Hopefully someone smarter chimes in.

 

Thanks - I appreciate you reading my post and responding.

 

I just don't know. I can't imagine a scenario where a computer controlled car would be in limp mode and not tell you why, especially with a hundred dollar scanner. Let us know when you get it fixed.

 

I definitely will!

 

What year is the car and where do you live?

 

Ah, I just saw the 2007. And you said there is snow, so a northern climate.

Is the car left outside or put in a garage?

 

Yes, I am in Iowa. It is outside all the time.

 

Okay, I am in a Northern climate, have a 2007, and my car is outside as well. My car has always been in a Northern climate, too. Anyway, about 7 years the car would not above 30mph. Dealership really struggled with it. They thought it was the CVT but it was not that. It turned out to be some water getting in around the rear ABS sensors, the knuckle, and freezing. That messed up the ABS sensors. There was no codes.

The way they figured it out was that the car was left in the garage over night and it worked flawlessly the next day. However, as soon at it sat outside for 3-4 hours, limp mode was back. The Dealership called Nissan USA and they finally narrowed it down to the rear ABS being engaged due to water freezing in around the ABS sensor (seems to be an issue with 2007s). And when the ABS is engaged it cuts power to the engine. Hence, the limp mode in my case.

Anyway, you'll have to get the car in a garage to warm it up for 10 or so hours to see if it is your issue. If it is, then someone will have to drill holes in the knuckle so the water has a place to go. Then you'll be gold.

 

Hey, thanks for that! That makes total sense, esp. since this is the first year, while we've owned it, that it has been driven through a ton of snow, relative to its ground clearance. Definitely a ton of cold and wet up around the wheel and sensor.
No garage handy, but I decided to take the rr assembly apart and follow the TSB instructions which include notching the knuckle for drainage. Turns out the hub was starting to fail so I am replacing that as well. We'll see what happens when I get back together.

 

I would bet you have 2 separate issues here. A failing Hub under any sort of lateral load along with a buildup of corrosion can make these cars do strange things. Replace it. @TDGrant is spot on, Follow the Tsb. This problem has been the cause of many headaches in diag. When you get the car back together, use it for what it was designed for. Follow the Menu to LiveData and look at the values. You should be able to view wheels speeds with that tool.

 

That took care of it. Cleaned up the knuckle and put the new hub on and she runs fine. Someone had perviously filed the notch into the knuckle, and I didn't want to drill random holes, so I just left it as-is for now. There was still a ton of crap in and around the area so I am not sure the notch works the way it is intended to. Will revisit the issue when I change out the brakes in a few weeks.

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

Hell yeah! I told you there were way smarter people around that would come to the rescue! Love this site!

 

Car is in limp mode and we have no idea why. I'm stumped. Sorry. Hopefully someone smarter chimes in.


192.168.100.1 192.168.1.1

 

Have you ruled out what was discussed above?