spidgeon

Hey guys! My perfect and beloved 2010 Maxima with 25K miles on it just had the service engine soon light just come on the other night while driving home. Immediate thought was gas cap, but I reset my odometer after each fill up and noticed I had driven 278 miles since my last fill up...so didn't think it couldn't be that. I decided to tighen the gas cap anyway, and drive for another 60 miles on the highway...light is still on.

The dealership where I purchased the car is 30 miles from where I work, so in the interest of time, I took it to a nissan dealership down the street from my office. Asked if they could quickly read the code to tell me if it was simply an EVAP or if it was something more serious...they said they'd take a quick look at it. After almost an hour, their master tech comes out and says how long ago did you change the oil? I told him oil was changed just 2 weeks ago by my nissan dealer near home, and that it's been changed every 3K miles by the same dealership. He said "the code" it's throwing off states the oil is dirty as if it wasn't changed for quite some time, and that the pressure seems to be off too. This got my freaking out, as the dealership where I bought this car gave me free oil changes for life as part of buying the car, and I've had oil changes every 3K miles by them since. Of course this got me thinking, "am I bringing my car for oil changes, and the dealership is not actually changing the oil!!??" I asked the guy behind the service counter if all nissan dealerships are linked from a service perspective, and if he can tell if my dealership actually changed my oil, he said they're not linked. Do you guys know if this is true???? How do you know if your dealership is actually doing what they say they're doing? I've seen carfax reports where sometimes service gets reported, but how else does one find out especially from a dealer as large as Nissan? So, Master tech went back and called Nissan direct and was on the phone for 30 mins trying to figure it out...after 90 mins at dealership I had to get back to office so I left without knowing any info.

This morning, decided to stop in Advanced Auto Parts they let me read the code and the codes being kicked back are P0011 and P0012, which state Intake (A) Camshaft Position Timing - Over Advanced (Bank 1 and 2).

Should I be freaking out here? Checked the threads and didn't see anybody else having this issue or code. Car has been flawless, and seems hard to believe I should have this problem so early...have an appointment for first thing Monday morning with the dealership where I bought the car, but I was hoping to get you guys' perspective before dropping it off.

atlanta10

I know this can sound a bit patronizing, but I wouldn't be freaking out.
Do you really believe the dealer you brought it to----oil is dirty? Seriously? I doubt there is a code for that. The service engine soon light is typically a warning to get it looked at as soon as possible-not "your engine is about to blow" That is what the oil light is for and would be lit up with low oil or possibly low pressure.
I would be willing to bet it's a sensor issue with your cam. Your regular dealer should be able to properly diagnose and replace this sensor. Now I am somewhat guessing since I don't pretend to be an ASE Certified Master Tech but years of experience with cars lead me to believe this is most likely the issue.
Either way, good luck and let us know!

2010maxSV

Service engine means a sensor, check engine light means mechanical problems.

bk2k3max

I know this may seem stupid in light of all the technical jargon you posted and I'm certain that Nissan probably checked it as well but I remember having a CEL too and it said the same thing.

Come to find out later that it was no more than my gas cap not being screwed on correctly, they end up twisting it back on and the light went out.

I would hope that your case would be the same and nothing serious-especially if it will net you out of pocket expenses.

zman764

OP - your question about how to know if they're actually changing your oil...

Quite simple, pop the hood, pull the dip stick out, wipe it off on a paper towel. If the oil is fresh it should be translucent light brown colored... If it has not been changed within 4k miles it will be darker and more viscous... If it had not been changed in 15k miles it would probably be black!

Lanzz

Spidgeon, there are no OBDII codes for the oil needing to be changed, so whichever dealer told you that is full of it. The codes you stated would have nothing to do with oil in any case, so you need to make a trip to the dealer... I got my Maxima at Saratoga Nissan and their service department is very good - you may want to bring it there and have them figure it out for you.

spidgeon

UPDATE: Brought my car in this morning. I just called for an update and they're stating the oil is a "little low", and that's why the service light came on. Asked what service codes came up, and they confirmed the P0011 and P0012, which state Intake (A) Camshaft Position Timing - Over Advanced (Bank 1 and 2) He insisited that those codes come up when the oil is low or dirty. He then said he's going to top off the oil and reset the code. Thinks the service light coming on was just a fluke and to keep an eye on it.

Thoughts? I smell BS here...what do these codes represent and why would they go off?

newsat65

P0011 NISSAN Intake Valve Timing Control Performance Bank 1
P0012 NISSAN Intake Valve Timing Control Performance Bank 2
P0011 NISSAN - Intake Valve Timing Control Performance Bank 1


1

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Symptoms
- Engine Light ON (or Service Engine Soon Warning Light)
- Possible engine lack/loss of power
- Posssible engine rough idle
Possible causes
- Harness or connectors
- Intake valve timing control solenoid valve circuit is open or shorted
- Intake valve timing control solenoid valve may be faulty
- Crankshaft position sensor (POS) may be faulty
- Camshaft position sensor
Tech notes
Since the Intake valve timing control solenoid valve uses oil flow to control timing, dirty oil can cause the valve to stuck open or close. Before replacing the valve, change engine oil and filter and reset engine code.
P0011 NISSAN Description
This mechanism hydraulically controls cam phases continuously with the fixed operating angle of the intake valve.


The ECM receives signals such as crankshaft position, camshaft position, engine speed, and engine coolant temperature. Then, the ECM sends ON/OFF pulse duty signals to the intake valve timing control solenoid valve depending on driving status. This makes it possible to control the shut/open timing of the intake valve to increase engine torque in low/mid speed range and output in high-speed range.


The intake valve timing control solenoid valve changes the oil amount and direction of flow through intake valve timing control unit or stops oil flow. The longer pulse width advances valve angle. The shorter pulse width retards valve angle. When ON and OFF pulse widths become equal, the solenoid valve stops oil pressure flow to fix the intake valve angle at the control position.

WrightOne86

I guess that is a fairly accurate statement from the dealership it seems like. I would still keep a close eye out to the performance of your car a bit though.

spidgeon

Just wanted to circle back on my post from earlier and give you all an update. So I brought my car back to the dealership where I bought the car. They could not identify the problem and wasted a whole bunch of my time. I ended up taking it to a dealership down the street from my office. Within 2 hours they called me and said my rear timing cover gasket was torn and unserviceable. Anyone else have this problem before??

Took several days for the part to come in, but it's been fixed and the car rides like new.

One more thing to mention. So while my car is being fixed at a dealership down the street from my office....the dealership where I bought the car, the same one that couldn't fix my problem is now on every news station and paper. Apparently they got raided by the NYS Attorney Generals Office and NYS Police for consumer fraud!! Check this out -

http://www.news10.com/story/18244670...aratoga-nissan

WrightOne86

Def some shady stuff going on with that dealership. At least you got your car taken car of by another shop though. It was still under warranty wasn't it?

spidgeon

Yep. Car under still under warranty so everything was covered.

L36

iTrader: (4)

Next time when you do an oil change, pull out the dipstick before and after to actually see if the oil has been changed and the correct level is there.
Its a one min thing that could save you much headache in the future.

Papies01

Take the negative on the battery for a mins and put it back and light goes away if u wNt go to the dealer go just bring ur wallet its called a money light

PSU09MAXIMA

^^^^ or go to Autozone and get the code

Papies01

Or that but that requires wasting gas and in this economy i can do it at home

PSU09MAXIMA

Ok? just saying if you dont have a code reader... and gas its whatever to me I need it to actually get to work so regardless we have to have it no matter the price. But I still think gas is crazy expensive

djsfather11

Hey is this true cuz I have a 2012 max and my service engine light just went on out of nowhere

JimShady84

Mine just went off last week. I took it to the dealership and they told me that the computer or something needed an update. My car has 21k miles on it.

Wishbone

Sorry for you troubles but this is why I change my oil at home myself. I've had too many run in's with grease monkeys.

djsfather11

Mine only has 11,258 on it so I was actually pissed. I don't think it's the oil change cuz i did that like a month or so ago. Thanks for the info though guys