My engine check light had been on for 3 days. I took it to the dealer and they said it was a bad o2 sensor(which I knew from checking it myself) They wanted $97 for the o2 sensor and an hour of labor to fix it($70). I told them that they were insane and when I left my engine check light was off and is still off. Did they do something to turn it off? Or is it possible I really dont have a problem and that the light was triggered and is an error. They didn't physically look at the part, just hook it up to a machine. If the light doesnt come back on, should I not worry about it? The car runs fine.

 

Ask the dealer! They know what they did, we can only guess. My guess is yes, they did turn it off.


Your Maxima has three Oxygen Sensors. Which one was thought to be faulty?

That's not insane. It is the going price for this repair.

 

well for me it happened about 3 times. It came for about a week and then disappeared. I noticed that when the light came on, it came on after I washed my car. From this I new that the water might have triggered something. The car ran fine with the light on so I did nothing. I don't think you should worry about it. Mine came on about 3 times now, and each time it came on it was about a week in length. Don't pay for them to fix anything...it's a waste of money. If the lights gone don't worry about it.

I did the same thing as you the first time the light came on. It was going to cost me about 120 for the parts and labor...but luckily the light went off before I took it there. Saved 120!

 

Daniel B, it was code 0503. I think that is the front Oxygen Sensor on the right cylinder bank. Does the dealership have the power to turn off the engine check light? Or since it's not on anymore, does this mean that maybe the light was triggered by accident? How serious of a problem is this bad o2 sensor?

 

The 95's had so many o2 problems that Nissan issued a notice extending the emmissions warranty from 3/36 to 5/50. Mine did the same thing, the light would come on and stay on for days or weeks, then it would go out for a while. I had both sensors (the '95-97's only have 2) changed under the extended warranty two years ago and haven't had any problems since.

I too never experienced any rough idle or excessive fuel consumption. I think it was the combination of a marginal o2 sensor and OBDII's overly-sensitive error programming in the ECU.

It's a pretty simple job, no need to pay dealer rates to have it repaired.

 

I have a 95 SE. My light came on when I was driving in heavy rain. When I checked the code the it was 0505 or all clear. The dealership normally resets the ecu after checking the code. However if the problem persists the light will come back on after a few starts. If you look at the stickies at the top of the forum they explain it all in great detail. The price is right in line for a dealership but an aftermarket replacement and a few minutes of you time is a lot less expensive.

-Zack

 

Yes.

Yes. You have the same power. All it takes is a screwdriver.

I've never heard of a Check Engine Light being triggered "by accident". Something happened which caused it to turn on.

A faulty Oxygen Sensor results in diminished engine power, increased fuel consumption, and an increased burden on the Catalytic Converter. Resolving the problem is not an emergency but should be done in the next week or two.

 

Ok, you all have convinced me to try to fix this myself. I care to much about my car to let this problem go. Does anyone remember the site where you can get the o2 senors for like $66? I guess replacing this o2 senor is as easy as lifting the car, unscrewing something, and popping the new sensor in? Thanks for your time and help!

 

That's a simplified but fundamentally correct description of the procedure. The "something" you unscrew is the old Oxygen Sensor. Please look at the Chilton repair manual (page 4-14) or the Haynes repair manual (page 6-14).

 

three words: Your the man!

 

I would just buy them from the dealership. I went to 3 different auto parts stores and each of them were only like $5 less than factory. I just did the front 2 in my car. It's a little bit of a pain, but you can do it.