# 2011 Frontier 4x4 "Service Engine Soon" light on! Please help a girl out!!



## askjcm2005 (Nov 9, 2011)

We got a brand new 2011 Nissan Frontier SV 4x4. It has just over 18,000 miles on it and has always been maintained. This last weekend (Saturday Nov. 5th and Sunday Nov. 6th) we took it out for the 1st 4x4 use since we got it. It did great. We didn’t drive it fast or beat it up, but we did go mudding in puddles and got the truck covered in mud. We got stuck a couple times in 2 wheel drive and those are the only times we turned it to 4x4 and it was a piece of cake to get out…

Monday my husband took it to a car wash and sprayed out under the hood with a high pressure washer and it looked new again under the hood. Then yesterday (Tuesday Nov. 8th) we took it to his mothers to hose off before taking it to a real car wash to get detailed. He hosed everything off except under the hood. We drive it to the road, parked it and stayed about 10 minutes. When we left, we drove down the hill and the “Service Engine Soon” light came on and my husband immediately said it was driving funny. We stopped for a minute, put it in neutral, listen to it, revved it a little and then went… It would go over 2 mph! It wasn’t revving high it just acted as if there was no power but the engine was still on and all. We proceeded another ½ mile until we could turn around, drove it back home at 2 mph and were able to get it up the driveway a little bit but in 4x4. We parked at the bottom and turned it off. Looked under the hood, he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary but it still continued to have barely any power. When idling it would be normal then every few seconds idle lower then go back to normal, then lower, over and over… We called our car shop, he told us to unplug the battery for 1 minute then plug it back in and it should be good. We did, it worked. We drove it to the shop, he drove it, said it was good to go. We left and went to a 4 hour dentist appt. When we left it did it again… Again, we unplugged the battery and we got home and I got NO sleep I was so stressed out about it… This morning all was good, it drive great and still no Service Engine Light was on… My husband took it to a regular car wash, they drove it thru the machine and as soon as the water hit it, the service engine light was back on… He parked it again, did the battery unplug and its running so far and the light isn’t back on. 

I just don’t know what to do if the light comes back on again… We have heard from a few people maybe water in the computer system, maybe in the air intake system, etc… But have also heard that we should be able to do a little mudding without worrying about water getting in. It was our FIRST time ever!! My husband wasn’t out of control, we were slow thru ruts and dirt roads, it wasn’t beat up, and we take awesome care of the truck…

We have a full warranty until 100,000 miles but does anybody know if they wont cover it if its been mudding or off-road it? I mean it is a 4x4 truck after all!!! Please help before I have a heart attack! Thank you!!


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

First of all, stop disconnecting the battery. When you do this, you can erase the idle air volume setting, which can result in high or rough idle, and you can also erase the P/S angle sensor and G-sensor setting, which is needed for your VDC (vehicle dynamic control). If the SES light comes on, get the code read. Most parts stores will read OBD II engine codes for no charge. For codes on other systems, you will likely need to have to take it to a dealer or an independant shop that has the appropriate scantool that will access these systems. In general, if damage is caused due to use of the vehicle that is outside of the parameters of the warranty (ie abusive driving, racing, etc.), the warranty may not cover the repair. You should have received a warranty booklet with your truck when you bought the vehicle and in that it should explain what is and is not covered. As far as your current situation, you could go get the code read at a parts store just to see what the code is. IMO, you would be best served by taking the vehicle to a Nissan dealer and have them check the vehicle and see what they say. Perhaps they will cover it, but you won't know whether they will or will not until they look at the vehicle and determine what problem(s) exist. I would let them know that you disconnected the battery so that they may relearn the idle air volume and P/S and G-sensor settings.


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## azrocketman (Oct 5, 2005)

You might also stop using the high pressure washer at the car wash to clean the engine. Engine components are sealed/protected against casual water/mud exposure including short term immersion and non-pressure driven spray. They are not designed for high pressure water exposure. You are probably forcing water past the seals on an electrical connector causing the OBD II system to detect a malfunction. This can be a difficult problem to troubleshoot since OBD II codes can may somewhat cryptic in their meaning. OBD II may state that a sensor is bad where, in reality you've got a connector problem. 

If you live in fear of a dealer slap on the hand I would probably disconnect, inspect, clean, and remate engine connectors. You can isolate which connectors may be suspect by reading the OBD II codes. Personally, I'd take it to the dealer.

If you need to clean the engine compartment just use a normal garden hose at typical house pressure and be careful about directing the water stream at electrical components..

Steve.


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## Cusser (Apr 16, 2004)

I have a 1998 Frontier 4-cylinder. my kids drive it. After an oil change one time, I decided to wash off the engine (garden hose). They noticed a Check Engine/Service Engine light on. This turned out to be some water getting past the spark plug seal down into the recess, and was causing shorted spark at that cylinder. 

Now, I have no idea if 2011 Nissans even have have spark wires, some newer vehicles just use electronic ignitors. But what I'm going to write next is most important to you, all all recent buyers of any vehicle. *There is a federal emissions requirement, which is separate from ANY dealer warranty, that the dealer must fix ANYTHING that is any way emissions related, and that includes your situation. The warranty is like 50,000 miles or 5 years, so yours qualifies. So take yours to the dealer, remind them of this federal warranty, and let them fix for free; you don't have to mention about the mud, or washing the engine. Even an independent mechanic should be able to do same, and get re-imbursed by Nissan, but think I'd try dealer first.*


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Cusser said:


> I have a 1998 Frontier 4-cylinder. my kids drive it. After an oil change one time, I decided to wash off the engine (garden hose). They noticed a Check Engine/Service Engine light on. This turned out to be some water getting past the spark plug seal down into the recess, and was causing shorted spark at that cylinder.
> 
> Now, I have no idea if 2011 Nissans even have have spark wires, some newer vehicles just use electronic ignitors. But what I'm going to write next is most important to you, all all recent buyers of any vehicle. *There is a federal emissions requirement, which is separate from ANY dealer warranty, that the dealer must fix ANYTHING that is any way emissions related, and that includes your situation. The warranty is like 50,000 miles or 5 years, so yours qualifies. So take yours to the dealer, remind them of this federal warranty, and let them fix for free; you don't have to mention about the mud, or washing the engine. Even an independent mechanic should be able to do same, and get re-imbursed by Nissan, but think I'd try dealer first.*


Well, there's some truth to that. Federal emission warranties are usually 7 yr./70,000 or 8yr./80000 miles, depending on the emissions certification. This covers all failed componants that are specifically listed under the long-term emissions warranty providing that the part failed on its own and not as a result of driver neglect or misuse. For example, if you decide to take your Frontier off-roading, drive it recklessly and get the catalytic converter ripped off the vehicle because you got it caught on some big rock, the warranty will NOT cover replacement of said catalytic converter. If the media inside the catalytic converter becomes inefficient and causes a P0420: three way catalyst trouble code, then the long term emissions warranty will cover replacement of said catalytic converter providing it is within the mileage and time covered by the warranty AND providing that no non-EPA certified modifications were made to the vehicle that caused said catalytic converter to fail. Also, the idea of having an independant shop perform your repair and getting reimbursed by Nissan for that repair is another issue. Outside of some very rare cases where there was no nearby Nissan dealer to repair the vehicle, the only time I've ever heard of Nissan paying up for repairs performed by an independant shop is when the introduce a campaign or recall that allows compensation for past repairs, ie the recent 05-10 Pathfinder radiator campaign. Generally, a Nissan dealer needs to perform the repair for it to be covered under any kind of warranty as they want to ensure the problem was diagnosed by a Nissan technician with the appropriate diagnostic equipment and resources. Now, as far as water entering a spark plug tube, they may deem it as poor sealing of that spark plug wire or coil-on-plug boot and cover it under warranty if it is within the time and mileage and will need to replace the part in doing so. If they deem it was caused not by a failed part, but by excessive water pressure due to someone washing their engine, they may deem it as a non-warranty related issue and charge for diagnosing and correcting the issue.


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## tecate1987 (Nov 25, 2009)

take to dealer, they dont need to know if its been off roading, could have been on dirt road.


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