I never quite understood the stability and traction being affected by the service engine soon....

But I read the code, then reset. Been 85 miles and hasn't come back, but emissions are not ready. After 25 miles, everything under the I/M menu was ready except EVAP.

If I understand it, during an emissions inspection, vehicles are allowed 1 not ready, but not 2+.

Looking back on the Maxima, the car was 15 y.o. before a check engine ever popped up...dang it was a nice 35-36k problem free run!

 

In my experience that combination happens due to an electrical problem. Generally batter getting ready to die. At least, that was my case.
But with all the electronics in these cars it's hard to know for sure. Hope it stays clear for you.

 

Thanks if it's the rear driver O2 sensor not the end of the world, but, hope it's not that 02 sensor is good but underlying problem...like leak, etc....

 

From what I’ve seen in the past, the seals on the gas cap is bad or the cap wasn’t fully tightened. Usually a new cap fixes it.

 

P0138 is a fault relating to your upstream o2 sensor, passenger side.

Easy and cheap to replace.

 

Oh yeah might help if I add 2006 with 116k....mileage is low but not time. Maxima was around 190k before service engine soon started, and it was easily reset until around 220k where reset and instantly comes back--that car was EGR. On the LS, EGR shows as N/A on the reader.....

 

I was wondering this myself, everyone has heard the gas cap could throw a check engine. But what code would it throw? I looked at it and was surprised the o-ring didn't look worn or anything. The cap itself looks very aged and has a weak click, but the seal looked good....I googled and answered my own question. P0440 which is not gas cap specific but EVAP....gonna check after work to see if the EVAP is in a ready state, or not....

 

Am I missing something? This has nothing to do with the evap system... it’s an o2 code

 

Actually the P0138 code is for Oxygen Sensor Circuit High Voltage Bank 1 Sensor 2, which would be the downstream sensor on the drivers side. Easy to change? Depends. It isn't the easiest thing to get the carpeting back enough to expose the connector which is what you are going to have to do. Easiest way to get the old sensor out is to cut the wires off and then use the closed end of a 22mm spanner wrench and a good sized hammer. I have recently replaced all four of mine and found that Bank 1 Sensor 1 was by far the hardest to do...

 

Wow yeah good catch my mistake I saw bank 1 and my mind immediately went to sensor 1. If you use a pick the upstream sensors weren’t that difficult to replace, at least I thought. Maybe I got lucky.

At least the sensor 2 doesn’t have any effect on how the car runs.

 

Might want to pick up a can of Mass air sensor cleaner and take out the the mass air sensor from the air intake tube and give it a good cleaning.. Spray it all clean and wait 30 min for it to dry... reinstall it and clear your codes and take it for a little drive.. it’s worth a shot...

 

OK so I checked again at the 81 mile mark since reset, and all the I/M functions are ready. I am not 100% but I believe that 1 not ready is still a pass (in states that have emissions testing), 2 not readies is a FAIL (meaning you can't reset and drive to the inspection station or do it when there nor can they do it and pass you).




It would be interesting to see the Toyota Motor decision tree, because the error in itself does not say the sensor needs replacement, it says a condition was met for the MIL to turn on. For a dealership to simply replace the sensor as soon as the check engine goes on, I would understand, it's $$$$. If the light comes back, more $$$$. But for us, it would be nice to know what legit things cause the sensor to trip and to investigate them.

My hunch is 116k is low miles to need replacement of the sensor, but what do I know, I can only base it on other vehicles that I've owned.

What led to it? Car sat 2.5 days, light (triangle) went on upon startup, pouring rain day before. Since it poured again last night, I was curious if it would trip again. 140 miles after the reset, light is still gone. Guess the prudent thing to do is to let it go until next time. Again, past experience? The first time such a thing happened, reset, 1+ years later came back. And upon subsequent resets, of course, the intervals got shorter and shorter, until they came back immediately after a reset. But this car shows N/A on the OBD2 for EGR, which was my other car's issue, so I'm still optimistic. What I'm saying is I don't believe in flukes, something caused a condition to be met, and the MIL to turn on....

 

That's John's style... It's either the BMW and the ABS module he fixed, his Maxima or his Uncle... I'm hoping at some point he'll mention all 3 in one post!!! The Trifecta.

John, if it is the O2 sensor, they aren't horrible to change, as you know. If it's a leak in the exhaust causing the code, that'll be a little tougher on the wallet...

 

Well when the light turned on, I texted my uncle who said he was with his g/f so can't deal with it now, so then I said maybe I'll take the BMW and got the OBD2 out of the Maxima (seriously that's where it was I haven't used it in years, used to carry it to reset b4 emissions). But I decided it was immoral to drive any other car except the LS (I was called that on this forum imagine that!).

Seriously I'm not willing to spend any money on this car. If any repair were to top I'm gonna say $900, I'll junk it or sell it! I still have no reason to believe that it can't go 200k, but if it takes $$$$ to do it, no way. And I still don't think it does. 300k? Maybe it takes $$$$.

 

Bingo! Hand over my new toaster oven.