'Service Engine Soon' light

mtofell · 12-11-2005, 11:54 AM

This came on a couple days ago and my truck is running fine. From reading in the manual, they don't seem to act like it's a huge deal. It's most likely an emmission thing, maybe triggered by some bad gas. I did fill up at a mom&pop station the morning that it came on. I have since burned through that tank and just filled up last night at my usual place.

Has anyone else had this light turn on. How long should I wait before I take it to the dealer. The manual says a couple times that the light should turn off after a couple trips once the problem is gone. That doesnt' exactly sound like I need to run to the dealer. Any advice?

baseballfanz · 12-11-2005, 12:08 PM

Tryn an ECU reset
or pull the code and see what it say.

Stomper4x4 · 12-11-2005, 01:42 PM

it also comes on if you don't close the gas cap fully, but it should clear after 24 hours or so after you tighten the cap.

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 12-11-2005, 02:18 PM

The check engine light is just an emissions thing. 99% of the time it's either a loose gas cap or O2 sensor...either are still drivable conditions.

MuskyHunter · 12-11-2005, 02:49 PM

Had a similar problem a few weeks ago. This was a problem with my wifes Nissan where over filling the gas tank was the reason, according to our Nissan service dept. I overfilled my Titan and low and behold, that light came on. Ran the tank down a bit and refueled and the light eventually went away.

TITAN LV · 12-12-2005, 07:02 PM

Took my '04 in today for check engine light issue. Dealer stated that the ECM needed to be updated as the program it had did not match the components installed in the truck from the factory (ie...the equiv to a MAP sensor) and that the fault code could show up anytime. I have 23K on my truck. Truck did not run bad. After re-loading ECM, light is gone. I asked if the ECM was pushing rich/lean mixture thru my O2 sensor/catalytic converter, etc... that could cause pre-mature failure and he said it did not. I can maybe believe this as the truck never seems to run rich or rough. Gas mileage has been as high as 20.5 pure highway, tailwind, etc... but usually 17.5 to 19.5 highway. 12.5-14.5 mixed city driving. Time will tell if fix will hold or I got a BS answer. Hard to believe a truck off the line would not have the proper firmware/software at the time of mfg....Good luck.

Wisekid · 12-12-2005, 09:54 PM

Mossy Nissan in El Cajon spent about 4 hours on my 2005 CC and
found a poor connection, with a ground wire to my engine.
The engine ran fine after the "Service Engine Soon" light went on.
I checked my gas cap and it was tight. Mossy Nissan, in El Cajon treated me
well, with great service. They fixed my trailer hitch harness, installed new front rotors-pads etc, turned my back rotors, intalled new pads front and back.
Adjusted my castor and camber on my front end. Its a 4X2. It had a slight pull to
the right. It has 7700 miles at the time of service. At 3700 miles, had the rotors turned and a pad kit intalled. 4000 miles later they corrected everything. Very pleased with there service.

loudtitan · 12-13-2005, 06:05 AM

had an 03 frontier did that after 700 miles. went off three times before they replaced the evap canister and after that never came on again.

mtofell · 12-13-2005, 07:57 AM

Mine went off after about a day after my next tank of gas so the cap may have been loose. I am sure you will probably find this unbelievable but in Oregon, self-serve gas is against the law so you're always at the mercy of some crackhead to get your cap on tight.... come to think of it, I believe a guy in Oregon invented the string tied to the cap

I wish I would have checked the cap to know for sure but by the time I learned that could be the problem I had already filled up again... good info about the ecu reset though so maybe its was a blessing in disguise.... thanks all

Titan4x4Aggie · 12-13-2005, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wisekid

Mossy Nissan in El Cajon spent about 4 hours on my 2005 CC and
found a poor connection, with a ground wire to my engine.
The engine ran fine after the "Service Engine Soon" light went on.
I checked my gas cap and it was tight. Mossy Nissan, in El Cajon treated me
well, with great service. They fixed my trailer hitch harness, installed new front rotors-pads etc, turned my back rotors, intalled new pads front and back.
Adjusted my castor and camber on my front end. Its a 4X2. It had a slight pull to
the right. It has 7700 miles at the time of service. At 3700 miles, had the rotors turned and a pad kit intalled. 4000 miles later they corrected everything. Very pleased with there service.

So what fixed the SES light?

Or was this just a plug for Mossy to clear his bad rap from the header situation?

TitanTech659 · 12-15-2005, 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HudsonValleyTitan

The check engine light is just an emissions thing. 99% of the time it's either a loose gas cap or O2 sensor...either are still drivable conditions.

It's not good to assume that it is "just an emissions thing." There are hundreds of codes that it could be. Just because it seems to run fine doesn't mean that there is nothing wrong with it. Besides, it's under warranty, why not just take it in and have them check it out?

Nestor · 12-15-2005, 05:38 PM

Best thing to do is find out what the code is, then determine the best course of action.

Daves_Titan · 12-19-2005, 09:26 AM

Is there a way you could find out the code without taking it to the dealer? I probably saved atleast $60 bucks by reseting the ecu and I would be curious to know how you could find this out other than going to the dealer.

37L1 · 12-19-2005, 10:29 AM

Count the engine ses light flashes when you do the reset procedure. The series of numbers give you the code. Post it here and someone with the service manual will tell you what the code corresponds to.

hoffmase · 03-24-2006, 03:03 PM

my SES came on in fall 2004. i have all factory parts on my truck. dealer first said it was a loose gas cap. but the light came back on after it was reset. they eventually tested the fuel system and they replaced a "vapor canister" or something like that. it is a component of the gas tank system. basically the system was loosing pressure, i.e. leaking. they replaced it and i have not had a SES since.