Check engine light came on Friday night on my 2005 X, my Scan Gauge says P0171 and P0174. Found some info on those codes - worse case scenario it would be the MAF sensor, so I took it to the dealer hoping if that's it, they'll be a little lenient on the warrantee.

Dealer just called and said the MAF sensor needs to be replaced, $490 installed. Since it's out of warrantee by 200 miles, they gave me the number to call for NissanUSA to setup a case to get it covered. The guy I talked to seemed nice enough, almost that it was just a formality to contact the dealer and confirm what the problem was. However, I won’t know for sure until end of day tomorrow at latest.
I did mention that I just bought a 2007 Fronty, and that this is my 4th Nissan, so hopefully they’ll want to make a long standing regular customer happy.

So, anyone ever hear of a MAF sensor going with only 36200 miles?
Any one have luck with these "a few hundred miles out of warrantee” issues with NissanUSA?

I haven’t tried cleaning the MAF myself – yet. Waiting for resolution on warrantee issue before I start messing with stuff. Other “home remedy” suggestions will be welcome if they deny me coverage (a little fuel injector cleaning treatment maybe??).

Actual mileage the light went on was 36,134
Mileage when diagnosed at dealer is 36,251

Thanks!
(I'll move this to another section if appropriate)

My luck with Nissan is pretty shitty. We family has owend 7 Nissans over an almost 30 year period currently my parents have two and my sister and I each have one. My alternator crapped out about 200 or so miles after the warranty and they told me to pound sand.

Now back to your question. Ive never heard of a MAF going bad but it is an electrical part so anything can happen. 490 is pretty step of a price but you might talk to the service manager and remind them that you have two nissans and hopefully you have brought the truck their for maintenance, that helps alot, and if the repair could be good willed!!! Its worth a try.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Tim

Its likely the same as the fronty so just swap them out and bring the Fronty in for service. They screw enough people over in service depts. so it won't hurt them.

Maybe this is a dumb left field sorta question, but have you verified your gas cap is on tight? I'm not sure what code it throws but if your gas cap is loose or isn't seated right, your SES light will come on. Securing the cap and driving about 10 miles or so will fix it.

Problem is, if you look at the MAF there are two little wires. Usually a failure is one of the wires breaking.

If they won't cover it, see if you can find one at a junk yard. www.car-parts.com is a great place to look. They are easy to install, but you have to be careful.

Thanks for all the info so far.
Mike - gas cap is a different code, but on Saturday I did "reinstall" the gas cap anyway just in case.

Hey, I like the idea of switching parts with the Fronty - why didn't I think of that - lol. I'd probably have to go do a different dealer though.
"Yes, the X mysteriously fixed itself, but could you check out the Fronty?"

I recall seeing that if I change the MAFS, I need to tell the truck's computer about it somehow. Didn't dig deep enough to see if it's just a key turning kind of procedure (like resetting the airbag light), or if you have to hook up something special the tell the computer about the new MAFS.

For now it's a waiting game. At least it's not a critical part when it fails - I can still drive the truck.

Honestly I can't tell the difference.
Guess I'll check gas mileage though. This stupid MAFS must do something productive?
Actually, the error code indicates LEAN mixture, so maybe my milage is higher with out itf!

The MAF let's the computer know how much air you are sucking in. This is important info so the computer then knows how much gas to use. So, without the MAF, you will usually get crappy gas mileage and a lot of times you get get sluggish performance.

Just for my own knowledge, I thought the MAF could be considered an emissions device?? Therefore it has coverge until 5yr/50 (*note- that last number was at least accurate 10 yrs ago when I worked in this field, I could be quite wrong)

MGJ

An example of one of the things wrong with America today. Hey, take some responsibility. Your X is out of warranty. For three and 36 they have stood behind their product. Your turn.

"Every man has a price. Some just don't set it very high."

The Devil

For the record, I'm not gonna pull the switchero with the Fronty. My reply to that suggestion was tongue in cheek (or however that saying goes).
If you mean I shouldn't even ASK if they'll cover it, I don't agree with you. I doesn't hurt to ask. If they don't cover it, I'll move on to plan B (most likley try to clean it or find a 3rd party replacement myself). If they make this little concession, they'll have a loyal customer for life. If they don't, I might be inclined take a look at Toyota along with Nissan next time I need vehicle. No biggy - free market/customer service, that's all!.

General update: Just got back from picking up the truck at the dealer. The service writer (who knows me since I'm a regular there) said my best bet is to wait until the service manager gets back from vacation, because he thinks they'll probably do it under the good will thingy, but that has to be worked out between the service manager and Nissan.

ECM, CAT and a few other things are covered 96 months/80,000 miles ("Long Term Federal Emissions Parts"). The other stuff, including MAFS, seems to be listed for 3 years/36000. That part of the warrantee does get a little confusing though.

Tell them you are claiming failure under the 50,000 mile emissions warranty as you are failing your smog check.

those cheating bastards know they can get you under emissions...hell, even GM,as bad as they are, didn't try to ass rape me on a bad injector at 39k miles.

If not(I haven't read the fine print), buy one cheaper online thru a nissan discount dealer and slap it on yourself.

The Mass Air Flow Sensors run $100-200 on e-bay. Two screws and one plug with three wires hardly seems like a challenge.

For the record, I'm not gonna pull the switchero with the Fronty. My reply to that suggestion was tongue in cheek (or however that saying goes).
If you mean I shouldn't even ASK if they'll cover it, I don't agree with you. I doesn't hurt to ask. If they don't cover it, I'll move on to plan B (most likley try to clean it or find a 3rd party replacement myself). If they make this little concession, they'll have a loyal customer for life. If they don't, I might be inclined take a look at Toyota along with Nissan next time I need vehicle. No biggy - free market/customer service, that's all!.

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Thanks for the clarification. My apologies for disparaging your character. Working within the system, you should ask, you should be assertive, and you should go to Nissan. Who would take exception to that? Good luck.

If I remember correctly, just unhook the battery for a little bit to reset the computer.

Just got off the phone with Ron, the service manager at the local dealership (as posted earlier, the service writer wanted to wait till the manager got back from vacation).

He said they'd cover the MAFS, no problem, and booked an appointment!

And no, I didn't have to beg, whine, or threaten. Just asked politely.

Thank you Kelly Nissan, Beverly MA!!!

Incidentally, when I got the truck back from the diagnostic visit, they had cleared the code and the check engine light was off. It has since come back with the same code, but I still don't notice anything different in engine performance.
Might be puttin' out some nasty gases though - who knows.

A little update, as the saga continues….

About 4 days after they replaced the MAF sensor, the check engine light came on again with code P0171. Scan gauge showed “ready” and no codes found prior to that, so I think this is a new occurrence (one of the same codes) and not just a case of them forgetting to reset it. I made an appointment for today and just dropped the truck off. (I called back when the light first came back on, but today was the first mutually available time we could arrange)

Over the last couple of weeks, the Check Engine Light will be on for a few days, off for a few days, back on again. The code P0171 has been there constantly throughout, but the code that accompanied it before (P0174) has not showed up.

Not sure what they’re gonna do – should hear back from them by lunch time.

Any thoughts? Those codes indicate lean mixture from left bank and right bank and I was getting both before, now only one bank is showing it. Not sure if I had/have multiple problems causing lean mixture registering? MAF sensor wasn’t bad in the first place?
Computer not really reset? (although Scan Gauge status would indicate it was IF I understand it correctly).

I’m just hoping they don’t say something to the effect of they covered the MAF sensor, but it needs something else expensive and we’re done covering you! Hopefully they will consider this a continuation of the same problem and not try to say it’s something completely different.

I seem to be getting higher gas mileage in the mean time. Got 23.6 MPG per scan gauge on a recent highway trip of about 150 miles doing 70-80 MPH most of the way. Highest I’ve ever seen is maybe 22 MPG – but I should mention that I don’t check that often or with any consistency, so it’s not really conclusive.

Just out of curiosity, have you changed stations where you are getting gas. I used to have a Ford Ranger that if I went to a particular station I would pop a code for lean mixture. I would run that tank down then fill up anywhere else and the code would reset. I just couldn't go to that station for gas.

Interesting...

There are about 3 different gas stations we user regularly. It's possible the code kicks after filling at one of those specific stations.

Just heard back from the dealer - they found a loose vacuum hose.

hmmm - this whole thing started soon after the belt tensioner was replaced. I wonder if the hose got knocked loose when they did that, or when the MAF sensor was replaced. I'm not sure where that hose is in relation to the belts/MAF sensor.

Hopefully this will be the end of it...

Hopefully it is figured out.