[ktat27]

Okay- so I bought this car a year ago. 2004 Xtera XE with 133,000 miles. Since then I 've dumped about 4k into repairs and bullshit. (now at 145,000 miles)

When I bought the car it already had the SES light on but I needed a car and the mechanic I took it to said it was still a good car. I got my left Catalytic converter replaced as well as idle control valve, a bunch of other maintenance, and a full engine tune. SES light off and problem seemingly fixed. a month after this my car started to make a clicking sound when starting up and about 2 clicks per second while driving/accelerating.

Two weeks ago, I was driving my car to work and it completely died in the middle of the highway- all acceleration quit but battery and electronics stayed on. Got it towed to the Nissan dealership. They tell me it's the timing belt. I get the entire thing replaced (along with all the other goods under there). When I pick up the car they tell me it's idling super rough and that they don't know what it is but probably the other Catalytic converter. I take the car anyways thinking I'm good to go if they say it's drivable.

I go to start my car two days after the timing belt is replaced and get an SES code again. Take it to AutoZone and they say it's
P0300- Random Misfire
P0328- Knock Sensor 1 Circuit High Input (Bank 1)

I drive some more that day.... SES shuts off.

Now to yesterday I drive to the store and go to leave- car turns over super weird and SES light starts flashing. I check the fuel cap, let the car sit for 20 minutes- light it off. I still take it to Nissan and they get another P0300 code for random misfire. They still claim it's probably not their fault but just got new timing belt and never had a misfire before they replaced it??

Car is still running superrr rough but is fine when I accelerate(except for the clicking). Nissan is charging me for a diagnostic to see what else is wrong with the car even though they gave it to me running shitty? (guess it's my fault for taking it).

Anyone have any insight into this??

 

[Scottsthaname]

Sounds like they put the timing belt off one notch on the crank...I did this and had to re-do the timing belt. The camshafts are marked but the crank is not marked for TDC(top dead center) so some tend to get misaligned when the belt goes on.

 

[robcarync]

Good to know I am not the only one to have the timing belt one tooth off on the crank sprocket. I did the same thing...idled very rough, low power, but if would smooth out under load.

Had to re-do the timing belt, and you can bet your ass I counted each and every tooth on the belt the next time. I marked it with paint pen before taking the old belt off, but the crank is tough to keep aligned. You really need to go off of counting the teeth between sprocket marks.

 

[bnn]

The knock sensor is bad news to hear about. My knock sensor went off and I couldn’t go above 55mph. Was able to get it into dealership and they had to replace entire engine as it would turn out.

 

[bigbadbootyboy]

So....does this mean since I just bought a 02' SE/SC with 138,000 miles that has the P0328 code going off I'm about to be in deep Shi*?

 

[jm26]

Okay- so I bought this car a year ago. 2004 Xtera XE with 133,000 miles. Since then I 've dumped about 4k into repairs and bullshit. (now at 145,000 miles)

When I bought the car it already had the SES light on but I needed a car and the mechanic I took it to said it was still a good car. I got my left Catalytic converter replaced as well as idle control valve, a bunch of other maintenance, and a full engine tune. SES light off and problem seemingly fixed. a month after this my car started to make a clicking sound when starting up and about 2 clicks per second while driving/accelerating.

Two weeks ago, I was driving my car to work and it completely died in the middle of the highway- all acceleration quit but battery and electronics stayed on. Got it towed to the Nissan dealership. They tell me it's the timing belt. I get the entire thing replaced (along with all the other goods under there). When I pick up the car they tell me it's idling super rough and that they don't know what it is but probably the other Catalytic converter. I take the car anyways thinking I'm good to go if they say it's drivable.

I go to start my car two days after the timing belt is replaced and get an SES code again. Take it to AutoZone and they say it's
P0300- Random Misfire
P0328- Knock Sensor 1 Circuit High Input (Bank 1)

I drive some more that day.... SES shuts off.

Now to yesterday I drive to the store and go to leave- car turns over super weird and SES light starts flashing. I check the fuel cap, let the car sit for 20 minutes- light it off. I still take it to Nissan and they get another P0300 code for random misfire. They still claim it's probably not their fault but just got new timing belt and never had a misfire before they replaced it??

Car is still running superrr rough but is fine when I accelerate(except for the clicking). Nissan is charging me for a diagnostic to see what else is wrong with the car even though they gave it to me running shitty? (guess it's my fault for taking it).

Anyone have any insight into this??

I've changed the timing belt on my 04 a couple of times, the first time it broke while I was driving and honesty it's pretty easy to do. I find it hard to believe that a dealership would get the belt off a tooth. I'm not sticking up for dealerships, but generally their mechanics are very knowledgeable and going back into the engine wouldn't really be that big of deal for them it they screwed it up. To me your problem seems to be more related to ignition timing rather than engine timing. A few years ago I had the same issue so I changed the knock sensor, which is located under the intake and isn't something that you want to do unless you have to. After changing the knock sensor the engine wouldn't start. It ended up being the distributor. The ignition system is kinda old fashioned in the sense that it still has a distributor with a built in coil as opposed to individual coils for each cylinder. When the coil starts going bad it misfires and the knock sensor cant compensate so the computer gives a knock sensor code. A flashing light on any OBD2 system indicates a misfire. If this was a system with individual coils it would probably be a coil or whatever regulates the coils but in this system its all located in the distributor. I think it's likely that when your timing belt broke the sudden stoppage could have messed up your distributor. I bought one on ebay for like $30.

 

[sparrow1257]

Definitely sounds like the belt. Nissan isn’t a great company. The dealer in Petaluma tried to steal my car. They told me it was “totaled” and they lied about the repairs needed. That was 2 years ago and I am still driving it. Take it to another Nissan dealer or mechanic if you can.

 

[marshoot]

I agree the knock sensor should not have killed the engine. Yes it was the distributor you needed to replace. I've been driving mine 03 Xe with a bad knock sensor for about a year. It runs. I just started hearing that click, So I'll check my belt. All that other stuff like the Catalytic converter. is BS. They just didn't know what they were doing

 

[Satito]

Check your Fuel Pressure Regulator. With the engine running just pop the little vacuum line off the back of the back of the intake manifold. There are two little lines side by side. It is usually the one closest tot he passenger side, but I'd pop them both off just to be sure. If fuel comes out you need a new FPR. A ruptured diaphragm in the FPR can cause the issues that you are describing. It will allow unmetered fuel to enter the intake, which causes random misfires and a rich condition that the computer can't solve since it doesn't know where the extra fuel is coming from. It can also set a code for the O2 sensors and the catalytic converters and cause exhaust smoke. Left unchecked it will result in the cast becoming clogged. The extent of the problems it causes will also be determined by the size of the leak in the diaphragm.

With regard to the knock sensor. On normally aspirated models the knock sensor was put in as more of an afterthought to bring it into OBDII compliance. Since the gen1 X doesn't have variable valve or even ignition timing (we still use a distributor instead of coils) the knock sensor really doesn't do anything except let you know when there is a problem. On the super charged models it is important and I wouldn't run with a bad one. In fact, on the SC a bad knock sensor will more than likely drop your engine into limp mode.

If you do need to change the FPR, I would change the knock sensor while you are in there since you are there anyways. Likewise, I would change the valve cover gaskets at that time as well.

 

[Mrbean]

So....does this mean since I just bought a 02' SE/SC with 138,000 miles that has the P0328 code going off I'm about to be in deep Shi*?

Go to Youtube and look for repositioning a KS on your vehicle, basically you buy another KS (ten bucks or so on flea bay) find the wires in the loom that attach to the bad KS cut them and splice to the new KS, then you bolt the new KS to (maybe) the intake or as close to the old as you can. It's not perfect but it will work and you can lose the thrown codes. The old/bad KS is quite a simple job but you have to remove heaven and earth to get to it (ask me how I know). You can do this even if you are not mechanical minded after watching video.
PS once when I removed the timing belt and created a hole to the front of the engine I wondered if some one with a real small hand could reach into the back and unbolt the KS??? Maybe one of our members can try when the do a timing belt job???????????

 

[Satito]

Yep. A lot of people have opted to change the location of their knock sensor. I would caution against it on a Super Charged engine though since the knock sensor actually does actively do something and changing the position will change it's ability to sense knocks. It's on the center of the top of the engine block for a reason. That is so that it can sense all of the cylinders more or less equally and clearly without interference from gasket material etc that may dampen the vibrations.

 

[Satito]

From your thread title, it is also important to note that any time the SES is flashing you should not be driving the vehicle. A solid SES indicates a warning that something is wrong. A flashing SES indicates that something major is wrong and damage is likely to occur. Most vehicles will drop into limp mode at a flashing SES

 

[Mrbean]

Yep. A lot of people have opted to change the location of their knock sensor. I would caution against it on a Super Charged engine though since the knock sensor actually does actively do something and changing the position will change it's ability to sense knocks. It's on the center of the top of the engine block for a reason. That is so that it can sense all of the cylinders more or less equally and clearly without interference from gasket material etc that may dampen the vibrations.

Is this vehicle S Charged?

 

[ktat27]

UPDATE: I stopped driving my car after I posted this. It's still sitting out front of my house. SES light continues to flash so that's a no-go for me.
I brought it back to the Nissan dealership to see if they had gotten a tooth off on the timing belt change. They told me they looked at it and was a perfect install. They told me I should do a compression test for my heads- for $500. So I said no and haven't driven my car since that day. I'm gonna end up taking it to another shop but I am at my widths end. I love this damn car and it just gives me so much trouble. Is it worth getting heads replaced by another shop if there are other potential issues with the knock sensor (and possibly distributor as people commented) ?? ugh.

 

[mhamor]

So I would say, if it’s not supercharged, ignore the knock sensor or relocate/resistor the knock sensor just to get it out of the system, very cheap and simple if you just watch a video and do it. Distributor is not crazy expensive relative to head gasket work and it is something that will need replacing at some point anyway so it could save you money and time to do that if it ends up being the issue. Something that I didn’t see anybody post in here is how you can check to see that the distributor is failing, but you can find that by doing a quick search on here. Lastly I would say get another opinion! And preferably not dealership related. An independent shop should at least be honest with you if you tell them that it started running rough after a timing belt job but the dealer says that the job was done right. It’s possible that a dealership could have done it wrong and caused issues then went and fixed the belt so that when the next guy checks it it looks like they didn’t mess up. And I don’t think a compression test should be $500, it sounds like the dealership just wants more money

 

[Satito]

$500 for a compression test is ridiculous. That's saying that it will take them 4-5 hours to do the work since there are no parts involved. A compression test should take a qualified mechanic no more than an hour, maybe two if they're doing a leak down test etc. (and that's being generous)

 

[Blackberry]

It always breaks my heart for people to be so hard on dealerships as a whole. Dealerships are franchises just like many other businesses. That’s like saying every McDonald’s will always lie to you about price and intentionally get your order incorrect. I have been working in dealerships for a long time and know there’s plenty of scumbags out there, but the same could be said of any people, customers included.

That being said, the compression test involves removing spark plugs, installing gauge and cranking engine to get readings. Spark plugs are reinstalled afterwords. One could expect the labor charges should be roughly R&R spark plug time plus approximately 1 hour for gauge reading/installation/etc. The estimate of $500 may seem a little high. $400 may be closer to reality when you think about their labor rate. Really depends on where you are. $500 may get you 4-5 hours of your dealer mechanics time down in Missouri, probably comes with a piece of his wife’s famous apple crumb cake. In Northern California, $500 could be 2.5 hours, probably less with “shop supplies” charge added, and worst of all, no crumb cake

if the belt snapped and that’s where all of this started, step one would be to ensure proper belt installation, and step two would be to perform a compression test or leak down test to verify the integrity of the valvetrain. Compression may tell you if there’s a problem but not where or why. Leak down takes considerably more time to perform but can help isolate the root cause of low compression. Nissan says valves can be damaged in the event of timing belt failure but I haven’t seen this happen and would consider improper belt installation more likely