Top Check Engine Trouble Codes 2005-15 Nissan Xterra SUV

In this video, we're gonna go over the top engine codes we found in an '05 to '15 Nissan Xterra. First code I wanna talk about is PO340, and that is PO340. It is an extended crank on these Nissans 4.0, and what it has is two cam sensors, you have a bank one and a bank two. So a quick reference, on bank one or bank two means bank one is where cylinder one is, and a quick way to find that on any car, some cars are different, but most, 99% of them, are gonna to be out of all the ignition coils or spark plugs, the one closest to the timing, belt, chain, whichever you have, this cylinder is right here. The cylinders is on this side, start here. So the one closest to the radiator or the timing gear mechanism is going to be bank one. So both cam sensors are behind the head on the firewall, and you can see one right here. It's got a grey connector and there's three wires coming out and that's the red, a brown and a yellow wire. Those are your cam sensors, and it's going to be a bank one and a bank two. Bank one has caused...or is the most faulty one, shall I say,

I'm going to just tell you a quick way to diagnose it and if you have access to a scanner that can give you a wave form pattern, that is the proper way to do it. You're gonna have three wires going down there. You have a red wire, that is gonna be a 12-volt reference with the key in the on position. And you're gonna have a brown wire and that is your ground. So it should say 00 on your voltmeter. And then if you have access to a scanner and you can get an actual pattern, you're gonna want... On the yellow, as you crank, you should get a square pattern coming out. If you have no pattern coming out, it's the sensor because that's the feed from the sensor going back to the PCM.

Second code that's most common on this vehicle is PO430 and that is a cat efficiency code. And that is PO430 across the board with every vehicle that has a cat in it, or converter shall I say. What you do to diagnose this, and you can do it, if you have a little handheld scanner, it doesn't have to be a $3,000 or $10,000 scanner, as long as it has an O2 switchback reading. That means voltage reading, and you're gonna have front bank or upstream and downstream. So what you're gonna be looking for, if you can put those references beside each other, and you have a cat efficiency code, run it, let it get hot, full temp, have the scanner hooking up, and you're gonna see those upstream O2 sensors. They're gonna be like switching numbers, like you wish you had money coming in, right?

The downstream O2 sensors should be going real slow. They should be like .08, .04, .048, real slow. But if you do have faulty converters, both the upstream and the downstream, those are going to be switching. Once it heats up, the same way, they're gonna be almost identical numbers. The rear should almost be zero, if you have a good converter. If it is not good, the rear switching should be almost the same number of references as the upstream, that's putting it real basic.

The O2 sensors are located in the exhaust off of the manifolds on both banks. You have an upstream that is the closest one to the actual manifold. So it's in the front of the first converter, that's the upstream. And then you have the downstream, which is after the first converter and it's usually located mid pipe. And this is a converter right here. This is the heat shield that's rotted off.

And the last trouble code I want to talk to you about, we found on this Xterra is PO463, and that is a fuel level sender in off. So you'll know if you have one of these, a fuel gauge might've said full one day, you put some gas in, the next time you get in the truck, zero, reads no fuel. And you're like, whoa, get out, check for leaks, there's no leaks. That's very common. The sending unit is in-op. And the fuel tank on this Xterra is located on the driver's side, in the passenger area. Right actually below the passenger seating and half into the cargo area. Now the sending unit is located on the top, so what you would have to do to access it is take down the gas tank strapping, and then you have free range of the fuel module, which has the fuel sending unit in it.

So this is a general fuel pump module. It is a fuel pump and the sending unit, so it goes inside the gas tank. This is not for a Nissan Xterra but it's just a way of me showing you how to diagnose your fuel level sensor. So on this particular vehicle, it has a two-wire plugin, and we're gonna take that sensor right off the module, set that aside. So this is a two-wire fuel sender. I actually know that the Nissan actually has a three-wire. So the one in the center is the ground and the other two are a power source for whether it's the fuel tank is empty or full. All you're gonna do is get your ohm meter, put it on ohms, zero it out, make sure you have a zero reading, and then you're going to connect it to both connectors, and you can get a meter for $20. It doesn't matter what, you need it, and now you're gonna do a sweep. So we know that when the tank is empty, it's reading at high ohms. And as I sweep this, you'll watch the numbers change and see how it reacts until it's full. That's the lowest it goes.

So that's tells me the sending unit is working, the fuel level sensor is working. If you take yours out of the vehicle and do the sweep with it, and you have no number change, or the number is so erratic that it's moving around from hundreds to down to thirties, then this little bar in here is probably broken. So it's not making a good contact to pick up. So you can get the sending unit separate. You don't have to buy the whole fuel pump module, because that can be really expensive. So take your fuel pump module out and just dismount it, put your new one in and connect it up.

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