Check engine light came on.. Catalytic converter

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0macman0 said:
I used these sensors off amazon. They are identical to the OE sensor since both are made by Bosch

Bosch 17006 Oxygen Sensor, OE Type Fitment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZQJA8I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6l4dzb3T6C3EX

I recommend the OE Manifold / Cat and gaskets as well. I also highly recommend you replace the manifold nuts as well and coat them in anti-seize

Tell me more about this ECM reset, as in what is it just to clear the code or is it something more along the lines of a reprogram?

I am planning on buying bank two and replacing it with in the next few weeks, I love the "having the mechanic call" idea LoL
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If you do bank 2, please, can you take some pictures of install and share? I think it would be great to look at.

And thanks a lot for this more detailed info. Based on your advice, I am going with everything OEM, except the sensor which I bought aftermarket. And I like your idea of replacing all the studs and nuts. All studs and nuts would cost less than $20. I am buying all brand new oem.

I did a search and found Bosch and Denso both sell that sensor. I decided to go with Denso since they seem to be more reliable.

I have bought these so far...

INFINITI 140021LA0C GENUINE OEM EXHAUST MANIFOLD
Nissan OEM Exhaust-Front Pipe Stud 14064JG30B
20692-24U0A GASKET-EXHAUST
Denso 234-5095 Air Sensor
INFINITI/NISSAN 14036-1LA0A GENUINE OEM EXHAUST MANIFOLD GASKET

If I do not forget, I plan to take pictures of every one of these items that I bought and post too on the forum. The pictures may be helpful to some other people.

Someday within the next 2 weeks, when I have time I will go to my mechanic to have him do the install.

I really find myself just hating seeing that check engine light on my car. But since the light came on, I have put over 4,000 miles. I took a 2,000 miles road trip to Big Bend with the check engine light on. Well, I had it off by disconnecting battery, but it would come back after 1,000 miles. I also took a 600 miles round trip this weekend to Dallas with the check engine light on. Car drives with no problem.

If I did not have a major road trip coming up in July, I was almost tempted to leave this car as is and drive it for a while with that light on.

My Maxima had the same light on for catalytic converter and I drove it like that for over 2 years and over 40,000 miles. Car drove like a dream. When I went to pay and change the cat, it was all gutted out. But did not affect my Maxima. I had my mechanic install the new cats for my Maxima. As of today, my 2008 Maxima has 212,900 miles and this morning on my way to work, car gives me great performance and accelerates as if I am in my QX. Still in top form.
 
Here are pictures of my bank 1 cat and other parts and maintenance things that I bought and will go get it installed one of these days.

If not of my major trip that I wanted to do maintenance and make sure no check engine or warning lights are lit on my dash, I would have driven this car with that check engine light for more than 10,000 miles before changing this cat.

Leaving on my trip in July and I need this car in its best shape ever. So, I had to do this.

Feel free to read about my trip...

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/171572-USA-CAN-USA-July-2017-(16-US-states-and-4-Canadian-provinces)


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My QX took my mechanic by surprise when he realized it was 4wd. He said the 4wd system limits the room they have to access the cat to remove it. They had to take a lot of things off and worked some kind of magic to get in there and change it without messing with my 4wd drive train. Took him a lot longer than he anticipated to change my catalytic converter, gaskets and oxygen sensor. But everything is back together and car feels a bit peppier. He did reset my ECM.

These are the old parts that are being thrown away.
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why is resetting the ECM such a hidden secret? you can reset it yourself. I do this all the time! its a key on/off pedal push thing.

what are you trying to accomplish by resetting the ecm? dont confuse this with a flash of the software as thats a different thing.
 
TallahasseeQX said:
How did he reset your ECM? Are you SURE he did?

Multiple mechanics informed me that only Infiniti can do that.
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Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how he reset the ECM or what tool he used.

It took my mechanic 2 days to do my job. When I was dropping off my car, I told him I hear the dealership has to reset the ECM because I hear the new cat and new sensor has to be reset or programmed or something in that light.

He just told me that after the install, he hooks up the car to this machine that he checks the cat and sensor are working properly and within parameters. Lol, please I do not know how to explain further than that.

I dropped off my QX about 9am and got a loaner car from him. He said I will pick it up at 5:30pm. At 5pm I pulled up at the shop. My old cat was not even out of the car. He said because it was 4wd, it made it really tough to get to the cat. He just told me the car would be ready the next day.

Next day I called at noon. He said cat was out and he was getting all my new parts ready to be installed. I went there that evening and my car was ready and he said he hooked it up to his machine and checked everything and it is running and doing what it is supposed to do.

So, I got in fired it up and took it home. It may be my mind, but I feel the car sounds and accelerates a bit better.
 
marctronixx said:
why is resetting the ECM such a hidden secret? you can reset it yourself. I do this all the time! its a key on/off pedal push thing.

what are you trying to accomplish by resetting the ecm? dont confuse this with a flash of the software as thats a different thing.
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Fair enough. I'm using "reset" and "reprogram" (what I think you're calling a "flash of the software" interchangeably. It's the REPROGRAM that is recommended by Infiniti, not a reset.
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cool beans brotha, i just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. an ecm RESET will still bring new life into your car and its worth doing this procedure here and there.

if you know someone who has the CONSULT III software, they can get the files from nissan's server (Assuming they have a license) and do the procedure. its not difficult but the files are not easy to come by if you are just a shady tree.. :D
 
P0420 Bank 1

I got this code about a month ago. I have 2011 QX56 with 128K miles. I was thinking about trying the CATACLEAN and see if that helps. Any ideas suggestions what this code really mean? Is it my CAT Converter failing? O2 sensor upstream bad? Leak in my manifold?

I have also got my Timing chain done 6 months ago under warranty due to the recall.

Any advice would be appreciated...
 
PetitFrereArmada said:
My QX took my mechanic by surprise when he realized it was 4wd. He said the 4wd system limits the room they have to access the cat to remove it. They had to take a lot of things off and worked some kind of magic to get in there and change it without messing with my 4wd drive train. Took him a lot longer than he anticipated to change my catalytic converter, gaskets and oxygen sensor. But everything is back together and car feels a bit peppier. He did reset my ECM.



Don't throw the cat away! More than likely you paid Infiniti a core charge and can get back $200
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TallahasseeQX said:
Fair enough. I'm using "reset" and "reprogram" (what I think you're calling a "flash of the software" interchangeably. It's the REPROGRAM that is recommended by Infiniti, not a reset.
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I think the reprogram was to change the detection programming for the original cats. More than likely you already have the software update. I am positive that having it done or not will not affect the longnevity of your new cats. In fact I'm almost positive in the service manual they are referring to a reset. In the TSB for the premature code it was to make the detection more reliable. If it's anything it was the timing chains that probably killed the cats
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0macman0 said:
Don't throw the cat away! More than likely you paid Infiniti a core charge and can get back $200
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You are very correct. Return the original cat to Infiniti and get a core charge. My core charge is $140 though, not $200.So that is what I will get back when I return this faulty one.
 
so i need both cats replaced. my local guy is charging me ~1500 each (OEM parts) - i'm in NY if anyone needs that context. Its 680 or something like that for the part, 6 hours of labor to install each one (estimate). Getting my air pump replaced as well since that died. this car is a nightmare.
 
Service Engine Soon lit up again last week after being off for a couple of months. I was really enjoying not seeing that light!

Just brought into my mechanic at the muffler shop. Guessing it's the Bank 1 Cat since Bank 2 was just replaced. Oh well, who needs $1500 anyway?
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TallahasseeQX said:
Service Engine Soon lit up again last week after being off for a couple of months. I was really enjoying not seeing that light!

Just brought into my mechanic at the muffler shop. Guessing it's the Bank 1 Cat since Bank 2 was just replaced. Oh well, who needs $1500 anyway?
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My bank 2 is in need of replacement, but due to the cost, the fact I'm registered through may next year, and the fact that the one that came off was not disintegrating, I'm inclined to run it until it has to be replaced.
 
TallahasseeQX said:
Service Engine Soon lit up again last week after being off for a couple of months. I was really enjoying not seeing that light!

Just brought into my mechanic at the muffler shop. Guessing it's the Bank 1 Cat since Bank 2 was just replaced. Oh well, who needs $1500 anyway?
Click to expand...

I guess this is a common thing that happens to this QX. I am in the same boat. I changed bank 1 a few months ago. Bank 2 threw a code recently, which was as soon as I came back from my road trip after 9,500 miles.

So it seems when one bank goes out, the other will soon follow. Mine followed the first one after 9.500 miles.

0macman0 said:
My bank 2 is in need of replacement, but due to the cost, the fact I'm registered through may next year, and the fact that the one that came off was not disintegrating, I'm inclined to run it until it has to be replaced.
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I second this with you. I think you will be fine because the car drives fine with the check engine line for bank 2 on my car. Well, I just hated this and decided I will go ahead and fix mine. My Nissan Maxima had the both cats bad and I drove that car for over 2 years and over 40,000 miles before I changed it. And I promise, that car never slowed down. in fact, the cats were gutted out and performance improved. No kidding!!! When I went to get it changed, the shop said they do not understand how my car gutted the cats out and it did not ruin my car. And we are wondering where the honeycombs all went to. Oh well, they are in my Maxima's stomach. Car is in top shape!!! 219,000 miles and will crank and run like it has never had any problems.

As for my QX, I bought all my parts like I did for bank 1 and this time, I saw a sale on ebay for OEM spark plugs for all 8 for $45. I jumped on it and bought it. Yesterday, my mechanic installed all new 8 spark plugs, new catalytic converter, oxygen sensor, gaskets and new studs. Oh, and I had my warranty pay for 2 brand new coils.

My spark plugs were last changed about 40,000 miles ago. These plugs are rated for 100,000 miles, but because of the deal i saw, I just bought them to make sure my car is always firing well. I bought it because it was too cheap to pass up.
 
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Yesterday I took my car to the shop to have bank 2 catalytic converter replaced. Along with oxygen sensor, gaskets, studs and 2 ignition coils. And since I saw OEM spark plugs on ebay for a good deal of $45, I went ahead and bought all 8 new spark plugs for $45 shipped to me.
 
PetitFrereArmada said:
I guess this is a common thing that happens to this QX. I am in the same boat. I changed bank 1 a few months ago. Bank 2 threw a code recently, which was as soon as I came back from my road trip after 9,500 miles.

So it seems when one bank goes out, the other will soon follow. Mine followed the first one after 9.500 miles.



I second this with you. I think you will be fine because the car drives fine with the check engine line for bank 2 on my car. Well, I just hated this and decided I will go ahead and fix mine. My Nissan Maxima had the both cats bad and I drove that car for over 2 years and over 40,000 miles before I changed it. And I promise, that car never slowed down. in fact, the cats were gutted out and performance improved. No kidding!!! When I went to get it changed, the shop said they do not understand how my car gutted the cats out and it did not ruin my car. And we are wondering where the honeycombs all went to. Oh well, they are in my Maxima's stomach. Car is in top shape!!! 219,000 miles and will crank and run like it has never had any problems.

As for my QX, I bought all my parts like I did for bank 1 and this time, I saw a sale on ebay for OEM spark plugs for all 8 for $45. I jumped on it and bought it. Yesterday, my mechanic installed all new 8 spark plugs, new catalytic converter, oxygen sensor, gaskets and new studs. Oh, and I had my warranty pay for 2 brand new coils.

My spark plugs were last changed about 40,000 miles ago. These plugs are rated for 100,000 miles, but because of the deal i saw, I just bought them to make sure my car is always firing well. I bought it because it was too cheap to pass up.
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Forgive me if this is ignorant. So long as you don't live where they check emissions, why can't you just take the cat/manifold off the QX and clear out the honeycombs and reinstall? Would be a permanent fix with no worries of reoccurrence. I'm just looking at a 2012 QX and the maintenance costs you guys are having to endure is about to scare me off. I don't mind doing my own wrenching to save money but even the parts on these are pretty high. May just be too many gizmos to keep running long term. That and it is utterly moronic to have a catalytic converter be part of the exhaust manifold. Had they put the damn things on the bottom of the truck like every other vehicle on the road, any muffler shop could replace these as needed with minimal cost.
 
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