The process of self diagnosis is from the FSM. I do it all the time to check codes. Beats buying or borrowing gear to do the same thing you can do for free.

As for the Toyota vs Nissan portion of the thread. Both a great cars. Both, AS WELL AS EVERY OTHER MANUF., has problems. Personally, I have experienced some of the small problems with the R51 (broken fuel door, bad U-joints, condensation on sun visors), and I'm not offended by the Nissan bashing. Part of the reason for this, is I'm not naive to think that going to another make (such as a 4-runner) is going to give me a problem free vehicle. I don't consider any problems with a vehicle a bad mark, UNLESS it's a problem that will leave me high and dry stranded, which my R51 has never done. I'll take a noisey U-joint over a stuck gas pedal pushing me into a tree @ 120mph any day.

Just get the code scanned. Mine has had the light on for a malfunctioning cat. conv. (not blocked) for 20k miles. Runs fine except for the trans issue. I have flushed trans and minimized damage. Just one of those issues with a first year re-design.
As for the 'bashing'. I work at a toyota dealership and see many vehicles daily with over 200k on them. Aside from the sticky pedals, misprogrammed braking computers, drive shafts snapping, truck frames rusting in half, $400 headlight bulbs, leaking sunroofs, failing water pumps, severe engine sludge causing lube issues, prematurely leaking oil pan gaskets, variable valve timing issues and notoriously defective O2 sensors, they are almost as reliable as any Nissan. Oh, wait a minute. No recall.They cover the problems by only notifying toyota 'owners' by mail of the issues so no public panic is caused. Kinda bit em this time.

I hope your right! I'd like to have my path for many years to come!

the cargo capacity is awesome! just used it for exactly what I got it for! the two row fold down seats rock!

snakerupa wrote:Just get the code scanned. Mine has had the light on for a malfunctioning cat. conv. (not blocked) for 20k miles. Runs fine except for the trans issue. I have flushed trans and minimized damage. Just one of those issues with a first year re-design.
As for the 'bashing'. I work at a toyota dealership and see many vehicles daily with over 200k on them. Aside from the sticky pedals, misprogrammed braking computers, drive shafts snapping, truck frames rusting in half, $400 headlight bulbs, leaking sunroofs, failing water pumps, severe engine sludge causing lube issues, prematurely leaking oil pan gaskets, variable valve timing issues and notoriously defective O2 sensors, they are almost as reliable as any Nissan. Oh, wait a minute. No recall.They cover the problems by only notifying toyota 'owners' by mail of the issues so no public panic is caused. Kinda bit em this time.

ByPath wrote:...most of you who are somewhat offended have not experienced the the tranny-coolant and other typical problems that occur.

I asked you before, are you talking about the radiator/tranny cooler failing and sending coolant into the transmission?
If so, that aint nothing new, and it certainly isnt a Nissan specific problem. For as long as there has been aftermarket transmission coolers, there has always been recommendations to bypass the stock, radiator trans coolers to prevent the transmission from getting trashed by a coolant leak.

myriad46 wrote:- Turn key to On without starting the car.
- Wait 3 seconds
- Depress the gas pedal to the floor and release completely 5 times within 5 seconds, and leave your foot off.
- Wait 7 seconds
- Depress gas pedal and hold down until the check engine light goes out and let go of the pedal.

The light will now flash your 4-digit code. If there is more than one code in the system it will do them in order and then repeat.

You have the option to erase the code and make the light go off. When in this mode, hold the gas pedal down for 10 seconds. When you turn the car off and then back on , the light should be gone. That is, if the problem is not still there.

myriad and G35TR,

If this is legit (and I'm not questioning you) this should get stickied. Honestly. Preferably in a separate post for the How-to or DIY section. There were few things more helpful to me with my Gen4 Max's than the ability to pull codes anywhere I was (the ECU was behind a kick-plate on the drivers side, with manual retrieval of codes thru the dash).

If this procedure works for R51 Pathy's, that's very valuable information. The ability to check a CEL immediately and know if it's a real problem is a great tool to have. My CEL was on in my last Max 70% of the time for the last 5 years I had it. I would just check what it was and know if it was the same old stuff (EGR high-low, o2sensor, knock sensor were always throwing codes). Then reset and continue on my way.

Since my PF is new, I thankfully have no CEL to check and test the method yet. Hopefully I won't for some time to come.

My question is how are the codes flashed on the dash since these are now OBD-II? For my old OBD-I codes it was easy. Three longs, four shorts, -- 34. Knock sensor. With OBD-II codes, what's the primer for an 01XX code or even a 1XXX code?

Lastly, I'm new here so don't know, are FSM's available anywhere online in pdf format?

Thanks,
-DPF

DPF wrote:Lastly, I'm new here so don't know, are FSM's available anywhere online in pdf format?

Thanks,
-DPF

Welcome DPF!
the FSM can be found in the third "Sticky" in this forum!

I checked that, but it's borked. It's only 550K and it's only the first couple sheets (up to Foreword) and the last few (comments, and quick reference).

It's missing all the real meat.

[edit]The file listed on that page is the fwd.pdf file, which is basically the index that links to the myriad other pdf files (i.e. "br.pdf" for the braking system section). I assume the fwd is short for foreword. My Max FSM was the same setup. Each section was it's own file that the fwd file navigated.

I tried manually entering the other file names in hopes they'd download just like the fwd.pdf, alas, to no avail.[/edit]

[edit2]Nevermind, I got it. It needs to be capitalized. That and Firefox gets all wonky with an embedded Acrobat session for me. The document's links didn't work from a standalone Acrobat session. Magically, the Firefox embed worked for me once and now I can get all the sections downloaded to the same directory and be all set. Thanks!!!!![/edit2]

Thanks,
-DPF

It's easier to use the TOC on the left once you are into the pdf.

myriad46 wrote:- Turn key to On without starting the car.
- Wait 3 seconds
- Depress the gas pedal to the floor and release completely 5 times within 5 seconds, and leave your foot off.
- Wait 7 seconds
- Depress gas pedal and hold down until the check engine light goes out and let go of the pedal.

The light will now flash your 4-digit code. If there is more than one code in the system it will do them in order and then repeat.

You have the option to erase the code and make the light go off. When in this mode, hold the gas pedal down for 10 seconds. When you turn the car off and then back on , the light should be gone. That is, if the problem is not still there.

Bump for an old thread. The CEL came on in the Pathy tonite. It's got 114k miles and this is the first time it's come on. I searched and found this thread and post. I tried the above mentioned procedure and it did nothing for pulling up a code. Am I missing something?

I would take it to your nearest auto parts store and borrow the OBDII scaner and read your codes. It's free.

volvite wrote:I would take it to your nearest auto parts store and borrow the OBDII scaner and read your codes. It's free.

Yeh that's what I'll do. I made sure the gas cap was on good and tight as well. Thanks!

No problem. Post back what you find. Also, you could disconnect your battery to reset the code and drive around and see if it comes back on.

volvite wrote:No problem. Post back what you find. Also, you could disconnect your battery to reset the code and drive around and see if it comes back on.

True but as long as it runs fine, I'm not too worried. It's the wife's vehicle and she's a little freaked out. I also need to change the plugs and serpentine belt. I can't find a write-up on the belt change tho?

Changing the belt is not too difficult. Find the belt tensioner and there should be a bolt on the front. Get the correct wrench/socket on the bolt and you should put pressure aganist the direction it wants to go and the belt should slip right off. I hope that makes sense.

volvite wrote:Changing the belt is not too difficult. Find the belt tensioner and there should be a bolt on the front. Get the correct wrench/socket on the bolt and you should put pressure aganist the direction it wants to go and the belt should slip right off. I hope that makes sense.

OK, cool. I'll check it out cuz there's no way I'm paying the dealership to do it!