How To: Replace Check Engine Light - 97 Altima

[Frank Mills]

Ok, So my wife was trying to pass inspection on a 97 Altima that we just bought and we discovered that her Check Engine Light was either burnt out or a previous owner had removed it. The Nissan dealer was going to charge $85 just for the labor, so I decided to say "no" to that. It was very easy, involving around 8 screws and a few things to unplug. I didn't take the dash completely out b/c all I needed to change was the Check Engine Light (CEL from here on out). Here's how it went:
It's best to adjust your steering wheel all the way down. You don't need to remove it.

Start with the two screws just above the meters:



One screw just under where the dimmer control is:



Two screws from just above the middle vents:



Now you can pull out the top part of the column.



There will be some things to unplug on this column. You'll have 6 plugs on the right side and 2 on the left to unplug.

Left Side:



Right Side:



I had to flip my images around to be able to give you the "side by side" shots you are seeing, but I think you can put two and two together to make 3....er..uh...

This will expose your meters. There are 2 screws that you can easily see at the top of the harness and there are two that are covered by the paneling at the bottom of the meters.



Pull out the paneling. You can unplug the things holding it in, but you dont have to. I chose not to remove it. Just pull it out enough to get to the two screws at the bottom of the meters.




Remove the two screws, one on the bottom left of the meters and one on the bottom right.
Left:



Right:



You can now slide the meters out and gently flip it facing down. I chose not to unplug the whole thing since all I needed to do was change the CEL.



The CEL is on the right hand side of the steering wheel, one row from the top directly under the top bulb (which is the rear defroster bulb).



Just give it a slight twist to the left and it will come right out.



This bulb ran me $21 at the Nissan Dealer, but I'm sure if I had time, I could've found it much cheaper online. The bulb is a Toshiba A14V 1.4W. This is the same bulb used in my 94 G20.
So, place the new bulb in it's home, give it a slight twist to the right and turn your key to the "ON" position without cranking to make sure the CEL shines brightly. Hopefully once you actually crank the car, the CEL doesn't shine at all. Do these steps in reverse order to button everything back up and you will be ready to ride. It should take no more than an hour. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was. Good luck!