Nissan Pathfinder P1140 VTC sensor problem

[DealerVictim]

I had a "Service Engine Soon light" come on with my 2001 Pathfinder, even though the vehicle seemed to be running fine. I took it to Autozone and they read the code as P1140, and it stated that I had a "water in fuel condition." I was perplexed by that, and they said it could be that I got some bad gas and sold me a bottle of fuel additive to remove any excess water from my system. I added the fuel additive, they cleared the code, but as soon as I cranked up again about 2 hours later the SES light was back on.

I decided to err on the side of caution so I took my vehicle into the Nissan dealer, who diagnosed that I had a bad VTC sensor on the right bank. They said it had something to do with valve timing control, or something like that. It took them no more than an hour to fix it, and the dealer charged me $353. Let me tell ya, that is one painful repair bill considering the vehicle was running fine when I took it in. The service guy told me, however, that there was a chance of causing engine damage if I continued to run it that way and the engine had a knock or misfire.

I'm not enough of a mechanic to determine if he was shooting straight, or selling me a line (for $353)!!!!

[FixUrNissan]

Originally Posted by DealerVictim

I had a "Service Engine Soon light" come on with my 2001 Pathfinder, even though the vehicle seemed to be running fine. I took it to Autozone and they read the code as P1140, and it stated that I had a "water in fuel condition." I was perplexed by that, and they said it could be that I got some bad gas and sold me a bottle of fuel additive to remove any excess water from my system. I added the fuel additive, they cleared the code, but as soon as I cranked up again about 2 hours later the SES light was back on.

I decided to err on the side of caution so I took my vehicle into the Nissan dealer, who diagnosed that I had a bad VTC sensor on the right bank. They said it had something to do with valve timing control, or something like that. It took them no more than an hour to fix it, and the dealer charged me $353. Let me tell ya, that is one painful repair bill considering the vehicle was running fine when I took it in. The service guy told me, however, that there was a chance of causing engine damage if I continued to run it that way and the engine had a knock or misfire.

I'm not enough of a mechanic to determine if he was shooting straight, or selling me a line (for $353)!!!!

Well you should go back to autozone and get yoru money back first off.

The Dealer charges 1 hour diag regardless if it takes 20 mins or 1 hour

They need diag time up front to give the tech time to find out the code and verify it. An intake timing sensor even though your vech was running fine. What basically probabbly happend was there are 3 sensors
Crank sensor, Intake timming sensor B1 and intake timing sensor b2 (bank 1 and bank 2) All 3 sensors read engine postion. So the computer knows Engine postion from the cams to the crank. If one of those sensors goes bad , it will misfire or not run right or run at all. In your case it sounds like one of the sensors was on it's way out. Meaning the computer lost signal from it long enough to see a problem at least 2 times to turn the check engine light on. There for the 78.00 sensor ,or what ever it cost i know its not cheap. Should be replaced witch you had done.. it sounds like they charged you an additional hour on top of your 1 hour diag.. That hour diag should be put Towards the repair of yoru Vech. Those Sensors are fairly easy to replace and you should not have been charged any more than the hour Diag. Cause i m sure it was done in less than that

[DealerVictim]

Originally Posted by FixUrNissan

Well you should go back to autozone and get yoru money back first off.

The Dealer charges 1 hour diag regardless if it takes 20 mins or 1 hour

They need diag time up front to give the tech time to find out the code and verify it. An intake timing sensor even though your vech was running fine. What basically probabbly happend was there are 3 sensors
Crank sensor, Intake timming sensor B1 and intake timing sensor b2 (bank 1 and bank 2) All 3 sensors read engine postion. So the computer knows Engine postion from the cams to the crank. If one of those sensors goes bad , it will misfire or not run right or run at all. In your case it sounds like one of the sensors was on it's way out. Meaning the computer lost signal from it long enough to see a problem at least 2 times to turn the check engine light on. There for the 78.00 sensor ,or what ever it cost i know its not cheap. Should be replaced witch you had done.. it sounds like they charged you an additional hour on top of your 1 hour diag.. That hour diag should be put Towards the repair of yoru Vech. Those Sensors are fairly easy to replace and you should not have been charged any more than the hour Diag. Cause i m sure it was done in less than that

Now that you mention it, you are right! They said they charge everyone a diagnostic fee of $74 to read the code and determine the problem. But the service dept. told me that if I had them fix the problem, the $74 would be applied toward the cost of the rapair. Looking back, I'm not sure they did that part. Looks like they may have charged me either an extra hour, as you said, or the $74 on top of the labor and parts.

[MikePathfinder2001]

Listen, I wouldn't take that crap. Go back to the dealer and give them a piece of your mind. At most, the vtc sensor shouldn't cost more than 100 bucks. Labor should be no more than 1/2 hour for a total moron. Most places don't charge more than 75 bucks an hour, so that adds up to about 137.50 tops. Also, it shouldn't have taken them 5 minutes to diagnose the car, but if they are going to charge you 75 bucks to do that, it still shouldn't have been more than 217.50. And 217.50 is way to high for the job. You can get that part for as little as 54 bucks and it really only takes about 10 minutes to install. Again, I would go back and shove the bill up their @#$#%. If anything, tell them you are outraged at the price gouging and you will never buy a car or use their services again. Furthermore, you should also tell them that you have a lot of friends and the word is going to get out that their dealership is a ripoff. I bet they will give you a 20% discount or something. I recently had mine diagnosed at the local Nissan dealership and they charged only 45 and said they would put the part in for 129.00. You can use that for ammunition 174 vs. 353. Good luck. Post back and tell us what they said.

Mike

[Axelpkt]

This is the exact reason I avoid the dealer when it comes to repairs. I had these codes come up for both sides and just bit the bullet and replaced the senors and solidniod at the same time. My dad replaced the driver side while I was away and I did the passenger side when it went on me, it took 15 mins to replace them both. T.he only problem I had was the dealer gave the wrong solidnoid

[cleareru]

Originally Posted by DealerVictim

I had a "Service Engine Soon light" come on with my 2001 Pathfinder, even though the vehicle seemed to be running fine. I took it to Autozone and they read the code as P1140, and it stated that I had a "water in fuel condition." I was perplexed by that, and they said it could be that I got some bad gas and sold me a bottle of fuel additive to remove any excess water from my system. I added the fuel additive, they cleared the code, but as soon as I cranked up again about 2 hours later the SES light was back on.

I decided to err on the side of caution so I took my vehicle into the Nissan dealer, who diagnosed that I had a bad VTC sensor on the right bank. They said it had something to do with valve timing control, or something like that. It took them no more than an hour to fix it, and the dealer charged me $353. Let me tell ya, that is one painful repair bill considering the vehicle was running fine when I took it in. The service guy told me, however, that there was a chance of causing engine damage if I continued to run it that way and the engine had a knock or misfire.

I'm not enough of a mechanic to determine if he was shooting straight, or selling me a line (for $353)!!!!

im going through that right now. Was the sensor you replaced right in the front or is it on the side of the engine. I went to nissan to purchase the part and Im not sure if I changed the right sensor.