2006 Xterra ‘Slip, VDC OFF, ABS’ lit
 

It’s my girlfriend’s truck. 140k, no abuse, 2WD, automatic.

We’re far enough along that she and I are good with me taking a stab at it.

;) :rolleyes:

Found the brake fluid was a the min mark. Topped that off. No change.

Negative terminal on battery was loose, fixed that. No change.

Seems the brake light switch near the brake pedal is a bit scratchy when exercised by hand, but brake lights work fine. New sw is $30. Have bought that yet.

Power steering level is good.

On my test drives, I verified the ABS is, in fact, NOT working.

I tried the “drive at 10mph for a mile”…twice, no joy.

The front tires are a more aggressive tread than rear, but all 4 are same size. I’d change first. Makes my eye twitch.

This guy compiled many posts from diff threads into this one thread, it covers a lot…
https://www.thenewx.org/threads/random-slip-and-vdc-off-abs-lights-on-summarized.41877/

Any of you had this?

I would exhaust all of the options the abs control unit is one of the more expensive bits on an Xterra of this vintage. Have you plugged a code reader into it?

Look up Ry the car guy on youtube. His Xterra videos are fantastic.
https://youtube.com/c/Rythecarguy

I have owned my Xterra for 13 years and its been a great vehicle.

I have, no stored or pending codes. Only status lights on cluster. Changing the state of the VDC button does nothing.

She bought this truck new, only averages ~9300 miles each year. Essentially surface roads in metro phoenix.

Straight, mostly flat, 5:30am to 15:00. Light use to markets and gym nearby.

Seriously, this truck is as gently used as you can presume in the sense that it's never off road, no heavy loads, maintained regularly at the same shop for years.

Hoping I can find a reasonable fix and keep it rolling.

It really is a solid, unmolested vehicle. It's worth some effort.

Do you have a CEL lit? On my Toyota at the moment I have a CEL, VSC, and 4WD lit up. It's happened before and if the CEL lights up, so do the other two even though there's nothing wrong with the VSC and 4WD. For some reason, when the CEL lights up the car turns off the VSC and 4WD. Last time it was a OX sensor, but sometimes it's just the gas cap or a loose vac. hose.

Indeed. That is a really nice vehicle.

Did a quick search because I am curious: What's Wrong with the Nissan Xterra?

Not much electrical stuff.

No affiliation: https://www.thenewx.org/forums/

http://www.xterraownersclub.com/forums.html

Have you tried disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes and starting fresh?

It is odd you don't have codes. That's not good.

One other thing, has your local shop that does the maintenance on the truck done a brake job at all recently? The Xterra needs to have the battery disconnected when compressing the calipers to install new pads or there can be damage done to the ABS controller.

Has it been scanned with a shop level scanner, or an I phone and an app.? Or even autozone's code readers frequently give customers different readings that what I see .
I have seen times where there are lights on with no codes, but that is a little more on the rare side .
I have replaced wheel speed sensors, and hub bearings in almost all models of Nissan from that era . That would be my parts cannon guess

Just did this job on mine, the bearing/sensor are a one piece non serviceable unit. Not super hard but you should have a big hammer ready to go.

I'm using an Autel MaxiScan MS509 code reader. Is that compatible?

Yes, I would think that would pull ass ABS codes . Are you sure you are checking in the correct module?
You can also try to create a code, by unplugging something ABS related, and see if it will recognize and store that fault in the ABS module, a quick check to see if you are bricked, or have a functioning module .
Also, you may just have codes stored in other modules, that are keeping the light on. I would go through and clear the whole vehicle , each module , one by one Hopefully , its not the brain, there are companies that can repair them if needed .

…oh, there are more than one place to connect the scanner? :eek:

Keep in mind, while I work on complex medical diagnostic imaging systems, my experience with vehicle scanners in quite minimal. My 1996 Outback that I bought in 2017 is essentially the extent of my knowledge.

On certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles, issues that you might not expect to cause these lights, do.

My GX470 did exactly what you indicate your Nissan did. I reset the code (lean on both banks) but the lights on the dash illuminated a few days later Too lazy to diagnose the cause, I reset the code again. This time I drove it for over a week before the lights came back on. The car was running fine so being the inherently lazy guy I am, I kept doing this for awhile. Several times, the lights would go out on their own, then pop up again after various periods of time.

I finally overcame my laziness and popped the hood and pulled the engine cover. It took about fifteen seconds to find a cracked vacuum hose. Spent a few minutes replacing that and it's been fine ever since (probably 10K miles ago).

I figure the vacuum leak was small enough that the ECU could sometimes adjust for it - even to the point of resetting the lights itself, while at other times it could not, for whatever reason.

Anyway, this is my long-winded way of saying that you shouldn't discount systems that seeming have nothing to do with your traction control and ABS.

Good luck!

_

For reference…

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1635792923.jpg

Do you happen to have an owner's manual?
Sometimes they'll list the different causes for warning lights coming on.

All of those systems rely on the ABS module being functional and you state in your test it did not function.

"On my test drives, I verified the ABS is, in fact, NOT working."

Well, before I kick in for a new ABS module I thought I try and make sure it’s not something else.

I figured that another faulty part could disable the ABS. Like maybe a wheel speed sensor Fred mentioned.

The problem with that sensor is that its not a serviceable part and you need a new hub/bearing assembly to replace it. Note that mine is 4wd.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1635796983.jpg

Something additional to consider, I've worked on two of these now that had high mileage and there was a subtle grinding whirring noise from the rear end. Turns out there is a slip sensor on the differential and each time I drained the diff it was full of metal and basically shot. Oh and it doesn't throw a code most scanners can read, even the higher end Snap On's. There are two diff sensors actually.

You mention different tires front to back (same size) but the diameter of them could be enough different to cause issues.

I think I would bite the bullet and have the dealer scan the vehicle. It's the last thing I would normally suggest, but in your case, it's probably money well spent.

Guessing is expensive (ABS module), or time consuming (sensor change). And they do not carry a high probability of first time success.

Just to show how bad sizes can be, the Goodyear on the left is bias but works out to 295/50/15 and the M/T on the right is a 275/50/15 and is actually taller than the 295.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1635890076.JPG

To the OP, can you please update when you have resolved the issue?

Yes please, and hit us up with any questions . I would 1) verify the abs/vsc module is awake, and functioning, and 2). scan and clear ( write them down ) every module in the vehicle, then see where you stand .
I bet we can fix this one long distance . Id love to see some fault codes somewhere .
Nissan is weird like that

First thing that comes to mind that is common to the functions behind those three MILs is wheel speed detection. If you can find a way to test whether the rest of the bus is getting signals from the wheel speed sensors you'd learn a lot.

Yup, I absolutely will update accordingly. I won’t get back on it until Sunday.

Ok, my first question is Second, how do I verify the abs/vsc is awake?

I did the “ignition on, press door switch 10 or enter self test” and that completed normally.

Full disclosure, while I’ve wrenched on cars since the late ‘70s, I’ve barely scratched the surface on OBDII vehicles. She made an appointment with her regular shop for Monday. If I don’t find anything before then, I’ll let them take a look, but only to diagnose. If I feel I can do the repair, I’ll dive in.

With all I’ve read, I agree it’s prob a wheel speed sensor.

Regarding the different tires front to rear. I agree that it can cause issues, but they’ve been like that for at least 2 years and this problem just began. I doubt it’s that, and if she keeps the truck, that’ll be addressed later.

On Nissan's you test each wheel sensor with an Ohm meter, each should be around 7. Less then 7 and you have a bad a sensor. The Xterra might be a difgferent reading so you may want to look it up, but that's the reading on Pathfinders. You check it at the connector on the ABS module, or check it at each wheel at the plug. Checking at the wheel is good because you can rotate the plug and see if the resistance changes between 7 and and around 6.

I believe the pathfinder and xterra hub are the same with an both have integrated wheel speed sensor.

It's my neighbors Pathfinder that I keep working on, I would say it's a terrible car however it has almost 300k on it so I guess a diff rebuild and some ABS issues, two cats, not really a big deal. Cutting those cats out was a nightmare, I don't know how those thieves do it so quick.

How do I “scan each module”?

Is that from the single OBDII port and my scanner can select different modules from it?

Or are you saying there are other ports my scanner can connect to?

I’m headed to her place later today and jumping in a bit.

TIA! SmileWavy

Didn't really have much time to tinker yesterday, she dropped it off at her regular shop this morning.

Just spoke with the shop and they say it's the steering angle sensor and the rr wheel speed sensor. However, they say something in the axle is causing the rear sensor to not function. They'd need to do further disassembly to determine the cause.

Do I need a laptop and appropriate software to calibrate the steering sensor?

Rear axel?

I had this happen with our Nissan Quest and it was the cam position sensor. It was easy to replace, took all of about 15 minutes.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Shop called…
RR sensor is ok, it’s the ring that it reads is goofy.
The steering angle sensor is also faulty.

They’re doing the whole repair.

Cool.

She has a nice truck that I hope will continue to serve her well.

Beats a car payment!

I have had great luck with mine, I bought it slightly used in 2008 with just 10k miles on it. Been my daily ever since and it has never left me stranded or needed any sort of major repair.

So, they have to pull the rear axle, and either clean , or replace the rear reluctor. eeeeewwwww. I bet it has a bad wheel bearing, or diff bearings, and they find metal particulate in there, either clinging to the reluctor, or the magnetic wheel speed sensor .
At least they have it figured out !
Was there any unusual noise coming from the rear axle ?

None that I could detect.

In my neck of the woods, there would be a dead field mouse wrapped around the reluctor. ;)

I'm shaking my head a little at the SAS and wheel sensor (or, well- reluctor) going south at the same time, but who knows. Why even worry. Sometimes the greater part of valor is knowing when to punt.

It was the diff bearings on the pathfinder I worked on. Thank goodness for Google, tons of good threads on repairing the Nissan diff. The metal had also collected on the diff sensors as well.