Error message?

[D1dad]

The last few days in the brutal cold I noticed my 21 has hiccuped a bit when 1st started for the day. I didn’t think much of it since the air temp was 0 or slightly less. Today I started it and there was an error that said “engine malfunction power reduced service now”? I had to turn the car off twice to get the code to go away, which hasn’t come back as of yet. It’s got 46k on it so not sure what I’m looking at here?

[D1dad]

I scanned it and no codes.

[VStar650CL]

Does your scanner do more than the engine?

If the code was in the ECM, it had to be a first-trip code which cleared itself when you cycled it. If the problem recurs, scan it without shutting it off. If there's nothing, then the problem may be in a system your scanner can't read.

[D1dad]

Just a generic scanner on my scanguage. I did notice the other day it hesitated when I punched the gas in traffic. I was just googling and it seems to be a common issue. Egr and batteries seem to be the culprit. My battery is brand new (flooded) not agm. Maybe the cold temps?

[VStar650CL]

Could be a dirty Throttle Body, too. Has it ever been cleaned?

[D1dad]

Nope. Have you not seen this at work Vstar?

[D1dad]

Looks like a big enough issue on the newer rogues that there’s a Facebook group and some sort of recall. Some Altima owners chimed in as well. Egr or mass airflow sensor or, the old school battery I just installed. The battery tests at 100% state of health could it ACTUALLY need an agm battery instead of a flooded?

[VStar650CL]

The MAF's and EGR's are always a possibility, but the EGR's are a much bigger issue on KR15 Rogues than on any gen6 Altima. But across the whole Nissan line, the most common cause of mystery hesitations is (by far) carboned Throttle Bodies.

[D1dad]

Maybe because it’s been negative temps lately? I looked up Egr valves and mass airflow sensors price wise and,,,dang! Not so much the Egr but the Maf is $200. Is an Egr replacement a big job on the 2.5?

[VStar650CL]

It's on the back of the engine but it's not impossible to reach like some other stuff back there. It's mounted on studs and only gets dicey if something is seized. The Motor flat rate book quotes 0.9, you can probably double that in the backyard with hand tools.

[D1dad]

Looks like a couple of nuts attached under the tubing and one electrical connector? Then it just lifts off or does it slide out? There’s a lot of room there and it looks incredible easy, unless there’s some booby trap I don’t see.

[VStar650CL]

The only booby traps are corrosion and getting the plumbing out of the way. There's always a ton of carbon in there like any other EGR, and you don't want to mess up the studs because the other ends go into the EGR cooler. Those are a royal PITA.

[D1dad]

Much appreciated! Im really leaning towards maf sensor since the cold seems to have played a major role in it. I’m also concerned that it could be the flooded battery not playing nice with all the electronics. I’m just hoping it was a one off and doesn’t return. It doesn’t appear that the maf sensor is able to be cleaned?

[VStar650CL]

Yah, you can clean it. Just use something which doesn't leave a film (which most brake cleaners do). Intake cleaner or a dedicated MAF cleaner is the best. After 49K it might need an IAVL, too. CVTz50 will do that for you on gen4~5's but I don't know about the gen6's. I know it won't do B18 Sentras, so you'd just need to try it.

[D1dad]

Iavl=?
I went down a rabbit hole one this thing and I’m going to start with the obvious issues. Clean the maf, I checked the battery last night and put a Noco charger on it, the state of health was 100% (good battery) but it was only charged to 49%. Lots of rogue owners had this issue and many were having batteries replaced by the dealer and some Egr valves, and some had coolers replaced. My understanding is if there’s a cooler issue then I’d be losing some coolant and it would be running rough? I used my scanguage and a cheapo obdll scanner and there were no code or pending codes. I’m not sure an auto parts store would have more technology than me but I’ll check if it pops up again.

[VStar650CL]

IAVL = Idle Air Volume Learn. It's the procedure that calibrates the MAF to the TPS and APP readings.

Yes, the EGR cooler isn't complicated. You'd be losing coolant in some fashion if it had an issue.

[D1dad]

Lesson learned. The smart charge system suckzzzz! I ordered a Pulsetech and battery minder charger and have been keeping the batteries charged when not in use. No more errors. My son runs my rogue to school and back (5 miles each way) and a 100% charged battery on Monday is in the 50s by Friday. I charged the wife’s 24, ran it to Lexington and back and it ended up in the 70s. That was doing 80 on the highway 4 hrs each way.

[VStar650CL]

Yah, it does. It gets even more sucky on the Rogues and Pathies that have stop-start, because those use the alternator for a bump-starter. Not a terrible concept, but the alternators cost a firstborn male child. The most f#cked thing I've noticed is that when a battery gets depleted and can't deliver enough current to keep the car happy, systems break down that you wouldn't ordinarily think about in those terms. We recently had a '24 Pathy which was intermittently "wigging out" on the highway as if the ProPilot had fuzzy glasses, except we couldn't find anything wrong with the Lane Cam or the ADAS C/U. It also had a couple of wacky codes in the ECM for engine systems which weren't really malfunctioning. After driving it for days, we finally got it to misbehave with a scanner on it, and lo and behold, the system voltage was dropping to 11.7V when the ProPilot went goofy. The battery was crapped when we tested it, the inconsistent alternator had killed it. We changed both and presto, no more misbehavior.

[D1dad]

My 24 even with a new agm is constantly being depleted in a few days. The alternator seems fine, it works just like my 21. I put a flooded battery in the older Altima and seems to be charged at a higher level than her agm. Hers has way more electronics to power so I’m not sure a flooded battery would be the best choice when the time comes. I’ll probably dump some bank on an odyssey. So far so good with your recommendation of flooded batteries on the 18 rogue and 21 Altima. I am charging them 4-5 times a week though.