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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Okay, I am having an issue with a PO420 code coming on. I clear it and can drive maybe 30-45 minutes before it comes back on. I have read that there are several possible causes. It appears that either 1 or both of the O2 sensors are bad or the catalytic convertor is bad. I'm going to start with at least either the upper or lower sensors being replaced. Has anyone had to replace O2 sensors and which one is more probable. My scan tool isn't showing me the output voltages but I'm willing to take a shot at replacing the O2 sensors first. The cat is pretty expensive. Anyone have any ideas or experience. Thanks, Budd

Oh, by the way - I am the guy that installed the engine that turned out it was for a car basically due to the oil pan (Upper) not have the axle center support bosses being wrong for that pan. Anyway, I found that a Sentra center support worked perfectly. I think the difference is the upper and lower oil pan is a little smaller for the Sentra. So that means I have to change the oil a little more often. This van will never be a work truck again, I'm thinking of converting it to a Camper.
 

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My friend who's a Nissan Master Tech indicated a standalone P0420 with no other codes will be a catalytic convertor functionality issue and will require replacement. You might be able to have one of the auto parts stores or of course Nissan dealer run a cat function test for you to confirm it.
 

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Discussion Starter · #5 ·
My friend who's a Nissan Master Tech indicated a standalone P0420 with no other codes will be a catalytic convertor functionality issue and will require replacement. You might be able to have one of the auto parts stores or of course Nissan dealer run a cat function test for you to confirm it.
Well I think I found it! During a drive with my scanner I saw it was showing "Rich" on one of my Live data points. Well as a last ditch effort I thought; "I wonder if the air cleaner is clogged" . I opened it and it wasn't too bad but in the bottom I saw a little trash and leaves so I decided to clean it all out. Low and behold, the air cleaner snorkel had either a mice nest or squirrels nest but no actual animal. I cleaned it all out, cleared the codes and just got back from a 120 mile test drive. No codes and ran perfect. I suspect that the air cleaner snorkel being clogged caused the engine to run extremely rich and the converter couldn't keep up with the rich out gasses. That's my best guess, but I'd rather be Lucky than good and day.
 

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Well I think I found it! During a drive with my scanner I saw it was showing "Rich" on one of my Live data points. Well as a last ditch effort I thought; "I wonder if the air cleaner is clogged" . I opened it and it wasn't too bad but in the bottom I saw a little trash and leaves so I decided to clean it all out. Low and behold, the air cleaner snorkel had either a mice nest or squirrels nest but no actual animal. I cleaned it all out, cleared the codes and just got back from a 120 mile test drive. No codes and ran perfect. I suspect that the air cleaner snorkel being clogged caused the engine to run extremely rich and the converter couldn't keep up with the rich out gasses. That's my best guess, but I'd rather be Lucky than good and day.
How has your van been doing, did that code come back?
 

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Discussion Starter · #9 ·
That's good news. Thanks for the update. How many miles are on it? I've got the same code popping up on a couple vans lately but one has over 400,000km(250ish k miles) and the other 300k km/186k miles.
The engine I installed had approximately 60K miles and runs great. The convertors have about 140K miles on them, so I'm guessing they are a little weaker and the extra fuel by having trash in the air cleaner snorkel put them over the top. I just checked fuel mileage and see I'm getting about 26 miles per gallon in city driving. Of course right now the van is empty, is that a good number for one of these vans?
 
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