[Glenn911]

I'm sick of this. Been chasing a VDC, SLIP ABS, 4WD light issue for 2 years. Am sitting in the dealership and am told there is a intermittent short in the wire from left rear speed sensor to ABS control unit. Speed sensor checks out, so the continuity issue is in the harness somewhere. The tech didn't look too excited when I asked him to find the short. After 1.5 hours nothing. So I told them, to put it back together and I'll find it.

Question, can I just cut and splice a new wire so I don't have to find the break? Also, need a wiring diagram for an 06 Armada LE. Shitty thing is the truck runs awesome.

Any help or insight would be great. I've replaced both front and rear bearings and speed sensors, both brake fluid pressure sensors and the ABS ECU (at their cost).

 

[Kooshtaka]

Delta sensor (brake booster) replaced? I know this is going to sound dumb, but how is the brake fluid level? Try checking to see if there's a leak... even a small one. I got some of those lights when my right rear flex brake fluid hose got a hole rubbed through one side.
Good luck in tracking down the cause and curing.

 

[morales_rafael95]

sensors didnt work on mine

2011 armada: code c1142
when i received it, they had replaced the pressure sensors on the master cylinder but looks like that didnt fix the problem. i did notice that the light doesn't come on when its cold though. im thinking possible ABS ECU on mine, looking for a way to check resistance on it before swapping it out. On mine, when it heats up, the pressure sensor 2 doesn't mark positive value on my scanner. will try and post when i find solution. Also would like info on that updated software for the ecm

 

[F4N4EVR]

Had same problems, same symptoms, same cover up misdiagnosis by Nissan to prevent them from being held accountable for repairing a very poorly dsigned electrical system.
Ultimately, to fix the problem, I installed a full grounding kit with SOLDERED connections. (Learned here on clubarmada) Crimped on cheapo short cut components are what causes the electrical problems.
Removed the doughnut voltage sensor from the battery ground wire. Replaced the 10 cent cheapo alloy battery clamps with solid (not hollow) lead ones.
The vdc/antislip/abs/4wd system is super voltage sensitive. If system voltage drops below about 11.7, you will have problems. Cold contracts the cheapo alloy factory battery clamps forcing good contact. Armada computer system is misprogrammed (no fix) to register full charge as 12.1 volts. Voltage drop from battery to electrical system component, or ipdm is 1 volt before you even start the car. So you need a minimum of 12.7 volts at the battery to get 11.7 at the vdc computer section. But the nissan computer says 12.1 at the battery is a full charge and shifts the alternator to maintenance charge voltage instead of recharge voltage which is required for the system to meet minimum required voltage levels.
With the grounding kit, it reduces system voltage leaks and generates cleaner electric system sensor reads. Next, add a ground wire into the grounding kit that goes from the alternator ground lead (soldered connector) to the ground kit (soldered in).
The factory alternator ground runs to the ipdm which is not a true ground and works for crap. Thie new improved ground wire, with the removal of the voltage sensor doughnut on the negative battery wire takes nissan out of the charging system. Then, the alternator doesn't get lied to and it sends correct necessary charging voltage to the battery. If you get an AGM battery, whose base reference voltage is 13.2 volts, the alternator will keep it charged to 13.2 volts and the electrical system will always have a minimum of 12.2 volts after the misprogrammed computer involvement, with normal charging voltage, depending on load applied, of 13.4-14.2 volts, and your system will work like it's supposed to.

Further voltage fubars and nissan snafus will be if you are driving along at highway speeds and the vdc engages by itself and slams on the breaks at one corner or another for no reason. If you retain control of the vehicle (always drive with two hands on the wheel until above listed fixes are installed) it will only take two or three brake vdc slams to wear the front bearing packs out of spec. Note: it usually takes 5-7 visits to nissan until you figure out that's not the place to go to get maldesigned systems fixed. And nissan 3rd hand factory subcontracted dealership maintenance facilities will bilk you for every dollar they can because they are not repair facilities, they are simply parts swapping facilities.
After doing the electrical system repairs listed above, I have now had the same battery going on 4 years, it's resting voltage is still 13.2, and ALL other gremlin lights have stopped.

 

[Evan III]

F4N4EVR, I've read several of your posts concerning the doughnut sensor on the negative cable. I have a few questions for you on this. First when you say you removed it, does that mean you took it off completely? If so what did you do with the 3 wires that are plugged into it? Is this better then your other fix using aluminum to shield the sensor? And last, did the soldered grounding kit come pre made or did you build it yourself? Thanks

 

[RonceDaddy]

c1142 error

Got this code unfortunately on a road trip with all these lights coming on, however the vehicles function did not change I did not have any issues driving the car with the lights on, got a diagnosis asap with this code. If you read Toy Haulers posts on here he is spot on, all it needed was the brake master cylinder sensors got for 115 online can be found easily and it could not be easier to replace yourself. Don't let this issue deter you from the armada or titan, though annoying relatively cheap easy fix if needed. Mine was 04 armada with 60k on it.

 

[ehidle]

F4N4EVR, I've read several of your posts concerning the doughnut sensor on the negative cable. I have a few questions for you on this. First when you say you removed it, does that mean you took it off completely? If so what did you do with the 3 wires that are plugged into it? Is this better then your other fix using aluminum to shield the sensor? And last, did the soldered grounding kit come pre made or did you build it yourself? Thanks

It's not a voltage sensor. It's a current sensor. Removing it removes the car's ability to detect that the battery is being discharged when it isn't supposed to be. This device does not cause any electrical issues, and removing it does nothing to improve electrical quality. In fact, since it is a ferrite coil, its presence reduces high frequency noise since it acts like a ferrite bead.

Removing it is.... not advisable.

 

[F4N4EVR]

Sorry it took so lng

F4N4EVR, I've read several of your posts concerning the doughnut sensor on the negative cable. I have a few questions for you on this. First when you say you removed it, does that mean you took it off completely? If so what did you do with the 3 wires that are plugged into it? Is this better then your other fix using aluminum to shield the sensor? And last, did the soldered grounding kit come pre made or did you build it yourself? Thanks

I was out of the country. I completely removed the donut sensor when I replaced the nissan battery cables with real ones. I just stuck some electrical tape over the plug and tie wrapped it out of the way. If you add up the volt-amp draw of the vehicle base/max, you will find that the nissan factory alternator and cable system will only support a max of 30 amp recharge. Mine needs 65 amps at baseline. The nissan wires are all pot metal crimped on connections. Since they ate not soldered, you start generating electrolysis and corrosion at first power up. The OEM Hitachi alternators flunked, and were declared never to install. If you go to a professional alternator shop and talk with them, they will tell you about oem alternator failures, law suits lost by nissan, nissan sending it's whole inventory of bad alternators to mexico, where they had new stickets put on changing their manufacture to "quality parts". Associated was a nissan battery supplier putting new stickers on substandard batteries. Nissan knew all of this up front, so they put the ECU/IPDM into the charging system as a 6 fingered middle man. So- I put in 1ga battery cables, a mechman 270 amp alternator, removed the donut sensor, added an alternator 1ga. Ground cable, soldered all connections and cable ends, and installed an AGM battery. All voltage problems went away. Removed my lojack unit, and the battery will retain full charge for at least 6 months of sitting. (max 30 days with lojack installed). Now I'm working through all the bad/crimped connections in the slip/vdc/abs/4whldr system. Remember, there are no nissan dealerships in the U.S.! All are leases or franchises. So nissan makes everything sub-industry standard in order to generate repair revenue for the sub sub sub contractors. Further, at my local stealership, the franchisee has not updated their nissan web based maintenance manuals. So 90% of the time, the diagrams and manual specs are out dated or incorrect (ipdm diagrams). They have no mechanics or repair specialists on staff, only SAE certified parts swappers. No diagnosis or troubleshooting capabilities beyond the outdated on incorrect computer info.

 

[ehidle]

By removing the current limiting device, you're risking blowing up your shiny new alternator, because your fancy new AGM battery will accept well in excess of 270 amps to charge. I imagine that the first time you run it down by accident and have to jump start, your nice new 270 amp alternator is going to be reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes from being essentially short circuited.

You are right though that there are no Nissan-owned dealerships in the US. Just like there are no Honda-owned dealerships, or Toyota-owned dealerships, or Ford-owned dealerships. This is because, in almost every state in the Union, it is illegal for an auto manufacturer to sell a car to a retail customer. Tesla has been fighting this for years unsuccessfully.

 

[KingRJ]

Ehilde, you are correct...not really sure where all the alternator\defective parts\known failure info is coming from but some smoke is going to come out of something! Do not remove the limiting device!

 

[ehidle]

Ehilde, you are correct...not really sure where all the alternator\defective parts\known failure info is coming from but some smoke is going to come out of something! Do not remove the limiting device!

Especially with today's electrically-commutated alternators. OEM alternators are designed with lower current limits in the exciter armature so they will produce less heat and last longer. Aftermarket high-amperage alternators basically are just OEM alternators designed with these limits removed, so the AVR will pump large amounts of current into the exciter field.

Sure, they produce more current, but they produce extra heat. The "270 amp" alternator can certainly produce 270 amps, but not for very long before the rectifier diodes exceed their junction temperature and fail. A typical schottky rectifier will have a forward voltage drop of about 0.5V at rated current. So, at 270 amps rms, each one is dissipating 67.5 watts (and there are four of them). That's a lot of energy do dissipate in a small package under the hood. I doubt they would last more than about 30-60 seconds pushing that current continuously into a dead AGM battery, and that's if whomever slapped together the aftermarket Brawndo(TM) Alternator knew what they were doing.

Then, there's the wire. Just think about this logically for a second. An alternator is typically wound with #14 or maybe #12 wire. How long do you think you can push 270 amps through a #14 wire before it burns off the insulating varnish? Not long.

There is precisely nothing wrong with limiting battery charge current to 30A, and doing so does not affect other vehicle electrical systems in any way. It's also the safe thing to do.

I'll also add that most AGM battery manufacturers recommend a 0.25C initial charge rate. A group 34 Optima Red Top has a C20 capacity of 50Ah, which means it should be charged at no greater than 12.5 amps for maximum battery life. If you dump 270 amps into it (which it will happily take, at least for a short time) who knows what will happen?

 

[F4N4EVR]

The Hitachi oem alternators were the subject of a court battle. Nissan lost, but instead of replacing them with Mitsubishi alternators, they shipped them to Mexico and rebranded them. Go to any professional alternator shop and ask them to rebuild the oem Hitachi alternator. They won't! The oem alternator has a max steady state rating of 65 amps. (130 amp surge capability). My Armada requires 65 amps without AC or headlights turned on. If you research how much amperage the individual components in the charging system can pass, it's down around 30 amps. If you consider the rate of degradation of crimped bimetal system components and connections, the benefits of soldered connections, and large gauge wires will be obvious. The Mechman 270 amp alternator has a constant steady state rating of 135 amps. So at 65 amps, it is running much cooler than the oem alternator and wiring. It will last much longer than the oem alternator, and provides a much more stable current to the system.

 

[boandbabs]

I know there have been a few threads already posted regarding this problem but I thought it may be useful to post my findings on the topic separately.

My '06 turned on the SLIP, VDC OFF, and BRAKE warning lights on Friday after simply starting the vehicle. The brake pads and fluid level are all OK and the parking brake works properly as well.

I scanned the vehicle using a Snap-On Solus Pro and received a C1142 (Brake Pressure Sensor Malfunction) from the ABS ECU. I was able to retrieve the Nissan diagnostic procedure and wiring diagram for this code. The trouble code does not differentiate between the front and rear pressure sensors, both located on the bottom of the master cylinder. As per the diagnostic procedure I checked the continuity of the harness between the sensor connector and the ABS ECU. All 6 wires read 0.3 ohms (good). I checked for source voltage on pin 3 of each sensor connector and read 5.0v (good). The ground wire, pin 1 of each sensor connector, had continuity (10 ohms) to body ground. Finally, I back probed each signal wire from the sensor connector, pin 2, and read voltage between 0 and 5 volts (it varies depending on how hard you press the brake pedal).

Finally I retrieved the data list from the ABS ECU so that I could read the pressure on the scan tool. Both sensors were reading identical pressures when the pedal was applied (~700psi with the engine off). Nissan simply says you should see a positive reading when applied and 0 when not. This checks out with my readings.

All of these findings, according to Nissan, validates that the sensors are good and the wiring between the sensors and the ABS ECU is OK. It also points to a possible problem with the ABS ECU.

However, a quick call to a friend at a local Nissan dealer (20 year Nissan tech) revealed that the sensors are bad. He said my diagnostic procedure and findings were correct. In his experience with Titans and Armadas the sensors are the root cause of the problem and replacing both sensors fixes it for good. He said there is no good rationale for it as the readings are all correct. The information regarding the range of the sensor is not listed in Nissan's service literature. The sensors may be giving a reading but that does not mean they are valid as far as the ABS ECU is concerned.

The part # for the sensors is 47240-7S000 and is available separate from the master cylinder. They are simple to replace and can be bled locally (at the sensor) without bleeding the entire system. They cost about $170.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Unrelated to C1142 but good to know: The booster sensors go bad too and you have to replace the entire booster.

ToyHauler

How did you know which one to replace? I have the same lights on and the same code.

 

[melztweets]

They come in a pair. Replace them both. The lights will go off after you restart the car.

 

[boandbabs]

They come in a pair. Replace them both. The lights will go off after you restart the car.

Thanks

I do not have any issues, just the lights are on. Will this cause any issues with driving before I can get the sensors changed? This part is expensive and I am hoping it will turn the lights off. Thanks for the help.

Ok, I have changed both sensors at the master cylinder. The 3 lights lights are still on. The car is not having any mechanical issues. I just need the lights to turn off and VDC to operate normally. Anymore suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks for the help.

Update, after 30 minutes of changing the sensors I went back and started the vehicle. The lights are off for now. Thx.