Thread: code P0455
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Old 11-18-2008, 11:38 AM
xterramexico05 xterramexico05 is offline
Tech Enthusiast
2005 Xterra
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 327
Default purge valve...

your valve has a spring inside of it.... your carbon canister is where the fuel vapors from your gas tank go to and are sent back into the engine controlled with your computer..... the valve spring might have a tiny rock or dust inside of it causing it to get stuck and send the malfunction..... not sure if the sentra system is the same as xterra or pathfinder or frontier....

valve can be removed very carefully and cleaned and checked with 2 wires and a 12volt battery... the valve should have 2 notches that need to be in the exact position for you to be able to pull valve off... if you try to force it, it will begin to eat the plastic and your valve will not lock in place correctly causing an air leak.....

note: my mpg dropped to 11mpg..... after 3 weeks of checking things i found out that i had disconected my battery and began to drive my truck as usual... i did not know that the computer was going through a re-learn process for your air/fuel mixture and needed to be driven at 1000 to 1500 rpm's and then to 60 mph for 15 to 20 minutes while computer re-learned my driving habits....

i believe that your drop in mpg might have been due to your battery being disconected...... the purge valve might cause you to loose some mpg since the vapors are not being mixed with your fuel in the process of igniting fuel/air mixture....

i would say that if your under warranty or the problem might be a re-call (call dealer and ask) then take to dealer... if not.... removing the valve and looking to see if the spring is stuck twisted.. and or if you see dirt or dust.. might just mean that you can clean it and replace it..

good luck
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