Did off roading hurt my Nissan Titan?

Richard Charpentier Arizona, Notes from Rich, Off Road Adventures 2 Comments

horiztruck (1 of 1)The short answer…..not so much really.

Several weeks ago something very strange happened after my first venture into Coyote Buttes.  The ABS system started randomly going off.  Seriously, as random as you could imagine.

Driving south on Route 89 I got to the traffic circle near the Watson Lake park.  As I applied the brakes the ABS kicked in.  Rumble, rumble, rumble……..eeeeek!  What the heck was that?

Shortly afterward the ABS and SLIP lights came on.  Oh no!  What did I do to the Titan???

I went to a local mechanic to get some help.  The lights had gone off, but the ABS was randomly kicking on while on pavement.  Something was really wrong.  Did I abuse the truck too much?  Was it not up to the adventures I’ve got in mind for it???  Only one way to find out.

After having the truck for a day the mechanic still hadn’t found the issue.  He replicated the trouble and found the alarm in the system.  No good, no good.  He explained I could still travel with the truck, just the ABS system was off.  He also suggested that maybe the Nissan wasn’t up to the off roading I’ve been doing.  That was a disappointing thought, but I moved ahead with plans any way.  So I ventured back to White Pocket last weekend, and I had no troubles.

verttruck (1 of 1)On Monday I brought the Titan into the Nissan dealership to follow up.  Figured they might have better success.  And they did!  It wasn’t the Nissan’s fault, or the off roading, or all the sand I’d been in.

It was an uninvited guest that had caused me problems.  A pack rat had eaten a wheel speed sensor cable, which caused the ABS to freak out.

Yes, we have pack rats here, and yes, they find car cabling to be a tasty treat!

So, the Nissan is good to go for future trips, and it is up to the task.  So long as nothing else comes along to munch my wiring!  🙂

Comments 2

  1. The pack rat story doesn’t surprise me.Why do rodents take a liking to vinyl insulation and rubber brake lines? Our friends returned from a hike to find their brake fluid pooling in the dirt. Chipmunks like the taste rubber, it turns out. Could have been a disaster coming off the mountain if they hadn’t noticed.
    So keep an eye out for that too, Rich. Wouldn’t want to lose a great artist and blogger in his prime.
    mark

  2. Post
    Author

    Thanks Mark. I need to figure out “rodent control” for the truck. It doesn’t get out as much as the Versa. The guys up at Nissan told me not to let it sit for more than a few days. Guess I’ve got to rotate vehicles! 🙂

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