While driving on a two lane state route road towing a RV at approximately 60 MPH, the first indication of an issue was an amber ABS warning light accompanied by an Amber traction control light. Shortly after a red BRAKE warning light illuminated. Shortly after that an amber 4WD drive light illuminated and the 4WD drive wheel indicator went blank. Shortly after that the vehicle lost power and the engine stopped and would not restart. The whole sequence took about 30 seconds. The vehicle and trailer were barely off the road as the engine stopped suddenly and did not give me time to get all of the way over to the small two lane shoulder. This left me in a very unsafe position as vehicles were trying to pass me. Luckily a Sheriff was driving by and immediately called a tow truck. It was towed to a Nissan dealer where they found that an exhaust leak from a failed muffler melted a wiring harness. This is apparently a common issue.
Nissan Frontier abs comes on
72 of the 3,369 owner complaints about the Nissan Frontier describe aBS light or ABS activating, most of them for the 2022 model year.
- owner complaints
- 72
- worst model year
- 2022
- typical repair cost reported
- $400
- typical mileage
- 61,000
By model year
Often reported together
Warning lights 14Stalling 12Battery drain 10Check engine light 6Adaptive cruise 4Loss of power 3Fuel gauge 3Collision warning 3
Trouble codes mentioned
C1116 2C1A13 1C1142 1
What owners say
Muffler developed hole in the top of it prematurely and melted the main wiring harness due to a known design flaw. The vehicle is still at the dealer awaiting repair. All warning lights came on, 4 wheel drive was disabled, center console lost power and hvac was disabled. Safety was put at risk as this happened on the nys thruway and the vehicles main wiring harness was actively melting/shorting while driving. The shorts disabled all Safety features like lane assist, detections, and abs. Transmission would also not down shift properly leaving me unable to safely accelerate. Im unsure if the tail lights were still operational or not but wouldnt be surprised if they weren't as many other systems to the rear of the vehicle were fully disabled. The truck is at the dealer I have a quote and video of the muffler and melted wiring harness. The truck is not safe to drive but the problem is constant. This is a known problem by nissan as theres a tsb to place a larger heat shield over the wiring harness.
While driving the Automatic Braking System (ABS), Traction Control, forward collision, rear collision and system fault triangle alerts displayed resulting in systems being disabled. Pulled code, C1116, while waiting for dealer service availability. Dealer confirmed the issue is known, and Nissan issued a technical bulletin, NTB22-084, on Sept 29 2022 for issue impacting the ABS Control Module. According to Nissan this module issue impacts the ABS, TCS, collision detection, and cruise control systems.
Since I purchased my 2022 Nissan Frontier, I have experienced recurring issues where, periodically while driving, all the indicator lights appear on the digital screen (as shown in the attached photo). When this happens, all the advanced driver assistance systems become nonfunctional, including cruise control, ABS brakes and radar detection. These incidents have occurred while driving on the highway. Over time, I brought the vehicle in for service, but the technicians indicated they could not find anything wrong. My frustration grew as the problem started occurring more frequently, especially when I was in the car with my wife and kids. This is a serious safety concern. I recently took the vehicle to the dealer again (March 2, 2026), where I was charged almost $500 for them to "reboot" the vehicle and assure me it was fixed. However, the issue reoccurred the very next day. For the first time, I am formally reporting this problem in hopes that something can be done. I am taking it back again this Monday. I do not feel comfortable selling the vehicle knowing it has this unresolved issue. I would appreciate any assistance you can provide, and you may contact me if you wish Thank you.
I was attempting to drive my Frontier on Christmas day 2025 when several lights appeared on the dash. I also noticed my speedometer no longer functioned. I returned home immediately. Two days later, I took it in to a local repair shop and they told me the malfunction code was for ABS and I had to take it to the dealership. Within a week, I took it to the dealership and they confirmed the malfunction code and ordered part number 47660-9BK5E. I have not been able to drive my truck since then because the part is unavailable due to high demand. I suspect many people are having this issue. I have not driven my vehicle since early January because I can't track my speed and the ABS does not work.
On December 29th 2025 I was driving the vehicle in a residential area approximately 40 MPH. The Interior ABS warning lights illuminated. I could here a banging noise coming from the back of the Vehicle. I took the vehicle to a Nissan Dealership who inspected it and said the entire rear braking system including rotors bubs sensors and axle were damaged and needed to be replaced. The dealership stated the parking brake was engaged while the vehicle was being driven. Never has the parking brake on that vehicle been engaged manually since I purchased it 1 year ago. Cost to repair is $6000 not covered by warranty. Clearly driving a vehicle in a mountain region with a completely destroyed rear brake system is dangerous. A vehicle that inadvertently engages the emergency brake is dangerous. And even being able to operate the vehicle with the emergency brake engaged id dangerous.
I was traveling on the highway doing 70 mph in the left lane when warning lights started appearing on the dash. The first light was an ABS light. 5 minutes later the truck completely died. I was able to coast across the right hand lane and make my way into the shoulder. With the vehicle completely shut down, I had lost power steering and brake effectiveness. Fortunately, traffic was light and I was able to avoid other vehicles. I was unable to restart the vehicle and had to have it towed to a Nissan dealer. It took them 2 months to diagnose and repair the issue. In the end, the cause was that a hole developed on top of the muffler. The heat escaping the hole was able to pass through an inspection hole in the frame and melt the electrical chassis wiring harness running through it. Parts replaced included: ECM (computer), IPDM (electrical distribution module), engine harness, chassis harness, and muffler.
We have a fleet of 2023-2025 Nissan Frontiers. Starting in December of 2024 we began having problems with the vehicles electrical system going wild and shutting the trucks down. It causes all of the lights to come on and the truck to stall and not restart, We did not realize that we had a problem until it happened to multiple vehicles over the last several months. A few of them were brought to the dealership where we were told they could not find any problems and just replaced the batteries. So, when some of the others did it, we just replaced the batteries ourselves. This week asked again if there was a known issue and were told Nissan only knows of a battery drain issue. These vehicles are shutting down sometimes while our people are driving them. They also try to restart themselves sometimes. They are automatically applying the breaks when this happens wile the ABS light comes on. This is an extremely dangerous situation for our fleet drivers as well as the motoring public. It has happened to 10 of the 15 Frontiers that we own.
We have a fleet of 2023-2025 Nissan Frontiers. Starting in December of 2024 we began having problems with the vehicles electrical system going wild and shutting the trucks down. It causes all of the lights to come on and the truck to stall and not restart, We did not realize that we had a problem until it happened to multiple vehicles over the last several months. A few of them were brought to the dealership where we were told they could not find any problems and just replaced the batteries. So, when some of the others did it, we just replaced the batteries ourselves. This week asked again if there was a known issue and were told Nissan only knows of a battery drain issue. These vehicles are shutting down sometimes while our people are driving them. They also try to restart themselves sometimes. They are automatically applying the breaks when this happens wile the ABS light comes on. This is an extremely dangerous situation for our fleet drivers as well as the motoring public. It has happened to 10 of the 15 Frontiers that we own.
We have a fleet of 2023-2025 Nissan Frontiers. Starting in December of 2024 we began having problems with the vehicles electrical system going wild and shutting the trucks down. It causes all of the lights to come on and the truck to stall and not restart, We did not realize that we had a problem until it happened to multiple vehicles over the last several months. A few of them were brought to the dealership where we were told they could not find any problems and just replaced the batteries. So, when some of the others did it, we just replaced the batteries ourselves. This week asked again if there was a known issue and were told Nissan only knows of a battery drain issue. These vehicles are shutting down sometimes while our people are driving them. They also try to restart themselves sometimes. They are automatically applying the breaks when this happens wile the ABS light comes on. This is an extremely dangerous situation for our fleet drivers as well as the motoring public. It has happened to 10 of the 15 Frontiers that we own.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Nissan Frontier abs
Why does the abs come on in the Nissan Frontier?
Owners who report it most often also describe multiple warning lights, engine stalls while driving and battery drain or dead battery, and the codes they mention most are C1116, C1A13 and C1142.
Which Nissan Frontier years have aBS light or ABS activating problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2022 (20 complaints), 2023 (11 complaints) and 2001 (7 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix ABS light or ABS activating on the Nissan Frontier?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $400 (median of 5 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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