Fighting with Nissan North America (Altima owners beware/read)

[JoeHemi57 10+ year member]

The precat failure involves the substrate material in the precat being sucked back int the combustion chamber, scoring the cylinder walls and leading to leaking and excessive oil consumption.

i've seen the bulletins from Nissan, if its the cat then why wouldn't they require us to replace it when installing new engines on cars well within warranty? i'm sure they don't want to keep having to buy engines because of the cat.

 

[duckfart 10+ year member]

The same thing happend to my friends 2002 Altima. Funny how she would make fun of my old 95 Integra , yet my car hasn't had any major issues .

 

[phenryiv1 10+ year member]

i've seen the bulletins from Nissan, if its the cat then why wouldn't they require us to replace it when installing new engines on cars well within warranty? i'm sure they don't want to keep having to buy engines because of the cat.

Don't worry- I have read them too, and you are right- they have NO guidance regarding replacing the cat...Nissan's explaination is that correcting the A/F ratio through an ECU reflash will prevent future substrate seperation.

The long and short of it is that MOST of the cars with percat issues are approaching the end of the 60K/5yr powertrain AND the 80K emissions warranty. Nissan has redesigned the QR for the newer vehicles, and they largely had tuned away the earlier problems with reflashes. I am on my 3rd reflash. At this point, it APPEARS that Nissan is willing to claim owner negligence on remaining failures out of warranty, but they ARE reflashing a large percentage of QR owners.

My VIN was in the "unaffected" VIN range for both precat failure AND the intake butterfly screw...but it was CLEARLY impacted by the actual defect. Nissan has REFUSED to widen the parameters of their recall, as far as repairing the intake or precat issue. They HAVE stepped up and replaced a LOT of 0 mile engines on brand new cars that were never sold, and they are pretty good about replacing engines under warranty...but after you pass 60K, you are on your own.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Don't worry- I have read them too, and you are right- they have NO guidance regarding replacing the cat...Nissan's explaination is that correcting the A/F ratio through an ECU reflash will prevent future substrate seperation.
The long and short of it is that MOST of the cars with percat issues are approaching the end of the 60K/5yr powertrain AND the 80K emissions warranty. Nissan has redesigned the QR for the newer vehicles, and they largely had tuned away the earlier problems with reflashes. I am on my 3rd reflash. At this point, it APPEARS that Nissan is willing to claim owner negligence on remaining failures out of warranty, but they ARE reflashing a large percentage of QR owners.

My VIN was in the "unaffected" VIN range for both precat failure AND the intake butterfly screw...but it was CLEARLY impacted by the actual defect. Nissan has REFUSED to widen the parameters of their recall, as far as repairing the intake or precat issue. They HAVE stepped up and replaced a LOT of 0 mile engines on brand new cars that were never sold, and they are pretty good about replacing engines under warranty...but after you pass 60K, you are on your own.

So what if my 2000 Nissan Sentra XE, 1.8L is having a similar problem.

It's a stripped down model, auto transmission. It NEVER quit WHILE i'm actually driving, it'll be when I decelerate at a stop light, or sometimes when I decelerate to turn a corner. The car will downshift and instead of idling, the RPMs will just go all the way down and it'll quit.

Now, when this happens I just shift up into nuetral, start it again and go on my way. It NEVER has a problem starting, or re-starting after it quits.

Also, the check engine light isn't on. It came on once, and I parked it was was gonna read the code the next day... and when I came back to drive it... the check engine light was off.

So, I don't really know what to do. I've used fuel injector cleaner, changed the oil. The check engine light isn't on... so I don't know.

I'm taking it to my dad's buddy who works/build cars and gonna have him look at it this week.

Any input/help appreciated, b/c I don't want this to turn into a money pit.

nG

 

[phenryiv1 10+ year member]

So what if my 2000 Nissan Sentra XE, 1.8L is having a similar problem.
It's a stripped down model, auto transmission. It NEVER quit WHILE i'm actually driving, it'll be when I decelerate at a stop light, or sometimes when I decelerate to turn a corner. The car will downshift and instead of idling, the RPMs will just go all the way down and it'll quit.

Now, when this happens I just shift up into nuetral, start it again and go on my way. It NEVER has a problem starting, or re-starting after it quits.

Also, the check engine light isn't on. It came on once, and I parked it was was gonna read the code the next day... and when I came back to drive it... the check engine light was off.

So, I don't really know what to do. I've used fuel injector cleaner, changed the oil. The check engine light isn't on... so I don't know.

I'm taking it to my dad's buddy who works/build cars and gonna have him look at it this week.

Any input/help appreciated, b/c I don't want this to turn into a money pit.

nG

I'd check the MAF, fuel filter, etc. http://www.b15sentra.net is a good resource. I don't have a QG18 (your engine) so I don't follow it's problems too much.

 

[bumpinne0n 10+ year member]

IMPORTANT READ FOR ALTIMA OWNERS
I have to rant for a minute, and anyone that owns a 2002-presant Nissan Altima may want to check this out before it happens to you, and most likely it will.

a few months ago I had to take it in for the engine light and have the Crankshaft Position Sensor replaced (and nissan knows that this is defective and does not warn you) which causes for your car to just shutdown and stop with no notice. My car shutoff on my driving down the road in the middle of an intersection, real fun stuff.

just a month after that my engine light came back on and I began to notice some exhaust noise coming from under the center of the vehicle. I also began to notice that I am using alot of oil but showing no leaks or burn smell or smoke what so ever. So I go to auto zone to find out what the engine light code is, come home to pull it up on the net and find that it is an EXTREMELY common problem with Altima owners that becomes very EXPENSIVE. It is the catalytic converter, oxygen sensor, and the pre-cat assembly that attaches to the manifold/engine. Well the pre-cat part disintegrates and debris gets sucked up into the engine damaging the pistons and cylinders causing increased oil consumption. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM by Nissan yet they still have done nothing to notify owners, or be proactive and address the defective parts before this happens and becomes very costly.

I take it in to Nissan and tell them what is happening with my oil problem, engine light, etc.... Tell them about what I have found in my research as to the numerous problems and the catalytic converter being the defective problem and cause for oil consumption. They quickly blow me off and say "no that would have nothing to do with your oil problem"

So $1100 later with a new oxygen sensor and catalytic converter, they tell me to come in every 700 miles to do oil consumption tests cause they see no problem. After doing so they tell me it has used 2/3 a quart of oil in the 700 miles and that is normal consumption. BULLSHIT!!!! That is not normal. I am putting a quart in every 1000 miles almost. The problem continues and I call them back to setup another appointment to check further, they quickly tell me OVER THE PHONE there is nothing else they can do except REPLACE THE ENGINE!!!!! at $4000!!!!!!

This is rediculous. Thousands of people have had this same problem, and been told the same thing, to replace the engine after replacing the catalytic converter. Nissan has documentation that they have even researched to problem but have yet to do anything about it.

I have filed a complaint with Nissan North America and requested they replace my engine. I have to provide them with all service documentation, papers, etc.... and go through this investigation. And from all the findings from other Altima owners that did the same thing, NISSAN will do NOTHING FOR ME or any Altima owner.

ok, rant over, I am just pist and thought anyone else with an Altima may like to know this. If this has not happened to you yet, it will. Sell that car!!!!

There are recalls for both of those problems. I've got the same motor (QR25) as you in my car, an '03 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V.

You can find the recalls on http://www.nissanhelp.com.

I've read that Nissan has been giving people shit for the pre-cat recall though. Technically it's supposed to fall under the 8 year/80,000 mile federally mandated emissions warranty, so you might try bringing that up. Pretty much the only way to "fix" the problem is to replace the engine, as you said, because the damage has probably already been done by the time you catch it. Even if you get the engine and converter both replaced, it can still happen again. The only way to get rid of the problem completely is to get an aftermarket cat-less header.

Have you loctited the butterfly screws in the intake manifold yet? You need to do that, if you haven't already. This was a recall for the '04s up, but not the '02-03s, even though it still applies to them.

Think that could be the problem with my 2000 Nissan Sentra?
I'll be driving, and decelerate to a stop and the engine will just stop... shut off.

It'll start right back up... but it happens daily... sometime multiple times.

nG

Clean or replace your MAF sensor. Be careful cleaning it though, only use a MAF cleaner and not brake cleaner or anything else. Mine had the same problem and I tried "electronic parts cleaner" and had to end up paying $100 for a used sensor.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

MAF?

nG

 

[bumpinne0n 10+ year member]

MAF?
nG

Mass air flow sensor.

It's the sensor on the air intake box.