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Sedans Nissan Altima Nissan Altima Engine Failures
499 messages, Last post on Nov 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM
You are in the Nissan Altima Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: electricdesign (Jul 25, 2008 6:49 pm) You mean the hollow in the cat unplug pics DSC06098-100 is all that the exhaust gas needs to move out?. Before I go further, I want to let you know someother things.I have been really afraid for this car because before and since I bought I have been reading a lot about it, Camry and Accords on the net, reviews etc The reviews have been that of mixed feelings for all the cars so I decided to go with this with this innate fear.The engine looks new and clean for a 73,000miles car so I was wandering is this not one of those the engine has been worked on and sent to Nigeria?. One sunday morning,about 2 months ago, I started the Car and after some seconds i heard a sound like something has dislodged inside the bonnet and i thought it was the cat since I have read several reviews of it coming off and damaging the engine.I was already looking foward to the engine dying but the noise stopped as if the stuff has dislodged and off we drove to church and till now nothing has happened.I change the oil every 3months with 4litres, and the filter every 6months and the oil level remains the same. Is there a way of knowing if the pre cat has been removed? Do they remove it before sending the cars to Nigeria? When I bought the car, the service engine light was on and I complained because of the reviews I read on the net about it.Later since it was not giving any problems and many cars down here show that, I ignored it.I changed the oil and filter, it still remained but after taking it out on a journey of about 500km I noticed the SES light has gone off.It remained off until about 3 mths later when it came on.I always turn the fuel cap several times after refuelling.I serviced it again ie changed the oil,the light remained.Now I travelled again about the same distance as the previous one and noticed that the SES light has gone off again(2weeks ago), and has remained off till now.My question now is can one use the light to gauge when to change the oil? I am presently on a cross country journey in the Niger Delta area and will be here in the next one month so I will try and remove the pre cat when I get home. Since you said the engine is good when you had a look at it,will you recommend it for somebody? since every car has its own fault. The noise I heard that sunday,can it be the pre cat dislodging?My only observation is that when the car is idling, if you rev it there is a little drag between the idle tachometer level(0.5) and 2.0, but its not felt when the automatic gear is engaged.You know this car so much that If I were in your position, I will erk out some living from it. Thanks for your concern and prompt response, its highly appreciated and looking foward to response to the questions raised above. Chuma.
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PART ONE of TWO Q. "Pics DSC6932-34 contains a whitish ring like a loop opposite the O2 sensor ,I wander what that is." A. There are two whitish rings in picture DSC06932, they are the outer ring support for the screens. The lower screen ring is in place just above the oxygen sensor. The outer ring is all that is left, the screen is blown out, missing. You can also see the upper screen ring, with missing screen, it has blown loose and is visible at an angle. It is suppose to be out of sight farther up at the top of the precat, but because it has blown loose, you can see it in the picture. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -------------------------------------- Q. "You mean the hollow in the cat unplug pics DSC06098-100 is all that the exhaust gas needs to move out?" A. No, that is the SECOND CAT hollowed out. I needed to hollow out the second cat because it became totally plugged up. Your first priority is to hollow out the FIRST CAT (the pre cat), that is where the problem arises that destroys the engine. Your second cat is probably ok If the second cat is not plugged, I would recommend that you leave it alone. Only hollow out the SECOND CAT if you need to. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -------------------------------------- Q. "The engine looks new and clean for a 73,000miles car so I was wandering is this not one of those the engine has been worked on and sent to Nigeria?" "Since you said the engine is good when you had a look at it,will you recommend it for somebody? since every car has its own fault." A. The Nissan 2.5L I4 engine is a very good and solid engine design. The basic engine is very reliable, the only problem was this exhaust systen flaw that was messing up some of the engines, and the root cause of the whole thing is that the computer was allowing a slightly too rich mixture in the exhaust, which in turn causes the deterioration of the pre cat. The real solution is to have the computer memory "reflashed" or "upgraded" to eliminate the root cause of the problem. But on a used car, it is also good to hollow out the pre cat because it is likely that damage to the pre cat is already being done, and that damage to the engine is likely to follow, if something is not done about it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ------------------------------------- Q. "One sunday morning,about 2 months ago, I started the Car and after some seconds i heard a sound like something has dislodged inside the bonnet and i thought it was the cat since I have read several reviews of it coming off and damaging the engine.I was already looking foward to the engine dying but the noise stopped as if the stuff has dislodged and off we drove to church and till now nothing has happened.I change the oil every 3months with 4litres, and the filter every 6months and the oil level remains the same." A. Over here we have "Hoods" instead of "Bonnets". You could have the second big problem that those engines have, the "Butterfly valve screws coming loose and getting sucked into the engine" I have not had this problem yet. When I had my daughters engine apart, the screws were still tight. These are also called "Power Valve" screws, they are located inside the INTAKE manifold. Two small screws hold each butterfly valve onto the shaft, there are 4 butterfly valves (one for each cylinder), total of 8 screws. There are know to come loose and fall out. when they do, they have no place to go but get sucked into the engine. Once in the engine, they bounce around inside the clyinder, and can cause much damage, or if you are lucky, maybe not to much. It is just a matter of how the screw happens to bounce around in the cylinder, before finally getting blown out past the exhaust valve. The bouncing screw can bend or break the spark plug, score the clyinder walls, crack the head, crack the piston, or crack or bend the valves or valve seats. To fix these, the intake manifold has to be removed, then the screws removed and then cemented tightly back in place or cement new screws back in place. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ----------------------------------- Q. "I change the oil every 3months with 4litres, and the filter every 6months and the oil level remains the same." A. I would suggest that you change the oil filter at each oil change. How often you change oil depends on the miles, type of driving, and road conditions. Idling is harder on the engine, as well as dusty roads. Our Altima is driven in mixed City and Highway on clean roads, so I change oil and filter every 5,000 miles, using high quality Mobil One Synthetic Motor oil 10W-30 and a Purolator "Pure One" synthetic motor oil filter. 5,000 miles works out to be about every 4 months for us. It gets a new air filter every 15,000 miles and an Automatic Transmission Fluid Flush every 60,000 miles. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ---------------------------------------- Q. "Is there a way of knowing if the pre cat has been removed? Do they remove it before sending the cars to Nigeria?" A. The only way to know for sure is to pull the exhaust pipe loose from the bottom of the exhaust manifold and look up inside and see if it is there. It is most likely that yours would still be there. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ---------------------------------------- Q. "When I bought the car, the service engine light was on and I complained because of the reviews I read on the net about it.Later since it was not giving any problems and many cars down here show that, I ignored it.I changed the oil and filter, it still remained but after taking it out on a journey of about 500km I noticed the SES light has gone off.It remained off until about 3 mths later when it came on.I always turn the fuel cap several times after refuelling.I serviced it again ie changed the oil,the light remained.Now I travelled again about the same distance as the previous one and noticed that the SES light has gone off again(2weeks ago), and has remained off till now.My question now is can one use the light to gauge when to change the oil?" A. The check the SES Light, you need to read the codes with a Code Reader or Scanner, or have them by someone. Once you know what the code is, you use logical thought and mechanical skill to determine what the problem is and how to repair it. There are a lot of codes and it must be diagnoised properly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ---------------------------------------- God Bless E.D. in Sunny Florida, USA |
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Replying to: ndiboy (Jul 26, 2008 12:17 am) Q. "You know this car so much that If I were in your position, I will erk out some living from it." A. I don't need anything from this car. I have a good job at an engineering firm. I Only got so involved with this one because it is my daughters car, so I do all that I can to help her. I have worked on cars all my life, I've always been a car buff and motorcyle buff. I have worked as a professional mechanic in my younger days, but I retired from that. I still do all my own work on all my cars because I don't trust others, I do better work than them, I know exactly what is done and document all my work with paperwork and photos. My reward comes from having very reliable vehicles to drive (I have 3) and helping others, like you. God Bless, E.D. in Sunny Florida, USA
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Replying to: electricdesign (Jul 26, 2008 8:09 am) One more clarification,the car drives rough especially especially the owners side when it enters pot hole.It also shifts as if its gonna stumble when it enters pot hole.Is this a stabilizing rod or shock absorber problem? as i am already planning on getting one for a change. I will keep the pics and show my mechanic what to do as i dont want him to mess up the stuff. Thanks once more. Chuma. |
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Hi, Ed, is it normal for the fan to be working intermittently? This is what my Altima does and is even more pronounced when I use the A/C and the noise increases like a vibration. When the car is started, the fans does not come on until the temp is in the middle of the temp gauge, are all these normal because my Maxima and Blue bird's fan blows all the time. Chuma.
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Replying to: ndiboy (Jul 26, 2008 11:41 am) When the car is started, the fans does not come on until the temp is in the middle of the temp gauge, are all these normal because my Maxima and Blue bird's fan blows all the time." See my messege #154 in this forum, I explain the operation of the fans. The fans come on when the coolant temperature reaches about 202 to 203 degrees F, and the fans turn off when the coolant temperature falls to about 188 degrees F. Good Luck E.D. ISF
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Replying to: electricdesign (Jul 26, 2008 3:57 pm) Chuma.
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Replying to: ndiboy (Jul 27, 2008 12:39 am) E.D. ISF
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Replying to: electricdesign (Jul 27, 2008 6:08 pm) I thank God I discovered this site now I know much better, though ignorance is bliss.Can the scanners discover reason for low MPG? I am presently getting 18-22.3 in city and 26-31 in free way depending on driving conditions.I have read reviews of people getting 26/35-40 city/freeway and I get jealous especially with Camry and Honda.What am I doing wrong or is it the car? Chuma, Nigeria.
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Replying to: ndiboy (Jul 27, 2008 11:41 pm) Some of the top ones are: Autoxray Autotap Autoenginuity Mine is a 2001 model by Autoxray, it was $200 then. They now run about $200 and up. They have handheld models, and also have ones that plug into a laptop computer to give all types of fancy displays. Research them on the net , and you will find out all about them. Also Goggle "OBD II trouble codes" and you will find out all about the trouble codes (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) and how to read and interpret them. The codes do not tell you what part is bad or what part to replace, they point you in the right direction in your search for the problem. About your gas mileage, that is a matter of keeping the engine in good tune, to be sure all cylinders are firing properly, to be sure the transmision shifts properly, The transmission torque converter should lock up at cruising speeds, and driving habits play a big part, easy on the gas, keep rpms low when accelerating, and easy on the brakes. If you apply the brakes hard or stop fast, that is moving energy that is lost or wasted (lost gas mileage). Good Luck, E.D. ISF |
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