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Sedans Nissan Altima Nissan Altima Engine Failures
497 messages, Last post on Nov 21, 2009 at 8:01 PM
You are in the Nissan Altima Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: czander (Jan 06, 2008 10:31 am) ************ I have a significant problem. My son purchased a 2002 Nissan Altima with 98,000 miles from a Nissan Dealer off e-Bay in February 2009. Even though the car was sold to us "AS-IS", the dealer was sure to tell us what a great car it was and the only reason they were selling it on e-Bay was because they could not obtain financing for a 2002 vehicle with so many miles. Okay, I accept that. We test drove the car and it was in superior condition. The performance was excellent in every way and we bought the car for $5,250 cash (my son is 17 and had been saving for this car since he was 12). We drove the car home and immediately changed the oil. The honeymoon was over after two weeks when my son took his car into the local mechanic to rotate tires. A routine check of the oil showed it was 2 quarts low. Naturally, we thought the quick-lube place screwed up and we simply topped it off with more oil. After two more weeks, we checked the oil again... it was another 2 quarts low. There was no visual evidence of burning (smoke) and the car passed through NJ emissions inspection without incident... So what the heck??!!?? Our mechanic told us that this problem could be significant, but that there was no way to tell unless the unit was put through an expensive wet-dry compression test. Anyway, we just kept putting oil in the car and assumed that would be the standard (I did it with my Rambler for years)... But the problem got worse. Smoke was beginning to billow from the exhaust. The day before the engine blew out, I took the car to a local Nissan dealer to run a full computer diagnostic evaluation... That's when I got the news that both the engine and catalytic converter needed replacement. Even though the CAT was replaced/serviced under recall from Nissan a few years ago. The cost to me would be over $7,000.00 Here is the problem (and a simple Google of 2002 Altima Engine Problems will turn up hundreds, if not thousands of similar stories). Nissan issued a recall for a faulty sensor within the Altima's catalytic converter. Our Altima was taken by the previous owner in for service under recall shortly after it was issued. This sensor allowed for damage to the catalytic converter, which in turn damaged the piston rings in the engines causing excessive oil burning and ultimately complete engine failure. In cases where Nissan "reprogrammed" the sensor, nothing was done to address the CAT damage and what it was doing to the engine. In other cases, they replaced the CAT, but the engines were already burining oil and headed for doom. The damaged engines, in turn, damaged the new CAT... This is the situation I find myself in now after putting only 4,000 miles on the car since February. Bad CAT, shot engine and Nissan Consumer Affairs telling me "Sorry, it's out of warranty and there is nothing we can do"... The recall should have been for both CAT and engine replacement, but who in their right mind would assume Nissan to do this for tens of thousands of cars. All they did was put a quick patch on a festering wound and waited to address individual complaints as they arose, which is infinately cheaper than doing the right thing in the first place. My sons dream was crushed and Nissan says "tough luck, kid". The car sits dead in our driveway providing a daily reminder of what scum car manufacturers like Nissan can be.
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Replying to: nomorenissan (Jul 20, 2009 12:07 pm) I would recommend that each and every one of you that has been screwed by Nissan to spread the word and tell everyone that you can about this blog and encourage them to read it, This needs to be headline news. Read it from the begining, about all the people who have been so dissapointed and/or devestated by the Nissan Altima, people who wanted to destroy their Altimas or push them off a cliff, or worst. I just can't say enough about how bad these cars are, and how negligent the Nissan Company is to leave so many of their customers stranded with no hope. What they have done should be a crime, and they should pay back their customers dearly for it. E.D. in Sunny Florida
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In 2001, Carlos Ghosn defied Japanese business etiquette, cut thousands of Nissan jobs, shut the first of five domestic plants to help $20 billion debt. So, most of well-trained workers (Japan and Smyrna,TN.) were replaced by cheaper labor (Canton, MI, and Mexico). He is a Hero for Nissan company that has serious financial crysis like GM and Crysler but not for us.
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Replying to: kcvab (Apr 02, 2009 5:59 pm) |
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Replying to: electricdesign (Jul 28, 2009 4:24 pm) I currently own 2002 Altima, 2007 Altima (drives like a dream) and 2008 BMW 525I and I came in here to find a solution to how to fix that damn 2002 vehicle and not all the whining about how bad Nissan is since that's ABSOLUTELY FALSE. 2009 Nissan Altima is Consumer Report's, Consumer Digest's and JD Power's TOP PICK not mentioning other Nissan/Infiniti products. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with that car. If that was a "lemon" car there is such a thing called "Lemon Law" and you can try to get the money for your car under it's umbrella. B.S.Chicago,IL. P.S. I just got my money back from Sony after fighting with them for over 2 years over faulty Sony Plazma TV. No more Sony for me? I don't think so..I love them. Welcome to the real world.
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Replying to: rondhol (Aug 03, 2009 8:22 pm) ...and talking about cheaper labor....if it's so true I wonder why Nissan is doing so great since Ghosn took over? All those Nissans: Versa,Rogue,Altima.....number one cars according to Consumer Reports and Consumer Digest and million other awards for Murano, Xterra,Titan, 370Z, GT-R etc. etc. And if not for all those changes tens of thousands US WORKERS employed by Nissan would be unemployed. HERE IS ALITTLE READ FOR YOU... In 2001 Brazilian-born Carlos Ghosn became the first non-Japanese person to head a major Japanese automobile-manufacturing corporation. As the president and chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Company, he broke the traditional Japanese business models that had stifled the automaker's growth. Within two years Ghosn had led the faltering company into a period of revival, breaking a ten-year string of losses or tiny profits. By the end of the first quarter of 2003, Nissan turned a profit of more than $4 billion. Involving himself in all aspects of the company, from designing to test driving, Ghosn made himself an icon for Japanese business culture by the middle of his second year in office. Within months of his arrival Ghosn had laid bare a plan that would not only revolutionize the way business was done at Nissan but challenge some of the basic assumptions that lay at the heart of Japanese business methods. By shutting down plants, laying off workers, and severing ties with underperforming suppliers, Ghosn demonstrated that radical measures could be effective in changing the conservative Japanese business system. He expected the process of making Nissan profitable to take three years; it took only two. Ghosn also changed the look of Nissan's line of automobiles. The leading Japanese automakers, Honda and Toyota, historically were cautious about altering the appearance of their cars. In contrast, Ghosn, according to Alex Taylor in Fortune, took risks by making over almost one-third of Nissan's product line within a couple of years. "Ghosn wants Nissan to stand for passionate innovation," said Taylor, "and insists that new products satisfy an unmet customer need" (July 21, 2003). The executive's record, the Fortune contributor concluded, seemed to forecast great things for the companies he headed
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Replying to: achaiah (Aug 06, 2009 11:52 am) |
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I own a 02 Altima 2.5 which my daughter took to SC. Last week Nissan replaced the pre cat under warranty. After the work was done the dealer called me and said that the head gasket needed replacement. It was then that I decided to fly down from New England to see for myself. I know a fair amount about cars and he was able to justify his diagnosis. The pre cat was covered with baked on oil, plugged up the engine and turned it into a blast furnace frying the head gasket on two cylinders. This is a car that never leaked a drop of coolant. Nissan claims that the pre cat had nothing to do with the gasket failure and was not responsible for repairing it. However they would pay for half. A generous offer since they had just replaced the pre cat. From what I know and read this could be the tip of the ice berg. I feel that Nissan has a responsibility to repair any and all damage caused by the pre cat. Am I crazy? Jophish. P.S. The service department at this family owned dealership gets an A+, a pleasure to work with.
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Replying to: jophish (Aug 07, 2009 12:05 pm) so don't panic yet. |
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Head gaskets fail after 200k miles is acceptable, but not 61k miles, just after the warranty expired. The 2002-2003 pre-cat failure is the biggest issue but no "REAL RECALL" has been done. Voluntary recalls like power valve screws is only good for 04-05 model because 02-03 is not under warranty anymore even they have excactly same design and some of 02-03 owner got their engine destroyed by those screws. Crankshaft and Camshaft Position sensor is still problematic. It turns out the design was bad (plastic shield), and now Nissan have the revised version with aluminum shield. But, you will never get the free recall twice. You have to pay to get the revised sensors after the failure of the first recall. Many of 02-03 VQ35DE engine have timing chain guide and tensioner premature failure (cost $1500) and bad MAF ($600 part # 22680-8j000). MAF from maxima and G35 with part #22680-AM600 is the best replacement that will not fail again. Nissan Service is Real  . After 6 years/60k miles all 02 have bad engine mount, struts, pre-cat, tie rod end, MAF (3.5L model) and may be head gasket.
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