Nissan Recalling 97,000 Altima, Sentra Sedans

[TigerMike]

FYI....for owners






WASHINGTON (AP)--Nissan North America Inc. (NSANY) said Thursday it was

recalling 97,000 Altima and Sentra vehicles after reports of excessive oil

consumption and engine fires led the auto maker to stop selling the vehicles.

Nissan said some 2006 sedans with 2.5-liter engines could quickly consume oil,

potentially damaging the engine and leading to engine fires.

The automaker has received 274 reports of excessive oil consumption and 24

engine fires. Spokesman Fred Standish said there has been one report of a "very

minor injury."

Nissan ordered dealers to stop selling the vehicles in early June after

receiving the reports of excessive oil consumption and fires. The auto maker is

still trying to determine the root cause of the problem, Standish said.

The company said 85,000 of the recalled vehicles were in the United States,

with others found in Canada, Mexico and the Middle East. The recalled vehicles

were built from January to May this year.

Altima and Sentra vehicles built after May 22 "have been tested rigorously and

have shown no signs of excessive oil consumption," Standish said. Vehicles

built after that date are currently available for sale.

Nissan sent notices to owners and dealers about the problem and has

recommended that owners check their oil every 700 miles, or about every two

times they completely refill their gas tanks.

Standish said if the engine`s oil level is kept at a proper level, it

shouldn`t suffer any damage.

A date for the recall hasn`t been announced. Owners can call Nissan at (800)

647-7261.

[imported_CkretAjint]

To bad this doesnt apply for my friends 2002 Sentra. Peice of junk. He has gotta 2 new motors under warrenty due to the damn cat sucking bolts up into the motor destroying it <shakes fist at Nissan>

[mikebai1990]

Hm... Dunno about the quality of Nissans (I`ve noticed many of those old Nissan Maxima`s that roam the streets daily), but Nissan`s designs have become much more bold, and IMO, good looking. Some of their models now look like luxury and high end cars.

[imported_Picus]

Nissan cars/trucks that are made in America have been suffering from some pretty bad reliabilty issues lately. I think it`s a combo of the manfucaturing and Nissans new "let`s have really high margins" strategy. Luckily the cars made in Japan are all still way above average for reliabilty.

[TigerMike]

Nissan cars/trucks that are made in America have been suffering from some pretty bad reliabilty issues lately. I think it`s a combo of the manfucaturing and Nissans new "let`s have really high margins" strategy. Luckily the cars made in Japan are all still way above average for reliabilty.



Yeah, that`s what I`ve heard as well, particularly about the american-made SUVs, i.e. Pathy and Armada. One of the reasons I wanted the G was its all Japanese origin, and lo and behold, it`s been rock solid. And I drive the car pretty hard too.

[EBPcivicsi]

I have also heard that a lot of the V8`s placed in the 03-04 M45`s, Q45`s, and FX45`s have an oil consumption issue.



I am currently exploring purchasing an 03-04 M45 myself, I just love the styling and for the money, the features are unbelievable. From what I undertsnad, with proper break in procedures--all is well.

[TigerMike]

I am currently exploring purchasing an 03-04 M45 myself, I just love the styling and for the money, the features are unbelievable.





I`m with ya. I love the 03/04 M styling as well. My neighbor has one and it`s just a really kick arse lux/muscle car. Not sure why the styling never really caught on...I guess the overly musclar look wasn`t appealing to most. I think it was a great design, and I would have loved to have bought one in 2003. But, when I got my G in `03, the Ms were brand new, and way over my spending limit. I saw an `03 M45 (white pearl color) sitting in a Ford dealer used lot the other day with about $19K on the window. Great bargain for that car, IMO. Made me almost wanna trade in!

[EBPcivicsi]

I`m with ya. I love the 03/04 M styling as well. My neighbor has one and it`s just a really kick arse lux/muscle car. Not sure why the styling never really caught on...I guess the overly musclar look wasn`t appealing to most. I think it was a great design, and I would have loved to have bought one in 2003. But, when I got my G in `03, the Ms were brand new, and way over my spending limit. I saw an `03 M45 (white pearl color) sitting in a Ford dealer used lot the other day with about $19K on the window. Great bargain for that car, IMO. Made me almost wanna trade in!





Wasn`t Dobbs Ford of Wolfchase was it? It had 19K on the clock, Shannon (used car manager) wanted about 26K out the door for it. I went and looked at it--very nice, but I really want the cooled seats and charcoal interior(it had tan with the bird`s eye maple). That is the *exact* color that I want though!! :D



Then the quest will be on for a set of Fx45 20`s to go on it. :D

[vanhagar]

Nissan cars/trucks that are made in America have been suffering from some pretty bad reliabilty issues lately. I think it`s a combo of the manfucaturing and Nissans new "let`s have really high margins" strategy. Luckily the cars made in Japan are all still way above average for reliabilty.

I`m pretty sure these cars being recalled are manufactured in Mexico, at least the sentras are.

[Setec Astronomy]

To bad this doesnt apply for my friends 2002 Sentra. Peice of junk. He has gotta 2 new motors under warrenty due to the damn cat sucking bolts up into the motor destroying it <shakes fist at Nissan>



Well, that`s what he gets for letting his cat drive the car!! But seriously, WTH are you talking about? Last time I checked, the catalyst is after the motor, so anything that goes on there goes out the tailpipe, not into the motor. :nixweiss

[Kewjoe]

the Sentra SE-R (02-06) had 2 problems with it 1) the pre-cat which resides in the exhaust manifold would break apart due to uncombusted gas leaving the engine and parts of the cat will get sucked back in causing all sorts of scoring of cylinder walls, etc. and oil consumption 2) Intake manifold has butterfly valves, each valve (4 of them) had 2 little screws holding them in.. in some cases engine vibration caused the screws to loosen and get sucked into the engine, in extreme cases the entire valve plate gets sucked in too.



the Fixes are easy for both 1) aftermarket header removed the pre-cat, you still have main cat for emissions and 2) open intake manifold, locktite screws. I did both to my car and have had no issues with my car (knock on wood)



This thread is talking about an issue only affecting 2006 model 2.5L engines (SE-R and Altima). From what i read Nissan decided to try a different piston ring or something and it was a bad idea.

[Setec Astronomy]

Ok, that`s a little different than bolts coming out of the catalyst...thanks for clarifying!

[Kewjoe]

np! There is so much information and so many SE-R sites its almost a bad excuse when someone has these problems happen to them. But for Altima owners, they get the short end of the stick, how many 2.5L Altima owners will be researching their car on the net.. albiet on both the above issues it happened much less frequently to Altimas.. probably because for issue #1 SE-R`s use premium gas and thus higher chance of uncombusted gas leaving the engine and #2 less vibration due to less sporty nature of the car .. Thats just hypothetical though. I don`t know how bad Altima owners were hit.



The best part is Nissan didn`t recognize either of the issues, they`d replace your engine if you came in for either issue, but never issued a recall to fix either one. Ah well.

[ManiZ]

The have got to expand it to 05-06 Zs. Same excessive consumption issue.

[imported_intoran]

There are also quite a few 02+ Maxima`s that have oil consumption issues with the 3.5L.