2002 Nissan Altima

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A LOCAL MECHANIC WHO WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE BUT ADVISED THAT SHE SHOULD CONTACT THE DEALER BECAUSE THERE WAS A RECALL RELATED TO THE FAILURE. THE DEALER STATED THAT NHTSA RECALL CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 07V527000, ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING HAD ALREADY BEEN REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 126,761.

NO REAL WARNING. ENGINE STARTING KNOCKING ONE DAY AND FOUND OUT IT WAS 2 QUARTS LOW AFTER CHANGING IT THE PREVIOUS WEEK. PUT 2 QUARTS OF OIL MORE IN AND DROVE 300 MILES TO ONLY FIND THAT IT WAS LOW AGAIN. I HAVE TO PUT OIL IN AROUND EVERY 200 MILES NOW TO PREVENT MY ENGINE FROM MAKING LOUD NOISES. THE MECHANIC I TOOK IT TOO SAID THE CAT CONVERTERS AND MOTOR NEEDED REPLACEMENT. I AM A COLLEGE STUDENT AND CANNOT AFFORD A REPLACEMENT ENGINE OR A NEW CAR SO AM STUCK DUMPING 2 QUARTS IN EVERY 200 MILES. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO START THE VEHICLE, BUT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT START. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHO PERFORMED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST LISTING THE FAILURE WITHIN THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER MANIFOLD. THE MANUFACTURER WOULD NOT ASSIST WITH THE REPAIR; BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WARRANTY EXPIRED AND IT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 03V084000; ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING EXHAUST SYSTEM MANIFOLD HEADER MUFFLER TAIL PIPE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILES WERE 79,000.

VEHICLE EXPERIENCING SOME HESITATION AT SPEEDS OF OVER 40MP BUT WAS INTERMITTENT. EVENTUALLY IT WOULD STALL FREQUENTLY AT LOW SPEEDS. REGULAR MECHANIC COULD NOT DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM - NO ENGINE LIGHT. I LOOKED UP RECALLS AND FOUND TWO RECALLS FOR MY MAKE , YEAR AND MODEL. ONE RELATED TO ECM SENSOR - WHICH CAUSED THE STALLING. RECALL INDICATES THAT SENSOR WOULD BE REPROGRAMMED. I TOOK IT TO NISSAN DEALER - THEY REPROGRAMMED IT AND SENT ME OFF ON MY WAY. SAME DAY THE CAR WAS RUNNING WORSE THAN BEFORE - RPM RACING AND COULD NOT GET THE CAR OVER 40 - THEN IT WOULD RUN OK AND THEN START UP AGAIN. THE STALLING CONTINUED. I TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THE REPROGRAMMING WOULD NOT FIX THE PROBLEM AND WOULD ACTUALLY CAUSE THE CAR TO RUN WORSE. I WAS NEVER TOLD THIS WHEN I WALKED OUT THE FIRST TIME. THE CAR IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE AND THE DEALER IS TELLING ME TO LOOK AT IT THEY NEED TO CHARGE ME $120 PLUS WHAT EVER IT COST TO FIX. *TR

WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE IN WARM WEATHER FOR OVER 15 MINUTES, THE ENGINE WILL STALL IN TRAFFIC OR REFUSE TO START AFTER ENGINE IS TURNED OFF BRIEFLY (EX: AT THE GAS PUMP.) THE DEALERSHIP SERVICED THE RECALL FOR THE CRANKSHAFT SENSOR, AND WE HAD ANOTHER PUT IN BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC SINCE THEN. DIAGNOSTICS GAVE CONSULT CODE PO420 CATALYST SYS-B1. GAVE US AN ESTIMATE TO REPLACE THE CATALYST. HEARD ABOUT A RECALL OF SOME NISSANS FOR A SIMILAR PROBLEM IN FALL OF 2010, BUT I GUESS THIS CAR DID NOT FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY. WE ARE ALSO TOLD THAT THE HEATER CORE NEEDS REPLACING, BUT DO NOT WANT TO PUT ANY MORE MONEY INTO A VEHICLE THAT HAS A STALLING PROBLEM THAT CANNOT BE FIXED. *TR

AT 85,000 MILES, THE CAR BEGAN TO SHUDDER AND HAD DIFFICULTY ACCELERATING; THE DIAGNOSIS WAS A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. AT AROUND 130,000 MILES THE CAR STARTED FEELING ROUGH AND MAKING RATTLING SOUNDS. THE DEALER REPLACED THE RIGHT AND BACK ENGINE MOUNTS, LEAKING VALVE COVER GASKETS, FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARMS, AND LEFT FRONT HUB AND BEARING BUT THE SOUND STILL EXISTS. AT 141000 MILES THE "CHECK ENGINE LIGHT" CAME ON AND THE DEALER REPLACED THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. AT 144,000 MILES, THE CAR SUDDENLY WOULD NOT GO MORE THAN 10 MPH. AFTER TURNING THE CAR OFF, THE ENGINE INITIALLY WOULD NOT TURN OVER; AFTER A FEW MINUTES, THE CAR STARTED AGAIN BUT STILL COULD NOT GO MORE THAN 10 MPH. THE SECOND STOP SEEMED TO TEMPORARILY REVIVE THE CAR BECAUSE IT COULD BE DRIVEN AT NORMAL SPEEDS (AT LEAST LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE THE 1 MILE DRIVE HOME) BUT IT EMITTED A STRONG BURNING SMELL. AT THIS POINT THE DIAGNOSIS IS IRRELEVANT - IT'S TIME FOR A NEW, MORE RELIABLE CAR. *TR

THIS IS A FORMAL REQUEST PETITIONING NHTSA TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION FOR AN INADEQUATE REMEDY OF RECALL 03V-084 (NISSAN # NTB03-070D) 3/8/11-MATERIAL FROM A DAMAGED PRE-CATALYST ENTER THE ENGINE CAUSING INTERNAL DAMAGE WHICH INCREASED THE OIL CONSUMPTION TO 1 QT OF OIL PER 100 MILES. 1/20/11-OIL CHANGE AT 74,243 MILES, IN PERFECT RUNNING CONDITION NOT CONSUMING ANY OIL. 3/8/11-875 MILES LATER, HEARD ENGINE NOISE AND SCHEDULED SERVICE INSPECTION. ENGINE NOISE DUE TO LOW OIL LEVEL. FILLED OIL AND THE ENGINE NOISE STOPPED. CAR SMOKES AT HIGHER RPM'S. MECHANIC ASKED IF RECALL NUMBER 03V-084 WAS PERFORMED. NISSAN CLAIMED THERE WAS NO SUCH RECALL. LATER ADMITTED TO A RECALL BUT CLAIMED OUR CAR WAS NOT INCLUDED, AND THIS WAS NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR FOR THE AGE AND MILEAGE. 8 YEAR/80,000 MILE EMISSIONS WARRANTY EXPIRED 10/5/10, 3/10/11-SENT EMAIL TO NHTSA. NHTSA SAID, FROM VIN LISTINGS, OUR CAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED, AND SENT A REQUESTED FOR RECALL HISTORY TO NISSAN. 3/15/11-NHTSA SAID RECALL SERVICE WAS PERFORMED 3/2008, AT 54,000 MILES. THE RECALL OWNER LETTER STATES, 'THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT CERTAIN ENGINE OPERATING CONDITIONS MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE PRE-CATALYST. MATERIAL FROM INSIDE THE DAMAGE PRE-CATALYST COULD ENTER THE ENGINE AND RESULT IN INCREASED OIL CONSUMPTION'..THE NISSAN DEALER WILL REPROGRAM THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE TO PREVENT ANY FUTURE DAMAGE TO THE PRE-CATALYST.' THE RECALL SERVICE PERFORMED IN 3/2008 DID NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION AGAINST PREMATURE PRE-CATALYST FAILURE WHICH CAUSED ENOUGH DAMAGE TO REQUIRE ENGINE REPLACEMENT. THE RECALL PERFORMED ON MY VEHICLE AT 54,000 MILES SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED ME MORE THAN THE 21,118 MILES. THE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF THE PRE-CATALYST SHOULD BE LONGER THAN 75,118 MILES, OR AT LEAST ADDRESSED UNDER THE RECALL INSPECTION AND CORRECTED WHILE UNDER THE ORIGINAL EMISSION WARRANTY PERIOD. IT IS FOR THESE REASONS I AM PETITIONING THE NHTSA TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION FOR AN INADEQUATE REMEDY OF THIS RECALL. *TR

[XXX] [XXX] RE: 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA VIN [XXX] I TOOK MY CAR TO MORIN BROTHERS AUTOMOTIVE ON 2/7/2011 TO HAVE THE 'CHECK ENGINE LIGHT' LOOKED AT . DIAGNOSIS REVEALED A FAILED PRE-CATALYTIC CONVERTER. UPON REMOVAL THE CAT WAS FOUND TO BE PHYSICALLY DAMAGED. BOT WERE REPLACED. SUBSEQUENTLY I DISCOVERED THAT NISSAN OF NORTH AMERICA HAS AN ACTIVE CAMPAIGN OR RECALL COVERING REPLACEMENT OF THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. (RECALL #'S R3007, R3014, R3015, R3016, R3017) I CONTACTED THE SERVICED DEPARTMENT AT COAST NISSAN IN PERSON AND WAS TOLD THAT SINCE I ALREADY HAD THE CONVERTER REPLACED, THERE WAS NOTHING FURTHER THEY COULD DO FOR ME. I CONTACTED NISSAN CORPORATE OFFICES AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WERE NO OPEN RECALL CAMPAIGNS ON MY CAR. THIS IS WHAT I WANT NISSAN TO DO FOR ME: REIMBURSE ME FOR THE EXPENSE OF RELACING MY CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND OXYGEN SENSOR. VERIFY THAT THE CURRENT PROGRAMMING IN THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE WILL PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN. VERIFY THAT THE PROGRAMMING IN THE CONTROL MODULE HAS ALSO BEEN UPDATED TO ADDRESS STALLING ISSUES (RECALL 0712) ASSURE ME IN WRITING THAT SHOULD MY ENGINE BEGIN USING OIL AS A RESULT OF THE FAILURE OF THE CONVERTER, NISSAN WILL REPAIR IT FREE OF CHARGE. *JS INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)