well yet another visit to the dealer. about a month ago my CAT went comming home from a trip. ever since then i was burning oil, (just didn't have a chance to take it in) and when i did it was up to burning a quart a week. well this has to do with the cat, pieces broke off and went into the cyl. and scratched the walls. so my altima is getting a new engine, this will be the 3 engine in this car and it pisses me off!
my service managers response to my problems is that i should have gotten the 3.5. but that wasn't an option for me at the time.
i would fight it and ask for a new car, but i cant get even close to the options and equipment thats in mine, the 2.5sl is no longer available in a 5 speed,
and if it wasn't a lease it would be on a ****ing used car lot about now.
i love the altima, it has great lines and fun to drive and it fits me like a glove, but this shitty quality is really pissing me off!
Originally posted by Slurppie How does pieces from the CAT reverse flow into the cylinders?
i got no freaking clue, on the 2.5's built into the headder is a "pre-cat) this is the piece that has been going bad, today i stopped by the dealer after hours cause i forgot something in the car and there was a mechanic still there that let me in, him and i got to talking. says the new imporved pre-cat shouldn't be a problem but out of curisoity i ask him if an aftermarket headder would be better cause there is no pre-cat. his response, was that you could do that but in the end you actually might be loosing power. he said that the 2.5's require a certain amount of back pressure to give it its high torq #'s. by putting on a stillen or hot shot headder your giving it too much of a free flow. he said lots of prople make the mistake that just because its louder they think it has more power. he said that the best option for an exhaust is a new resonator and muffler combo. by keeping the stock headder with pre-cat it keeps some of the pressure up by the engine but after it passes the pre cat its quickly removed by the "cat-back" exhaust
O.K. I was going say say a smartass remark and tell you to get a header and you wouldn't have to worry about the cat. The mechanic is WRONG. The header will help immensely. Some mechanics like to think they know everything even when they don't. Getting a header is only a plus.
What is happening to the catalytic converter is it is breaking apart and pieces are chillin in there. When you stomp on the gas the exhaust is being pushed out but when you let up on the throttle there is actually air getting sucked back up. With the broken pieces in there they are getting sucked up into the exhaust ports of the head and causing either damage to the cylinders or the valves. When we replace the exhaust manifold/cat, we are told to make sure we blow air into the ports to make sure there are no pieces sitting in the ports or head area.
People who have bought an aftermarket or Nismo header will never have this problem because there is no cat to come apart. I have unfortunetely had to replace a 2.5 in a Spec-V because of this. It had a nasty tick from cat pieces getting in there.
Sorry to hear about this. I have an idea. Since they are replacing the cat again, ask them the price difference to have them put in the Nismo header. There should be no labor since they're pulling off anyway under warranty and the price of the header is probably cheaper than the stock exhaust manifold with cat. You may come out ahead.
Your buddy, D.J.
p.s. I don't care for the title of this thread. It upsets me.
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93 NX2000 w/sr20ve
98 Frontier
Last edited by BORNGEARHEAD : Jul 28th, 2003 at 08:54 PM.
i have a new cat in there, the "up-dated" one as the mechanic said. so chances of getting a new one is quite slim.
D.J.
here is another question for you, im not sure if he was B.S.ing, but i was always led to believe that the warenty for the car is 3 years 36k miles. the mechanic said that if for bumper to bumper, but the drive train if warentied for 5 years 60k miles. is this true i didn't see anything like that in my paper work.
Originally posted by BORNGEARHEAD
p.s. I don't care for the title of this thread. It upsets me.
believe me i wish it hasn't gotten to this point, but this car is so much aggrivation.
at 5k the clutch went (i dont ride the clutch, either it wasn't set properly of the fuck who drove it from the dealer out east to the one by my house (57 miles away) road the clutch the whole way)
at 9k (xmas 2002) the engine was replaced cause the #2 cyl was over boared and i was getting piston slap. in march the crank sensor went on me. then the air bag clip came undone (had to take it in for that 2 weeks after the crank sensor) then a month ago the cat went, and now this, im getting aggrivated at constantly taking it in to the shop
The standard warranty is 3yr./36month bumper to bumper
5yr./60month drivetrain. It is a better warranty than most.
It worries me about all the quality complaints that I hear about with Nissan lately but it sounds like quality is down across the board, Honda, Toyota etc. I think manufacturers are sacrificing quality for cutting costs.
The early QR25DE (engine used in 02+ Sentra SE-R, Spec-V and Altima 2.5) do have problems but Nissan revised it after/around June 02.
The 02 Altima is a new platform and first year production do have more problems that later models. If you follow the newsgroups closely, most complains are on 02 models. Of course, Nissan do cut costs on the some areas such as interia materials so there may be rattles here or there.
I have my 03 Altima 2.5S for almost a year now and the only issue is the squeaky seat belt archor which is cured by a spray of W40.
Damn, when i started reading this thread i got worried seeing as though im in the market for a new Altima but it seems the 4cyl is the problem and since im looking at the 3.5 im not worried. But i still sympathize for all you with problems. But to make sure there arent 3.5 issues, right?
We haven't had any problems with the 3.5 I did have to overhaul a 5-speed trans from one though. The guy that owned it had to have beaten the shit out of this thing. I highly suggest going for the 3.5 5-speed.
While it's less common, I have a 3.5SE which is waiting for a pre-cat now after 3 weeks, and apparently I'll be waiting for another two. I was fortunate, my engine did not need replacing because I drive it hard and brought it back after a week of hearing the exhaust rattle like a tin can.
Funny enough, another 3.5SE and Maxima SE came in with the exact same problem the next week. My dealership is in awe. The other two gents waited too long, and their engines are in need of replacement.
And by the way, mine is a 2003 built in August of 2002, and shipped in September, so there are issues with the 6's as well.
Keep in mind, the 3.5SE only makes up about 20% of the Altimas sold.
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