Sudden Dangerous Failure at the Highway, at speed...
My sister's 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE 1.8 lts suddenly turned off while
my sister was driving her daughter to school early this morning in one of the main highways here in Puerto Rico, at close to highway speed !
Fortunately, my sister and her daughter where not hurt at all,
but boy, what a scary experience according to my sister !
Your life is in danger if this kind of thing happens !
She pumped the brakes and the car never stopped, and there were
trucks coming from behind ! She managed to stop the vehicle because fortunately there was enough space to continue to drive and to move to the outside of the highway lanes, but it was an abrupt movement with no brakes !
In the confusion, she never used the emergency brake. This GXE is automatic.
According to the owner's manual, this kind of failure could easily be a safety
defect, and it clearly says not just to contact the Nissan dealer, but to contact also the National Highway Safety Administration and it was done. That agency phone number appears on the manual, and they took the information and are going to send my sister a few questionaries by mail.
The second problem was the attitude of some manager at the main local Nissan dealer. Not even after this kind of situation, the dealer's representative was talking about the fact that the basic warranty was expired and that the repair may not be covered by the warranty !!!
The car still has the 5 years, 60,000 miles warranty available, but even without that in case of a safety defect, the dealer and Nissan has to respond. I don't like the way this dealer handled this, but if it was to me I would have made a little scandal.
This kind of problem is a safety defect according to the owner's manual, and the dealer's representative never spoke about that first, and never told my sister's husband to call the National Highway Safety Administration. My sister's husband did made the phone call to the NHSTA after I insisted to him, showing him the Sentra's owner's manual information regarding that, where it is clearly written what to do in this cases.
My sister's husband also called Nissan Customer Service and explained the problem to them, and they agreed over the phone that this kind of situation is out of ordinary and dangerous. They told that Nissan has a local representative to address this problems.
I told my sister's husband to speak clearly to the dealer and to tell the NHSTA what the dealer told him, because I think the dealer was jumping the fact that this is probably a safety defect, and addresing the situation in a bad manner.
Nissan may easily have to pay for the fix and maybe it will imply a recall for the 2001 Nissan Sentra model year.
The car was left at for a 5 days stay at the dealer. As soon as I have more information I will post here again.
Thanks and good luck for the rest of the 2000 - 2004 Sentra owners.
They are going to need maybe more than that soon
Last edited by Pablo14 : Feb 25th, 2004 at 06:55 AM.
My sister's 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE 1.8 lts suddenly turned off while
my sister was driving her daughter to school early this morning in one of the main highways here in Puerto Rico, at close to highway speed !
Fortunately, my sister and her daughter where not hurt at all,
but boy, what a scary experience according to my sister !
Your life is in danger if this kind of thing happens !
She pumped the brakes and the car never stopped, and there were
trucks coming from behind ! She managed to stop the vehicle because fortunately there was enough space to continue to drive and to move to the outside of the highway lanes, but it was an abrupt movement with no brakes !
In the confusion, she never used the emergency brake. This GXE is automatic.
According to the owner's manual, this kind of failure could easily be a safety
defect, and it clearly says not just to contact the Nissan dealer, but to contact also the National Highway Safety Administration and it was done. That agency phone number appears on the manual, and they took the information and are going to send my sister a few questionaries by mail.
The second problem was the attitude of some manager at the main local Nissan dealer. Not even after this kind of situation, the dealer's representative was talking about the fact that the basic warranty was expired and that the repair may not be covered by the warranty !!!
The car still has the 5 years, 60,000 miles warranty available, but even without that in case of a safety defect, the dealer and Nissan has to respond. I don't like the way this dealer handled this, but if it was to me I would have made a little scandal.
This kind of problem is a safety defect according to the owner's manual, and the dealer's representative never spoke about that first, and never told my sister's husband to call the National Highway Safety Administration. My sister's husband did made the phone call to the NHSTA after I insisted to him, showing him the Sentra's owner's manual information regarding that, where it is clearly written what to do in this cases.
My sister's husband also called Nissan Customer Service and explained the problem to them, and they agreed over the phone that this kind of situation is out of ordinary and dangerous. They told that Nissan has a local representative to address this problems.
I told my sister's husband to speak clearly to the dealer and to tell the NHSTA what the dealer told him, because I think the dealer was jumping the fact that this is probably a safety defect, and addresing the situation in a bad manner.
Nissan may easily have to pay for the fix and maybe it will imply a recall for the 2001 Nissan Sentra model year.
The car was left at the dealer for a 5 days stay at the dealer. As soon as I have more information I will post here again.
Thanks and good luck for the rest of the 2000 - 2004 Sentra owners.
They are going to need maybe more than that soon
Good luck with the fix. Glad to hear no one was hurt. Hope that doesn't start happening everywhere with the newer sentras.
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02 Spec-v. Mods/Magnaflow exhaust, AEM CAI, NISMO Short shifter, WAL-MART seat covers. And street glow pedals.
Club MoFo DoDo
there's a national recall out for the crank position and cam sensors............here in the US, taht is. I assume the sensors are the same. You need to have your dealer call a dealer in the states and look into this recall. It sounds like your crank sensor went.
Take a look at the December 2003 Recall under B15 Chassis, this might have been your problem. I'm posting a little something I found out from the Service Manager at the dearlership I get my servicing done at.
Thanks estrauss11 and to the others who responded so far
I printed the information you provided as well as the recall info. posted under B15 chassis. We will go to the dealer today and my sister will have that info. on hand when talking at the dealer. Thanks again.
Last edited by Pablo14 : Feb 25th, 2004 at 07:36 AM.
I received a notice of recall on the ecu board. It had the same exact failures outlined and it was for the 2001 sentra's. There is a plastic lining around the ecu that shorts the ecu all together causing the car to turn off mid-drive. That definitley sounds like the problem you're talking about.
oakey66
__________________ 2002 GXE, HKS Sport Exhaust, Hotshot Cold Air intake, X3 Aftermarket Tails, Aerospeed 17 inch wheels, and a B&M shortshifter, UR racing pulley, and Hotshot Headers. Installed the Eibach pro-kit with Koni Struts. Glad I don't have a Honda. FOR SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted under Complete cars.
Take a look at the December 2003 Recall under B15 Chassis, this might have been your problem. I'm posting a little something I found out from the Service Manager at the dearlership I get my servicing done at.
We did more. When my sister's husband contacted the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration by phone, he forgot to mention we have access to the Internet. I found over the Internet the NHTSA web site and we were able to file the complaint over the Internet without having to wait for the documents sent by the NHTSA by mail, just a few minutes ago.
I took the information about the recalls you mentioned, took the NHTSA recall numbers and we make reference to those two recalls when we wrote the explanation of the incident involving my sister's 2001 Sentra GXE.
Both December 2003 recalls include the 2000-2004 Sentras and on both cases there is the possibility of having the car stop working while driving, with a possible crash as a result. We mentioned this in the complaint and sent the copy of the complaint by fax also.
Thanks for your help, to all of you
Last edited by Pablo14 : Feb 25th, 2004 at 08:32 PM.
We did more. When my sister's husband contacted the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration by phone, he forgot to mention we have access to the Internet. I found over the Internet the NHTSA web site and we were able to file the complaint over the Internet without having to wait for the documents sent by the NHTSA by mail just a few minutes ago.
I took the information about the recalls you mentioned, took the NHTSA recall numbers and we make reference to those two recalls when we wrote the explanation of the incident involving my sister's 2001 Sentra GXE.
Both December 2003 recalls include the 2000-2004 Sentras and on both cases ther is the possibility of having the car stop working while driving, with a possible crash as a result. We mentioned this in the complaint and sent the copy of the complaint by fax also.
Thanks for your help, to all of you
No problem. Did you see the notice for the recall that I had?
__________________ 2002 GXE, HKS Sport Exhaust, Hotshot Cold Air intake, X3 Aftermarket Tails, Aerospeed 17 inch wheels, and a B&M shortshifter, UR racing pulley, and Hotshot Headers. Installed the Eibach pro-kit with Koni Struts. Glad I don't have a Honda. FOR SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted under Complete cars.
No problem. Did you see the notice for the recall that I had?
Yes, I read yor message. I read the recalls information posted on the B15 chassis area. I think the one who started that thread copied exactly what the recalls actually say. My sister didn't received a recall notice, never.
Thanks
Last edited by Pablo14 : Feb 25th, 2004 at 08:43 PM.
Here is the take from the dealership.
1. Nissan is slowly sending out recall notices, due to the number of vehicles that have the 2 recalls. According to the Service that I deal with, and they don't want to swamp the Nissan Serivce Departments with over 200,000 1.8L Sentras.
2. On the ECM recall, The material for the ECM recall is a piece of foam, that has to be removed. I guess this was there to reduce shock or vibration. According to my service invoice.
3. Performace issues before and after the ECM Foam removal and crank sensor replacement
a. Upon flooring the gas, to merge into traffic around Washington, D.C. the revs would get to about 6800 -7000 and the auto tranny would take a second or so to switch in to the next gear. Problem sovled doesn't happen anymore.
b. Car shakes like the engine wants to stall at idle. Problem solved (whether the dealership raise the fuel mixure or it was due to the recall)
c. Overall performace: Almost drives like my 94 Sentra LE 1.6, now the 02 might be a little fast in accelleration.
Just my take on the problem.
(Also, I'll copy this post to the December 2003 recall notice.)
Eric
Here is the take from the dealership.
1. Nissan is slowly sending out recall notices, due to the number of vehicles that have the 2 recalls. According to the Service that I deal with, and they don't want to swamp the Nissan Serivce Departments with over 200,000 1.8L Sentras.
2. On the ECM recall, The material for the ECM recall is a piece of foam, that has to be removed. I guess this was there to reduce shock or vibration. According to my service invoice.
3. Performace issues before and after the ECM Foam removal and crank sensor replacement
a. Upon flooring the gas, to merge into traffic around Washington, D.C. the revs would get to about 6800 -7000 and the auto tranny would take a second or so to switch in to the next gear. Problem sovled doesn't happen anymore.
b. Car shakes like the engine wants to stall at idle. Problem solved (whether the dealership raise the fuel mixure or it was due to the recall)
c. Overall performace: Almost drives like my 94 Sentra LE 1.6, now the 02 might be a little fast in accelleration.
Just my take on the problem.
(Also, I'll copy this post to the December 2003 recall notice.)
Eric
An update from the thread starter.
My sister's 2001 Nissan Sentra was serviced at the main local Nissan dealer here in Puerto Rico.
After saying that the repair will not be covered by the warranty, they said it was covered due to a recall....late but they rectified.
They replaced what they called the ignition module. The service invoice do not talk about that, but that is what they said. The air conditioner repair it requires, under no warranty because the car has more than 40,000 miles, is suppose to be completed tomorrow.
My sister is a little scare using the car, not knowing if the problem will appear again and put her life and the life of her daughter in danger again, or anybody else life because on a crash even a stranger inside the car may suffer or another vehicle's driver and passangers.
Thanks, and good luck to all the owners out there of 2000+ Nissan owners
and to the rest too
Last edited by Pablo14 : Mar 4th, 2004 at 10:42 PM.
The main local Nissan dealer received the car for a second time because it suddenly turned off again on March 8 !! After the dealer returned the vehicle the first time and said it was o.k !!
This time my sister was again driving its 2001 Nissan Sentra through an intersection at about 15 mph because she was coming from a red light, when suddenly the car turned off again by itself in the middle of a city road full of vehicles !
The car was towed inmediately to the dealer and fortunately nobody was hurt, and you won't believe what the dealer representative said...You know I mentioned that the dealer never wrote on an invoice any description of the job performed to correct the problem...why? Because nothing was done the first time, that is why ! They were unable to see the problem during the 5 business days stay at the dealer, so they just returned the vehicle.....exposing my sister's life and the life of her daughter, and the lives of any passenger in the vehicle or in other vehicles in case of a crash, which is possible because of the kind of failure that took place at speed !!
This second time they put in writing that they replaced an ignition module, but what the other recall says about foam material inside the computer unit box was not corrected, because according to the dealer that does not apply to this Sentra.
My sister, her husband and everybody here were amazed that the dealer wanted to finish with this quickly, without checking everything carefully before returning the vehicle, and this "job" was performed in less than 3 hours. Because on this case the safety of the Sentra's users is in danger and no one could assure us that the problem could not happen again, my sister stopped using her 2001 Sentra. Remenber that this main local Nissan dealer returned this Sentra after a 5 business days stay and said it was repaired, withou any kind of written confirmation about what was done. When your life is at risk due to a safety problem, is obvious that is not the way to handle the situation.
So, my sister's husband visited the local department for consumer affairs here in Puerto Rico, an office that performs a similar function to the one the Better Business Bureau does, and they said that a complaint proceeds and it was done.
In this case, the safety of my sister and her daughter was at risk, the dealer returned the vehicle saying it was repaired and it was not, exposing my sister again to another possible accident the second time the vehicle failed on an intersection, which could have been on a highway again, and do you think is fair and wise to take the word of the dealer because they wrote the second time on an invoice that the repair was done, instead of keeping the vehicle until the repair was properly done since the first time when the Sentra failed on the highway? The dealer was irresponsible in this case. What are they going to do, wait until a real crash accident occurs with someone hurt, or worse?
We also contacted again the NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and filed a second complaint because the same dangerous sudden failure happened for a second time to my sister. We did this following the instructions on the warranty booklet of the Sentra, which are parts of the owner's manual documentation.
The other problem my sister has is that her husband is paying $349 a month for a vehicle that nobody can honestly certificate that is safe to drive again. What if you use it, believing the dealer who performed the job in the way I described, and you have an accident, or maybe, if a fatal crash occurs? No money from a lawsuit could really repair the damage. So my sister will probably contact a lawyer soon because this doesn't sound any good.
Nissan should make a very careful inspection of this vehicle, probably with a Nissan engineer, before returning the vehicle and saying is safe to operate, and everything must be in writing, not like the dealer did the first time !! Because of that, I think a lawsuit proceeds. What the dealer did is not the way to handle this kind of problem.
The dealer also said at first, they didn't have information about the recalls, but the second time they showed a Nissan bulletin dated December 19, 2003 about the recalls !! They knew, and the owners do not know more than 3 months after, here in Puerto Rico !!
I will post another update as soon as I have more information, but in the meanwhile if you have any information you think it might help, I welcome your comments.
Thanks for reading, and I wish you better luck with your Nissan
than the one my sister has !
Last edited by Pablo14 : Mar 9th, 2004 at 08:14 PM.
she should have gotten something in the mail notifying her of the recall, if her car was included.....I did and most others involved in the recall have.
this recall was announced Dec 10 or 11th... i got my notice yesterday and i live in the lower 48! nissan is slowly rolling this one out, if you didnt know about the recall b4 hand, she may not have recieved her notice yet...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by apachewoolf
pssst yo token . your not black any more...there is no man
Sudden Dangerous Failure at the Highway, at speed...
