2003 Nissan Altima

THE CAR WOULD QUIT RUNNING AND WAS HARD TO START BACK. IT ALSO IDLED VERY LOW. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, THE CODES READ THAT IT WAS THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. THE SENSOR WAS REPLACED THREE TIMES AND THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTED. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE SAME PROBLEM FROM NHTSA RECALL 03V455000, BUT IT DOES NOT COVER 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA'S. THE PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN FIXED YET. *TR

MY CAR QUIT FIRST TIME IN A PARKING LOT WHEN MY 93 YR. OLD GRANDMOTHER WAS WITH ME AFTER THAT IT HAS QUIT ON ME TWICE IN THE MIDDLE OF BUSY TRAFFIC. THE CAR JUST QUITS WHICH COULD CAUSE A MAJOR ACCIDENT. THIS CAR NEEDS TO BE RECALLED PERMANENTLY TO GET THEM OFF THE ROAD. THE MANUFACTURER AND DEALERS WILL NOT FIX REPAIR WITHOUT CHARGING. THIS IS A CONTINUOUS DEFAULT IN THE MANUFACTURING OF THIS CAR. REPLACING SENSOR WILL ONLY WORK FOR A LITTLE WHILE AND THEN IT GOES BAD. IT IS A MAJOR DEFAULT IN MANUFACTURING OF THE 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. *TR

ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO WE BEGAN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT COMING ON IN THE VEHICLE. WE TOOK IT IN TO OUR LOCAL MECHANIC SEVERAL TIMES AND HE COULD NEVER FIND ANYTHING WRONG. JUST RECENTLY, WE ALSO STARTED HAVING TROUBLE GETTING THE CAR TO START. WE HAD THE BATTERY REPLACED. LAST WEEK, WE WERE DRIVING AT A LOW RATE OF SPEED IN THE ATM LANE AT THE BANK AND THE CAR JUST QUIT. ALSO, WE STOPPED TO GET GAS AND COULDN'T GET IT STARTED AGAIN. WE TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACED THE CRANK ANGLE SENSOR. FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN, THIS HAS BEEN UNDER RECALL FOR MANY OF THE 2003 2.5L ATLIMAS, BUT I WAS TOLD MINE WAS NOT UNDER RECALL. I HAVE ALSO SEEN ARTICLES WHERE OTHER ALTIMA OWNERS ARE IN THE SAME BOAT AS I AM - THEY ARE HAVING THIS ISSUE, BUT ARE BEING TOLD IT IS NOT UNDER RECALL. THE INCIDENT DATE I LISTED BELOW IS THE DATE THAT THE CAR STALLED TWICE. *TR

VEHICLE DEVELOPED DRIVE-ABILITY ISSUES, ROUGH IDLE, STALLING AND ODD SMELL FROM EXHAUST. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A PRIVATE REPAIR SHOP AND WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A MISS-FIRE CODE. DEC 06, SERVICE LIGHT IS BACK ON AND VEHICLE IS RUNNING ROUGH, STALLING AND HARD STARTING. SCANNED SYSTEM AND CODE P0507 (IDLE SPEED) WAS PULLED. WAS ADVISED TO TAKE CAR TO NISSAN DEALERSHIP TO HAVE A RELEARN PERFORMED ON THE COMPUTER. DEC 14, 2006, VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LITHIA NISSAN, PROCEDURE WAS PERFORMED AND SENSORS WERE-CALIBRATED. RECOMMENDED A THROTTLE BODY BE REPLACED (COST $800). VEHICLE RUNNING ROUGH, SERVICE LIGHT ON AND STALLING ARE OCCURRING AGAIN. SCANNED SYSTEM, CODE P0302 MISS-FIRE CODE ON CYLINDER #2, CODE P0420 CATALYST EFFICIENCY LOW BANK 1. REPLACED THROTTLEBODY PER NISSAN RECOMMENDATION. NOV 02, 2007 ENGINE LIGHT ON, VEHICLE RUNNING POORLY, HARD STARTING AND STALLING. WAS INFORMED BY REPAIR SHOP ABOUT POSSIBLE RECALL ISSUES RELATING TO VEHICLE. CONTACTED NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS AFTER READING ABOUT RECALL FOR 2002, 2004-2005 VEHICLES SIMILAR TO MINE WITH SAME PROBLEMS (REFERENCE #5962832 & 6071239). TALKED TO REP ABOUT THE RECALL AND THE ISSUES WITH MY 2003 ALTMAN 2.5L AND WAS BASICALLY TOLD TO TAKE VEHICLE BACK TO DEALERSHIP TO HAVE ANOTHER SCAN DONE. FEB 9, 2008 VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LITHIA NISSAN TO RUN A SYSTEM SCAN. AT THIS POINT THE VEHICLE IS RUNNING POORLY, HARD STARTS, STALLING, ROUGH IDLE. DEALERSHIP PULLED FOUR CODES, P0420 CATALYST BANK 1, AND P0335CKP SENSOR, P0302 CYLINDER 2 MISS-FIRES AND P0725 ENGINE SPEED SENSOR. WAS INFORMED THAT THE CATALYST IS BAD AND COULD NOT ONLY BE CAUSING THE MISS-FIRE CODE BUT MAY ALSO RUIN MY ENGINE. ALSO THE CRANKSHAFT SENSOR IS BAD. APPROX COST OF REPAIR, $1000. I CONTACTED MATTHEW AGAIN ABOUT THE RESULTS AND WAS TOLD THAT DUE TO NOT HAVING THE VEHICLE REGULARLY MAINTAINED AT A 'NISSAN' DEALERSHIP, THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO TRACK A MAINTENANCE RECORD AND THAT THEY WERE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT MY CAR. *TR

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS, MY CAR WOULD NOT START THE FIRST TIME I TURNED THE IGNITION. ON 3/21/08 MY "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT CAME ON. I BROUGHT THE CAR IMMEDIATELY TO MY MECHANIC AS I HAVE A 60 MILE RIDE EACH DAY. WHAT HE FOUND AFTER TESTING WAS THAT MY ENGINE CRANK ANGLE SENSOR WAS FAILING. HE CALLED AND ADVISED ME TO BRING THE CAR , A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA , TO MY DEALER RIGHT AWAY AS THIS WAS A SAFETY HAZARD. THE GOOD NEWS WAS THE SENSOR WAS PART OF A 2006 RECALL CAMPAIGN #R0606 AND THAT MY VIN FELL WITHIN THE RANGE OF THE VIN'S LISTED ON THE REPORT HE HAD OBTAINED ON ALLDATAPRO.COM. WHEN I CALLED THE DEALER HE AGREED THAT THIS SHOULD BE REPAIRED IMMEDIATELY. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO MY DEALERSHIP KELLY NISSAN, LYNNFIELD MA. WHEN THEY LOOKED MY INFORMATION UP ON THE COMPUTER IT DID NOT INDICATE THAT MY CAR WAS PART OF THE RECALL. I SAID I WOULD TAKE THIS UP WITH NISSAN N. AMERICA AND TO PLEASE GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE WITH THE REPAIR. THE COST TO ME WAS $180.96. ON 3/24/08 I SPOKE WITH TWO INDIVIDUALS AT NISSAN N. AMERICA REGARDING MY BELIEF THAT I SHOULD BE RE-IMBURSED. THE SENSOR WAS PART OF A SAFETY RECALL, MY CAR FELL WITHIN THE RANGE OF VIN;S LISTED ON THE RECALL REPORT AND THE PART HAD FAILED. THEY COULD NOT GIVE ME A REASONABLE EXPLANATION AS TO WHY I WAS NOT ELIGIBLE. I WAS SUPPOSED TO HEAR BACK FROM SOMEONE FROM NISSAN WITHIN 24 HOURS, THIS HAS NOT OCCURRED AND I'M NOW TURNING TO YOU FOR INTERVENTION ON MY BEHALF. THE PERSON I SPOKE TO AT NISSAN N. AMERICA WAS A SHANNON MCQUIRE EXT. 41643, MY FILE # IS:6092073. I AM GRATEFUL FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THIS MATTER. THANK YOU! *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. AFTER BEING PARKED FOR APPROXIMATELY HALF AN HOUR, THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO START THE VEHICLE, BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE CRANK SHAFT SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT WOULD LIKE NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 03V455000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING) TO INCLUDE HER VEHICLE AND RECEIVE REIMBURSEMENT. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 69,457 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 64,132. UPDATED 07/07/08.*LJ UPDATED 07/03/08.

MY 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA HAS A FAULTY CRANKSHAFT SENSOR. THE VEHICLE HAS STALLED AT LOW SPEEDS AND IT HAS RESULTED IN A MINOR ACCIDENT. AFTER TAKING IT TO THE DEALER FOR THE REPAIR I WAS TOLD THAT ALL NISSAN WAS PREPARED TO DO WAS RESET THE ECM. HOWEVER, THE DEALER TOLD ME IT WAS A FAULTY CRANKSHAFT SENSOR WHICH NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THAT RESETING THE ECM WOULD NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. THE DEALER ALSO INFORMED ME THAT THERE WAS AN OPEN RECALL ON 2002, 2005 AND 2006 CRANKSHAFT SENSORS. THAT IF MY NISSAN WAS A 2002 IT WOULD BE COVERED UNDER THE OPEN RECALL WHICH WAS EXPANDED ON NOV. 21, 2007. HOWEVER, SINCE THE RECALL DOES NOT COVER 2003 ALTIMAS. *TR

I OWN A 2.5S 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA WITH JUST OVER 90,000 MILES. MY SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT WENT ON, I LEARNED I NEED TO REPLACE MY CATALYTIC CONVERTER. IN DOING SOME RESEARCH, I LEARNED SEVERAL OWNERS OF A 2002 AND 2003 2.5S ALTIMA HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AND ALSO REMEMBERED A RECALL I HAD DONE WHEN THE CAR WAS NEW INVOLVING THE PRE-CATALYST. IT SEEMS NISSAN HAS A MAJOR DEFECT WITH THIS CAR AND THIS SPECIFIC ISSUE OCCURRING SHORTLY AFTER THE 80,000 MILE COVERAGE HAS ELAPSED ON THE EMISSIONS SYSTEM. IN CALLING NISSAN ON THIS I WAS TOLD SORRY YOU ARE OUT OF LUCK. I EXPECT SOME LEVEL OF SUPPORT FROM A CAR MANUFACTURER WHEN THERE ARE SEVERAL REPORTS OF THE SAME PROBLEM FROM SEVERAL OWNERS AT THE SAME MILEAGE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ISSUED A RECALL ON THIS 5 YEARS AGO. *TR

STARTING IN DECEMBER 2007, MY 2003 ALTIMA (MANUFACTURED IN NOV 2002) BEGAN TO FREQUENTLY STALL AND STOP RUNNING WITHOUT WARNING DURING VEHICLE OPERATION AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS OR ON STOP. INITIALLY THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT MOMENTARILY TURNED ON WITH EACH EPISODE AND TURNED OFF AFTER RESTARTING THE ENGINE, BUT AFTER ONE OF THE EPISODES IT PERMANENTLY REMAINED ON. THE PROBLEM WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE ENGINE POWER WITH DIMINISHED ACCELERATION. THE OBD 2 SCANNER READ THE PROBLEM AS "CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR". THE LOCAL NISSAN DEALERSHIP BOTH REPROGRAMMED THE ECM AND REPLACED THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR AND CHARGED ME FOR THE AMOUNT OF 270 DOLLARS. THE CAR DOES NOT STOP ANYMORE BUT THE ENGINE PERFORMANCE HAS NOTICEABLY DIMINISHED. *TR