2003 Nissan Altima

I WAS MAKING A LEFT-HAND TURN AT AN INTERSECTION AT 12:00 MIDNIGHT ON A SUNDAY AND DEPRESSED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL NEARLY TO THE FLOOR AND AS THE CAR DOWN SHIFTED, THE CAR LURCHED. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND IMMEDIATELY NOTICED THAT THE TRANSMISSION SEEMED CRIPPLED. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE HOME, BUT THE ENGINE WOULD NOT REV OVER 2300 RPM AND THE TRANSMISSION HAD A DIFFICULT TIME SHIFTING. WE TOOK THE CAR TO A NISSAN DEALER AND WERE TOLD THAT THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR HAD FAILED. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH, WE FOUND THAT THE FAILURE OF THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR ON NISSAN ALTIMA'S AND MAXIMA'S IS NOT UNCOMMON. THE REPAIR BILL WAS OVER $1300 FOR DIAGNOSTICS OF THE PROBLEM, LABOR AND PARTS. I AM EXTREMELY DISPLEASED THAT THIS ISSUE IS MUCH TOO COMMON TO BE OVERLOOKED AS BEING A RECALL ITEM. LUCKILY, THERE WAS NO TRAFFIC AROUND ME AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT, OTHERWISE, THERE COULD HAVE BEEN A CAR ACCIDENT AS THAT INTERSECTION IS A HIGH-VOLUME INTERSECTION.*JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THE VEHICLE HESITATED AND SUDDENLY STALLED WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE DEALERSHIP DETERMINED THE CRANK SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND REPROGRAMMED THE ECM. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE IN THE MAIL REGARDING NHTSA RECALL # 06V242000; ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING; CRANK SENSOR AND ECM; HOWEVER THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER DETERMINED THE VEHICLE'S VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE VEHICLE HESITATED AND LURCHED FORWARD AND THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT ILLUMINATED SOON AFTER THE ABOVE REPAIRS WERE MADE. THE CONTACT WAS CHARGED FOR THE ABOVE REPAIRS EVEN THOUGH THE RECALL NOTICE INDICATES THE VIN AS BEING INCLUDED. THE DEALERSHIP TREATED THE CRANK SENSOR AND ECM REPAIRS AS TWO SEPARATE REPAIRS, BUT THE RECALL NOTICE INDICATED THE TWO WERE CORRELATED TOGETHER AS ONE.

SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON ALL OF A SUDDEN WITH NO WARNING AND CAR STOPPED IN MIDDLE OF ROAD. I PUT IT BACK INTO GEAR AND STARTED IT AGAIN - IT DID THIS 4 TIMES WITHIN A 2 MILE RANGE. MY BROTHER PUT SOME TRANSMISSION FLUID IN IT WHICH SEEMED TO HELP A LITTLE BIT. LUCKILY AN AUTO PARTS STORE WAS NEAR BY AND I MADE IT OVER THERE FOR THEM TO RUN A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK ON IT. CAME BACK WITH BAD CRANK POSITION SENSOR. I FINALLY MADE IT HOME AND MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO GET IT SERVICED THE NEXT DAY. MADE IT TO DEALERSHIP WITH A LOT OF PRAYER BECAUSE IT WAS 15 MILES AWAY. I GUESS THE TRANSMISSION FLUID HELPED A BIT TOO. THEY REPLACED THE CRANK POSITION SENSOR AT $170 AND A WHOLE DAY OUT OF WORK. TODAY I GOT A RECALL NOTICE ON IT - 5 MONTHS LATER. YEAH. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS THE ENGINE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. AFTER THE FAILURE THERE WAS A COUPLE MINUTE DELAY BEFORE THE ENGINE RESTARTED. THIS ONLY OCCURRED DURING WARM WEATHER. THERE IS A NHTSA RECALL, #06V242000, REGARDING THE ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING. THE DEALERSHIP HAS NOT INSPECTED THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A SERVICE SHOP FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING HOWEVER NO CODES DISPLAYED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS ALERTED AND DETERMINED THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL DUE TO THE VIN

SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT CAME ON, ENGINE STOP WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING. THIS HAPPENED TO ME 3 TIMES, FORTUNATELY I WAS NOT ON THE FREEWAY. I KNOW THIS IS A PART OF THE RECALL ON ALL 2002 VEHICLES, RECALL DAY WAS NOV 04 2003. MY CAR IS 2003 BUT I BOUGHT IT ON NOV 15TH 2003. NISSAN SHOULD DO THE RECALL ON ALL 2003 ALSO. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO NISSAN DEALER, ON THE FIRST SERVICE, THEY CHARGED ME FOR $872.73, I TALK TO THE SERVICE DIRECTOR AND SHOWED HIM ALL THE DOCUMENTS ABOUT THE SAFETY RECALL, HE SAID MY CAR IS 2003, AND ALSO SAID THIS IS A DIFFERENT PROBLEM. I SAID OK AND PAID THE SERVICE BY CREDIT CARD. WHEN I BROUGHT THE CAR HOME, THE CAR WON'T LAST LONGER THAN 24 HRS, THIS TIME I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY WHILE EXITING THE FREEWAY, I AM VERY LUCKY I AM STILL ALIVE. THE SAME PROBLEM THAT HAPPENED BEFORE I BROUGHT THE CAR TO DEALER: SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, CAR STOPPED WHILE DRIVING WITHOUT WARNING. THIS TIME THE SERVICE DIRECTOR TOOK CARE OF THE PROBLEM BY FIXING THE PROBLEM THAT I SHOWED HIM ONE DAY EARLIER: THAT IS REPLACE THE CRANK POSITION SENSORS, CAMSHAFT POSITION, WHICH ALL INCLUDED IN THE RECALL ON 2002, NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER. THE WORST THING WAS THE DEALER TRIED TO CHARGE ME FOR 2ND SERVICE THAT IS ALMOST $300.00, I'M SO UPSET AND BRING UP TO THE SERVICE DIRECTOR, HE VOIDED THE CHARGE BUT STILL CHARGED ME FOR THE PART = $37.84 INCLUDES TAX. I'M IN THE PROCESS TO WORK WITH MY CREDIT CARD TO DISPUTE ABOUT ALL THE CHARGE. *JB