2000 Nissan Xterra

IMMEDIATELY AFTER I EXITED MY BUILDING GARAGE AND MADE RIGHT TURN ON CITY STREET ON A CLEAR SUMMER DAY AFTERNOON THE ENGINE SOUND BEGAN ROARING AND VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATING. I TRIED TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE FORCIBLY HITTING ON THE BRAKES, SHIFTING GEARS TO NEUTRAL, TURNING OFF THE ENGINE BUT THE VEHICLE KEPT ON GOING AND RAN-AWAY UNCONTROLLABLY TILL I MADE TWO LEFT TURNS AND ENDED UP ON A SIDE WALK WITH THE REAR TIRE BLOWN OUT AND THE CAR STOPPED AFTER COLLIDING WITH SOME PUBLIC UTILITY BOX. THE VEHICLE HAS INCOMPLETE RECALL #R0402 AND NHSTA RECALL #04V-230 REGARDING THE FUEL SENDING UNIT. THERE WAS A LOCAL POLICE REPORT #200057082. SUSPECTED CAUSES COULD BE FLAWS IN THE VEHICLE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM THAT PRODUCED FAULTY SIGNAL OF FULLY DEPRESSED ACCELERATOR PEDAL.

ON SATURDAY I SMELLED A BURNING SMELL WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY BUT IT WENT AWAY QUICKLY AND I COULDN'T FIND ANY SOURCE IN THE VEHICLE, SO I ASSUMED I JUST DROVE PAST SOMETHING THAT SMELLED BADLY. ON SUNDAY THE SMELL RETURNED, STRONGER. I STOPPED AND SHUT THE ENGINE OFF, AND SMOKE BEGAN POURING OUT FROM UNDER THE LEFT SIDE OF THE DASH AS I RAN TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY. ONCE THE SMOKE CLEARED AND THERE WAS NO CONCERN OF A FIRE BREAKING OUT I BEGAN TO INVESTIGATE THE CAUSE AND FOUND THE "SMART ENTRANCE CONTROL UNIT," WHICH IS MOUNTED TO THE FAR LEFT SIDE OF THE VEHICLE UNDER THE DASH AND CONTROLS THE POWER LOCKS AND KEYLESS ENTRY, TO BE NOTICEABLY HOT. I UNPLUGGED THIS BOX AND REMOVED IT FROM THE VEHICLE. THE BOX HAD HEAT VISIBLE DAMAGE ON ITS EXTERIOR. I OPENED THE BOX TO INVESTIGATE FURTHER AND FOUND A LARGE ELECTRICAL COMPONENT THAT I BELIEVE WAS A METAL OXIDE VARISTOR WAS THE SOURCE OF THE HEAT/SMOKE/POSSIBLE FIRE, AND NEARBY COMPONENTS SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT HEAT DAMAGE. I THINK THAT THIS CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF A COMPUTER MODULE MAY BE A SAFETY DESIGN FLAW. IF I HAD NOT BEEN AWARE OF THE ODOR AND PULLED OVER AND QUICKLY DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY, THE VEHICLE COULD HAVE CAUGHT ON FIRE. THIS COMPUTER IS POWERED EVEN WHEN THE VEHICLE IS TURNED OFF, SO IT COULD HAVE STARTED A FIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND CAUSED A HOUSE FIRE AS WELL. I CHECKED EVERY FUSE IN THE VEHICLE AND ALL FUSES ARE THE CORRECT AMPERAGE (NOBODY HAS INSTALLED A HIGHER CURRENT FUSE IN PLACE OF A LOWER CURRENT ONE). IT WOULD SEEM LIKE THE CIRCUIT PROTECTION IS INADEQUATE TO INTERRUPT POWER TO THE COMPUTER IF IT FAILS. MY POWER LOCKS/KEYLESS FUNCTIONED UP UNTIL THE INCIDENT AND THE CAR CONTINUES TO OPERATE WITHOUT THE KEYLESS ENTRY COMPUTER. THE COMPUTER'S PART LABEL READS AS FOLLOWS: CONT ASSY'SMART ENTRANCE PART NO. 28595 7Z000 UTA PART NO. 601-1190-001 FCC ID: KOBUTAHZR

I STARTED THE CAR THIS MORNING. THE ODOMETER, TACHOMETER AND SPEEDOMETER DID NOT WORK. THE ODOMETER WAS BLANK. I DROVE THE CAR AND THE SPEEDOMETER OR TACHOMETER DID NOT WORK. THIS SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME AT NIGHT, ABOUT A YEAR AGO. THE PANEL LIGHTS ALSO DID NOT WORK. THE NEXT DAY, EVERYTHING WORKED FINE. IT DID NOT CORRECT ITSELF THIS TOME. THE INSTRUMENTS ARE STILL NOT WORKING.

OUR 2000 XTERRA HAD BEEN FAIRLY RELIABLE UNTIL IT DIED OUT ON THE HIGHWAY. REPLACED THE DISTRIBUTOR 3 MONTHS AGO, AND IT DIED OUT AGAIN WHILE DRIVING, LAST WEEK, AFTER HAVING YET ANOTHER DISTRIBUTOR PUT IN. THE MECHANIC SUGGESTED THAT THE NISSAN-ISSUED RE-BUILT DISTRIBUTORS ARE THE PROBLEM. HE'S NOW PUTTING A THIRD ONE IN, BUT HE'S GETTING IT FROM A DIFFERENT SOURCE THAN NISSAN. I WAS STUNNED TO KNOW THAT NISSAN KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM BUT STILL SELLS INFERIOR PARTS. THIS IS NOTHING TO FOOL AROUND WITH AND I'M LUCKY THAT I DIDN'T CAUSE OR GET INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. *KB

2000 NISSAN XTERRA 2WD VEHICLE. SECOND OWNER. OWNED FOR 6.5 YEARS. NO MODIFICATIONS WERE MADE TO VEHICLE BY EITHER ORIGINAL OWNER, OR MYSELF. ONLY DEALER INSTALLED OPTIONAL COMPONENT WAS A TRAILER HITCH. CAR TRAVELED LESS THAN 1000 MILES IN LAST CALENDAR YEAR. ON DATE IN QUESTION, CAR WAS STARTED AND DRIVEN AT 8:00 AM APPROXIMATELY 5 MILES TO A PARKING DECK. CAR THEN SAT IN PARKING DECK UNTIL 12:00 PM. CAR WAS THEN DRIVEN BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL ORIGIN AND PARKED BY APPROXIMATE TIME OF 12:30 PM. SHORTLY AFTER 9:00 PM, CAR WAS BELIEVED TO BE SOURCE OF IGNITION WHICH RESULTED IN A HOUSE FIRE AND DESTROYED HOUSE STRUCTURE, AS WELL AS FOUR OTHER VEHICLES. CAR WAS INVESTIGATED BY FORMER CHIEF ARSON INVESTIGATOR FOR ATLANTA, GA. HIS DETERMINATION AS TO SOURCE OF FIRE WAS WIRE HARNESS INSIDE XTERRA. BELIEVED TO BE A CASE OF A CONTACT REMAINING LIVE AND STARTING A FIRE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE CONSOLE SHIFT LEVER AND BEHIND THE CENTER OF THE DASH. CAR COMPLETELY DESTROYED- LITERALLY. VIN UNKNOWN INFORMATION RESIDES WITH INSURANCE COMPANY. *TR

WHEN THE DASH OF THE VEHICLE GETS HOT, SUMMERTIME, OPERATING THE HEATER IN THE WINTER OR WHEN THE DASH LIGHTS ARE ON, THE GAGE CLUSTER FAILS. THE SPEEDOMETER, TACHOMETER, FUEL AND TEMP GAUGES ALL FAIL. THE ENGINE WILL SUDDENLY HESITATE AND NOT MAKE ENOUGH POWER TO MAINTAIN SPEED. SHIFTING INTO NEUTRAL AND REVVING THE ENGINE WILL GET THE POWER BACK, BUT THE GAUGES WILL NOT WORK UNTIL THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER IS COOLED. *TR