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Nissan Frontier: Problems & Solutions
Hello Nissan owners, If you have a S/C Frontier pickup truck and you here a KNOCKING noise from the engine. Your going to be replacing your s/c. I just bought this new 2003 Frontier truck, I have 3000 miles on the on it , and I hear this KNOCKING noise from the engine. It starts to make this desil engine noise from idle to about 1700 rpm. some times its loud and some times its faint to hear. Well I thought it still might be braking in so I drove it for another 1000 miles and still hear it . So I went to my dealer and they said its a KNOWN problem & their going to replace the S/C unit. Boy was I pissed.Has anyone had this problem.They say the rotors are not matched up to each other, and they bined under a load. Have fun with this big $$$$ item. I wish I could get rid of this truck. I'm stuck with it for 5 years.
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Pit
tranny fluid on the ground last weekend. We were
lucky we weren't killed as we were headed onto the
interstate for a snowy, chains required nighttime
drive over 7500' mountain pass (Donner Pass I80
CA).
Towed into a dealer, they say 'some clamps
which hold the tubes open were left in at the
factory so the tranny cooler tube detached from
the radiator. We checked - there's no tranny
damage.'
I saw ALL the fluid on the ground (what didn't
turn to smoke/burn on contact with the car) I
also saw smoke coming out of the back, sides and
front of the truck as I pulled over. I also saw
the tube detached from the radiator.
I *don't* believe that _any_ tranny (auto
especially) can run w/o fluid.
Nissan USA offered $30 for a rent-o-car for ONE
day ("customer satisfaction - you didn't buy
an extended warranty").
Thoughts on what to do? I believe, minimum, the
tranny needs to be replaced - but a replacement
truck isn't out of the question in my mind (only
1500 miles on it). Hard to see how this vehicle
meets the obligatory warranty of 'merchantability
and fitness'.
Should the dealer have checked these clamps/
connections before delivery? Seems like it to me.
I drove(?) a FIAT for a couple of years - which
friends laughed got excellent gas mileage - on the
back of the tow truck - feeling like this will be
a lemon.
Loosing transmission oil suddenly can indeed damage your transmission - it depends on how quickly you caught the problem and how quickly the oil was dumped and how long you drove with low oil or no oil in the transmission.
It is sad that dealers do not do better job preparing new vehicles for sale. If they had inspected the truck properly, they would probably have found the problem. I sometimes wonder if they even drive new cars before sale - maybe in the dealer's parking lot. If they properly inspected new vehicles and took them was a test drive and inspected them again prior to sale, problems like you experienced could be avoided. I turned away in disgust when I test drove two brand new Nissan Maxima SE (03 models)and both had vibration in the steering wheel and on one of them the hood bounced up and down like it was made of rubber. So much for pre-delivery inspection. And these were $ 29K sticker cars. I would have bought one of these cars if I was impressed with the test drive.
My advice is - if you can trade the truck in and talk the dealer into selling you a new one for minimum difference, go for it. Trucks generlaly have very good resale value and dealers can sometimes sell slightly used trucks for more than they can sell a new one.
Believe it or not, this is actually a better situation than running a auto transmission low for many miles. Since it dumped all the fluid you quickly got to a point where there wasn't enough fluid to operate the transmission. If I guess right, it just suddenly started slipping and you quickly realized that something was wrong and you came to a stop.
I would bet that there was probably no damage. In most transmission designs there is always some fluid left in the clutch cavities if pressure is lost. Intermittent slipping for a period of time is more damaging.
Let them repair it and refill the transmission. Drive it hard for a while, then decide whether to explore going further.
I hope everything works is okay. That's a shame on a new truck. At the very least I hope they clean up the underbody for you.
Best regards,
Dusty
Packed up the truck bed and cab with stuff and the family. Had bed
load covered with a tarp and a bungie net (prepared for a 250 mi
drive over Donner Pass in CA (7400 ft)). Also had chains on board,
as chain controls were required on highway (I-80 Reno NV ->
Oakland CA).
Just filled up the gas tank and was making the turn to the highway
ramp and noticed smoke coming from the rear of the truck. Assumed I
had gotten a bungie too close to the exhaust and so pulled over
immediately (after the stoplight turned green).
After pulling over there was smoke coming from the rear, sides and
the hood. Popped the hood and saw a ton of fluid on the ground -
turned off the engine. Now parked in the breakdown lane of the on-
ramp (lucky it happened at this place, lucky to have a breakdown lane
on the ramp, lucky it didn't happen in the snowy mountains, lucky
to be alive). AAA sent a tow truck VERY QUICKLY and got us out of
there.
It wasn't too difficult to find the loose hose in the engine
compartment. Red fluid on the ground probably meant tranny fluid.
This truck has always shifted hard - but I have seen many complaints
about the Nissan automatic so I assumed it was normal.
Can't say how long it had been leaking, but I did pull over very
quickly after it started smoking.
Spoke to the selling dealer - he said a few interesting things: 1)
when they do warranty work they do the maximum, as it maximizes
their billing and profit. 2) As they didn't repair the car he can't
talk to the tech to find out if there's any question on the tranny.
3) I should call Nissan and ask for a tranny replacement or an
extended warranty on the drivetrain (100k miles). He says they prefer
the extended warranty in these cases. [I have called Nissan cust svc
and await their reply.] 4) Checking hoses and clamps is NOT part
of pre-delivery inspection - they just check fluids and safety
equipment (this from dealership manager.).
If Nissan does give the extended warranty and I have no more problems
with this truck - I'll live with it. Else I have a prepaid legal
plan which I will be using. [I have to believe this incident will
reduce the resale price of the truck, aside from the risk to life
and limb.]
I'll note this was 4PM on Sunday and Reno Nissan was open - but
helpless (hopeless). On Monday I had the truck sent to Carson City
Jeep/Nissan (35 miles further away), as Reno Nissan was STILL
hopeless when their service dep't opened. Carson City Nissan was
awesome - they sent a flatbed, and gave me priority service.
Honestly, I chose the Nissan-only store first over the Jeep/Nissan
store, but boy was I wrong.
Before this incident I had nothing but good things to say about the
truck. It was a good value, not a speed demon (4cyl w/ auto) but
sufficient for around town, and usable for driving up mountains as
long as one uses momentum to advantage. Now the jury is out.
Once I have resolution on the tranny replacement/ext warranty
question I'll be writing a letter to Nissan documenting the
whole affair. I have NEVER experienced such a major failure
on an automobile regardless of age, make or country of origin.
This incident was at 1507 (one thousand five hundred seven) miles.
I would have happily brought the truck in for a 1000 mile service/
oil-change but none is required and my hometown dealer confirmed
they don't want to see it until 3500 (3750?) miles.
Truck is still sitting at repairing dealer as I'm 250 miles away,
waiting for Nissan's answer, and need to carve out the time for the
500 mile round trip.
thank you
Mrshiftright
Host
srl99: Can you let me know how you made out with your problem? I did not see any tranny fluid but I am not the most mechanical person in the world either but know what the fluid looks like. If you would like to email me directly my email is rgfb@capital.net
My prior 1998 Nissan 4x4 four-wheel drive cut out alltogether in its third year (did not work at all).
I am drawing the conclusion it is bad engineering and am quite frankly disgusted with it. Just when you needed in snow it does't work. This is the last Nissan Pickup I bouught.
Anyone please comment with Nisssan Pickup four-wheel drive experience. Good or Bad.
All the fluid was pumped out of the tranny - smoke was everywhere - we were stuck at the side of an onramp on a snowing winter day about to climb a mountain pass with chains on.
What's Nissan USA customer satisfaction's resolution after 4+ weeks? Refill the tranny fluid, put the hose back on, have a nice day. "You should've bought an extended warranty".
Yeah - no kidding - but what I REALLY should've bought is a Toyota.
The repairing dealer determined there was no tranny problem - by driving it less than one mile? Good trick (dumped fluid at 1507 miles on odo, picked up at 1508 miles).
There's no tranny damage? - so what's the cost of Nissan giving us an extended warranty? If the risk is zero - they'll have zero extended warranty claims - right?
Anyone want to bet on whether the car we buy next summer will be a Nissan??
NHTSA and lemon law case here we come!
--Sam
One word of caution though: Tires! My truck used 255x65x16 tires. When the original tires wore out, I replaced them with Michelin Cross Terrain tires. These tires will not work with most of the Nissan vehicles. They vibrate and handle poorly. Michelin replaced them with LTX tires and that solved the problem.
The knock and vibration is given Nissan's standard reply of it's "normal." Yet the dealer mechanic did compression tests on it and found it "out-of-spec", removed the heads and had to clean casting debris that shouldn't have been there...still is there as well as the knock. Then told it was normal.
The vibration went from brakes to shocks to seperation of welds on front bumper mounts back to the ABS controller. Now normal as well. The vibration is caused when the ABS actuates and does a self test!!!! Well for as many self tests it does (atleast three-to-five daily), it shouldn't lock up when it's needed most, which it has.
The real problem, just before my hearing, the brakes actually began to drag, wouldn't release. this accured at just 4000 miles. A different dealer had to adjust some sensor after the dealer I purchased it from finally had enough of my complaints and said it's not their problem, talk with Nissan USA (Yea right!!!). It continued and had to have the master cyl, rotors, pads, calipers replaced from the damage and still didn't know what caused it and still the brakes don't work right. (see above) They've begun to get worse and I won't even drive the thing in the rain anymore. (Which sucks since I live in FL)
I'm at my wits end with Nissan Service and this truck. It sucks because I really like it aside from the problems. (I waited just so I could get the long bed cc). Now I wish I would have bought a Toyota!!! Anyone with a suggestion for my case or having similiar problems, Please let me know!!!
lemmonnissan
For you with a Nissan PU: you made a good choice. Just be prepared to lay out a couple of grand for a tranny at some point in its life. (Still cheaper to keep her than pay 30 grand for a new truck and $1500 a year in insurance). I hope this comforts y'all somewhat. Could be worse: it could be a Dodge Ram auto tranny that has an expected MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of about 50K miles. Hemi power and tranny weak.
SC CrewCab 4WD LongBed. Imagine the sound you would hear if : You took a metal coffee can ;
placed a single marble in it and while holding the can in you hand , you made a slight rotating
motion to get the marble to spin around the can's
wall at about the 1/2 way mark. THIS is the sound I hear from my engine compartment when :
driving @ 2000-2500 rpm and pushing the gas pedal
(sound disappears immediately when you let off the gas while in the rpm range described. In other words , sound heard only UNDER Aceleration
in the 2000-2500 rpm range. Occurs more often than not , but not always.And occurs more frequently in cold weather. Any ideas ?
George in Bristol,CT
Christmas. After driving her about 200 miles, I encounter the engine stall problem. Every time, I make a stop at traffic light or stop sign, the idle speed needle drop below 0.5 (500/rpm) and then go back to normal (about 0.7). If I make a hard stop, the engine is also stop. I would everyone opinion before I bring the truck to Nissan dealer this coming weekend.
My question is has anyone out there towed this vehicle (The manual says to never tow with the wheels on the ground). And if so let me know the problems you had if any.
The truck has been great since I have owned it I have the Long Bed and it provides everything I want in a truck. This is the 3rd Nissan Truck I have owned and I'm expecting the same outstanding service from it that I received from my other two. They were a 1967 and a 1995. Both very good trucks.
The paint on the lower portion of ALL 4 doors has an "orange peel" finish. The dealer gives me a pat answer "they are all that way, because Nissan paints that portion of the door heavier" (for protection against chipping). My comment was that heavier paint does not equate to "orange peel". He blew me off and said call 1-800-NISSAN1. I looked at other vehicles at my dealership and saw the problem, but there was no consistency. About that time I took a trip and looked at vehicles at dealerships in other states and again "hit or miss".
I called Nissan North America and although the rep. was friendly enough, I could tell he didn't understand the problem. I have a "problem number", but nothing was happening. I wrote a letter and was finally contacted again.
I was asked to go to a second dealer. I have not been there yet.
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Dusty
I have looked at various Nissan trucks and the intensity of this conditions is certainly not consistent. I don't know that is really a problem, I just don't like the run around and vague answers. When I contacted Nissan North America, they had no idea what I was talking about. If this is an actual intended condition, I would think they would/should know. Also, I have not seen any reference about this condition in any literature/stories/reviews.
We have owned 8 Datsuns/Nissans starting with a 68 2000. Currently we have a 91 Stanza, a 2000 Xtera and the 2003 Frontier. This is the first time I have seen this on any of the vehicles.