Nissan Armada Brake Problems
portman200
Member Posts: 2
in Nissan
My Armada has about 65K miles on it and I bought it with about 40k 2 years ago. Last week I noticed a decrease in brake performance and squeaking from the front end. I looked at the rotors and found a deep gouge in the drivers side rotor and waves in both rotors. I started looking online for replacement brakes and came across a company who sold performance brake parts.
I tow our 30' camper with a Blue Ox weight distributing hitch and it has plenty of power and stops ok (I think the trailer brakes worked the hardest). Since the rotors need replacing I have decided to go with dimpled and slotted rotors with premiume pads on the front and regular pads on the rear.
Has anyone converted to drilled and slotted rotors or installed a trany cooler on this vehicle to assist with towing?
I tow our 30' camper with a Blue Ox weight distributing hitch and it has plenty of power and stops ok (I think the trailer brakes worked the hardest). Since the rotors need replacing I have decided to go with dimpled and slotted rotors with premiume pads on the front and regular pads on the rear.
Has anyone converted to drilled and slotted rotors or installed a trany cooler on this vehicle to assist with towing?
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I too had this problem 72hrs after purchasing an 04 SE Off-Road Armada with 20k miles.
The braking system ceased to work while traveling on a heavily populated street, luckily there was a turning lane that gave me adequate room to stop before reaching the intersection. Symptoms: Brake peddle fell to the floorboard, grinding was felt and heard, dash brake light came on. It felt like the brake pads fell off the calipers and the calipers and rotors were rubbing against each other to stop the truck, which didn't happen. I had roughly 20% braking power, compared to normal, when this occurred. I came to a stop on a side road, read the owners manual concerning the dash brake light. The manual advised me to check the break fluid, and if full, take to a NISSAN dealership. Therefore, I brought it to a NISSAN dealership immediately. Within 10mins a mechanic noticed the upgraded braking system was already added to the truck before I purchased the vehicle. Therefore, their approach to fix the problem was reprogram the VDC control unit.
Here's the info from my work order receipt:
Reprogrammed VDC Control Unit
(Reprogrammed VDC As Per Bulletin NTB06-040)
Fail Code: 32
Nissan Bulletin NTB06-040
It's been over 2 weeks now and the brakes are working normally. Hopefully, this is the real brake fix! I will keep everyone posted if something changes.
It has been quite a few months now and the brakes are working great. It took Nissan quite a while to find the problem but I think they finally solved it. Glad it worked for you too.
-mike
-mike
PS: I tow 10,000lb trailers on a regular basis and after they fixed the brakes it's been 100%
http://www.nissanhelp.com/
Five weeks later, while backing out of my driveway, the brake pad feel off. Obviously, I was not going back to that dealership. My neighbor who works at a local garage offered to do the brakes so I would not have to have it towed. Turns out, the rotors were so warped and the pads so low, the pad slipped right off. In addition, the caliper on the side that the brake feel off of, was leaking profusely. So I had to replace pads, 1 caliper, and the rotors.
I was so angry, I contacted Nissan. They asked for copies off all receipts saying I had a good case to be reimbursed, After about a month, they called denying the claim based on the notes from the dealership. The dealership claims the brakes were just worn out. I don't believe normal wear and tear to the point of the pad falling off at 25K so I escalated the decision to a supervisor. I contacted the repair shop who did the brakes to let them know what was going on and they told me that they still had the rotors there. I contacted Nissan and they told me to take them to another dealership to be evaluated. I did that and the second dealership said that yes, indeed, the rotors were severely warped, contradicting the first dealership's notes.
I was told they were taking this new information to the regional parts manager for a decision. I also had to fax them my work order from getting the new brakes done. I was informed yesterday that I was being turned down to be reimbursed because they replaced the brake pads. Their theory is that the pads were so worn due to my neglect, they warped the rotors.
Where do I go now??????I will get an attorney as a last resort. I want this rectified ASAP. My lease is up in February. Any suggestions as to whom I can contact now? Thanks!
As for the leaking caliper that should be covered.
The problem I see here is if you get a lawyer, how much will it cost you to get a lawyer, only to recover at most $1000?
-mike
They told me that the brakes were worn within normal range. I don't know, maybe I am being unreasonable but I don't think 25K is alot of miles. I had a Pathfinder before this and I never had to have the brakes replaced. Yes, I am aware that the Armada is a much heavier vehicle but I am also aware that they put Frontier brakes on the which is a 3000 pound heavier than the Frontier. There is so much on line about how the brakes put on especially the 2004 Armada, were undersized. As it was explained to me, the brakes are too light weight for these vehicles which causes the pads to wear quickly. All of the excessive heat due to stopping causes the judders, ie. the rotors to warp. In addition, they will not even reimburse me for the caliper which was $500.
Unfortunately I think that you are SOL on this one, (if I'm getting the story straight) because the dealer told you to replace the pads, and you didn't, this then led to a failure of a component which would normally be covered under warranty had it failed but because you failed to replace the pads, the caliper broke.
As for the "weight" of the vehicle. I regularly tow a 10,000lb cigarette boat trailer with my 2004 Armada. I have never had problems with my brakes, after they performed the TSB brake upgrade (larger rotors, pads and brackets) even one time when the brakes failed on my trailer, I had to tow it about 500 miles on the highway using only the Armada's brakes.
25k is a bit short, but like any first year build vehicle, there will be glitches, the 04 Armada happen to have this one. If you aren't ready for small glitches like this, I'd suggest you buy mid-life cycle vehicles in the future, cause no matter what brand you buy if it's a "new" model it'll have issues on something.
Below is a pic of my boat and Armada.
If you haven't had the rotor and pad and caliper bracket upgrade, you should definitely do it.
-mike
-mike
Your boat is awesome! I am not showing this picture to my husband. He is dying to get a boat. What year is you Armada? Did you lease or buy?
As far as the caliper leaking, the repair shop that repaired the brakes said the caliper was leaking for a considerable time. I was told by a service specialist that Nissan extended the brakes warranty to 36K miles. found out yesterday that that is not true. Nissan extended the brake warranty to 36 months.
Thanks for the compliments on the boat! You can see more pics at http://pbase.com/paisan/boat2007 I tagged a log in the Hudson last sept and it looks like my boat will get totalled or close to it. I think I'll be replacing it with a Center Console boat with Twin 250s or 275s.
-mike
With my previous truck, the Pathfinder, I took a 3 year lease and had no problems with it ever. With the Armada, I took a 4 year lease and probably should have extended the warranty. My lease is up on Feb 27th. I don't know if I am going to get another one. I really do love the truck except for the payments..........
The boat would be my husband's dream. He just said last night to my 6 year old, that he wanted to get a boat next summer. He goes to all of the boat shows in Atlantic City, and then comes home and shows me all of the boats and prices. Pretty steep!!!
Thank you and good luck with your new boat. I will let you know when Nissan makes a decision.
The Armada has had major front brake issues since 2004. If the Nissan rep is not trying to help and you have not caused any damage to the system other than Normal wear? Contact a lemon Law attorney for Breach of Warranty it does not cost you anything for a consultation. If you are found in the right the attorney fees are paid by Nissan.
Thank you and good luck with your new boat. I will let you know when Nissan makes a decision.
Perhaps he'd like to buy my boat? I tagged a log last sept and I may have to sell it since it's got a hole in it Only kidding about him buying it, it'l probably going to be totalled.
I hit up all the boat shows too. I'm going to the NY Boat show in Dec/Jan.
Last year we were supposed to go down and do an overnight to Atlantic City but never made it down. I spend most of my time boating on the Hudson/NY Harbor and Barneget Bay.
If he ever wants a ride next summer, let me know, it sounds like you guys are in NJ which is were I spend most of my time.
-mike
I immediately called the consumer line in Tennessee and was assigned an executive specialist who says they are re-evaluating the file. She was down right nasty. She basically told me that no matter what, my warranty was up if only by 2 weeks. My gripe is the truck has such low mileage they could have given me the brake job.
Yes, we do live in New Jersey. Blackwood to be specific which is about 45 minutes north of AC. My husband loves to gamble so we go down a few time a year.
Reason # 1: The truck is oversized for it's brake rotors & pads. They fail about every 4 or 6000 miles. The rotors must be replaced or "turned". This is something that should naturally occur in about 100,000 miles.
Reason # 2: The ABS system fails without warning.
Reason # 3: The Vehicle Skid Control takes over and starts steering the vehicle by activating the brakes (to steer the car). This can as has caused loss of control on busy streets.
DO NOT BUY THIS VEHICLE, IT IS A LEMON. FAIR WARNING
-mike
Motorsports and Modifications Host
I have an '04 with the same problems that everyone has mentioned. I read your post - what did the brake "upgrade" consist of for your vehicle? My truck is obviously out of warranty but I need to have something done to fix this problem. I really do not want to get rid of the truck, I love it otherwise!
Kelli
Did you get any resolve, please share so I can follow suite, thanks. Anyone else with recommendations please join in (name of a good lawyer is also welcomed)!
so i guess i need to find someone that has had the system replaced and how they went about doing it.. i love my truck.. but I LOVE MY LIFE MORE!
I did notice that when my pads went low that I started getting an ABS and Brake lights (forget which 3 they were on the dash but more than just the usual brake light that comes on when the pads go low) and once I swapped the pads to new Akebonos they have been fine since.
-mike
Mike