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IMO, there is no good reason to do this on a modern engine. You can just switch to synthetic at the first regular oil change. On some cars like Hondas and VWs, the manufacturer insists that you not do the first change until 5 or 10k miles.
And it shouldn't affect the warranty as long as you do the regular chagnes every 7500 miles during the 5/60 powertrain warranty. Bottom line is, I would bet money to almost anyone that you will not own the car long enough to have engine trouble due to lubrication problems.
I am just a little dissapointed by the build quality of the car. There was a plastic piece that was not even snapped in on my door, near the handle. Im just wondering what else they forgot to do.
Im seriously considering buying the factory backed warranty. The dealer quoted me an exorbitant price of 1450 dollars for a 6 year 100K warranty. Please post what others were able to get.
But overall, I like my altima
Here is my other dilemma. We have 97 Altima - great car. 86,000 miles - no problem so far -none.
My wire wants 2002 Honda Civic - I want 2002 Altima 2.5 S . You know it's hard to fight with the wife - but what argument could I possibly use to persuade her to go with me on the 02 Altima 2.5S ?
One more question: is 97 Altima equipped with timing belt or chain ? Also what is recommended mileage for transmission oil change, what type of transmission oil is recommended ?
Thank you very much
Here is the question: since I've mislpaced the Manual - I don't know what kind of transmission fluid to buy, and what quantity.
Can someone help ?
mmr3,
Is everyone okay?
As to causation: Was the road wet? Any oil or other debris on the road? Did the car act "twitchy" before the accident? If the car fishtailed, the rear wheels lost traction. I would look to something that could have caused that to happen. Were they under/overinflated? Parking brake or disc brake sticking?
1. At 65, 2500rpm, the car has a high pitch whine coming from the engine. Has anyone experienced this?
2. There is a definite whine when she rolls up the windows.
3. When she takes off, similar to Max's issue, her car shifts hard, but not all the time.
HELP!!!!, Please
They are looking into it in my wife's car. They gave me another Altima as a loaner and that noise is not there, or not as loud. Also, the windows do not make as much noise when they roll up and down, my wife's car does. They are working on it. My wife was so upset, she wanted her old car back.
Since it's summer, the car is not getting overly cold so I'm worried that something may not be getting lubricated correctly. Has anyone encountered this problem or heard about a TSB on this?
Any info will be greatly appreciated.
As of now, all the computer models, etc. are within specs. I think I will be getting the car back today. I will see how things go, but the Altima loaner that they gave me (and I will drive one of the cars on the lot today) does not make that noise. I also talked to them about putting in a booster or something for the horrible reception, but they say there is not much they can do for that either. My wife is hoping for the lemon law to kick in, but I doubt it will. Just some kinks to work out.
Not yet. I will be taking it back on Saturday and riding with the tech and service rep again.
I have driven a few other Altimas and I do not hear this whining. They say that all the tests show that things are working to "factory specs", but I do not believe that. The sound is hard to describe, but I will try. There is a whine coming from the right side of the engine (if you are in the driver seat facing forward). It sounds like the engine is trying to shift gears and running at a lot higher RPMS than it actually is running. It is one of those sounds that just sticks in your head and won't go away, even with the radio on.
I am upset that the dealer told me he rode in the back seat of the car, yet when I left yesterday, it had the same amount of miles as when I brought it in. They were running tests on machines. He should be calling Nissan today, and if things do not move along, I will be calling 800 Nissan1 to speak with someone too.
I continue to push the "worst case scenario" issue and they will not even talk about it or a possible new vehicle. In the mean time, I am greatly inconvenienced and will be paying a car note soon for a car that is not in my possession. It is as if I were divorced and my wife took my car, but I still have to make payments and deal with the headaches of the vehicle.
The dealership is ordering a new radio for me and the window noise problem is suppose to be fixed -- I haven't had a chance to drive the highway yet.
My question is what else can I expect from Nissan? I've owned Honda and Ford before and never expeirenced this?
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Thanks.
I took my car to Academy Nissan in Colorado Springs. Hope that helps.
Since the belt is one of the few things out of warranty, I find his diagnosis dubious. We'll see what they say when they call me back, but at 16,000 miles, that belt should have plenty of life and I certainly don't intend to replace it every year and a half.
This has me a little perturbed to say the least. He of course tried to pitch an unnecesary 15,000 mile service for $299. Why should I pay them that much to look at the brake pads and hoses? It's a complete rip-off. If I wanted to put that much money into a car every 15,000 miles, I could have bought a used car with 100,000 miles for around $5k.
Because the tech guys could hear the noise, but could not figure out what the problem was, and the fact that the car had not formally been titled, the Sales manager went ahead and got us a new car. We picked it up yesterday, and after a thorough test drive, bought it. It is exactly the same as our old car, except they will have to add the spoiler at a later date. He had offered me any car out of his inventory that was the equivalent. Of course, we wanted to make sure that we received the same color, so he had to do a dealer trade. With that, we had to pay $150 for the trade. A small price to pay to have a new car and have one that does not have any trouble...so far
One thing that I did was hit them from all sides. I put friendly pressure on the service guys. I called corporate. I wrote a nice letter of fact to the sales manager. He could have left us out to dry with the service group, but I reminded him over and over that he promised 100% satisfaction and we ultimately received it.
I hope that my wife can finally grow into the car. She is so used to a Honda that she is having trouble with the "normal" engine noise of the Altima. It is growing on her, and soon she will be converted.
Thanks for everyone's input!
Two codes:
P0325 for "Knock sensor" fault and
P1336 for "Crank position sensor" fault.
I asked them to clear the codes and took it to my mechanic. He suggested to replace only the "Crank position sensor" because the "Knock sensor" only senses of any "ping" or "knocking" sounds coming from the engine.
Along with that - he replaced spark plugs, distrib.cap, took apart and cleaned EGR, air filter. Paid $380 (including dealers computer scan).
And happily got in the car to take it home. And "yes" on the first intersection - the "Check Engine" light CAME "ON" again !!
Went back to the mechanic - he suggested to put "Octane Booster" and "Fuel Injection Cleaner" and drive it for 3-4 days - the light should go "OFF".
Should I believe him ?
And what could be the problem if not that ?
Thank you
Yes, as of yesterday I poured bottle of "Octane Booster" + " STP "Fuel Injection Cleaner" + filled her up with 91 octane gasoline.
Also, instructed my wife to drive with "OD" (Overdrive) on "OFF" position, so the car would only run on 3 gears (it's an automatic transmission).
Hate to say, but I might be looking at Toyota Camry (1999-2000) or Honda Civic 2001 (we'vd had Honda Civic before - and were pleased with it)>
After all this Altima only has 86,000 on it.
===========================================
You won't be hurting my feelings! Good luck, whatever you decide.
The tech checked and said it was the battery. $165 later it appears to be back to normal.
This is my first Nissan and am quite surprised and troubled of this problem.
Any similar problems????
My mechanic told me my chain is O.K. - so what could trigger the "Knock" sensor ?
Thank you
The knock sensor is what prevents the engine from pinging or detonating if the octane of the fuel is too low. It retards the timing of the engine to prevent knock, so it's possible that low octane fuel or a gummed up fuel system could cause some sort of fault there, hence the recommendation to try some fuel system cleaner and octane booster. Bad wiring to the sensor could also cause a CEL. Other than that, I don't know... Good luck!
No, I did not. But I do have an appointment with my mechanic on Fri. He told me - he could not scan the codes, but he could cancell/delete them.
For now I am driving to empty the tank filled with "Octane Booster" "Fuel Injector Cleaner" and gasoline of 91 octane.
I really thank you for your help.
I will share my experience as soon as the light goes out - hopefully soon.
Thank you
04 Altima 2.5S with just over 5000 miles since Feb.
I never noticed any fluid. It by no means was a gusher. Never any abnormal temp indications or puddles, or big loss of fluid. They pointed it out to me. If you look around the "lip" of the radiator all around the top, it had a crusty line on it. It was some sort of seam/seal at the top bad.
My belt had to be replaced after a year and a half and 15,800 miles. The dealer indicated that this is covered for one year or 12,000 miles. The warranty that is available on their website does not indicate this exclusion.
Nissan's stance so far is that it is completely routine for this belt to need to be replaced at this point. I've had cars where the serpentine belt has lasted 80k or 90k miles no problem. As a matter of fact, I haven't talked to anyone who had to replace this belt so early.
I feel that the belt wore prematurely due to either an alignment problem or poor materials. If anyone out there has had an experience where this part wearing out this quickly is routine, please share your experience with me. Since the warranty does not list this exception, I feel that this should be covered under the 5/60 warranty.
This is how I test the "peppiness" of the engine - I accelerate to 45 mph, then apply the brakes to about 10 mph - then hit the accelerator and see how car pulls out. Camry is sluggish, although on a straight road pulls O.K.
Altima takes it all.
2 Things. Where do you buy Dynamat, and where did you put the Dynamat to damper some of the engine noise?
Worse yet all air passes heater core and produces 12-15 deg above outside air temp at all time. No way to turn heat off.
On 70 deg day incoming air is h4eated to 85 deg so you have to turn a/c on!!!
Nissan engineering sucks!!!