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I noticed in the spring and summer my gas mileage got much better because I am not using the heater and the engine is not as cold or extreme temperatures.
Brought my NAH in for 7500 service and this issue. They were actually to reproduce and car didn't want to start at all in their shop :lemon: They provided me with a loaner and fixed the issue. Hope it won't return.
Problem is that several mechanics, including an NAH certified dealer, have told me that it isn't throwing any codes and they don't see anything wrong with it. Even put it on the rack and looked from the bottom.
The heat (judging from the heat, some smell, and a wisp of smoke that came out for a while the first time this happened and I wasn't watching for it) seems to be coming from the drivers side of the engine compartment, closer to the firewall than than the front, and from down low enough in the guts that I can't see where it is coming from.
Any ideas?
ps: I also religiously check my tire pressure(cold) at least once a month setting it @ 35psi .
Units can cause such confusion Imperial gallons vs US gallons even Octane units. But for Octane the US and Canada and Brazil are on the same page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating . I often say that we are lucky here in the U.S. to have relatively low gas prices compared to Canada and way lower than Europe. I the most I see around here is $4.43 per gallon (Thank goodness it is the tiny US gallon which is only 83.3% as large as one of your UK gallons......so that $4.43 would be $5.32 if our gallon was as big as yours). But this price is for 93 Octane. I can only imagine what you would pay for 93 Octane if you pay $6.44 for 87 Octane. I am kind of scared to go back to 87 Octane though given that my car spent a month in the shop (at Dealership) in Dec 2009 to Jan 2010, only to have to return to the shop for the carbon build-up bulletin in January 2011. I visited Vancouver in 2008..... what a beautiful city! I love Montreal also (where I did my Ph.D. at McGill) living in either of those cities might take the sting out of the high gas prices.
I drive conservatively, trying to keep the engine speed low so that the oil film on the cylinders and bearings is not wiped away. Below a certain point, this means no metal to metal contact and no wear at all. I don't know what this speed is now in piston travel in feet per minute. Materials and oils are very good these days.
I use the recommended 0 - 20 oil, which means Mobile 1 Synthetic. I have been changing oil at 7,500 miles but am considering going to 10k or 15k after I verify that this won't affect my warranty. Oil life is mostly based on the heat history the oil sees, since heat shortens the molecule chains and weakens the oil film. Conservative driving reduces engine heat and synthetic oil is more resistant to breakdown. My dealer gave me three free oil changes and I have only used two so far. Eventually, I will probably change oil myself. Walmart sells Mobile 1 for less than $30 for 5 quarts. I can change oil in less time than the drive to the dealer.
I have had no problems with the noises that some of you seem to have had. It must be a limited problem, but certainly serious for those who have it. My car was rated 33/33 MPG. I have averaged 41 in the summer and 34 in cold weather. This is based on actual fuel used and odometer readings. The gauge reads a bit higher MPG. I have checked my odometer and it is a little slow. 8 miles reads 7.7 miles, for example, so my actual MPG is perhaps 3 % higher.
I am puzzled by the comments about the need for higher octane. Octane is the resistance to ignition. High compression engines heat the fuel mixture more in the compression stroke and can reach temperatures that will cause the mixture to ignite before the spark hits it. Higher octane prevents this I don't believe there is any other difference. I suppose that enough carbon in the cylinders will reduce the size of the head/cylinder chamber and increases the effective compression ratio, but this would be a result of carbon and not a cause. This used to result in knocking, but modern engines have knock sensors and retard the spark when this happens, so all you get is a tiny reduction in maximum power under full power conditions. Whatever is causing carbon to build up is certainly not something I can understand..
Thanks to some of the comments above, I understand that in cold weather the engine will run more to maintain a suitable temperature, and run even more to heat the car. This will certainly explain some or all of the cold weather drop in mileage.
So far, my car is entirely satisfactory. I hope this continues and I hope that those of you having trouble reach my trouble free situation soon.
Thanks in advance!
When I first posted this I thought it might be the transmission. Since then Nissan has replaced the transmission under warranty (it threw a code) but the problem has persisted. So now I feel it is narrowed down to the cooling system. Radiator, thermostat, pump, fan... something like that. Any insight? Can anyone point me to where the thermostat is and how I take it out so I can test it?
On the invoice of June 11, 2013 a notation that I was advised that Nissan recommended 0W-20 oil is to be used. This car has always been serviced at Porreco Nissan and we assumed that they were following Nissan service recommendations On July 5th, unable to understand how a problem with the head could cause the car to shudder and shake, I joined the Nissan Forum. I discovered that the Nissan Altima Hybrid did indeed have a problem and that Nissan had been aware of the carbon buildup in the head. Nissan has redesigned the head to correct this problem and has, according to one post, issued a bulletin (NTB10-056a) regarding this issue.
Nissan has now denied warranty service on my car claiming that although I had alerted the dealership of a problem early in 2013 and had a service done on 3/12/13 to address the problem, within the warranty period, they will only offer a 50-50 split on costs for replacing the head because it was out of warranty when the problem was found by the dealer. My share would be over $1786.00.
The issue found was the same I had complained about within the warranty period and therefore should be covered by the warranty especially because of the fact Nissan was aware of a problem, apparently had issued a service bulletin and reengineered the head and related parts.
I have been very vocal on my praise of Nissan and the service at Porreco Nissan to all my friends but now will encourage them to be aware of Nissan’s shortfall in providing warranty coverage. I will be buying more new cars and had been considering a new Leaf but will have to place more weight on how Nissan honors their warranty when I make those purchases. Ford Motor Co. has begun making changes in their hybrids at no expense to their customers, as goodwill, maybe something Nissan should consider if they want to maintain or expand their customer base.
I had the same issue occur with my 2004 Lincoln Aviator (did I say Lincoln Continental?) and I was 2000 miles over the warranty at 52,000 miles and Ford refused to pick up 100% of the cost. Like the Nissan Altima, this was a known problem with the engine with a TSP bulletin published by Ford. I took the matter all the way up the very corner office at Ford but since they were hemorrhaging cash at the time, they picked up only 2/3rd's of the cost. I had the engine repaired, drove it for another 25K miles and sold it. After 5 Ford's in a row, I bought another brand (Lexus). They lost a customer and I now tell EVERYONE I meet including senior executives of Ford, how they screwed a long term customer with a known problem and I walked from the brand. Have you ever seen a red faced executive almost cry?
I would suggest several things. The dealer usually has a $1000 per incident slush fund that they can apply to a customer like you (reimbursed by Nissan). First call the Nissan zone office, tell them you will file a complaint with National Highway Traffic Safety Board (which you can do online). Tell them you will blog this Nissan customer failure everywhere on the Net including Facebook and Twitter if they do not fix the problem at their expense, and that you will tell every person you come in contact with about this Nissan customer failure.
If they fix the known problem, they keep a customer. If not, they will lose hundreds!
I tried to work with Nissan Customer Support to no avail, wrote Nissan Corporate and was referred back to customer support. Leslie their customer representative called and said that Nissan agreed with her conclusion that the car was out of warranty and not covered. This is the start of my campaign advising that, from my experience, Nissan does not stand behind their warranty.
My next move is to contact the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office to file a complaint.