Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager problems

carzzz · December 2004

Just wondering the best way to defrost side windows for 1st gen (96-98) Quest?
I have try using heat and a/c combo still, the frost is still on the all 6 sides windows, it really give me a hard time to check the bindspot!
The front and the rear windshield are fine because of the heater!

THanks
Carzzz

stever · December 2004

Electrical problems can be hard to trace; I'd ask around locally for someone who's good at finding wiring problems so you don't spend a ton of money trying to diagnose the problem.

You may want to check out this archived discussion too:

Grounding Kit

Steve, Host

stever · December 2004

Any luck with the bulb, Sopman?

Anyone with a pre-'99 Quest that can help with the timing belt, heater and defrost questions (and any others we missed)?

Steve, Host

charles15 · December 2004

What type of commercial coolant should be used to top up the coolant in a 99Quest? I am sure that I should not have to purchase a Nissan brand coolant.

I have mentioned before here that I have a very slow loss of coolant that the dealer has not been able to trace. Seems to only occur in the winter when I run my heater so it must be related to the heater core.

Just though someone may have the same problem and or can recommend a coolant type. Prestone?

kymike · December 2004

I had a slight coolant leak on my '99 Villager that I could not locate. I would have a few drops on the ground after the car sat out overnight, but no loss while it was running. Turned out to be a hose clamp that was not fully tightened. The hose would shrink with the cold temps and then swell back up when the engine was running. The leak was on the passenger side up near the firewall.

The bad thing was that when the dealer fixed this, he must have dislodged a vacuum hose for the cruise control. It took me about nine months to finally locate and reconnect that hose.

dhoff · December 2004

This is just a guess. I once had a car that was constantly needing new bulbs. Headlights, taillights, brake lights, dome lights... I must have replaced every bulb in that car two or three times. Then at around 90,000 miles the alternator went out.

I had it replaced, and had the car for another 60,000 miles and never replaced another bulb. As it turns out, the voltage regulator was built into the alternator and obviously wasn't working right. This is something a mechanic should be able to check out in your case. Definetly worth checking before you get a new van.

Dave

dhoff · December 2004

The timing belt is located under a cover in the passenger side of the engine. It's not too easy to get at, though there are shade tree types that have changed it themselves.

Dave

stickguy · December 2004

I have a '99 that just turned 6 YO. So far, I replaced one of the high-mounted brake light bulbs, and I think that is it. You definitely sound like there is a problem someplace, and electrical/grounding issues can be a bear to track down. You want a good person on the case.

I got 30K IIRC on the original front pads. I think the OEMs are kinda soft. I put on upgraded aftermarket pads (Raybestos(?) quiet stops I think), and at 54K they seem fine.

wtd44 · December 2004

Thanks for sharing your personal experience with front brake pads. I think I'm ready for doing the same change out in a few thousand more miles. It'd be nice to be able to wait until spring, but I'll do it after not much more pad thickness is lost. Your info was the last little bit I needed to set my course.

corsicachevy · December 2004

My 2001 Quest SE turned 60,000 over the Thanksgiving weekend. Thus far I have replaced the tires, lubricated the front stabilizer bar bushings and replaced a tail light. That's it. Surprisingly, my brake pads look like they still have about 10,000 miles left on them.

There are two annoyances that I have not addressed: the steering wheel mounted volume control sometimes inadvertently changes the radio station and the plastic "chrome" coating on my interior door handle (driver's side) has started to peel.

toomanyfumes · December 2004

My 2001 Villager also has needed a tail light, I've lubed the stabilizer bushings, and it needs tires. 34k on mine. No other problems. Oh yeah, I did clean the throttle body to cure a rough idle.

toomanyfumes · December 2004

after reading that the oem pads don't last long, but I checked them about a month ago and they look fine. Mine sees mostly city driving,too.

dhoff · December 2004

I've posted this in the brake forum, but just in case I'll post it here too. I got about 50,000 miles on the first two sets of front bake pads. I recently replaced them with Satisfied Pro Ceramic pads with new rotors from Tire Rack. I would not recommend these pads at all. I may have to bite the bullet and replace them with Raybestos Quiet Stops, or back to OEM pads. There are really noisy at low speeds (not squealing but groaning) and have coated the front wheels with a layer of BLACK brake dust that I find much more noticeable than the reddish color the stock pads produced.

I have about 125,000 miles on my 99 Quest. I had a coolant leak repaired and the rear hatch struts replaced under warranty. Had 1 ball joint replaced and accessory belts at around 60,000, two sets of tires, blower motor resistor twice, driver window switch once, new spark plugs around 100,000, belts, water pump, cam seals & coolant just done. Cleaned the throttle body a bunch of times. I also replaced one taillight and 4 stop lamp bulbs, and the front parking light bulbs. That's all I can remember, I'm sure there's been a couple of other things.

My tach is stuck, some instrument cluster lights are out, and the steering wheel volume "up" switch most times changes radio stations or advances tracks on CD's. Also, I have a small coolant leak that's been there for a long time somewhere under the intake manifold. Haven't bothered getting it looked at.

Not as reliable as I had hoped, but all in all not too bad. Fingers crossed, I want it to go another 80,000 or so before it gets replaced.

Dave

fialamom · December 2004

First, I want to thank you guys for replying to my complaint. I will talk to a mechanic and see what he thinks. I have felt a slight hesitation in the engine once in a while also, so I'm still thinking of getting something else, but will get a diagnosis first. Hopefully I wont blow another light in the meantime....

dsoltero · December 2004

I smell exhaust fumes inside my 1995 Quest GXE.
Any ideas. I've tried playing with my air cond. / heater panel controls.. fresh air etc. still smells. THANKS D.Soltero

stever · December 2004

Sounds like it could be a cracked exhaust system. You need to get to a mechanic ASAP to rule out carbon monoxide poisoning. Even small amounts of CO are unsafe.

It could be an oil leak dripping on the exhaust or a bad rear hatch gasket letting exhaust fumes in, but don't ignore it.

Steve, Host

brekal · December 2004

I am new to this format, and am especially interested in a previous post by corsicachevy. You described a steering feel of "notchy" just off center when turning the steering wheel, and my 2002 Villager has started with this same sensation. Ford seems baffled. How did you end up solving this problem, or did you just accept it. I drove one other Villager of a similar make and model that exhibited the same sensation, although much less pronounced. My brother has a 2000, and I asked him about his, and it did not show that behavior.

To clarify, what I notice is that as you turn the wheel gradually back and forth, you feel that notchy or jerky feel as though power assist is swiching rapidly in and out, or changing effectiveness.

I would love to hear more about this.

Thanks for any discussion you may provide.

fialamom · December 2004

hi, I'm back..... Last night while at my daughters basketball game every other parent came in to tell me my alarm was going off non stop. I had locked my car, but this is just another problem that just popped up. It took me MANY times of pushing my unlock key for it to finally unlock without locking again instantly. Could all these problems be connected? Looking under edmunds.com, these vans are highly unrecommended.

I wish I found this site before I bought.

dhoff · December 2004

If you haven't already, try posting your problem in: Electronic Gremlins: Electrical Problems That Are Driving You Crazy. I hope someone there may be able to help you out.

Dave

stever · December 2004

Here's the link:

Electronic Gremlins: Electrical Problems That Are Driving You Crazy

Steve, Host

grumpy2 · December 2004

I have a 96 Villager that started to make a rattling noise that sounds like the rockers at the top of the engine. Changed the oil and at startup, the noise was still there, but then disappeared after 15 seconds or so, i mean it just went away! Well, 2 days later, noise has returned, oil level is fine as it was before and the oil light at times flickers as if the level was low. Any ideas? Thanks for any help.

wtd44 · December 2004

If you list a lot more diagnostic info, someone here may have some ideas for you: How many miles on engine? General condition. Maintenance always perfect in time and quantity? Smoking exhaust? Hard use? Oil and oil/air filters change history. Etc.

corsicachevy · December 2004

Brekal - Here's how I "fixed" the notchiness in my steering. When presented with this problem, my service station reacted much like yours. They checked for the typical culprits and came up empty.

I went about two weeks without driving the van (wife's vehicle). When I returned to the Quest the notchiness was gone. Maybe she hit something. :-)

grumpy2 · December 2004

Additional information, it has about 144,000 miles. no oil smoking,no oil leaks, all maintenance has been kept up.

wtd44 · December 2004

My impression is that you may have a lot of engine wear at that mileage, and the residual oil pressure is lower than it once was. The noisiness in the overhead area may be lifters not pumping up strongly at low RPMs, due to wear. You could try some STP oil treatment to see if the thickening of your oil changes the noise levels favorably. Do you suppose that your engine is just wearing out? I feel like that sometimes... >:*(

elfin · December 2004

The noise you hear is the hydraulic lifters pumping up. They should pump up quickly and then stay that way. The oil light flickering says you have low oil pressure. Therefore you either have a bad oil pressure sending unit, which I doubt, or a bad oil pump, which is what this sounds like.

This should be checked out by a mechanic SOON. Low oil pressure will ruin your engine in just a short amount of time. If you are diving and hear a sudden knocking sound then the engine is gone and will need to be replaced.

Elfin

wtd44 · December 2004

The oil pump should be considered, although they don't seem to go bad very often in modern vehicles.

stever · December 2004

Gates has changed their timing belt info since I last checked it. Now some of the Quests are listed as having non-interference engines.

Gates - pdf file

Steve, Host

toomanyfumes · December 2004

a listing for Villager after 1998. The Pathfinder with the 3.3 says 105,000 and non-interference for 2001 so I would assume my 2001 Villager would be the same?

stever · December 2004

Odd - I thought all the Pathy's were interference versions of that engine.

Steve, Host

toomanyfumes · December 2004

Is the Pathfinder's 3.3 different than the one in the Quest/Villager? I figured a 3.3 Nissan was a 3.3 Nissan.

stever · December 2004

Theories abound. I've always heard that Ford made Nissan make the Villager/Quest engines non-interference when Ford build them under the joint agreement they had, as opposed to the interference one the Pathfinder had.

And the VG engine has come in various flavors for the Pathy, Frontier and Xterra iirc, at least the 3.0 liter version. But I never have found a definitive source that spells it out (although Steve Cutchen's site sounds right to me).

Steve, Host

trainman · December 2004

Inlaws just came to dinner and said they were having problems with door locks on there 1997 quest van, it seams the keys,3 of them with one being new wont unlock the doors. they have no problems with the rear hatch door where all three keys work. they send one of the children in the back to unlock the front doors. also doors will lock by them selves

dsoltero · December 2004

That's funny I ran across your comment, I read that my 95 Quest GXE was a non-interference engine. Which I hope that's true!

falcatraz · December 2004

I have a 99 and I am experiencing similiar symptoms. At Thanksgiving, while going down the interstate, I had a ton of rattling and lost oil pressure. Turned out that the screen in the oil pan was clogged.

I have a friend who has a 97 and he says that Nissan has a special oil filter that prevents all of the oil going into the pan when you turn off the motor. It leaves some oil in the heads to help with that, but I haven't gone to Nissan yet to verify.

falcatraz · December 2004

I would like instructions on how to clean the throttle body, as I have had this problem as well.

stever · December 2004

m6che, "Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager problems" #1444, 7 Apr 2004 1:12 am

and

dhoff, "Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager problems" #592, 24 Jan 2001 4:54 pm

Steve, Host

mlane2 · December 2004

1993 Nissan Quest. Four-ways work, blinkers work, third brake light works, tail lights work, rear brake light will not work when the brake pedal is depressed. I checked the brake switch and checked to see if power goes to the brake switch. Both checked out ok. Why won't the brake lights work? Thanks

jlemole · December 2004

Has anyone ever removed the 3rd row bench seat. If so, how is it done? I have a 2001 Quest, and I'm trying to repair the mechanism which locks the seat into place along its tracks.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Jon

stever · December 2004

I've had mine out several times on my '99. Move the seat to the middle position first. Then remove two bolts at the front corners (under the round plastic covers), and four more bolts (two at each rear corner). Don't mess with the rails themselves or you'll have alignment issues.

Fold the seat in half and have someone help you ease it out through the sliding doors (it's heavy).

To reinstall, place the seat in the middle position and install the front two bolts, torquing to 25 - 34 ft. lbs. Then slide the seat to the full rear position and install the rest of the bolts (same torque).

There is an adjustment bolt and a tension shaft on the passenger side of the seat that you may want to play with before yanking the seat out. You have to remove the plastic slide release handle to expose the hex shaft (really just another bolt <g>). The tension on this hex shaft should be 17 - 80 ft. lbs. when the 3rd seat can just begin to move. But it sounds like you may need to adjust the cable system. There's an adjustment bolt in a slotted holder in the same area (under more plastic) that can be slid back and forth to adjust the tension on the cable system. Tightening the cable reduces slide release effort.

At least that's what my manual says - I've never played with the slide release gizmo. My scanner isn't installed but if you get stuck maybe I can get a copy of the page to you. But the manual is pretty thin on the seats.

Steve, Host

jlemole · January 2005

Steve, many thanks for your response. I'm going to try to tackle it this weekend and I'll update on how it goes. If you do happen to get that scanner installed, I would be very grateful for an e-mail of that manual page to jlemole at comcast dot net.

Jon

stever · January 2005

I'll see if I can get the dust blown off of it and find some drivers for it. But don't get your hopes up too much - the manual isn't very clear about the whole procedure anyway.

Steve, Host

questdriver · January 2005

Hello Everyone. Just got back from 3500 plus miles trip (2 weeks) to midwest and Canada. We live in TX. My 1999 Quest GXE ran smoothly. MPG was 18-19 at 75+ mph and 23-24 at 60-65 mph. Pretty impressive for a van with 73k miles. I have kept up with regular maintenance since day one. Yet to change the timing belt. Just had the oil change, air filter, and coolant flush and fill before the trip.

Now I like you guys to help me with the O/D light and it's functionality. I have read the owner's manual and understood that at steady 40 or 50 mph, if the O/D button is clicked on the shifter, the O/D kicks in (shifts in lower gear) and the light is on in the dash. It was working as designed. Now on some twisty road in Midwest, I clicked the O/D to have a little more power, but the light never came on. And the van never shifted to the lower gear. That concerns me a bit. Of course in a smooth TX highway it is not an issue.

Does anyone have the O/D button malfunction? I am thinking there is a spring inside the shifter which triggers the sensor. I may have a bad spring perhaps. I will wait for a response on this board. Then I have to take my van to the dealer. Thanks in advance.

stever · January 2005

On my '99, if I hit the button, the overdrive light comes on and the tranny downshifts. I've had it downshift at a wide variety of speeds. Knowing the reputation of electrical switches in these vans, it wouldn't surprise me if yours is malfunctioning.

Steve, Host

mn_pat · January 2005

my 2k gxe has the exact problems, with the steering wheel mounted volume control sometimes changes radio stations and the plastic "chrome" coating on my interior door handlei is peeling. The peeling plastic chrome is actually pretty sharp, it gave my finger quite a little cut.

At 52k miles its been a pretty decent family vechile. I just wish it got better gas mileage. Last tank was 16.21mpg, yuck!!

wtd44 · January 2005

I guess I'm lucky to have the plain-jane stereo with all controls on the face of it. I have had no radio problems-- 2000 Mercury Villager.

stever · January 2005

While palming out a small parking lot dent in my front fender, I just happened to notice that my passenger side CV boot is busted -- the fresh greasy grime was the give-away.

Anyone done one of these lately and what was the cost?

Steve, Host

burta10 · January 2005

My '96 Mercury Villager had the CV joints refilled with grease recently. I had the Ford dealer here (Germany) do it. You don't want to know the cost. I'm sure it is much less in the states.

Actually, I replaced the front boot on my Golf GTI a few years ago, I got the type of boot where you wrap it around the joint and glue the seam together lengthwise. It was relatively easy, cheap, and as long as you have a steady hand it works okay.

kymike · January 2005

I had one replaced about a year ago. I ran over a plastic bag when driving on the highway and it got caught on the cv boot and tore it. Since I went many miles before discovering it, the grease was all gone. The mechanic recommended replacing the CV joint as well as the boot as he really couldn't clean the grit out of it and it would eventually require replacing anyway. The majorityof the cost is the labor to do the replacement. The CV joint generally has to come off to replace the boot anyway, so might as well spend the extra $100 or so for the new part. Total was about $250.

stever · January 2005

The glue together boots sound a bit tricky. I don't think the boot has been busted long, but the joint does have 100k on it anyway, so I'm thinking new. It can sit in my garage a while as I mull over my options, so anyone else with opinions, feel free to jump in.

Steve, Host

Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager problems

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