7/21/09- check engine light came on brought it into dealer and they tell me that my engine is shot and it needs to be replaced, $5,100 plus tax and labor. The parts from the pre-catalyst have be sucked through the exhaust and back into the engine scoring the cylinder walls, which increases my oil consumption and could result in a fire. After some research I discover that this has been a problem with hundreds of other people with the same model year as me. Nissan did a recall back in 05/03 (recall 3007) to try to fix this issue but proper measures were not taking. In the federal safety agency action number- pe02078, it states that "nissan is still developing a corrective action to address the pre-catalyst." I have found no record that this work has ever been done, since 05/03 !?!?. My problem with nissan is they have known about these problems with model year 2002 2.5 liter altimas and still after over six years of releasing this information to the public they never address any issue that would prevent this from happening. I have contacted nissan and have been told that they have done all they can for me. With the issue of potential fire and sudden engine seizer I have not been able to drive my car since this issue has occurred. I would like nissan to pay for all repairs that are needed due to this issue.
2002 Nissan Altima engine complaints
Page 10 of 24: complaints 251 to 280 of 682, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe; I went to kraft nissian dealership to have this recall fixed; after about approximately 2-3 weeks later I experience a shut-off in traffic. I return the car back to kraft nissian and they stated that they did not see a problem. It did not happen a agin, but afterwards I notice my car was burining alot of oil. I replace the oil every two-to three days. Then one day it just died on me. I then had the car tow the car I could not afford the repair of the replacement of the engine and was told I had to rmove the car from the premises immeditely. I explain to the top/head service guy that I would have someone come and remove it that friday. He called on friday and I told him that it would be after 5pm but the person would be there to move it. I got there around 5:15 and was told the car had been towed. I believe that there is a continous problem with the recall and that nissian dealership do not want to replace the engine and makes the consumer feel as if it was theere fault. I had taken the car back several times without any satisfaction, I not sure if they treated me that way because I was a woman or what but I really felt belittled by this dealership.
Vehicle continuously looses oil 1 1/2 qts per 500 miles regardless of how often I change the oil. I have had my vehicle in the dealership for several recall replacements{catalytic converter, crank sensor, cam sensor after vehicle shut off while driving, headlight ground, air bag sensor as well as others].vehicle has rough start every time vehicle is started. I also have complaint regarding the heater blowing cold air when I come to a stop. After reading hundreds of complaints and reports I fear my vehicle is soon to follow in regards to the engine failure so many have reported.why should I have to spend my time constantly checking the oil to make it is proper when there are no oil leaks and vehicle has less than 80,000 miles and is extremely well maintained? Due to the immense amount of reports and claims shouldn't nissan motor corp. Issue a recall for engines that have already ingested the catalytic converter material despite being replaced? Hasn't the damage already been done?
My car has been at lebruns nissan dealership 3 times they detected three different problems, the last resort was my blown headgasket. I have a 2002 with 60,000 miles on it I should not be having a headgasket problem!! I have researched different problems and concerns with other owners online and have come across the same problems. Problems containing oil consumption, engine failure, head gaskets, catalytic converters, not starting, service engine light on. Now to me if this is happening to more than a few cars same exact year and model this is a defect on nissan and they are not stepping up to the plate. I have contacted nissan again and have gone further into this and have spoken to nissan north america, I which my specialist returns my phone calls every three days, they have accepted to fix my catalytic converter which is appreciated, but that still does not fix my problem as others have experienced. I feel I have been purchased a lemon vehicle and I am not satisfied, and I will continue to go further until nissan steps up to the plate and takes fault on there product.
I have a 2002 nissan altima. There was a recall on the pre-cat and it was replaced...in the recall it states that if the pre-cat is replaced then the engine has to be also but it was not. My engine burns 2qts of oil a week and makes a weird noise. I want this taken care of.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the engine warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel and remained lit until the engine was turned off. When pressure was applied to the brake pedal, the vehicle began to shake and vibrate excessively. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing and it was discovered that there was a misfire in the engine cylinder. The technician reinstalled new spark plugs. The contact was advised to take the vehicle to an authorized dealer if the problem continued. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on a separate occasion for identical failures. The dealer recommended that the engine be replaced. They also detected missing screws from the engine. The technician stated that the vehicle should not be driven due to the safety hazard. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 84,681 and current mileage was 84,964.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle coasted to the side of the road and roadside assistance was called to the scene. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing and they stated that the failure was contributed to the catalytic converter. The vehicle was previously repaired according to the federal safety agency campaign id number 03v08400 (engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe); however, the remedy has not corrected the safety defect. The vehicle is currently inoperable and has not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were less than 101,0000.
I was on vacation, driving to cleveland, oh with my wife & parents on 6-13-09, sat in 2002 nissan altima, 2.5 sl. Around 9.00 pm, on I-80, apprx 40 mil from cleveland, suddenly smoke started coming from the car hood, causing poor visibility. Temp and oil level indicators did not show any sign of problem with the engine. After narrowly escaping crash with other vehicles by grace of god, we could stop the car with smoke still coming out. By the time I moved everybody away from the car, the smoke stopped. This sudden failure of the engine could have been more disastrous, endangering precious lives. On cranking the engine, loud noise from the engine made us believe that car was in bad shape, so car was towed to nissan of north olmsted, oh (dealer). After inspection on mon, 6/15/09 I was informed that the engine casting had a big hole apprx 2" big. We were asked to either scrap the car or replace the engine with estimated cost of $4500. We were not told any good reason for this engine failure. Being stranded with my family for 3 days and despaired, I decided to replace engine hoping to get compensation from nissan. Initial positive response from nissan customer affairs became very dissatisfying and frustrating after I paid the dealer. It was a shock to us that after calling so many times nissan did not took any responsibility stating on 6/24 that "the vehicle is outside of manufacturer's warranty" later I found many publications stating that 2002, nissan altima-2.5l engines have faced similar engine failures but nissan has not done enough to avoid such incidents. Irresponsible behavior like this is not expected from such a reputed org. There had been multiple recalls on my car including "engine sensor kit" and " engine cooling system". I would like to request you to look in to this matter so as to contain further damage to precious lives of people at large. I further request you to impress upon nissan to reimburse us for total cost of replacing engine and mental agony.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. While driving 40 MPH, the contact heard a clicking sound followed by a popping sound. The consumers daughter pulled the vehicle over and noticed smoke coming from the bottom of the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that the engine needed to be replaced due to a lack of engine oil. There were no warnings prior to the failure. The current and failure mileages were 109,250. Updated 8/3/09 *cn the consumer stated there was a known defect with the vehicle, in which a recall had been issued. The consumer daughter had just had the oil changed. Updated 08/10/09.
In oct of 2002 a investigation was made by (odi) concerning 2 potential fire hazards on 2002 nissan altima( the federal safety agency)action # pe02078)according to your report nissan would remove portions of the exhaust pin and apply a heat shield. Over the precat. You also stated nissan is developing corrective actions to address precat from overheating .what corrective action were introduced to fix this precat problem? After reading pages of nissan customer complaints concerning the precat destroying their motors I would say nissan did not do anything to fix this problem .these 2 manufacturer defects are not the same and should be treated differently if your car had a heat shield applied years ago what was done to correct the faulty precat.now a few years later your motor is shot and nissan will tell you they already had it in for the recall I ask once again what was done the fix the faulty precat?? If you have the answer please include it in corrective actions taken so myself and every other dissatisfied nissan customer can make some sense out of their statement when they tell us they fixed the problem when they put a heat shield on it.
I have a concern involving my 2002 nissan altima it is a 4 cylinder engine my check engine light has come on and its burning large amounts of oil (1 quart every 1000 miles) I bought this car in 2004( second hand)the cars burning of oil was strange to me because I always changed my oil approximately every 3000 miles,so I started to do some investigating on the web and came across a recall campaign in 2003 ( #03v084000) I read were fire may be caused by the catalytic converter and of 3 instances of fire to date of closer of the federal safety agency report in 2003. Also nissan acknowledging a problem with the 2002 altimas converters and engine failers from this catalytic con. Being that the federal safety agency has closed there report in 2003 will that affect nissan responsibility to fix this problem. I did not receive any type of recall for this issue and know finding out about potential fires and engine failures is starting to scare me this is a family car and I do have children can you please advise on needed actions on my part.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. The contact stated that the catalytic converter was not working properly and the parts damaged his engine. The vehicle was repaired according to the federal safety agency campaign id number 03v084000; however, the failure continued. Debris from the catalytic converter entered the engine and caused more damage. The failure and current mileages were less than 103,000.
My car started stalling and got harder and harder to start. Premier nissan (metairie, la) said a power valve screw came loose, fell into the engine, the engine was ruined, and I needed to buy a new engine. I googled the matter. Many others have complained about this for same make, model and year (2002). (there are lots of complaints of this happening in the 2003 model also.) and this was exactly the subject of a nissan recall campaign for the 2004 and 2005 altimas (nissan #: p5202; ntb05-058b).
I purchased a vehicle from city ford lincoln mercury located in bronx, ny.. On 4/11/2009.. The next day when I went to pick up the car it started making loud noises. I called and informed the dealership of the situation. I went to the dealership three times before they decided to take it in to their repair shop.. They never fixed the car and they're giving me the run around. They expect to take the car back and the engine is smoking and making loud noises worse then it was when I had it.. I need help on how I go about getting the dealership to fix the car.. They've offered me to get another car & have it financed rather for them to fix the car or provide me with a refund.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. The contact stated that the vehicle consumed an excessive amount of oil. He took the vehicle in for an oil change and by the time he arrived back home (within 300 miles) the vehicle was in need of more oil. The low engine oil warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact placed more oil into the vehicle before it was taken to a repair shop. The mechanic verified the low oil level in the vehicle and stated that the vehicle was burning oil at an alarming rate. There was no evidence of oil leakage anywhere in the vehicle. The contact found over 700 complaints on the federal safety agency web site for the same failure. The failure and current mileages were less than 178,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima with a 2.5 liter engine. The contact stated that the check engine light illuminated on two occasions. The first failure occurred approximately in march of 2006 and again in may of 2009. She found the federal safety agency campaign id number 03v084000 on the internet and realized that she was experiencing the same issues with her vehicle; however, the dealer stated that her VIN was not included in the recall. In 2006, the dealer stated that the catalytic converter was clogged and charged $1,000 to have it replaced. A recall notice in 2002 did not state that it was related to a VIN at that time. The recall was later amended in 2006 and 2008 to pertain to a specific VIN. In may of 2009, while driving 20 MPH, the check engine light illuminated again and black smoke and oil poured out of the tail pipe. The dealer stated that the catalytic converter and engine needed to be replaced because the engine had consumed oil. The vehicle can be driven as long as the oil does not leak. An independent technician stated that it was unusual for the catalytic converter to be replaced this frequently. The first failure mileage was 60,000 and the recent failure and current mileages were 129,000. Updated 062909 *bf updated 07/02/09.
At 112,000 miles the ses light on my 2002 nissan altima 2.5l came on. I had it diagnosed and was told that I need to have the catalytic converter replaced a $1500 repair job. After consulting many mechanics in the area, viewing many, many websites this is an extremely common problem with this car for this same year, make and model. The problem is by the time ses light indicates there is a problem it is too late as the damage has already been done to the engine and those that have paid the $1500 to have the catalytic converter replaced ended up having to replace the entire engine just a few months later!!! This cost up to $5000 to have done, bringing the total cost for this repair to $6500 dollars for something that is an ongoing issue, but not detectable during regular scheduled maintenance and often times has occurred after the car's warranty has expired. This can cause the car to stop in the middle of a highway and just shut down, as I've read from other owners that have experienced this same problem. I have a 3 year old, a 2 year old and newborn and I no longer feel safe driving them around in this car. Please do the research and I feel rest assured that you will see the commonality of this problem. Thank you from a very distraught 2002 nissan altima owner.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. The contact experienced an issue with her catalytic converter. When she took the vehicle in for emissions testing, she was informed that the catalytic converter was faulty and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer stated that there was no recall for this issue. The failure mileage was 114,000. Updated 06/10/09 *bf updated 06/11/09 updated 06/30/09. The consumer wanted to know the status of his/her complaint. Updated 03/01/10 updated 03/05/10
Engine started burning oil before 100,000 miles. Come to find out not only does this vehicle have a bad cata lytic converter but that many nissan buyers got struck with the same drama and unbelievable costs that nissan will take no responsibility for. Now my dream car is dead in the driveway and nissan wants $4600 for an engine and I still owe $7900 on the car. This is a nightmare.
I own a 2002 nissan altima, 2.5l engine. I have had more problems with this car than you can imagine. The car has stopped on me two times in the past year or two. It came to a halt in september 2007 in the middle of traffic and I had to wait over an hour for a tow truck. At that time I had the sensor detector replaced by a neighborhood garage. On last tuesday, the car stopped again and would not move but I happened to be in parking lot and waited 3 hours to get my car moved. This time the car was repaired by a nissan dealer and the sensor detectors were again replaced. I was informed that my engine was coming apart internally bit by bit and I would need the engine replaced or run the risk of having the engine stop on me at any time. I have changed the catalytic convertor, have an oil leak and some gaskets have been replaced. I put oil in my car every week because the leak was not repaired. I never seen any oil on my driveway and don't know where it is leaking. When I checked to see if I could find an engine for less than what the dealership quoted me, I found 400 complaints on one website and 99 on another website complaining of the exact same problems with their 2002 nissan altima with a 2.5l engine of which I am complaining. Many of the complaints are reporting engine failure or breakdown. This is very concerning and I think something needs to be done by nissan as this seems to be a manufacturing problem but I don't know where to go.
2002 nissan altima stalling out while driving. Losing power and not reaching speeds above 45 MPH. Read several reviews from other customers with engines going bad and started out with the same issues and problems with hard crank, and catalytic converter going bad and causing engines to go bad.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. The contact stated that the crank position sensors keep failing in her vehicle. In 2004, the dealer repaired the vehicle according to the federal safety agency campaign id number 03v455000 (engine and engine cooling). The contact is the second owner of the vehicle and the dealer stated that she would have to pay $300 to repair the failure again. The failure mileage was 98,000.
Purchased a new nissan altima in sept. 2002 and was recently told that I need a new engine. I have an excellent maintenance record. Brought the car in last month for a loud grinding noise in the engine but was told that they "couldn't find anything wrong." then the engine started a racing noise and I immediately dropped it off. Now I am told that I need a new engine at the tune of $4,700.00. I only have 94,000 miles on the vehicle. I have filed a complaint and am waiting for a response. I have had all of the numerous recalls fixed over the past eight years.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. The vehicle was purchased new in 2001. The contact took the vehicle to jiffy lube for an oil change and the oil light illuminated on the instrument panel one week later. She checked the dipstick and noticed that there was no oil in the vehicle. She took the vehicle back to jiffy lube and oil was added; however, the oil light illuminated again. She took the vehicle to a firestone shop and they found no oil in the engine. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and stated that the engine needed to be replaced because oil was entering into the exhaust system and the piston ring. The dealer further stated that the vehicle was out of warranty; therefore, the contact would have to pay for the repair. A report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that her VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign id number 03v084000 (engine and engine cooling). The manufacturer stated that they would call her back. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 111,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. While driving various speeds, the vehicle becomes difficult to accelerate. Occasionally, the vehicle stalls and becomes difficult to start. A local mechanic stated that the crankshaft was faulty and a recall was pending from 2004 for this year, make, and model vehicle. The manufacturer stated that the crankshaft was repaired under recall in 2004; therefore, the dealer did not have to repair the vehicle again. The contact feels that the manufacturer should pay for the repairs since this is a safety issue. He is concerned that a crash could occur. The current mileage was 92,000 and failure mileage was 91,500.
A month or so ago, the check engine light went on and I took it to the nissan dealership for diagnosis. My car is a 2002 nissan altima 2.5s, 104,000 miles and the mechanic stated it needs a catalytic converter and possibly a new engine . The vehicle was repaired according to the federal safety agency campaign id number 03v084000 (engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe) in 2004, but that recall has not corrected the issue. The vehicle has not been repaired yet. This is ridiculous- there are hundreds, if not thousands of exact failures and no recall??? Nissan should be investigated for not repairing the matter. The small fix in 2004 did nothing to avert the long term issue. The maintenance records to this car are impeccable. Oil changes documents every 3000-5000 miles using top grade synthetic synpower motor oil. There is no reason for this type of failure aside from design flaws.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. While checking the oil in the vehicle, the contact noticed an oil leak. He replaced the oil with at least two quarts of oil per week. The vehicle was taken to a local repair shop and the technician stated that the vehicle was included in the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v527000 (engine and engine cooling). The contact was advised to take the vehicle to a local dealer for further assistance. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that oil was leaking around the rings. The vehicle was repaired for the ECM failure. After retrieving the vehicle from the dealer, the vehicle failed. A technician stated that particles from the catalytic converter damaged the cylinder walls in the engine. The vehicle has not been repaired again. The contact called the manufacturer and was informed that because the vehicle was not included in the recall for the failure that he experienced, no compensation would be provided. The failure mileage was 160,000 and current mileage was 180,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 nissan altima. While the vehicle was at a service center, the technician observed that the engine oil reservoir was empty. An oil change was performed on the vehicle at that time. One week later, the reservoir was empty again. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the catalytic converter failed. The vehicle was repaired according to the federal safety agency campaign id number 03v084000 (engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe) in 2004, but the recall has not corrected the issue. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 100,000.
One month ago oil light went on, checked oil and low. Mechanic said the oil was not leaking, yet we were losing oil every 100 miles. Went to nissan for diagnostic check and they said the 2002 nissan altima 2.5s, 80,000 miles needs catalytic converter and engine .researched on www.carcomplaints.com and many complaints for the same year and model has had the same problem. According to the research this defect can cause a engine fire.
At approx 100k miles, my altima was consuming alot of oil, running poor, eventually the engine failed, had engine repaired, began same oil burning problem again, had cat converter hallowed out, engine failed again.
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