2003 Nissan Murano: engine failure

Filed Jul 11, 2011 · Electrical · 78,000 miles · KS

Since I purchased my 2003 nissan murano, I have had several failures with it that the dealer has either claimed they cannot reproduce, has failed to fix or indicates that my model is not part of a recall effort, even when my car is reproducing the very same symptoms the recalls state they address. The last incident was the alternator and the failure of the cam position sensors and crank position sensors. Both have caused the vehicle to simply stop in ongoing traffic creating an obvious safety hazard for my family! Does someone have to actually die before will accept responsibility for faulty construction with the murano? This is not the first life-threatening incident I have had with this car!!! I was on the interstate doing 70 MPH when all of a sudden the engine died!!! I completely lost acceleration on interstate 70 at 10:30 p.m. At night with small children in the car! What did the dealership do to rectify this situation? Replaced the alternator that was already on recall and threatened to charge me for the cost until I threatened legal action...then, all of a sudden, took care of it! Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

Filed Mar 30, 2011 · Transmission · 112,000 miles · IA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 nissan murano. The contact was driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle seized without warning. There was an unknown fluid leaking from the vents and smoke emitting from the transfer case. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic shop where the contact was advised that the transfer case was defective and would need replacing. The contact stated she authorized the mechanic to replace the defective transfer case. The manufacturer was contacted and a complaint was filed but no further assistance was offered. The failure and current mileage was 112,000.

Filed Jun 13, 2010 · Engine · 83,000 miles · NJ

I have a 03 murano sl. Purchased off a lease turn in. Certified SUV. At 79,000 miles brought to dealer with engine clicking noise in dec. 09.. Dealer could not find problem. Noise continued and brought it back in january2010. They changed pulley assembly. I called to tell them noise was still there. Was told to check oil from time to time. I saw on my service report they put down check engine light was on and was low on oil. I know for a fact this is a lie. Told them to remove it from the report. They refused. Now here is the real problem. I was on the garden state parkway and I lost power. I restarted the SUV and the engine produced a very loud rattling noise. I had it towed to nissan, since they serviced this from when it was originally sold and I let them service to protect the warrant and they would have all the records. Well, the timing chain broke. I was told they have plastic guides to guide the timing chain and these will wear and cause the chain to slip. This occurred at 83,000 miles. Nissan is refusing to help with the replacement engine. They want $8600 for a new engine. On a 2003 is absurd. A used engine with 60,000 miles and no warranty will cost $5600. I feel the service misdiagnosed my problem, never searched for the real problem in dec. 09 and falsely put on the report the check engine light was on and it was low on oil to protect themselves from any problems since dec. I had a extended warranty, which I cancelled when they did not cover engine seal leak, tie rod problem and trans axle seal leak, in the extended warranty brochure it mentions all the above as covered items. After fighting with dealer and corporate I canceled the warranty. The uncovered repairs cost me over $2500. This was a nissan backed extended warranty. I now have a complaint with somerset county where the dealer is located and the state of new jersey about all the red tape nissan has put up to have covered repairs actually covered. If this fails, small claims ct. Is next.

Filed Feb 3, 2010 · Engine · 68,500 miles · TX

In jan 2010 while traveling on interstate at 65 MPH the engine of my 2003 nissan murano suddenly died leaving me with no power steering or power brakes. It was terrifying, but luckily, I managed to get to shoulder without an accident. Car engine restarted without hesitation. After waiting 5 minutes with engine idling smoothly with no apparent problem, I exited to frontage road at next exit and, 3 miles later, at 30 MPH the engine suddenly died again. Restarted and pulled into nearby parking lot. Car again restarted without problem. After 10 minutes of idling smoothly, engine died while parked. Had car towed to nissan dealer. Nissan shop reported that the "crankshaft position sensor was faulty and needed to be replaced." I found that there was recall issued in 2003 for 2003 model year nissan murano for exactly this issue, but both dealer and nissan USA, when contacted by me, said the recall did not apply to my VIN # (even though the federal safety agency indicated recall affected 600,000 vehicles). I believe the failure of my crankshaft position sensor is directly related to the faulty solder joints in the circuit boards for the crankshaft position sensor as described in this recall. I believe the following recall should be expanded to include all 2003 model year nissan murano vehicles: the federal safety agency campaign id number: 03v455000, nissan recall #: r3022).

Filed Nov 20, 2009 · Electrical · 99,000 miles · IN

Alternator seized up, engine lost power, and vehicle stopped in middle of road. Alternator was the nissan replaced for a recall in 2005. My mechanic said that the bad alternator was a re-conditioned alternator that nissan had installed as part of the recall.

Filed Jul 27, 2009 · Engine · 111,000 miles · NY

I own 2003 nissan murano with around 111000 miles on it. At the beginning of july 2009 my car all of sudden lost all power when I was driving at around 40 MPH, the engine seized, the check engine light came on. Luckily I was able to stop the car without any crash. I took the car to pep boys auto repair chain. I was told the failure happened due to a faulty crank position sensor. I had the repair made and the car is running fine now. When I was looking at your database I realized that there was a recall on 2003 nissan murano for the exact same problem that happened to me. The federal safety agency campaign number for that recall was 03v455000. I contacted nissan and was told my car did not fall under the recall as it was manufactured in a different plant than recalled vehicles. Any way I want to report this issue as I consider this a serious safety issue. After the engine seized driving at 40 MPH I am glad I did not lose control of the car (there was no other vehicles around which helped) this is the information from recall 03v455000, this is exactly what happened to my car: this could cause the "service engine soon" warning light to come on, create a no start condition, cause reduced engine power, or cause the engine to stop running without warning during vehicle operation, which could result in a crash.

Filed Jan 16, 2008 · Engine · 91,000 miles · MD

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan murano. While driving 20 MPH, the engine warning light illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle would not restart and was towed. The dealer stated that the engine needed to be replaced because the rear sensor in the engine failed. The repair was not made. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign id number 03v455000 (engine and engine cooling). The current and failure mileages were 91,000.

Filed Sep 25, 2007 · Engine, Suspension · 49,000 miles · TN

On september 12, 2007, I took my car to keras nissan located at 2080 covington pike in memphis, tennessee, because the shock absorbers were failing in the front of the truck and again the check engine soon light came on. I decided to take my truck to a different dealership because I no longer trusted the workmanship of dobbs nissan, where I made the initial purchase. I dealt with travis, a service advisor that advised me they would find the problems. After my vehicle was serviced, I was informed that the motor was non-repairable. Travis stated that it looked as if I never serviced the engine with oil. I explained that I have regularly scheduled maintenance on this vehicle. He stated that I would need to gather all of my oil change receipts to present to nissan warranty to prove regular maintenance have been performed to replace the engine. Oil changes and dates of receipts provided: dobbs nissan: april 29, 2006 september 26, 2006 june 13, 2007 danny?s car care: march 9, 2007 march 28, 2007 august 18, 2007 goodyear: june 23, 2006 january 3, 2007 firestone: november 02, 2006 receipts the morning of september 15, 2007. He contacted me around 11:15 am to inform me that the engine replacement was denied, due to, ?lack of maintenance?. I asked travis to explain to me in detail the reason for the denial, and his reply was simply, "lack of maintenance?. Nothing has been done to correct the failure on a warranted engine.

Filed Feb 23, 2007 · Transmission · 63,000 miles · AE

I own a 2003 nissan murano, that is no longer operational due to a faulty transmission. On the 26th of november 2006, the transmission seized and stopped operating, as I was driving on the highway. Now I have a 3 year old, $35,000 dollar vehicle, which may as well be a paperweight. The vehicle is sitting in my driveway, awaiting repairs. I take care of this vehicle as if it were my own child. I ensure that the oil is replaced every 3,000 miles religiously,and I have spent hundreds of dollars for routine scheduled services. To sustain a nissan murano is not a cheap task. The last scheduled service was a 60,000 mile maintenance and it cost me well over $500 dollars. I ensure that the maintenance is being completed, because I understand the importance of routine services. When I purchased this nissan murano, I had no idea it would give me so many headaches. I have been to the nissan dealers for unscheduled warranty repair at least 5 times a year, since I purchased it. Some of the issues I have had with the SUV are, the check engine light turning on, unexplained vehicle vibrations when driving, car seizing in the middle of road, bad brakes, alternator had to be exchanged, battery went bad, and my transmission would not fall into gear. I called the nissan consumer toll free number and the nissan corporation is asking me to consolidate the records of everything that has been repaired on the car, and fax it to them. It seems that conveniently enough, nissan does not have records of any maintenance that was performed at authorized nissan dealers. I was told that this information had to be faxed first, before a decision can be made. The transmission has had previous difficulties covered under the warranty and had continued to malfunction when the current incident occurred. The only decision I would like to receive, as soon as possible is, if the nissan corporation is going to grant my request to fix my transmission at no cost.

Filed Jul 9, 2005 · Electrical · 31,000 miles · MA

I was driving down the highway, when the brake and battery lights came on. This 2003, nissan murano had just completed the 30,000 mile check up 6 days before. Suddenly, the car power steering failed, the car's electrical systems went haywire and the car seized up. I was forced to slowly slide over to the shoulder of the freeway, where I had to have the car towed.

Filed Feb 10, 2005 · Engine · 1,500 miles · MD

Nissan murano lossing oil prior to first 3,000 mile oil change, transmission pulled to replace engine oil seal. Vehicle continues to loss oil now with 20,000 miles. There is a stronge oil smell in car. Both engine and transmission pulled again. Waiting on dealer repair shop to return car.