2003 Nissan Murano: excessive oil consumption

Filed Jun 10, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 80,000 miles · TX

The car stops in traffic with no warning. It stalls in traffic there is a recall for this but my VIN is not included this is so dangerous and nissan doesn't care. They have a recall for my year and model for the same thing my car is doing but because my VIN # is not on there they won't fix it so I guess someone has to die before something is done. So many people have the same situation as I do. It is disgusting that you pay all this money for a reliable car and they n know there is an extremely dangerous situation and they don't care. The electrical system is bad engine light going on all the time alarm going off all the time. Engine burnes oil very quickly. All these things are wrong with this year car it is just a lemon that u have to keep pouring money into ands it dangerous on top of it.

Filed Nov 7, 2010 · Transmission · 114,000 miles · WA

I have a 2003 nissan murano. At approximately 81,000 miles I noticed a burning oil smell after driving. I had the car checked and the transfer case was out of oil. The service dept. Resealed the transfer case under extended warranty. At about 96,000 miles I had the vehicle checked out before end of warranty and again the transfer case leaked out the oil and I had service on transfer case. The seals had to be redone, also under extended warranty. I have the car in now for routine service with transmission fluid flush and fill and because I am getting a strange ticking noise when accelerating. Notified that CVT fluid leaking onto outside of transfer case. Needs transmission seal redone. Over $2000. I am getting the seal redone under transmission 120,000 warranty from nissan. Dealership says I should get the transfer case seals redone but they are not covered under the transmission warranty and I cannot afford the close to $2000 extra this would cost. Seems that the seals should last more than 8,000 miles as they seemed too after buying the vehicle new and not replacing them until after 50,000 miles. After reading many complaints about a pressure valve and other transmission issues I believe the transmission should be replaced as I am very concerned that just replacing the transmission forward seal(?) will not correct the leaking problems with the transmission transfer case and that the transmission will "go out" after the factory warranty. I believe that there is a problem with the transfer case/transmission in this year/model of vehicle and that nissan knows this. There should be a recall.

Filed Aug 4, 2010 · Transmission · 92,000 miles · MA

Car looses power numerous times in stop and go traffic, almost caused me an accident while trying to turn left with an oncoming car. Took it to nissan, they said it's because oil level was low. After oil change service, problem still exists. Looks like it is a transmission failure but nissan denies it.

Filed Mar 12, 2010 · Transmission · 113,355 miles · NY

1: after driving the car for along period of time in stop and go traffic or on the thruway. Then coming to a complete stop and pressing the gas the car will crawl forward as if you were not pressing down the gas pedal after 1-3 sec of the car crawling into the middle of a intersect and no way to get it out of the intersect when other cars are coming down at 40mph into the intersection; will be disastrous and potentially cause a lost of life. After 1-3 sec the transmission will finally engage. The funny part is when you turn the car off and restart it the problem clears it self until it problem recurs. After reading other stories of there's CVT transmission in the murano doing the same thing to the other murano customer. I decided to take it to the dealer 2: this is a sporadic event and every time I took it to the dealer to get it check they could not duplicate the problem on march 9th and told me the transmission performed normal and it was engine [misfiring and slightly burning oil and compression lost related not transmission [I have enough automotive skill to tell me that this is definitely not a misfire/slightly burning oil/compression lost because once you turn the car off and turn it back on the problem disappears, witha engine misfire it would still persist, the engine is 100% running without any problem until this problem arise: so yesterday, when it started happening to my wife on her drive, I advise her to stop immediately at the dealer to have them take a look at I, to my surprise they refused!!! To take a 2nd look at it as they advise me they already diagnostic it as a engine problem and will not. I called them and demanded that a service tech, test drive it and he said nope this is a engine problem and told my wife to tell me that im making all the service department mad?!. I took it to 2 other transmission place and they verified that this is 100% indeed a transmission problem.

Filed Mar 2, 2010 · Transmission · 150,000 miles · MO

Like the many, many other complaints on here as well as other internet sites, I too have a faulty transfer case on my awd. I took mine in to the dealer because I was experiencing a burning oil smell. The replaced the transfer case seal at a cost of $1700, it didn't work, still leaked oil. They replaced it again since the first seal was "under warranty" about a month later, still did not work. Now, as you would expect, I am told the whole transfer case needs to be replaced. They have offered to do so for another $800+ dollars with no labor charge but they also seem very reluctant to do so. I am guessing there is more wrong then what they are telling me and they know they will just see me back in there in a few more months for more repairs. I have spent $4,000 on repairs in the past 8 months and my 2003 murano has become a money pit. I still owe on it, so I can't afford to get rid of it, not that anyone would buy it. I am done with the dealership which everyone advised me not to go to but I thought I was making a good decisions since they are nissan, stupid choice on my part. I will never buy another nissan again, it has been nothing but problems and the really sad thing, the vehicle and a sturdy, good handling vehicle. Nissan is losing a lot of customers in this process by not owning up to their faulty product. I guess when you make enough money, it's no big deal to lose a few hundred of us in the process!

Filed Jan 27, 2010 · Engine, Locks · 76,000 miles · FL

I bought my 2003 murano in january of 2008. Every time I had an oil change done I was told that I had a very low amount. The low amount was never looked at as a problem. When I was getting a recall completed I was telling the service department employee about my low oil level when I took my car every 3,000 miles. He asked if I had any oil leaks that were left on the ground when I moved my car. I let him know that I have never seen oil on the ground. I also let him know that I hear a rattling noise sometimes when accelerating from a stopped position and sometimes my car gets stuck when I try to accelerate and then after a few seconds it will zoom forward. I have almost rear ended around 6 cars. I try to let cars get a little ways in front of me if it gets stuck so I do not rear end the car in front of me. I should not have to do this. He said that the recall of the alternator would fix the issues with the car getting stuck and they would check the engine. I still have this problem today with the car getting stuck. I had an oil consumption test done every 1,000 miles and by time I made it to the 2,000 miles my oil level was low. So they never did a third oil consumption test like they said they would. Then I was told that they would need to replace the entire engine. I have seen many complaints about the same issue. I feel that the engines that were placed in the 2003 nissan muranos were defective and should be recalled because this could cause an accident and I have a 14 month old son in my car with me 90% of the time. Therefore not only is my life and others in cars around me in jeopardy so is my son's life. This defect should be looked into immediately because I am sure there are many other people have this same issue. There is one other issue I had where I had unlocked my doors and put my child in the car. When I went to get in the car had locked on it's own. Luckily we were at the house and had a spare key. I have learned that this issue common.

Filed Jun 8, 2009 · Transmission · 81,000 miles · NY

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan murano. The contact took her vehicle in for an oil change and was informed that the seals failed and caused oil to leak. An authorized dealer repaired the vehicle and stated that the transfer case failed. The contact would have to pay $3,100 for the repair. The vehicle has not been repaired. She called the manufacturer, but has not received a response. The failure mileage was 81,000 and current mileage was 92,000. Updated 07/14/09. *lj the inner seals were leaking. Updated 07/15/09.

Filed Aug 6, 2008 · Transmission · 70,000 miles · PA

2003 murano has faulty transfer case, leaks fluid and has burning oil smell.