2004 Nissan Sentra: misfire or rough idle

Filed Mar 31, 2022 · Engine · 150,000 miles · WA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving approximately 20 MPH, the engine began to run roughly and the vehicle was shaking. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled off the road safely where the vehicle stalled. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but eventually had the vehicle towed to his residence. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact researched the failure online and related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 06V242000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

Filed Dec 10, 2015 · Body, Engine · 147,000 miles · TX

August 2014:I was driving home from work on a city street doing about 45 when the car just shut off. I was able to coast into a parking lot with the residual power the car had. Luckily no one was next to me. The steering was gone since there was no power. After many attempts, I finally got the car started but had to put the car into neutral whenever I was at a light (because the RPM was at 500 and it kept shutting off when I applied the brake). Managed to make it home. Ended up being the cam/crank sensors that went out. Fast forward to november 2015 and I had to replace the cam sensor again!! Car still idles at 500 RPM and always feels like it's going to shut off. Next issue is the power windows. Drivers side gets half-way down, but you have to pull the switch up quickly in order for it to roll back up. Cannot open/close passenger window from drivers side, only passenger side. Next issue is random leak in the trunk where the spare tire is stored. About 1-2 months after we had gotten some heavy rains, I noticed a slight mildew smell in the cabin. I sniffed around, didn't see or feel anything that was wet. Figured it was a cabin filter that needed to be replaced. Another month goes by and I can still faintly smell it. I open my trunk and it's coming from there. I pull everything out of the trunk; nothing feels wet, nothing looked wet, nothing had water stains on it (books, clothes). I pull back the trunk carpet, the trunk stabilizer and I notice there's mold on it and the mdf covering the spare is wet. I pull it off and there was about two inches of water in the spare wheel well! When I was driving to get stuff to clean it, it sounded like I had a kiddie pool in the trunk! To this day, I have no idea how it got in there - again nothing was wet or water-stained in the trunk. Also experienced misfires, fuel gauge (due to fuel pump). I don't feel safe in this car at times.

Filed Dec 27, 2013 · Engine · 79,565 miles · CA

In july of 2011 my 2004 nissan sentra se-r spec v had some issues. I had a check engine light come on and had light blue smoke come out of my exhaust while accelerating and had been starting to notice bad oil and fuel consumption. I took it to the nissan dealership and they searched for any open recalls on my specific car based on running my VIN number into the database and they told me it was not one of the affected vehicles. After hooking up a code scanner to my car they found the following codes, p0420 (catalyst system efficiency below threshold), p0302(cylinder #2 misfire), p0303( cylinder #3 misfire) during the diagnosis they said that the pre-cat (exhaust manifold) had come apart and the material inside had glogged my exhaust system and gotten sucked back into my cylinders and scored the cylinder walls. They stated that they had also found valve damage and even found some of the cat material in my oil. Nissan was kind enough to replace my engine block and the pre-cat manifold as well as my secondary catalytic converter even though they said it was not a vehicle affected by the recall campaign that nissan had issued. So here I am a little over 2 years later and guess what? It came back. I am having the exact same symtoms as before. I took my car back into the same nissan dealership and they will not fix it again without charging me. They refused because it was never a part of the recalled vehicles and it is currently not under any warranty with its 105,000 miles. So, I ask them, why did they fix it the first time? Their response was, and I quote, "it was a courtesy" to which I said, "hmmm, so you guys do a courtesy fix for over $3,000 worth of work for a car that supposedly "isn't" part of a recall campaign?" - they didnt have much to say after that other than my best bet is to take it up with the manufacturer and they refuse to help as well. This car is a trap.

Filed May 16, 2012 · Engine · 43,090 miles · NY

I was driving my car home from work and my engine started to miss fire. About half way home on the pulaski bridge my car shut off. I was able to restart my car while it was in motion as I drive a stick shift car. I still noticed the car was still misfiring so before I drove threw the holland tunnel I pulled over and shut the car off. I gave it a few minutes and restarted my car and it didn't sound as bad so I continue on to manhattan. I got about three blocks from my home and car shut off again. This time it had a engine light. I parked my car went home and got my obd2 reader and found a code p0301 cylinder one misfire. I pulled the plug to find it was in closed position, so I looked up on the internet and found that this engine has butterfly screws in the intake manifold that come loose and causes this to happen. I took my car to nissan and was charged to replace the spark plug. This did not fix the problem I myself am a mechanic so I removed the intake manifold to find I was missing a screw from the butterfly above cylinder 1. Nissan corporate was called and so far nothing has come out of this. I need help please.

Filed Jun 30, 2011 · Engine · 37,500 miles · WA

I own a nissan sentra 2004 1.8. Car currently has 48,7000 miles,on feb 2010 check engine light came on,I checked ang gave me a code that said random misfire,then I replaced spark plugs and I notice #2 was a little bit different from the others,so I replaced the coil too on #2.car was kind a shaking when starting the car for about 5 to 8 seconds and then would run fine.I clear the code and stayed off for a few days and come back on for another few days,after 3 or 5 months when off for almost 6 months and then came back again,I replaced spark plug #2 and found some antifreeze smell on the bad spark plug I pulled out,car still does the same but now I noticed I loosing antifreeze,but there is no external leaks,talking to the dealer they said is common on this cars with this mileage to have this problem and have the head gasket replaced to fix the problem,but I don,t agreed,it has to be some kind a the problem because many people having problems with the same car. If I want to buy another car I am very sure it won,t be a nissan because they do not accept responsibility for what the built. 06/29/2011 kirkland wa.

Filed Dec 8, 2009 · Engine · 56,273 miles · TX

(se-r spec v) numerous instances of engine misfire, usually occurring on throttle tip-in after a tip-out from cruise conditions. Duration of misfire anywhere from 5s to 5 minutes. Key-off, key-on sometimes rectifies the misfire. Diagnostic code of multiple cylinder misfires. Has also rarely occurred immediately after engine start. Vehicle has had ecu reprogram recall performed. Vehicle unable to accelerate when misfire occurs at low engine speed. Misfire event can occur multiple times in a week, or none for six months. Failure is so intermittent and non-repeatable that no effect troubleshooting can be performed.

Filed Mar 31, 2008 · Engine · 64,000 miles · WI

I received a notice from nissan stating that my vehicle was to be brought into a dealership and an ECM reprogramming was to be performed to correct the crankshaft position sensor issue. I did so back in january of 2008. My ECM never emitted any sort of error code, but I was having spontaneous stalling approximately twice a week. After the reprogramming, the problem stopped until approximately a month ago, when it stalled very hard while I was driving down the freeway. The "check engine" light came on, and I assumed it was just a misfire of the sparkplugs. It began stalling spontaneously at a rate of approximately 1-2 times per day then. Three weeks ago, I replaced the spark plugs, and took it to autozone to have the code checked. It stated that my crankshaft position sensor was faulty. I do not believe that a reprogramming of the computer will take care of the problem caused by the manufacturer's defect. I am worried for my safety while driving my vehicle, and would like nissan to compensate me for the replacement of my vehicle's crankshaft position sensor.

Filed Mar 15, 2006 · Engine · 100,400 miles · CT

1) car began to run rough/surging/stalling for no apparent reason. 2) something has entered the engine causing marks on piston top/cylinder bores and damaging the spark plug. 3) brought car to dealer and was told spark plugs and air filter were to blame. I changed spark plugs and air filter. This allowed car to run better but still runs rough/surges/won't idle properly. Brought car to local garage and they inspected cylinder bores and found damage to piston and a 2nd piston/spark plug. They informed me that there is a recall for sentra's but that my car was not included. This recall covers screws falling into motor. Called the dealer and was told the car needs to be reset because of the air filter was not an original replacement brand filter. When told about damages in motor there was no reply. When asked if there is a recall for my vehicle I was told there wasn't one. Called nissan and was told about a recall and that my car is covered but after further review they changed their mind and said that my car was not covered. My car is the same make/model/engine size as the recalled vehicles. I'm trying to get my car included in the recall.

Filed Jul 22, 2004 · Electrical, Engine · 2,060 miles · NJ

2004 nissan sentra 1.8s: purchased new on 3/13/2004. Mileage 2060 - jersey city, nj: service engine soon light came on, brought to dealer, ECM reprogrammed, dealer did not know what caused the light to come on. Erratic/rough idling still persists, vehicle shut off once while refueling. Mileage, approx. 4725 - jersey city, nj: service engine soon light came on and went off intermittently, dealer refused to repair due to "no hard code is stored." erratic/rough idling persists. Vehicle shut off second time while parked. Began lemon law proceedings in new jersey. Mileage, 5370 - myrtle beach, sc: service engine soon light is on. Car is bucking in 1st gear (automatic), "mapp" gas or rotten egg smell (possibly excess sulfur) coming from exhaust. Error code p0171/p0174, air flow meter replaced with no further failures. Mileage, 5637 - charlotte, nc: service engine soon light is on. Vehicle now bucks at high speeds, especially when letting up on the accelerator. After prolonged highway driving, very erratic idle, at times almost reaching 0 rpms while parked. Dealer reset ECM, could not detect any failures. Arranged to change fuel pump but finally fuel pump was not changed. Vehicle driven back to new jersey with same failures as listed above. Since charlotte, nc service engine soon light has come on two times, and has gone away just as fast. I do not have much time to keep my only car (and new car) in and out of the dealership, since they refuse to provide a rental. My recommendation: want to stay alive, stay away from nissan cars and trucks.