Problems Creep Up During Road Trip

[Austin]

I just took a 1500 mile road trip to Idaho and back. I had a few problems creep up during the trip. I've gone in for one dealer visit already, and am heading back tomorrow.

- Tire Pressure Warning system – After 40-60 miles of highway speed driving, the low tire pressure warning light will illuminate. The light is not accompanied by a buzzer/alarm chime, so a faulty sensor is suspected. Actual tire pressures remain constant, approx 40psi front and 38psi rear. The light will extinguish when the ignition is turned off, and will illuminate again 100% of the time after 40-60 miles of highway speed driving.

The dealer says that there is nothing wrong they can find. I find this completely unacceptable - if there is nothing wrong, the warning light would stay off. I'm going on an hour long drive before I get to the dealership tomorrow - that way the light will be on when I arrive.

- Compass (in auto dimming mirror) – Compass is intermittently faulty. Compass will sometimes display North when traveling south, East when traveling west, etc. I used the sun, roadmaps, and a handheld GPS unit for direction determination.

Fixed by a recalibration of the compass.

- Gas gauge – Gas gauge is non-linear and jumpy in level display. Twice, level dropped to ~ 3/16 full, stayed there for ~ 50 miles, then increased to between 5/16 - 3/8 full while driving (without fuel fillup).

Dealer says this is normal, it operates as designed, etc. What a bunk answer - but it doesn't bother me, so not really an issue.

- Rattles
- Both driver and passenger doors rattle (previously noted, sound deadening kit ordered). Doors may be quieted by applying outward pressure to the door panels or downward pressure to the armrests.
- Severe plastic on plastic squeak from dash area/instrument cluster. Squeak will stop when applying forward pressure on the instrument cluster top bezel (silver trim piece). This squeak doesn’t happen on glass smooth paved roads, but becomes extremely apparent on dirt and/or rough roads.

The dealer installed their "sound deadening kit" in both doors - but they obviously didn't test drive the truck afterwards. The passenger door now won't stop rattling.

- Poor fuel mileage – Driving to Idaho and back, worsening fuel mileage was noted. Four tanks in succession (all 100% highway driving, speeds between 60-75mph) 14.4mpg, 13.7mpg, 12.7mpg and 11.3mpg. On previous road trips (while still in the break in period), fuel mileage was between 16.5 and 18mpg on the highway. This is accompanied by a very apparent decrease in power output. I would suspect a faulty A/F sensor (front o2 sensor).

Dealer agrees that dropping 5 to 6 mpg in fuel economy isn't right, but says I'm lucky to be getting 11mpg. This and the cruise control problem noted below are the only things I'm going to fight to get fixed. A 33% drop in fuel economy can't be ignored.

I've built motors and tuned many different standalone fuel injection/ignition systems. So far I haven't met anyone at the dealership that has any real knowlege of how fuel injection works and/or what inputs the ECU receives to determine fuel delivery. They only know what their little scanners tell them... This will be escalated quickly to at least a regional rep level.

- Cruise Control Hunting – On slight to severe inclines, cruise control will hunt repeatedly between 4th and 5th gear. This could be linked to the lack of power/faulty A/F sensor – even on slight inclines, the truck downshifts to 4th because of lack of ability to maintain speed in 5th gear, then upshifts back to 5th gear because sufficient margin of power exists.

Again, the dealer is trying to tell me this is normal. Bunk. I've never tuned a transmission control system, but the concepts are fairly easy to understand. Shifting every 10 seconds on a mile incline isn't how the system was designed to operate.

- Driver’s Front Door Window – After an auto-down, the window would not roll up. After ~ 5 minutes, the window did roll up. I’ve not rolled it down since.

Dealer says that Nissan knows about the problem but, as yet, doesn't have a fix. Says it might need a Body Control Module reflash to correct the problem.

[Austin]

BTW, I've got about 3500 miles on the truck right now.

[bestatchess]

If they can't diagnose, maybe they can replace A/F sensor, BCM, and ECU and see what happens. I used to have a neighbor that worked like that. He didn't know much about how cars worked, so he just started replacing parts until he found something that worked. Perhaps your dealer falls into that category.

[dooboy2112]

I got a road trip this weekend, Hopfully I don't run into the issues you are having.

[Kansas City Titan]

I have the same window problem and the STEALER said they could not repeat the problem. I agree gas mileage is rather poor but mine is better than what you are getting, 13.5 in town and 16 on the highway. If you get the window fixed let me know what the deal is please.

Thanks,

Tom

[Big Platinum]

- Severe plastic on plastic squeak from dash area/instrument cluster. Squeak will stop when applying forward pressure on the instrument cluster top bezel (silver trim piece). This squeak doesn’t happen on glass smooth paved roads, but becomes extremely apparent on dirt and/or rough roads.

There is an easy fix for this if you haven't done it yet. Just put a piece of foam rubber or felt in between the bezel and the cluster in the corner just next to the oil pressure gauge. Drove me crazy for days till I did it, works like a charm.

Sucks to hear about your problems, I love the dealer responses to everything, you could tell them smoke came out of the engine bay and they would tell you it's normal, what a bunch of J.O.'s

[Austin]

Originally Posted by Kansas City Titan

I have the same window problem and the STEALER said they could not repeat the problem.

The dealer still says that there is no fix for the window problem. He claims it's a problem with the programming of the BCM, and is waiting for Nissan to come out with a reflash/reprogram for the unit.

This morning, the dealer ordered a new BCM for my truck - to correct the low tire pressure warning light. (The tire pressure sensors transmit their signal to the keyless entry module, which then relays the signal to the BCM.)

[Austin]

Originally Posted by Big Platinum

There is an easy fix for this if you haven't done it yet. Just put a piece of foam rubber or felt in between the bezel and the cluster in the corner just next to the oil pressure gauge. Drove me crazy for days till I did it, works like a charm.

Yup, I have no doubt I could fix the problem. If I weren't already going to the dealer for (what I consider) major issues, I'd just fix the squeaks and rattles myself.

The dealer also ordered a couple new door panels this morning - in an attempt to fix the door rattles... Even the service manual says to use sticky back foam padding to fix rattles... but, whatever - I'll let them replace the door panels altogether.

I agree that the dealer responses are all a bunch of crap - but it's what you have to expect from dealers. In the last 8 years, I've had a new Toyota, new Jeep, a couple new Subarus, and now a new Nissan. Dealers are universal in their denial. They all love to blame anything and everything they can to shift the responsibility away from them.

This morning, the tech at the dealer tried to blame my Weatherflector rain guards for all the rattles in my doors. I promptly removed them and told him to go for another drive... Yup, plain as day - the rattles are coming from inside the door panel, not up above head level. What a joke...

[radiokid]

Originally Posted by bestatchess

If they can't diagnose, maybe they can replace A/F sensor, BCM, and ECU and see what happens. I used to have a neighbor that worked like that. He didn't know much about how cars worked, so he just started replacing parts until he found something that worked. Perhaps your dealer falls into that category.

Ahh..the cherished and immortal shotgun approach

[Steve04SE]

Originally Posted by Austin

The dealer still says that there is no fix for the window problem. He claims it's a problem with the programming of the BCM, and is waiting for Nissan to come out with a reflash/reprogram for the unit.

This morning, the dealer ordered a new BCM for my truck - to correct the low tire pressure warning light. (The tire pressure sensors transmit their signal to the keyless entry module, which then relays the signal to the BCM.)

I've got an intermittent lo pressure lite also. My question, how did dealer verify tire pressure transmitters are OK and the BCM is the culprit?

[pciley]

by replacing either the TPSs or the BCM and seeing which replacement worked... or by plugging in their laptop to your serial link and seeing which code it threw. Most of the time the BCM will throw a code when it has determined a faulty TPS. The technician's computer can print this out for you to see if you request a copy of the findings. Always ask for a copy. If you end up going back 3 or 4 times for the same issue, at least you will have 3 or 4 print outs in hand before you proceed to rip someone's head off and...

[Deepwater]

Originally Posted by Austin

I just took a 1500 mile road trip to Idaho and back. I had a few problems creep up during the trip. I've gone in for one dealer visit already, and am heading back tomorrow.

- Tire Pressure Warning system – After 40-60 miles of highway speed driving, the low tire pressure warning light will illuminate. The light is not accompanied by a buzzer/alarm chime, so a faulty sensor is suspected. Actual tire pressures remain constant, approx 40psi front and 38psi rear. The light will extinguish when the ignition is turned off, and will illuminate again 100% of the time after 40-60 miles of highway speed driving.

The dealer says that there is nothing wrong they can find. I find this completely unacceptable - if there is nothing wrong, the warning light would stay off. I'm going on an hour long drive before I get to the dealership tomorrow - that way the light will be on when I arrive.

- Compass (in auto dimming mirror) – Compass is intermittently faulty. Compass will sometimes display North when traveling south, East when traveling west, etc. I used the sun, roadmaps, and a handheld GPS unit for direction determination.

Fixed by a recalibration of the compass.

- Gas gauge – Gas gauge is non-linear and jumpy in level display. Twice, level dropped to ~ 3/16 full, stayed there for ~ 50 miles, then increased to between 5/16 - 3/8 full while driving (without fuel fillup).

Dealer says this is normal, it operates as designed, etc. What a bunk answer - but it doesn't bother me, so not really an issue.

- Rattles
- Both driver and passenger doors rattle (previously noted, sound deadening kit ordered). Doors may be quieted by applying outward pressure to the door panels or downward pressure to the armrests.
- Severe plastic on plastic squeak from dash area/instrument cluster. Squeak will stop when applying forward pressure on the instrument cluster top bezel (silver trim piece). This squeak doesn’t happen on glass smooth paved roads, but becomes extremely apparent on dirt and/or rough roads.

The dealer installed their "sound deadening kit" in both doors - but they obviously didn't test drive the truck afterwards. The passenger door now won't stop rattling.

- Poor fuel mileage – Driving to Idaho and back, worsening fuel mileage was noted. Four tanks in succession (all 100% highway driving, speeds between 60-75mph) 14.4mpg, 13.7mpg, 12.7mpg and 11.3mpg. On previous road trips (while still in the break in period), fuel mileage was between 16.5 and 18mpg on the highway. This is accompanied by a very apparent decrease in power output. I would suspect a faulty A/F sensor (front o2 sensor).

Dealer agrees that dropping 5 to 6 mpg in fuel economy isn't right, but says I'm lucky to be getting 11mpg. This and the cruise control problem noted below are the only things I'm going to fight to get fixed. A 33% drop in fuel economy can't be ignored.

I've built motors and tuned many different standalone fuel injection/ignition systems. So far I haven't met anyone at the dealership that has any real knowlege of how fuel injection works and/or what inputs the ECU receives to determine fuel delivery. They only know what their little scanners tell them... This will be escalated quickly to at least a regional rep level.

- Cruise Control Hunting – On slight to severe inclines, cruise control will hunt repeatedly between 4th and 5th gear. This could be linked to the lack of power/faulty A/F sensor – even on slight inclines, the truck downshifts to 4th because of lack of ability to maintain speed in 5th gear, then upshifts back to 5th gear because sufficient margin of power exists.

Again, the dealer is trying to tell me this is normal. Bunk. I've never tuned a transmission control system, but the concepts are fairly easy to understand. Shifting every 10 seconds on a mile incline isn't how the system was designed to operate.

- Driver’s Front Door Window – After an auto-down, the window would not roll up. After ~ 5 minutes, the window did roll up. I’ve not rolled it down since.

Dealer says that Nissan knows about the problem but, as yet, doesn't have a fix. Says it might need a Body Control Module reflash to correct the problem.

Austin.... On your window problem, I had the same problem with my windows as you. My dealer installed a New Body Control Computer and reflashed it. This was done back in April.

This has fixed my window problems!! Both front door windows have not acted up sense! So go ahead and let them install it.
Just thought I would let you know.
Deep.

[Deepwater]

Originally Posted by Austin

The dealer still says that there is no fix for the window problem. He claims it's a problem with the programming of the BCM, and is waiting for Nissan to come out with a reflash/reprogram for the unit.

This morning, the dealer ordered a new BCM for my truck - to correct the low tire pressure warning light. (The tire pressure sensors transmit their signal to the keyless entry module, which then relays the signal to the BCM.)

Austin... My dealer downloaded the program from Nissan after the New BCM they installed did not fix anything, so they reflash the Body Control Computer that they installed in my truck back in April! They said that the BCM that they sent out did not have the curent program in it! go figure!

My windows have worked great ever sense! So dont listen to them! To me it sounds like they just dont want to fix your problem!

[Austin]

Thanks Deepwater!