Quick News About Nissan Problems

Spring is in the air, so I hate to dredge up bad news from the depths of winter

but I want to make sure you heard about Nissan and Infiniti's January recall of problem that can quickly limit your visibility.

• The problem: A manufacturing error caused the hood release cable to be installed incorrectly. That can prevent the latch from, well ... latching. Once that happens you're at risk to have your hood fly up while driving.
• The recalled cars: The 2013-2014 Nissan Pathfinder and Pathfinder Hybrid, as well as the 2013 Infiniti JX35, 2014 Infiniti QX60 and the QX60 Hybrid.
• The fix: Dealers will change the angle of the hood release mechanism to make the latch release cable longer.

At the time it was announced, Nissan (parent company of Infiniti) didn't know when the recall would begin. It's entirely possible that it already has. Have you received a recall notice in the mail?

Owners with questions or concerns should contact Nissan at 800-647-7261.

Roughly a year after an investigation was opened into inaccurate fuel gauges

Nissan has agreed conduct a "service campaign" for the 2007-2009 Quest. How does a service campaign differ from a recall? A recall is a fix related to a safety issue and some are federally mandated. A service campaign is issued by the automaker to upgrade or repair your vehicle for something that isn't necessarily safety-related. Now, this is where the line gets grayed because I would categorize running out of fuel on a crowded highway as a serious safety defect, but Nissan doesn't. You say tomato, I say car crash.

In any event, the issue appears electrical in nature:

"Nissan says the gas gauge can give inaccurate levels because of problems with resistors in a circuit in the sender unit. The automaker found one of two resistors could open and cause false gas gauge readings when the tank goes below one quarter of a tank. Gas would be used out of the tank all while the gas gauge said a quarter of a tank was available."

To fix it, Nissan dealers will install an external amplifier box with jumper harnesses to bypass the resistor's electrical circuit.

Next time you leave your vehicle in park, don't count on it being there when you get back.

According to Nissan a problem with the transmission can make it impossible to actually get your vehicle in park. Specifically interference between the parking rod and transmission house can cause the parking pawl to not engage. And yes, pawl is a real word (but I admittedly had to look it up).

The problem affects 2015 Armadas built between September 15 and October 14, 2014.

Nissan hasn't announced when the recall will begin. Once it does dealers will inspect affected cars and in some cases replace the entire transmission. Owners with questions can contact Nissan at 800-647-7261.

Nissan is calling back 52,000 additional vehicles to repair the passenger-side Takata airbags that can explode and injure occupants.

About 1,800 Infiniti vehicles were recalled for the same issue just a couple days ago.

The newest air bag recall includes the 2003-2004 Nissan Pathfinder, 2004-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2003-2005 Infiniti FX35 and FX45, 2003-2004 Infiniti I35, and 2006 Infiniti M35 and M45.

The recalled vehicles are all in areas of high humidity.

Last month we learned that a whopping 35–40 million vehicles will need to be recalled because of Takata airbag inflators.

Yikes, remember when 3 million vehicles seemed like a big number? The massive expansion includes Nissan who has announced a recall expansion of 226,000 vehicles. They had previously recalled 480,000.

To better manage the recalls, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has separated areas of the country by "zones" A, B and C. Checkout CarComplaints.com for more information on the recalls and recall zones.

Nissan is asking Juke owners to bring their vehicles in for a repair, they're just not calling it a recall.

104,439 vehicles from the 2011-2013 model years need to have a loose timing chain, chain guide and crank sprocket replaced.

The repairs will be done for free (like a recall) and affected owners will be notified by the mail (like a recall), but because the defect isn't a safety issue yet Nissan can get away with calling it a "voluntary service campaign". Which just sounds like a fancy term for ... oh, never-mind.

Juke owners with questions can call Nissan at 800-647-7261.

Nissan is recalling 1 million vehicles because a defective Occupant Classification System (OCS) might stop the passenger-side frontal airbags from working.

If that sounds familiar, it's because they issued the same – albeit smaller – recall last year. But now Nissan admits the problem is more widespread than they anticipated and their previous fix didn't work.

The OCS is supposed to turn on the airbag when there's an adult in the front passenger seat. but it's malfunctioning.

"Nissan says a combination of factors could cause the problem, such as high engine vibration at idle when the seat is initially empty and then becomes occupied. Even the posture of the passenger could cause the air bag to deactivate."

The recalled cars include the 2013-2014 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, Sentra, the 2013 NV200, plus additional Infiniti vehicles. It is expected to begin in April 2014.