2002 NISSAN SENTRA Complaints

OIL DIP STICK BROKE ON 2002 NISSAN SENTRA. WITH ONLY ABOUT 60,000 MILES ON THE NISSAN SENTRA, THE PLASTIC OIL DIP STICK BROKE OFF INSIDE THE TUBE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A NISSAN DEALER FOR REPAIRS AT A AN OUT OUTRAGEOUS COST OF $380.63. CHECKING THE INTERNET, I FOUND NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. IT SURELY APPEARS TO BE A DESIGN FLAW WITH THE DIP STICK AND NISSAN SHOULD INITIATE A RECALL TO REPLACE EXISTING OIL STICKS MADE OF PLASTIC. ADDITIONAL, NISSAN SHOULD REIMBURSE THE OWNERS WHO HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR THIS REPAIR. *TR

THE DIPSTICK CAP ON MY 2002 NISSAN SENTRA GXE IS PLASTIC. DUE TO THIS AND THE NORMAL HEATING AND COOLING OF THE ENGINE, IT HAS BROKEN AWAY FROM THE DIPSTICK AND THE DIPSTICK IS STUCK DOWN IN THE DIPSTICK TUBE. TO GET THIS OUT AND REPLACE IT, THE DEALERSHIPS AND REPAIR GARAGES WANT $100-200+ DOLLARS. THIS I HAVE LEARNED IS A COMMON DEFECT AMONG MOST CARS OF THIS MAKE AND MODEL. *TR

SEVERE ENGINE FAILURE. I BOUGHT MY 2002 NISSAN SENTRA SPEC-V WITH ONLY 7,000 MILES ON IT AND THOUGHT I HAD A GREAT CAR. THANK GOODNESS I OPTED FOR THE EXTRA 100,000 EXTENDED WARRANTY. MY CAR'S ENGINE EXPERIENCED MASSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION AROUND 60,000 AND I NOTICED THE WHOLE TIME I OWNED THE CAR THAT THE OIL WAS ALWAYS LOW EACH TIME I CHANGED IT. I USED ONLY MOBIL 1 FULL SYN EVERY 5,000 MILES. THE ENGINE FAILED 3,000 OVER THE STANDARD 60K POWERTRAIN WARRANTY. I FOUGHT WITH NISSAN FOR 1 MONTH WHILE THEY KEPT MY CAR UNTIL I PROVIDED OIL CHANGE RECEIPTS. ONCE I PROVIDED THEM THEY CHANGED THE COMPLETE ENGINE WHICH TOTALED $8,500 AND MORE THAN THE CAR WAS WORTH ANYMORE. FURTHER FOR ABOUT 70,000 THE CAR HAD EXTENDED CRANK PROBLEMS AND WERE SEVERE IN HOT OR EXTREME COLD WEATHER. THE CAR WOULD TAKE 20 SECONDS OR LONGER TO CRANK OVER WHILE PUMPING THE GAS. AFTER MY 3RD COMPLAINT AT MY 3RD NISSAN DEALER THEY FINALLY FIXED THE PROBLEM AND PUT IN A NEW FUEL PUMP AND SENSOR. THE CAR HAS 98,000 AND 36,000 MILES AFTER THE NEW ENGINE. I AM THINKING OF GETTING RID OF IT BEFORE MORE TROUBLE HAPPENS BEYOND MY 100K WARRANTY. *TR

2002 NISSAN SENTRA WITH A RECALL ON THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: IGNITION MODULE FAILURE CUSTOMER STATES THAT HE IS ENTITLED TO A REFUND FOR THE COST OF REPLACING THE ECM AND RELAY**CC THE CONSUMER STATED THE ENGINE KEPT STALLING WHILE IN OPERATION. THE CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TOOK THE DEALERSHIP, THEY REPLACED THE ALTERNATOR, BATTERY, FRONT BRAKE PADS AND RESURFACED THE ROTORS, HOWEVER 4 DAYS LATER THE ENGINE STALLED AGAIN. THE VEHICLE WAS RETURNED TO THE DEALER AND THAT WAS WHEN THE ECM AND RELAY WAS DETERMINED AS BEING FAULTY. THE CONSUMER DISCOVERED THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE VERY SAME PART THAT HAD TO BE REPLACED ON HIS VEHICLE. *JB

ON AUGUST 14, 2007 AT 5:35 PM I WAS DRIVING NORTH ON SPARTA AVENUE IN A 2002 NISSAN SENTRA. I WAS TRAVELING AT AN ESTIMATED 35 MILES PER HOUR. A JEEP CHEROKEE ON PINE TERRACE FAILED TO YIELD TO AT A STOP SIGN AND PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF MY CAR WHILE ATTEMPTING TO TURN LEFT ONTO SPARTA AVENUE CAUSING A COLLISION. THE COLLISION RESULTED IN EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE FRONT END OF MY CAR THAT WAS IRREPARABLE; HOWEVER, MY AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY. *JB

THE 2002 NISSAN SENTRA RAN FINE FOR THE FIRST YEAR. THERE WERE NO MAJOR ISSUES CONCERNING THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. IN 2003 I NOTICED THE TURN SIGNAL WOULD OCCASIONALLY NOT WORK. FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS IT STILL DOES NOT WORK CORRECTLY. THE PROBLEM IS VERY INTERMITTENT. IT MAY WORK PROPERLY ONE DAY AND NOT THE NEXT. NORMALLY YOU WILL FLIP THE TURN INDICATOR AND NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. THEN IF YOU TURN THE STEERING WHEEL IT WOULD START TO WORK. SOMETIMES IT WILL NOT WORK NO MATTER IF YOU TURN THE WHEEL. EVEN WHEN IT DOES WORK THE SIGNAL DOES NOT BLINK AT A NORMAL REPETITION. ON TWO OCCASIONS I TOOK THE CAR TO A DEALER TO GET IT FIXED UNDER THE WARRANTY. BOTH TIMES I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS A SENSOR AND THAT PROBLEM WAS FIXED. HOWEVER, IT STILL DID NOT WORK PROPERLY. *TR

2002 NISSAN SENTRA SE-R WE OWN HAS BEEN GIVING US A RE-OCCURRING PROBLEM WITH BOTH THE UNIFIED METER THAT CONTROLS THE SPEEDOMETER AND AFFECTS THE ECM TO THROW UP THE ENGINE LIGHT TO COME ON..CAUSES A MASSIVE SLOW DOWN IN SPEED WHEN THE SPEEDOMETER GOES OUT WHILE DRIVING..BROUGHT THIS TO THE ATTENTION TO A LOCAL NISSAN DEALER, MIKE SHAD OF ORANGE PARK AND WAS INFORMED NOT TO WORRY ABOUT THE ENGINE LIGHT AND JUST HAVE THE ECM "REFLASHED". WE FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SERVICE CENTER OF MIKE SHAD NISSAN AND HAD THE SYSTEM REFLASHED..SPEEDOMETER WORKED BRIEFLY AND WENT OUT AGAIN..TO THIS DAY IT CONTINUES TO STAY ON "ENGINE LIGHT", AND THE SPEEDOMETER STILL WORKS OFF AND ON AND CONTINUES TO WREAK HAVOC ON MAINTAINING A SAFE SPEED. ALSO A MAJOR ISSUE REGARDING THE "LONG ENGINE CRANK TIME BEFORE ENGINE STARTS". I HAVE FOUND INFORMATION THRU THE INTERNET INFORMING THERE IS A TSB ON THIS ISSUE ON THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE ('02 SENTRA) AND HAVE SUBMITTED AN EMAIL TO THE SERVICE DEPT OF MIKE SHAD NISSAN TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE BUT NO RESPONSE. THIS PROBLEM WITH THE CRANK TIME ENDANGERS NOT ONLY ME BUT MY FAMILY AS WELL. I CANNOT TRUST THE CAR TO CRANK PROPERLY WHICH THEREFORE PUTS THE RELIABILITY FACTOR IN JEOPARDY WHEN MY WIFE DRIVES THE CAR TO PICK UP MY DAUGHTER FOR SCHOOL AND USE THE VEHICLE TO AND FROM WORK. I FOUND INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROBLEM THRU THE NISSANHELP WEBSITE REGARDING THE TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN "LONG ENGINE CRANK TIME BEFORE ENGINE STARTS" INDICATING A PRIMARY PART FAILURE ON A FAULTY FUEL PUMP THAT NEEDS TO REPAIRED/REPLACED... *TR

THE HANDLE ON THE ENGINE OIL DIPSTICK HAS BROKEN OFF. THE STICK ITSELF IS NOW IN THE DIPSTICK TUBE. I WAS LOOKING ON THE INTERNET YESTERDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 AND UNCOVERED NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS FROM PEOPLE ABOUT THIS SAME PROBLEM. IT SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH NISSAN VEHICLES. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 NISSAN SENTRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED. TWO WEEKS LATER, WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY SHUT OFF. THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO RESTART THE VEHICLE, BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO HER RESIDENCE AND THEN TO THE DEALER. THE DEALER PERFORMED TWO REPAIRS UNDER RECALL # 03V477000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:MODULE) AND RECALL # 03V455000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). THE DEALER PERFORMED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND DETERMINED THAT THE VEHICLE'S COMPUTER FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TOWED BACK TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. THE VEHICLE STILL DOES NOT START. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 100,003.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 NISSAN SENTRA SE-R. THE CONTACT STATED THAT HER VEHICLE IS EXPERIENCING PRE-CATALYTIC FAILURE. ONE OF THE CONVERTERS SEPARATED AND WENT INTO THE MOTOR, CAUSING HIGH OIL CONSUMPTION AND ENGINE VIRUSES. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 102,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 99,000. UPDATED 09/05/07. *JB