Problems with 2003 Nissan Sentra ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. the check engine light illuminated and the vehicle lost power. the contact was informed of nhtsa campaign id number 03v455000 (engine and engine cooling). he called nissan and they denied that any recalls applied to his vehicle. the contact feels that his vehicle should be included in the recall because he is experiencing the same failure. the vehicle has not been repaired. the current mileage was 63,500 and failure mileage was 61,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. while driving 45 mph, the vehicle lost power without warning. the vehicle would not restart and was towed to the dealer. the dealer stated that the cam positioning sensor failed. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id number 03v455000 (engine and engine cooling). the vehicle has not been repaired. the current and failure mileages were 70,200.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. while driving 15 mph and while idling, the vehicle stalled and restarted an hour later. the engine warning indicator light illuminated. the dealer stated that the cam and crank sensors needed to be replaced. the manufacturer stated that his vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id number 03v455000 (engine and engine cooling). the failure mileage was 60,000 and current mileage was 61,000. updated 01/02/08. *lj updated 01/02/08 *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. the contact stated that the vehicle would stall and the check engine light illuminated each time he drove the vehicle. the vehicle is under safety recall number 03v455000 (engine and engine cooling). the vehicle is currently at the dealer and they are charging $280 to replace the sensors. the contact stated that the repair should be free since the vehicle is included in the recall. the purchase date was unknown. the current mileage is 40,000 and failure mileage was 39,850.

I purchased my 2003 nissan sentra from toyota direct in columbus ohio and the day i purchased it that evening my check engine light came on i took it back and they took it to germain nissan twice for service to find out what was wrong, well they fixed it as they thought (the fuel pump) but a year later the same problems were occurring so i took it to another mechanic and they said it was what nissan said so i had it fixed again (fuel pump) but no one hooked it up to diagnostic. well now again the car is doing the same thing i took it to another mechanic and he fixed something totally different since he hooked it up to the diagnostic and said it was the crank position sensor and he fixed it, well here i am 6 months later im having the same problem.. i research on the internet and found this had a recall back in 2003 but i'm getting people telling me my car wasn't included, my car is doing the same exact thing as 630000 other 2003 nissian sentras how is this possible.. i'm would like to file a complaint about my vehicle and i feel nissan should replace this and make it good at their cost and not mine. here is what i found out: auto recall date: nov 17, 2003 vehicle component: engine and engine cooling estimated vehicles affected: 630000 model affected 2003 nissan sentra 2003 nissan sentra defect summary: on certain passenger vehicles, the circuit board for the crank position sensor or cam position sensor may have an improper solder joint due to solder deformation caused by heat stress accelerated by the existence of flux residue during the soldering process. defect consequence: this could cause the "service engine soon" warning light to come on, create a no start condition, cause reduced engine power, or cause the engine to stop running without warning during vehicle operation, which could result in a crash. remedy: dealers will replace the crank position sensors. camshaft position sensor(s), and in some cases, the variable timing control sensor. *tr

Nissan sentra ser spec v 2003 has power failure problems, experiencing a mild loss of acceleration. driving at 70 mph, vehicle lost full power and reduced speed to 40 mph, shut down by itself. took it to dealership and they discovered that the screws and the "power valve" were sucked into the engine bay. internal engine damage, same problem as 2004-2005 qr25de engine recalls, but manufacturer has not issues a recall for the qr25de in 2002 or 2003. please request nissan north america to issue a "power valve recall" for the years 2002 and 2003 as well. there are several consumers that have experienced the same problem.*ak

A large number of 2003 nissan sentra's are under recall for bad catalytic converter. i own a 2003 nissan sentra who's catalytic converter is bad, but am now told my specific vin number is not covered by the recall. this is a serious emissions issue, and my car will now not pass the emissions test for state inspection. my vehicle should be added to the recall list. my check engine light has been on since 69000 miles, proof of which can be found in service records from southern states nissan in raleigh, north carolina. my vehicle was in their service center in jan. of 2006 to replace bad computer components. when my vehicle left the service center, the check engine light was still on. a diagnostic test showed the cause to be catalytic converter failure. *tr

I bought a used 2003 nissan sentra for just a little more than a year ago from a used car dealer. less than a month later i found some listed recalls on the web for the on board control unit which was causing the computer to miss read the crank case positioning sensor, and oxygen sensors, & causing cars to stop running for anywhere from split second to several seconds. this could cause an accident for this on board computer was making error codes show up when doing smog test and there was nothing wrong with these sensors. i went into my local nissan dealer to have these recall repairs done, i was told that only one of the four repairs would be done to my vehicle because my 2003 sentra was made in dec. and the recall for the other were for up to nov of 2003. my sentra has been having the same exact problems that the recall repairs were suppose to fix, only they wouldn't fix mine. since about a month after that my check engine light has been on and about a half a dozen times a week my car will just stop running for about a second and start up again. also since then i have had both the crank case sensor and the oxygen sensor replaced and not only will the check engine light not go out, but now even after i have replaced both of these sensors because they were showing up as defective when i had the smog checked, this defective on board computer still shows the exact same defect codes even after putting new parts in. this has now cost me over $150 for parts i didn't need and even worse, the car won't pass smog even though there's nothing wrong with the parts i had to replace. so now because nissan wouldn't replace what they knew was a defective part, the on board computer or what the service manual calls it then (ecm) controller, i have 3 days (nevada only gives you 10 days extension if your car doesn't pass smog to fix it). ecm controller will have to be replace ii don't have $700 to $1000 dollars to pay for one. *tr ...

I have tried a number of times to have nissan find the reason why my car had a delay in start for 2 years. i have no success, only excuses , and run around. now my car is no longer in warranty and they are still giving me the run around when i told them that it appears to be what the recalls are stating.*ak

Tl* - the contact called regarding the 2003 nissan sentra. the driver was traveling at 45-50 mph when the engine suddenly shut off,and the vehicle continued to move. the driver applied the brakes and the vehicle would not stop, and the steering wheel locked. the road conditions were icy. the vehicle hit a cement wall. the driver and passenger air bags deployed. there were no injuries. the contact was given a police report. the failure mileage was 50,000. the vehicle was towed. the insurance investigator was going to inspect the vehicle on 2/27/07. *ak

Car will not start in the morning unless engine is warmed up for a few minutes, if not allowed to warm up it will move very slowly and if you try to accelerate it stalls. the check engine light came on, so i took it to the dealer and he said it was a bad cam sensor, so he replaced and this time the car would not start at all. he put back the old sensor and it started up but the check engine light came on again, the computer stated it's the cam sensor. he could not figure it out so he finally contacted nissan techs and they didn't know what it could be. after 5 days they finally came up with the problem---valve-timing control ??? they want $ 1600 to repair the car, i can't afford it, so i contacted nissan explained that the should pay for it because it sounds just like the recall nhtsa id 03v455000, they refused even though i am a long time nissan customer. i am going to appeal the decision because i am reading a lot of similar complaints exist and they won't take responsibility for it. it's a real shame. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 25 mph, the check engine light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. there was a nhtsa recall,# 03v455000, regarding the engine and engine cooling. the vehicle was not included in the recall due to the vin.

The vehicle has very heavy oil consumption. the vehicle currently consumes 1qt per week. i did not notice the problem as it has progressed since 40,000 miles where it was only 2-3 quarts between changes. i have meticulously maintained the vehicle (i was trained by a master volvo technician). he has over seen the maintaining of my vehicle since mile 1. i noticed that oil consumption was becoming an issue around 65,000 miles. nissan recall nos. r3007, r3014, r3015, r3016, r3017. i had this recall performed somewhere between 35,000 and 50,000 miles (cannot remember when exactly, nissan usa should have record). the catalytic converter of the vehicle was never removed - it has never been removed from the engine - there is no possible way to see internal damage without removal! the internal damage will not affect the emissions of the vehicle unless in very extreme cases! the bolts have no scaring what so ever to suggest that it was ever removed and inspected. however, the shield was removed and the dealership service department left the bolts on top of the shield loose. many sentras (with 2.5l engines) owners are noticing very high oil consumption with their vehicles (i could easily find over 100 between 2 different message boards that do not cover the altima 2.5) even with the recall done. many have called nissan usa and have been told they are not aware of the issue with the earlier models - nissan has proven to be very difficult to deal with even for those who still have factory warranty on the vehicle, often blaming the defect on "neglecting the vehicle". the people who are being told this are people who have a passion for their vehicles, and maintain them with the best products they know of; and consistently look for better products to replace "good products". please look heavily into expanding the current oil consumption recall - nissan seems to be disregarding the safety of its buyers. if they continue to "slip by" with it, they will only continue.*jb

While driving at about 30 mph the engine stalled without any previous warning and car was going to stop suddenly but the driver was luckily able to react in time and depress the clutch pedal and cruise to a safe spot on the side of the road. had the vehicle been at an intersection it could have resulted in a crash. once on the side of the road the driver restarted the vehicle after several tries upon which the service engine light came on and the tachometer was not reading the rpm. the vehicle was slowly (5 mph) driven to a safe location where further diagnosis revealed a trouble code 0335 ( crank position/circuit malfunction). even though there was a previous recall (03v455000) for this issue the dealer refused to acknowledge it and do any repairs at no charge stating that according to the vehicles vin# there were no open recalls on it. *jb

Car began running rough, had trouble starting, check engine light stayed on. didn't drive much after problem. took to dealer (leitzinger imports) where i attend college, penn state university. problem diagnosed as p0462 - fuel/sensor circuit, as per tsb. engine control unit needs reprogrammed which was done. my father picked up after fixed & service personnel mentioned it was a known problem with this car. nissan north america was contacted & my father spoke with a helpful rep seeking reimbursement for work. file number with nissan is 5463960. no known recalls, reimbursement denied but might have been different if we owned more nissans. was mentioned to rep that no parts were replaced which indicates it was a computer/program malfunction & not fault of owner. *nm

Tl*- the contact received a recall letter two months ago for the 2003 nissan sentra, but the vehicle failed last year. while driving the weather was poor, the temperature dropped to 17 degrees and itstarted snowing ,he was driving under blizzard conditions. he was tried to slow down and the vehicle stalled on the highway. due to the icy conditions a truck had stopped, but the contact's vehicle slid into the rear of the truck. his insurance company stated he was at fault. he called the manufacturer, who informed him that there was no recall, but that they would send someone to look at the vehicle. nissan confirmed the insurance findings, and said it was not their fault and that nothing was wrong with the car. in august 2006 the vehicle repeated the same failure. whie going 3 mph and the car stalled while making a right hand turn. the vehicle lost power and almost rolled into another vehicle. in january he took the vehicle to a repair shop, it started to rain and the vehicle stalled again. the check engine light turned on. he took the vehicle to the dealer, and they repaired the vehicle. after picking up the vehicle it stalled again and he could not start it. the current mileage was 77,000 and the failure mileage was 62,000.*ak

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. while driving 10 mph, the engine shut off. the check engine light illuminated prior to the failure. the engine's computer was replaced. there was a bearing that failed and a couple of push rods bad. the vehicle's warranty expired and the contact had to pay for the repair. the nissan manufacturer informed him to take the vehicle back to the dealer and start a file. the mechanic stated that because of the oil burning in the engine, the contact was not maintaining the vehicle properly. he felt that his engine was the same as those in the 2006 sentras and should be included in nhtsa campaign id number 06v223000 (engine and engine cooling). the purchase date was unknown. the current mileage was 94,000 and failure mileage was 69,321. updated 02-12-08 *bf the dealer stated replace front brake pads and resurfaced rotors. updated 02/12/08 *tr

I have a 2003 nissan sentra ser that continues to have problems. it stalls, dies in the middle of the road and sometimes wont start. there is no warning as to when its going to die. it feels like it loses power while your driving down the road. check engine light comes on and when i take it to the dealer they tell me there is nothing the matter with it they have replace the chamber assembly throttle and then replaced the crank sensor assembly. sometimes the check engine light does not even come on but when they scan it for a code a code comes up or sometimes no codes come up. this car had been back to the dealer 10 times and they still have not corrected the problem. *jb

This vehicle has had a number of recalls from its preliminary 02 model year to its latest 05 models. the four cylinder motor that powers this car with the engine code qr25de has a habit of ingesting butterfly valve screws. these screws secure plates that open at a certain rpm within the intake manifold to allow more air to enter the engine. over a period of time these screws can work themselves loose become sucked through the intake system and enter the cylinders of the motor. depending on the severity of the damage the results could leave the owner noticing abnormal throttle response because of loose plates, they may notice their motors are burning an increasingly large amount of oil or at worse immediate engine stall/failure that could occur at any speed. at times they may be totally unaware any damage has occurred until more screws become displaced. screws have been none to score cylinder walls and close spark plug gaps as well. i am under the impression that nissan is aware of this failure because the majority of owners stricken by this problem have had their entire motor replaced and at times just the intake manifold. however there have been a good amount of cases where dealers have refused to do warranty work on these vehicles. some of the more mechanically inclined owners have attempted to remedy this problem by using an adhesive designed to secure screws by the name of loctite. owners who have done this have had no problems what so ever, but for those of us not skilled enough to take this task on ourselves we are pretty much waiting for something to happen and hoping it doesn''t happen at a very inconvenient time. interestingly enough this problem has been seen in all b15 sentras with this particular motor from 2002 to 2004 which includes the se-r, se-r spec v and 2.5 special edition. thank you for taking the time to read this.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. the contact was involved in two crashes. the engine and catalytic converter were replaced twice. the engine stalls and loses power intermittently. when driving uphill at various speeds, the vehicle jerks. when traveling downhill, the vehicle shuts off. when the vehicle is on level ground, it will automatically restart. the first crash occurred in july of 2007, but the failures occurred prior to the crash. while idling at a stop light, the vehicle shut off. it took a while for the contact to restart the vehicle. when it started, the vehicle lurched and jumped, which caused him to rear end another vehicle at 7 mph. both vehicles sustained minimal damage. a police report was filed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer four times before they made the first repair, which was the replacement of the cylinder heads. the failure continued, so he took it back to the dealer six more times. four of those times the vehicle had to stay at the dealer, but they were unable to identify the cause of the failure. over the next 18 months, the failure continued to persist, so he decided to check the internet for recalls and located several related to the 2.5l engine. the dealer replaced the cylinder heads under recall nhtsa campaign id numbers 03v477000 (electrical system:ignition:module) and 06v242000 (engine and engine cooling). the contact was not informed of these recalls the many times he visited the dealer. he had to call nissan ten times before anyone returned his call. the failure mileage was 10,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. while idling at a traffic light with the heat, headlights, and radio activated, the vehicle stalled. the interior lighting was still illuminated; however, all of the electrical components would not operate. the contact was unable to restart the vehicle. through online research, she discovered nhtsa campaign id number 03v455000 (engine and engine cooling). the vin was not included in the recall, although the failures were identical. on a separate occasion, the vehicle rapidly idled without the accelerator pedal being depressed. the failure and current mileages were less than 70,000.

Dt: at 32,000 miles the consumer had to take the vehicle back to the dealership 15 times for repairs. the main issue was at 15,000 miles. the fuel pump was replaced. after that, the consumer had problems when turning, when he took his foot off the gas the vehicle sputered. the service manager test drove the vehicle and said it was normal. the consumer never experienced any problems until the fule pump was replaced. the vehicle had other problems such as 2 new fan belts, trunk flooded once. the heater control was replaced 4 times. there was a problem with the ignition switch. *jb

I bought my car in may of 2004. since then, the interior dash lights, tail lights and various fuses have blown at least 3 times each. lights were replaced. the dealership said there was nothing wrong that they could find, and they had replaced the fuses. the very next day, the same fuses blew again. the dealership said there were no "open recalls" on my car. it is a 2003 nissan sentra se-r. the catalytic converter failed at approximately 29000 miles. this actually blew my engine, which dealership relaced. the fuse problem is still persistent.

While driving 55 mph vehicle stalled. consumer tried to restart vehicle but was unable to do so. check engine light appeared on the dashboard and remained on. consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that engine needed to be replaced due to a blown head gasket. *ak

After vehicle was serviced for nhtsa recall# 03v455000 concerning crank position sensor vehicle experienced ongoing engine stalling. consumer stated dealer refused to admit that vehicle was running in good conditions. *ak

1) i was stopped at a red light--the frist car at the light--on a two lane divived hightway in both directions. i was in the left lane. when the light turned geren i acclelrated and the car took off like it was in overdrive. when i applied the brakes, the car did a 360 degree counter-clockwise rotation. the passenger side hit the median and deflated both the front and rear tirers. the car never stalled. i was able to wobble over to the right lane and exit the highway on to a dirt road which was the entrance to a cook county forest preserve. i ran into a steel gate which was across tthe road as the forest preserve was closed. i suspect because two of my tires were deflated, my brakes were not working. 2) actually, i was taking my car to woodfield nissan for service when the accident occurred. when i tried to turn on the air-conditioning, the knob (which goes from blue--cool-- to red--heat--was not working. usually the knob such turns smoothly, but this time, there was a grating sensation and the cooling system did not turn on. the heat could not be turned off and the cooling system could not be turned on. whether this problem caused the other event is hard to say, but i favor a "cause and event" explanation. 3) there was considerable damage to my car. my insurance company authorized about $7,000 worth of damage. my car is still at woodfield nissan body shop awaiting parts which have been on back order since about march 22. i have asked john at the body shop to make sure that he has the service department look at my original air-conditioning problem, but i don't think that will happen until the body shop is finished with the car. incidentally, i received a a notice of a recall from fegus nissan in early jan. of this year (recall code: r3022). i took my car to woodfield and was told there was "no outstanding campaigns." i would like to know the reason for this recall.

I purchased my 2003 nissan sentra gxe on june 10, 2003. since that time, i have 7 work orders on my vehicle and that doesn't count each time i had to go to the dealership to show the problem and then made an appointment for problems with the drivers side door and window, a ding they put in the hood, not even close to sticker gas mileage and the service engine light coming on for no reason found and now there's a recall on that i haven't been notified of yet. *la

I have a 03 nissan sentra specv having the same issue repeat itself. the butterfly screw getting suck into the engine causing sudden lost of power. engine light says cylinder misfire. 4 engine replacements have been done now its happening again 135k on car so kissable will not replace motor. i have all service records nissan should be forced to recall the specv. the car shut off while my 5 year old was with me. no steering or brakes only hand brake used to stop car. what will it take for this recall to move forward. its hundreds of people with this problem. *tr

While the vehicle was parked, the vehicle caught on fire under the hood. the manufacturer sent a technician to review the damages and determined where the fire started. the technician has not contacted the owner with the findings from the investigation. please provide further details. *jb

I purchased my sentra in dec of 2002. one week after i bought it, i had to take it in because it clunked when you turned the wheel. took it back to dealer and front suspension was loose. fixed the clunk. started to notice that 2 qts of engine oil was gone and the coolant level kept dropping even though i kept pouring more in. took it back to dealer, claimed there was air bubble in engine and to let it go. still noticing engine oil smell and coolant level low. dealer claims nothing is wrong. passenger side window leaks, had run channel replaced twice. around 7000 mi, i noticed that the tranny squeaked b/w 3rd and 4th gear. been to dealer 4 times, claim to tighten mount bolts, belts, and exhaust manifold. still squeaking. rear bumper is now falling off and gear shift is starting to stick. had rear brakes adjusted at 7500 mi and again at 11000 mi. brakes still seam spongy and lose stopping ability. been to dealer around 20 times since december. *jb

While driving, the vehicle intermittently stalls leaving the consumer stranded on the highway. after a few minutes the vehicle can be started as if nothing ever happened. the vehicle was taken to dealer to be checked out only to have them to say that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. the manufacturer is aware of the problem. *ph

Ac will not turn off front end makes a juttering sound dealer hears it but can't fix it. windows fog up all the time most of the paint is missing from the front end, am told this is stone chips factory recall for exhaust system which can cause engine failure/fire has not been fixed after 4 attempts.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. while driving at any rate of speed, the vehicle shuts off without warning. the vehicle restarts occasionally, but most times the battery needs to be replaced in order for it to start. the vehicle has been taken to a dealer three times and the battery was replaced approximately five times. the vin was included in nhtsa campaign id number 03v455000 (engine and engine cooling), but the failure continues. the current mileage was 65,000 and failure mileage was 4,000.

While driving during inclement weather a noise from the steering column could be heard. also, when stopping vehicle steered to the right. dealer found no problem with steering. vehicle, at times, hesitated and stalled while driving at highway speeds. at about 4,000 miles, the check engine indicator warning light illuminated. *ak *mr

Dt*: the contact stated the engine burned 3/ 4 of oil in the tank every 2000 miles. the service dealer replaced two engines and changed an oil block to try to fix the issue, but the oil consumption has continued.