Nissan (4-cylinder) Altima & Sentra SE-R: Sales Suspended in Canada

[Mike Jung]

Sales of two Nissan models suspended
Jun. 3, 2006. 01:00 AM
Toronto Star newspaper
TONY VAN ALPHEN
BUSINESS REPORTER


Nissan Canada says it has temporarily ordered dealers to stop selling two models because of reports of excessive oil consumption that could result in fires or engine damage.

The auto maker said yesterday it is investigating potential causes in efforts to correct the problem and resume sales of certain four-cylinder Altima and Sentra SE-R models.

It is part of a move by Nissan North America to halt sales of the models across the continent.

Nissan estimates it built about 100,000 of the models between January and May that may be subject to the problem.

The company said it has received 215 reports of high oil consumption, particularly from car rental fleets.

The reports revealed the problem led to 17 engine fires and one minor injury.

But Nissan Canada spokesperson Donna Trawinski said it has received no reports yet of heavy oil consumption or fires here.

Trawinski said Nissan has sold 2,082 Altimas and 35 Sentra SE-Rs in Canada since early this year. Nissan is advising owners of the two models to frequently check and maintain their oil levels. "If the engine oil level is not registered at all on the dipstick, customers are urged to immediately add oil and bring their vehicle to a Nissan dealer," the company said in a statement.

Furthermore, Nissan said it has extended the engine portion of the powertrain coverage on the models' warranties from five years or about 110,000 kilometres to seven years and 160,000 kilometres, whichever comes first.
I wonder, what is happening to their engines to cause the oil loss ?

[Mike Jung]

Nissan stops sales of some Altimas, Sentras
Fri Jun 2, 2006 3:11pm ET

DETROIT, June 2 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co. Ltd said on Friday it had asked its U.S. dealers to stop selling certain 2006 model-year Altimas and Nissan Sentra SE-Rs cars due to reports of excessive oil consumption that could damage the engine or cause a fire.

About 100,000 Altimas and Sentra SE-Rs built between January and May 2006 may have the problem, according to the company.

There have been about 215 reports of excessive oil consumption, mostly from rental-car fleets, and 17 reports of engine fires, resulting in one minor injury, Nissan said.

This is the latest setback for the Japanese auto maker, which has cut U.S. production this year because of sales declines in the region. Nissan's U.S. sales are down 3 percent so far this year.

Nissan said it had extended the engine portion of the vehicles' warranty on Altimas and Sentra SE-Rs built during January to May 2006 to 84 months or 100,000 miles.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
I wonder, if these engines are running too hot ?

[Mike Jung]

From: http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060603/NEWS/606030358/1001
Fire a risk for some Nissans

Car maker tells dealers to halt sales of certain Altimas, Sentras

By Jack Mazurak

With reports of engine fires in some of its sedans, Nissan North America on Friday told dealers to stop selling four-cylinder Altimas and Sentra SE-Rs made between January and mid-May.

Cars at risk could number 100,000.

The problem likely will hurt Nissan's sales figures since the Altima is the company's best-selling vehicle and the four-cylinder version accounts for about 75 percent of all Altimas sold.

Neither the company nor the government has issued a recall, but Nissan said owners should regularly check oil levels as the fires are linked to excessive oil consumption. The company has extended the engine warranty on affected vehicles to seven years or 100,000 miles.

Altimas are made at plants in Smyrna, Tenn., and Canton. Sentras are produced in Aguas Calientes, Mexico. Nissan's 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine is made at its engine plant in Decherd, Tenn. Production will continue at all plants because the company has made several changes to its engine since the problems surfaced.

Fred Standish, Nissan corporate communications director, said the company doesn't know if the problems are design related, the result of supplier parts, or if they occur in engine manufacturing, transport or vehicle assembly.

"There are so many processes that go into building a vehicle, we need to identify exactly what the root problem is. Until then, we're not in a position to say where the fault is," he said.

Nissan said of the 17 engine fires reported, one resulted in an injury, which was minor.

The company believes the cars use their oil too quickly and, if the proper oil level isn't maintained, engine damage and fires can result. Nissan took about 215 reports of excessive oil consumption, mostly from rental car fleets.

The affected cars could be in driveways, rental fleets, in transport to dealers and other countries or on showroom floors, Standish said. That likely will hurt dealerships this weekend as those are prime car-shopping days.

Ed Spencer, general manager of Deuce McAllister Nissan in south Jackson, said he got the word Friday afternoon.

"I'm in the process of trying to identify the ones in our inventory right now," he said. "I really don't know how many we have, we may not have any."

As the cars made January through May don't look any different than the previous months' models, both sellers and customers will have to look up the particular car's vehicle identification number at a Nissan dealership to tell when it was made.

Laura Bryant, public relations manager at Enterprise Rent-a-Car, said late Friday she wasn't aware of the problem. Enterprise rents four-cylinder Altimas, but Bryant said fluid levels are checked often.

"Obviously safety is the No. 1 priority for us. Our cars are vigorously maintained because our customers depend on them being in top shape," she said.

Standish said Nissan has teams working in several areas to pinpoint the root cause.

In the meantime, he said, engineers have changed several engine parts, and the altered engines show no oil use problems after testing.

"Those engines are being shipped and installed now," he said.

[BigTaters]

see imports are **** too.. now lets support gm.. nissan can lick ballz

[crazypontiac03]

^^ Thank You, every Vehicle Domestic or Import can have issue's.

Weird..

[caraudiodave]

Nissan has sold 2,082 Altimas and 35 Sentra SE-Rs in Canada since early this year

wow, thats a lot of SE-Rs. lol

yes, ive said it before, all cars can have issues. whats different is how they deal with the issues. what did GM do when their cars were leaking coolant? hault sales? no. they sold more and denied that they had a problem. Nissan is haulting sales, which will result in HUGE losses, but they are doing it to take care of their customers, more than what GM does. notice that they also extended their warranty...has GM ever done this in respect to the dexcool issues? no.

[GregFarz78]

Nissan took about 215 reports of excessive oil consumption, mostly from rental car fleets.

Rental cars arent exactly known to be well maintained either. The oil consumption was a problem a few years ago I guess its back again but at least Nissan is taking measure to fix it the extended warranty is nice too