Pathfinder repair and Nissan surprise
Submitted: Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 12:16
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Member - Barry H (WA)
Hi all,
About two weeks ago my Pathfinder R51 was having some timing problems, so much so that it stopped me from going away at
Easter.
Put the car in to a Nissan dealer and got the shock of my life when he said, $6,500 repair bill, the timing chains had stretched.
After much research on the net (god bless it) and detirmining that it was not an uncommon event, I went back to the dealer and put my case for warranty, even though the car is 1 year over the statuatory time warranty, and about 20K over the mileage warranty, I felt it should be a warranty claim.
I have to say here and now the dealer was fantastic, credit where it is due, they did all they could to help,
well this morning I got a phone call from the dealer, and surprise surprise Nissan have coughed for a warranty claim.
I am heading straight out to buy a lotto ticket.
Regards
Barry H
Reply By: vk1dx - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 13:04
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 13:04
Lucky man Barry
We had troubles with the Falcon and they fixed it after the warranty ran out. I was getting headaches and sore joints on the right hand side. Not the headaches! The
seat was out of alignment.
Unlike a lot of drivers (unsafe) including cops on those TV shows, I drive with two hands on the steering wheel and my torso and backbone were being twisted to the left. Ford realigned the
seat and all was fine. The doctors gave me a letter to help my claim. I have noticed that when hiring through work for short periods that this is not a rare thing. And also not restricted to Fords. I got upgraded several times into the luxury class and the same there.
Luckily our Maxima and the Toyota are spot on with the center of the steering wheel in line with the center of my chest.
We stuck with the Ford agents at several locations for 20 years. Never a hassle.
Good on your Nissan agent. They are worth going back to.
Phil
AnswerID:
484013
Follow Up By: Member - Barry H (WA) - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 13:23
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 13:23
Thanks Phil,
This Nissan dealer proved to be worth their weight in gold this time.
I have had some issues with Nissan customer care over the journey, but as I said credit where it is due, they came through this time.
Thankfully I have had no issues with the steering side of things, yet.
Regards
Barry H
FollowupID:
759269
Reply By: Ross M - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 14:27
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 14:27
G'day Barry H
It is a shock you got some warranty from Nissan but,
If and I mean IF, the fault was timing chains, then it indicates a number of things.
I presume the warranty is for 100,000km and IF the chains wore out (commonly called stretched) in that distance then the quality of the chain is not suitable for its purpose and is highly suspect and most likely Nissan know of this inferior drive chain being supplied to their engine builders and that is why they have supplied a new one.
If they were that flogged out to cause a timing error in your engine the drive wheel/sprockets will also be worn because of the non alignment of the chain teeth with the pitch of the wheel.
Did they replace them too at the same time???????????? OR just reused the clapped out one which WILL NOT match the pitch of the new chain.
If the dealer has been servicing your vehicle has he used a good quality engine oil to prevent/minimize wear rates?????? I think not, as most dealers do not use high quality oils. I don't know of any who do.
It also goes to show the dealer didn't initially fully investigate the problem and
check the cam timing as they should have. The cam angle sensor is probably OK and they are generally quite reliable, but because it its out of sync with the engine it indicated the sensor fault.
If, at service time, the oil in your engine wasn't actually changed and the poor quality oli did a double time without being detected then, the lubing of the engine and chain hasn't been good and they would have deteriorated with the increased km travelled because of the decreasing lubrication ability of the dirty oil.
So, no thanks to Nissan or the dealer is really due, although it is good for you they are just "covering their backsides and minimizing the fall out" caused by the crap quality of components. So don't pay homage to them.
Ask yourself, why do other vehicles with similar cam drive setups run for 300,000 or 400,000km with out their drive chains being a problem.
Your problem should never have happened yet. Maybe in 8 years time with lots of k's under its belt.
Ross M
AnswerID:
484019
Reply By: TerraFirma - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 16:10
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 16:10
Toyota have done that for me on 2 occassions whilst the car was around 12 months outside of warranty but the failed part should not have failed within such a short period. You've got to write the letter, sometimes the dealer will help.
AnswerID:
484031
Reply By: P and JM - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 18:52
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 18:52
Barry, all I can say is "you are very bloody lucky" to get it done out of warranty.
Including myself and many other Nissan owners have been refused warranty work because Nissan Australia do not want to admit their vehicles are faulty.
You have done around 20,000 kms and vehicle is 1 year out of warranty and your job is being done. My front end fault was refused under warranty and extended warranty even after getting Australian Consumer Affairs on the job.
The fault was there from new and reported to two Nissan dealers. It ended up me being $600-00 out off pocket for half the rectification and the extra $1000-00 for the extended warranty I paid Nissan Australia.
Good luck. P&J
AnswerID:
484047
Follow Up By: Member - Barry H (WA) - Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:43
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:43
P&JM,
Yep I have already bought a lotto ticket, just to see if my luck will hold.
I too have had issues with Nissan over, electronic fuel sender, corroded rear bumper sensors and front wheel rims, but this time I caught a big break with it being done under wty.
I guess the key to this one was keeping all my service records and proving to them that it had not missed a single service, even though the servicing was not done by a Nissan dealer.
Regards
Barry H
FollowupID:
759378
Follow Up By: P and JM - Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 16:57
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 16:57
Barry,
I hope you get a win with your lottery ticket !!
I also had all records of
services, repairs and dates when reported to the individual dealers which was all copied by ACA but made no difference to the female we were trying to educate about the vehicle's problem
Cheers P&J
FollowupID:
759409
Reply By: Madfisher - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 22:38
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 22:38
Check out d40 timing chain problems, very common apparantly
Cheers Pete
AnswerID:
484083
Reply By: Madfisher - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 22:40
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 22:40
Barry since this dealer is one of the good guys how about naming them so other customers can buys their cars through them.
Bouquets to the dealer
well done.
Cheers Pete
AnswerID:
484084
Follow Up By: Member - Barry H (WA) - Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:38
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:38
Hi Madfish,
The dealer concerned was Duncan Nissan on the
Albany Highway here in
Perth.
Whilst I might agree with some of the comments regarding whether or not the chain should have failed, I have nothing but praise for the dealer this time.
Regards
Barry H
FollowupID:
759376
Reply By: Ron N - Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 18:17
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 18:17
Duncan's have had a good name for a long time, and are one of
Perth's oldest established car dealers.
However, the Nissan Motor Co's name stinks when it comes to customer support and product backup.
Google "Product Review Nissan Pathfinder", and you'll find a large number of unhappy owners - not only with vehicle performance - but with how Nissan constantly refuses to address any design faults or owner problems.
Nissan haven't fared too
well in recent times - what with the "hand grenade" ZD30 3L engines, the OD 5th gear transmission spline problems in the Nissan Patrols, as
well as many build quality issues.
Perhaps now they've realised the power of modern communications, as in forums that soon makes all the disgruntled owners realise, that the problem they're having, ISN'T an isolated case - as so many manufacturers use as a standard fall-back position.
Good to hear you got some proper, old-time, customer satisfaction, Barry.
Cheers - Ron.
AnswerID:
484190