[dmako]

Was the person who told you the salesperson?

i thought they have fixed the issue in '05 models. at least thats what the guy at the dealership told me.

 

[zofsuvs]

i thought they have fixed the issue in '05 models. at least thats what the guy at the dealership told me.

Kills me when they say the problem is fixed when they haven't admitted there is a problem to be fixed.

Good news is, no reports by members here yet of alternator failures in 2005 model Muranos, which uses a different alternator.

How about a recall on the old alternators before more of those fail?

 

[10413]

How about a recall on the old alternators before more of those fail?

I'm still trying to get my dealer to replace my alternator in "good faith" since it still currently tests OK -- I don't particularly WANT to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead MO... but they won't budge.

 

[hfelknor]

IF we are hoping for a recall

then it is IMPERATIVE that each and every report of a failed alternator mention safety.
I'm not suggesting that anybody lie or even stretch the truth.
If there was absolutely no way that the failure put you in any danger, you could at least say that you were glad that that was so, and that the failure din't occurr at a time and place that WOULD have compromised your safety.

This is the National Highway Transportation SAFETY agency.

They will not do much if it is just a failure.
They give the example of the AC.
If the AC in every single Murano went bad, the NHTSA could care less.

I am frankly a bit surprised that we haven't had an accident by a board member due to an Alternator failure.



Homer

BTW Eric

"... I agree Nissan should have equipped the Murano with a battery that has more reserve capacity (defined as how long you can keep the car on after alternator failure - good batteries will last at least 60 minutes). "

That is a function of the current draw as much as it is the capacity of the battery.
If the Alternator develops a low resistance path to ground, it could suck the guts out of the biggest battery in the world rather quickly.
I still think we do not really know what the exact failure is.....

 

[Eric L.]

Homer -

When my alternator failed, the dealer didn't tell me much. However, on the warranty claim form, which the service manager handed to me so I could walk it over to the cashiers counter on the other end of the dealership, I read the report:

"Cust. states brake and battery light on, will inspect and advise"

"Confirmed alt not charging, internal failure - R&R (i'm guessing this meant remove and replace) NMC (Nissan Motor Corp) approved reman alternator"

Under the parts section, the parts added to my vehicle were

"Reman alt. core assy. Qty :1"
"Nissan long coolant" Qty: 1 (gallon)"

So in my case, alternator was not charging. NHTSA ODI noted that Nissan claimed "an open rotor coil due to wire fatigue" as a conclusion from its internal investigation. Its certainly a possibility that a defect in the alternator assembly process could result in that condition. Like you, I look forward to ODI's continued investigation results.

 

[zofsuvs]

I'm still trying to get my dealer to replace my alternator in "good faith" since it still currently tests OK -- I don't particularly WANT to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead MO... but they won't budge.

I can't imagine that they would replace a working alternator until a recall. Nissan would never go for that. Nice if they would, but not gonna happen.

 

[zofsuvs]

Re: IF we are hoping for a recall

then it is IMPERATIVE that each and every report of a failed alternator mention safety.
I'm not suggesting that anybody lie or even stretch the truth.
If there was absolutely no way that the failure put you in any danger, you could at least say that you were glad that that was so, and that the failure din't occurr at a time and place that WOULD have compromised your safety...

I agree it's helpful to mention if the alternator failure resulted in a dangerous situation. For some this apparently was not the case, for others it was. Keep in mind, even being stranded on the side of the road waiting for a tow can be a dangerous situation. And it's important to include that information in the NHTSA complaint, not just here on the forum.

But as you said, let's not fudge the truth AT ALL. Readers here and the NHTSA need to have some faith in the reports in order to come to the appropriate conclusions.

 

[Eric L.]

I'm still trying to get my dealer to replace my alternator in "good faith" since it still currently tests OK -- I don't particularly WANT to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead MO... but they won't budge.

Well not every alternator will fail. If yours has not, then it may never fail. Why mess with something that works (for now)? If the issue is as widespread as we think it is, Nissan WILL issue a recall. When it will happen, well, we all know by that time it will be too late.

 

[10413]

Well not every alternator will fail. If yours has not, then it may never fail. Why mess with something that works (for now)? If the issue is as widespread as we think it is, Nissan WILL issue a recall. When it will happen, well, we all know by that time it will be too late.

Well it seems like a surprisingly high percentage DO fail on 03s and 04s. With my luck, I'll be one of them. It's only a matter of time. I've had dealerships (not Nissan, since the MO is my first Nissan) do similar things. If they recognize a widespread problem they will proactively replace things even if a recall hasn't been issued. Believe it or not, Saturn is excellent about this. We've taken the GF's ION in a few times for minor issues and when we got the car back it would say something like "replaced hazard light switch to prevent failure of turn signals" -- even though we hadn't had problems with the turn signals. 6 months later, a recall was issued.

 

[zofsuvs]

Interesting, K. Quite a testimonial for Saturn. But replacing the alternator is no small (or cheap) job. If you can get a dealership to do it, please let us know. Probably will foretell a recall if they do. Good luck.

 

[Eric L.]

Nissan dealers are so cheap I would really be surprised if they would replace a part if it was not broken. This would require them to submit a dishonest warranty claim, something I find unlikely given the dealer is usually hesitant to even give the go ahead on a legitamate warranty repair!

 

[10413]

I doubt they'll budge on the alternator... the Reno Nissan dealership isn't terribly committed to giving good customer service in the first place, let alone something that's "above and beyond."

So much for "you get what you pay for"... The MO cost 35 grand and I get crappy service. The Saturn cost 15 grand and we've been treated excellently at 3 different dealerships, including one out-of-state dealership that we were not a "regular customer" of.

C'est la vie!

 

[zofsuvs]

My dealership took care of me well when my alternator failed out of warranty. So I'm not going to complain about their customer service.

 

[9231]

Saturn (aka GM) has had a past history of "hidden" recalls where service was done as part of a "service campaign." This is nothing more than a fancy trick by manufacturers to avoid calling something a "recall" and facing the reporting of results requirements to NHTSA. NHTSA accepts these because they get the repair done and many times, that's all the Agency is really seeking. Also, keep in mind, that how hard NHTSA is willing to push depends on whether the Agency feels a "safety-related" issues is involved.

As for my Nissan service station (did not buy from their shady sales department), they have been very good to me. When they couldn't get the repair done in one day, they gave me a rental car - 05 Nissan Altima - that car rocks! Very peppy. Next day, alternator was repaired and new DVD navigation on order (did I mention that went on the fritz too?). Gotta say, I'm a bit disappointed in the problems with this $35K plus car. Thus far, the following has been repaired:

Replaced DVD rear seat entertainment player
Adjusted/tightened evaporative emissions hose to turn off SES
Numerous ticks and clicks (self-repaired thanks to this list!)
Alternator replacement
DVD navigation on order

Oh, did I mention the whopping 11,000 miles and 14 months as the "age" of this vehicle? I may consider the Lexus RX or Acura MDX more seriously in the future...

 

[UmmelGroup]

Investigation underway...

I had a phone call from federal NHSTA investigator today. It was a 202 area code... assumed it was coming from Washington, DC.

The gentleman was very pleasant and interviewed me for about 15 minutes via phone regarding my recent alt failure (which I'd reported via their web site). Some of the questions:

1) confirming information... name, phone, address, VIN number, etc.

2) under what conditions did the failure occur? (in my case, it was at 40 mph, at night, on a 4-lane with moderately heavy traffic)

3) what were the symptoms? (for me, loss of power and electrical and computer went into "limp mode" where I could barely manage to get the car off the busy trafficway)

4) any prior indications? (for me, 1 day and about 15 miles earlier, the battery and brake lights came on ... I was unable to get the vehicle in for service to have these warning lights checked out)

5) what eventually happened? (towed to dealer, and next day dealer replace alternator free of charge ... off warranty with around 40K miles)

I didn't ask alot of questions ... wanted to keep the call short as I was driving (the MO, of course!). I did get the sense that this investigation was serious and would be thorough. The interviewer seemed especially interested in safety/risk issues that I encountered during the failure (how busy was the road ... what lane was I in ... how long did it take me to get the vehicle out of traffic ... etc)

I've just passed 50K miles now on my 2003 SL. Other than this one problem, I've had no others and would highly recommend MO to others.

 

[zofsuvs]

Has anyone reported an alternator failure on a 2005?

We had our first 2005 added to the list today.

 

[hfelknor]

Well, we can hope that the 2005 failure is just a normal "incidental" failure and not connected to the rather common failures of the 03/04s.

Time will tell.

Homer

 

[zofsuvs]

I agree. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

 

[tigger]

NHTSA Contact...

Much like UmmelGroup's, my call from the NHTSA covered the basic info and questions about the safety, or lack thereof, of myself and passengers during the incident with the alternator. I was honest and explained that the vehicle going into 'limp mode' was the most disconcerting aspect of this event. Having lost nearly all drive power in the vehicle while underway in traffic could only be considered as a very dangerous behavior. I recall some posts saying that they were traveling at highway speeds, that's scary. I lost power accelerating through an intersection and then it died completely while attempting to turn through another intersection, both times I was lucky not to be the path of oncoming traffic.

The investigator asked whether I would sign an affidavit should they take Nissan to court to force a recall and I said absolutely. It seemed to me that this issue is at last coming to the forefront. I'm going to call back the district administrator from NNA today(she left her contact info in voicemail) and tell her that I was at last satisfied with the dealer's response but that I'm quite disappointed that they(Nissan) haven't acknowledged this issue and it's putting people, their customers, at risk. I hope that this problem, like so many before it, does not result in the loss of a life before the responsible party admits there's a problem and acts to correct it. It's activity like this that's created the wave of class-action suits and massive jury awards which most companies now bemoan are just the product of over-agressive lawyers. I now feel less and less opposed to these tactics as it's revealed that so many companies knowingly deceived the public before being caught and punished, at least monetarily.

OK, off the soapbox for now.

I'm still trying to confirm if the dealer replaced the unit with a unit from the problem batch. The dealer invoice shows a couple numbers: DAT 23100-CN100R and FP-23100CN100R Type: W

If this is a unit from the same manufacturer or batch that is known to have problems, I'll do my best to have NAA replace it again at no charge. I'll note that to the NHTSA as well if this is the case...

 

[zofsuvs]

The investigator asked whether I would sign an affidavit should they take Nissan to court to force a recall and I said absolutely. It seemed to me that this issue is at last coming to the forefront.

I think you're right. Especially when combined with Illinilee's post that he was just asked if he would lease his Murano to the NHTSA for testing to see which systems shut down and in what order when the alternator fails (link).