NHTSA Complaint #10106086 — 2004 NISSAN FRONTIER

MY WIFE AND I PURCHASED THE ABOVE REFERENCED NEW TRUCK FROM LEBLANC NISSAN IN BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2004. IMMEDIATELY, WE NOTICED THAT HOT AIR WAS COMING FROM THE CENTER DASH VENTS ALMOST ALL OF THE TIME. THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED, BUT NOT FIXED. NISSAN IDENTIFIED A PROBLEM WITH THE MESH IN THE VENT SCREEN IN FRONT OF THE WINDSHIELD WHERE FRESH AIR IS INDUCED INTO THE SYSTEM. THE MESH WAS LARGE ENOUGH TO ALLOW DEBRIS TO ENTER AND ACCUMULATE. THE REMEDY TO THIS PROBLEM ON 2004 MODELS WAS TO MAKE THE MESH IN THE SCREEN VERY FINE. HOWEVER, THE FINER MESH CREATES HIGH RESISTANCE TO THE INDUCTION OF FRESH AIR FROM OUTSIDE THE CAR INTO THE HEATING/VENTILATION SYSTEM. THIS INCREASED RESISTANCE CAUSES THE VENTILATION SYSTEM TO DRAW HEATED, AND POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED AIR, FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. NISSAN?S FIX FOR THIS PROBLEM WAS TO PLACE DUCT TAPE OVER VARIOUS HOLES IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT FROM WHERE THE VENTILATION SYSTEM WAS DRAWING AIR. THE DUCT TAPE WAS APPLIED, BUT IT DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. I HAVE MEASURED THE TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR COMING OUT OF THE 2 CENTER VENTS ON A DAY WHEN THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE WAS 78 DEGREES. THE AIR COMING FROM THE VENTS MEASURED 96 DEGREES. LEBLANC NISSAN REPEATED THIS TEST WITH MORE SOPHISTICATED EQUIPMENT AND OBTAINED TEMPERATURES OF ALMOST 100 DEGREES ON A DAY WHEN THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE WAS LESS THAN 78 DEGREES. THE FACT THAT THE TRUCK IS UNCOMFORTABLY HOT OR COLD IS BAD ENOUGH. THE FAR MORE SERIOUS ASPECT IS THE POTENTIAL FOR THE SYSTEM TO INTRODUCE DEADLY CARBON MONOXIDE FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT VIA THE VENTILATION SYSTEM. *AK