NHTSA Complaint #10245781 — 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA

I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA WITH ABOUT 95,000 MILES. ON 9/19, I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO MY LOCAL NISSAN DEALER FOR SERVICE BECAUSE THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT WAS ON, THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING A LITTLE ROUGH AND HAD A SLIGHT RATTLE, AND MY OIL LIGHT STARTED BLINKING ON OCCASIONALLY. THE DEALER FLUSHED AND REPLACED THE OIL, AND ALSO REPLACED THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND TWO OXYGEN SENSORS, AT A TOTAL COST OF $1700. THE CAR WAS RETURNED TO ME ON 9/23. I WAS AWAY 9/26-9/29 AND DID NOT DRIVE THE CAR. ON WEEKDAYS, I TYPICALLY DRIVE ABOUT 10 MILES TO AND FROM WORK EACH WAY. THE NEXT WEEKEND I DROVE THE CAR APPROX. 150 MILES, AT WHICH TIME I NOTICED THE RATTLE HAD NOT SUBSIDED AND THAT MY OIL LIGHT HAD STARTED TO BLINK ON AGAIN, ESPECIALLY AS I DROVE UPHILL. I ADDED 2 QUARTS TO THE ENGINE ON 10/4 AND TOOK THE CAR TO A JIFFY LUBE ON 10/8. THE JL TECH THAT REPLACED THE OIL TOLD ME THAT MY OIL WAS VERY LOW, SO I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK TO THE NISSAN DEALER ON 10/13. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THE RATTLE AS "INTERNAL ENGINE FAILURE" AND RECOMMENDED A NEW ENGINE FOR $5000. MY CONVERSATION WITH THE DEALER MECHANIC LED ME TO BELIEVE THAT THE CAR WAS BURNING OIL DUE TO A LEAKY CYLINDER, MOST LIKELY CAUSED BY FAILURE OF THE PRE-CATALYST. THE PRE-CATALYST OR 'PRE-CAT' FILTERS EXHAUST BEFORE IT GETS TO THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. THE PRE-CAT IS CLOSER TO THE ENGINE THAN THE CAT CONVERTER, SO IT TENDS TO GET OVERHEATED. WHEN IT DOES, IT CAN BREAK DOWN, AND LITTLE PIECES OF IT CAN GET SUCKED BACK UP THE EXHAUST SYSTEM THE WRONG WAY, BACK INTO THE CYLINDERS, WHICH DAMAGES THE CYLINDERS & ALLOWS OIL TO LEAK INTO THE ENGINE. BECAUSE OF THE MASSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION, I WAS UNKNOWINGLY DRIVING WITHOUT ENOUGH OIL, AND PERMANENTLY DAMAGED THE ENGINE. I PARK MY CAR IN MY GARAGE & HAVE NEVER NOTICED AN OIL LEAK OR SMOKE FROM THE TAILPIPE. I HAVE NEVER GONE MORE THAN 5,500 MILES WITHOUT AN OIL CHANGE, AND I HAVE A RECEIPT FROM EVERY OIL CHANGE I'VE EVER HAD. THE CAR HAS NO OUTSTANDING SAFETY RECALLS. *TR