NHTSA Complaint #10356915 — 2005 NISSAN ARMADA

PREVIOUSLY REPORTED UNDER COMPLAINT #ODI ID NUMBER : 10339985. A SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM:THE ISSUE/PROBLEM: THE BRAKE LIGHT COMES ON. WHEN BRAKES ARE USED, THERE IS DECREASED BRAKING POWER. THE BRAKES MAKE A CRUNCHING, SPRINGY NOISE WITH THE PEDAL BEING EXTREMELY SOFT UNTIL IT GETS CLOSER TO THE FLOOR AND BEGINS TO GIVE BRAKING POWER. WHEN IGNITION IS TURNED OFF, THE PROBLEM RESOLVES AT LEAST TEMPORARILY. WHEN THE ENGINE HAS TURNED OFF, I HAVE HAD THE PROBLEM REOCCUR AS SOON AS 5 MINUTES AND AS LONG AS 31 MONTHS. I MADE A VIDEO OF ONE OF MY INSTANCES @ HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=BMTPOFDBJR8 I FIRST EXPERIENCED THE BRAKING PROBLEM BACK IN 3/06 WITH ~12,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER WAS NOT ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ISSUE, BUT IT HAD HAPPENED TO ME 3-4 TIMES PRIOR TO GETTING IT TO THE DEALER. DURING THE VISIT, THEY PERFORMED THE JUDDER BRAKE BULLETIN SERVICE. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE JUDDER BRAKE BULLETIN DID NOT SEEM TO FIT MY PROBLEM, BUT THE CAR NO LONGER HAD THE ISSUE. THEN THE ISSUE RECURRED AT ~46,000 MILES IN 10/08. AGAIN THE BRAKES DID NOT HAVE FULL POWER FOR 3-5 TIMES PRIOR TO GETTING IT TO THE DEALER. I WAS ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE THE PROBLEM TO MY LOCAL MECHANIC, BUT WHEN HE SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE, THE PROBLEM RESOLVED. I RETURNED THE CAR TO THE DEALER. THE COMPUTER DID NOT HAVE ANY REPAIR CODES STORED, BUT THEY PERFORMED TSB 06-040, A COMPUTER SOFTWARE UPDATE. THE CAR WAS FINE UNTIL 6/25/10 WHEN THE PROBLEM RECURRED. IT OCCURRED THREE TIMES THROUGHOUT THE DAY. I STARTED TRACKING THE OCCURRENCES: 6/27 X 1, 6/28 X1. I MADE A APPOINTMENT WITH THE SERVICE MANAGER AT THE DEALERSHIP ON 6/29. I KEPT THE CAR AND IT REPRODUCED THE PROBLEM 7/1 AND 7/4@ 70,697MILES. I MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO ALLOW THEM TO TAKE THE CAR AND GET A LOANER SO THAT THEY COULD HOPEFULLY REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. DURING THIS JULY 10 VISIT THEY HAD THE CAR OVER 3 WEEKS AND COMPLETED 2 SOFTWARE UPDATES @ NC. ON 9/2/10 @ 72,449 MILES, THE BRAKING PROB HAS RECURRED. *TR