NHTSA Complaint #10905168 — 2004 NISSAN SENTRA

DRIVING & ALL GAUGES IN DASHBOARD TURNED OFF. THE SAME DAY, THE CAR DIDN'T RESPOND NORMALLY WHEN GAS PEDAL WAS PRESSED. THE GAS PEDAL WAS PRESSED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE CAR TOOK IN GAS. PARKED CAR, & LATER THAT DAY RESTARTED CAR. CAR AGAIN DIDN'T RESPOND WELL WHEN PRESSING ACCELERATOR. GAUGES STILL NON OPERATIONAL. CAR DIED & BATTERY TESTED BY AAA. BATTERY FOUND TO BE OK, BUT CHARGING SYSTEM WAS ISSUE. TOWED TO TOW YARD & TOLD ALTERNATOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. NEW, NOT REBUILT, ALTERNATOR REPLACED BY COUSIN & FUSE (NOT SURE WHICH ONE) WAS FOUND TO BE BLOWN & REPLACED. GAUGES WORKED AFTER FUSE & ALTERNATOR REPLACED. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON SEVERAL DAYS LATER. CKED CAR ON AUTO ZONES FREE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL & DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODE U1001 CAN COMMUNICATION LINE & P0462 SECONDARY CODE GIVEN. CAR DIED AGAIN BOUT WEEK LATER & TOWED TO PEP BOYS. PEP BOYS SAID BATTERY NEEDED REPLACEMENT, SO I HAD AAA TEST IT & AAA SAID ITS THE CHARGING SYSTEM. AAA REPLACED THE BATTERY AFTER MUCH ADO. CAR TAKEN BACK TO PEP BOYS FOR 'ELECTRONIC DIAGNOSIS' & THEY SAID ALTERNATOR! ALTERNATOR TESTED AT SEPARATE BATTERY SHOP & TESTED FINE. LATER FOUND METER FUSE BLOWN. TOOK TO MECHANIC SPECIALIZING IN ELECTRICAL & HE SCANNED PCM & FOUND NO COMMUNICATION ON DATA LINES. HAD BLOWN METER FUSE CAUSING FALSE CODE. MECHANIC CLEARED OUT CODES & TEST DROVE. HE CKD CHARGE 14.2 VOLTS. MECHANIC TOLD ME TO BRING IT IN IF HAPPENS AGAIN. WELL, HAPPENED AGAIN & REPLACED METER FUSE & CK ENGINE LIGHT ON AGAIN. ELECTRICAL MECHANIC SAID IT'S A SHORT SOMEWHERE & I'D HAVE TO LEAVE CAR FOR MAYBE SEVERAL DAYS. HAD A FRIEND INSPECT UNDER DASHBOARD & CKED UNDER THE GEAR SHIFTER & CKD SPEEDOMETER WIRES & DIDN'T FIND ANY SHORTS. GOOGLED "METER FUSE NISSAN SENTRA" & METER FUSE HAS CREATED A LOT OF PROBLEMS. PROBLEMS LISTED ON FORUMS. I'VE ALREADY SPENT $550, CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY NISSAN $150 DIAGNOSTIC FEE YET.