FX45: 20,000 miles and the engine blew!!!

[Mike I]

Driving 65mph in the middle lane of a 3 lane highway last friday, hear a clang (sounded like a rod knock on an older engine). FX shuts down, brakes are like a rock, old muscle car steering is in effect, and now I'm getting a new crate engine. Can you believe this? Has me and the dealershiop puzzled.

[PalmerWMD]

Wow that is kinda weird.

The VK45de, even though its a newer/modern design, at this point its a well proven and reliable engine that ahs been isnatlled ina lot of vehicles.

Look at the bright side.At least you'll get a 0 mile engine.

Fred..

[Altiman94]

Man that is weird. I would guess a lubricant system failure somewhere.

[dilipdeka]

My Nissan Murano (2003 model) ran great for 40,000 miles. On 12/20/04, while driving on a highway in Houston, Texas, at 70 mph, it suddenly surged forward and the engine died. On restarting the engine would not hold. The car was towed to the nearest Nissan dealer, Robbins Nissan. The mechanic replaced the fuel pump but that did not solve the problem. Then he checked fuel pressure at the injectors that was found to be at recommended 50 psi. But fuel was not going through the injectors (all six). He tried to clean the injectors by applying gasoline with cleaner directly to the fuel rail. He even increased the fuel pressure to 70 psi. This effort did not produce any result. Then he used a set of injectors from another Murano and found that the engine runs. He blames bad gasoline in the tank of my car to be the culprit and Nissan technical advisers agree with him.However I do not agree with them and think there is some inherent problem with the injectors or the EFC (Electronic Fuel Control) system is malfunctioning intermittently. 1. There was no indication prior to the engine shutting down that injectors were getting clogged. The engine was running smoothly like in a new car. Fuel economy number was running at 18 mpg.2. The fuel tank was at ¼ full. The car ran fine on the same tank of gas till the incident.3. The dealer hinted there could have been some contaminant like sugar added to the tank. This does not seem possible since the Murano fuel tank has a lock on it. Also the car is parked in a garage at night.4. We use the same gas stations to fill gas tanks in three other cars in the family (Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Ford Cobra) and none of them has had a problem with fuel injectors.Has any Nissan car owner had a problem with fuel injectors? I’d greatly appreciate any input I can get.Thanks,Dilip DekaHouston Texas

[Richard Petersen]

ECU flamed all the injectors to constant ON. That was the short surge. Injectors are very short duty cycle rated. ECU held them all on at once, POOF. It will happen again. Next time you can tell them what has happened and that your car needs injectors AND a ECU or a intermediate driver board. NO way they can prove it. ASK for a spare set of injectors and any tool needed to do it in a god fore saken area.They owe you that much. I feel like DR. doom, sorry.

[Jesda]

Has any Nissan car owner had a problem with fuel injectors? I’d greatly appreciate any input I can get.

Sorry to hear the bad news.

Nissan has over the past 20 years developed a bit of a bad reputation for faulty fuel systems, resulting in safety recalls in some situations. Long term consumer surveys reflect this weakness as well.

Generally, experienced Nissan owners learn to be careful with the quality of fuel they use, and some go as far as keeping spare electronics and pumps handy in the event of an emergency. Problems are few, but frequent enough to be a known issue.

My first car was a 1988 Nissan Sentra, originally purchased new by my parents in 1988. They ran into (relatively, considering the value and market segment of the vehicle) expensive fuel pump and injector issues in the first 50,000 miles of ownership -- though it remained -completely- trouble-free until it was hauled away after I totaled it in 2000 with 160k on the odometer. My Q45 has consumed various pumps, injectors, and control units, but to Nissan's credit the fuel system was trouble-free for 140,000 miles (spent entirely in Oklahoma) -- so its not really a valid example.

Gasoline is also MUCH cleaner in Japan (and much more expensive as a result), but I dont consider that a valid excuse, though it may be a reason.

[Richard Petersen]

I have only owned Honda Or Nissan for 20 years. ALL gave + 120,000 with NO engine parts changed. Idle and highway performance never changed. True- I never have the car at any dealer, ever, or local garage. Don't touch it and it won't change. I also NEVER use jumper cables.

[84datsun300zxTurbo]

it could be the belt the slipped off, i had a caravan that had the belt slip, and the power steering was gone, the whole car was basically running off the battery

[rafaelbish]

Mine just died at 45,500! 01/11/06. Internal failure of some sort, only know that they found metal debris in the oil filter at this point.

Engine noise got progressively worse on I-95 on a 150-mile trip from PA to VA. Nursed it to a parking lot, then had it towed to the nearest dealer.

Since I did not use Infiniti to do oil changes (nearest dealer 50 miles away from my residence) they want all records of oil changes before they do any work.

...If I only had kept all that stuff! Hopefully I can get records from the place(s) I had the oil changed.