Postby Khult » Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:33 pm
I just joined up after visiting this forum fo the past year. I have made my entry in the New Member section so you will see that I did experience the paint peel in the roff gutter and the radiator/tranny issue on my 2005 SE. (both covered out of warranty, goodwilled)
Here's another issue that I will once again be conversing with Nisan NA about. Current Mileage 77K, always garaged, well maintained.
Last week while driving on a snow covered road around town in 4wd I applied my brakes at about 30mph to slow down around a right curve and the brakes appiled fully and never let go. I was just sitting in the middle of the road in the middle of the curve. I did not know for sure if it was the brakes or tranny. I'll I knew was the engine was running and when I tried to go, engine rev'd and no movement. Tried pumping brakes, fwd, reverse, 2WD, turn off engine, turn on engine. Now, I may have messed up by deciding how much gas to apply, to get myself out from the middle of the road. I managed to force it over with the engine reving when I heard a pop(or two) from the front end. Remember, I did not know it was a brake issue yet and I thought I'd be better off on the side of the road. AAA flatbed then took me to my local dealer who has been good to me in the past and about 1/4 mile from my house.
Dealer had a hard time figuring this out. Once they realized it was the brakes they opened up the bleeders to release the brakes, but when they started it back up, the brakes went back on fully, by themselves.
They said, with advice from Nissan, I need a New ECU to resolve the "Spontanous Braking problem". They mentioned the ABS and VDC were sending the brakes a signal they could no cancel. Also the pop I heard while forcing the pathfinder to the shoulder was the front drive shaft breaking loose inside the front diff...ouch and insert curse here. I'll need to stop in the dealership on Monday and have them go over what they found again so I can ubnderstand better. I need to get more answers on Why and How this could happen? What if I were traveling 55+ when the brakes did this?
Has anyone ever experience this? Can anyone explain to me how VDC/ABS work with the ECU? and if there are fail-safes that should have release the brakes. I am not sure how much is mechanical and how much is computer.
Other than that I still loved the Pathfinder and will be happy to have it back. I plan on keeping it for another 77K+ miles is she does not let me down again.
I'll keep you posted, all parts should be in by 2/26. In the meaintime, I am currently driving a company F150 supercharged Harley Davidson edition, pretty sweet.
Thanks for listening,
Keith