The Nissan Path

I purchase an 08 Pathfinder from a local dealer in January. Had my indy check it out after I bought it and aside from needing brakes and tires, he gave it a clean bill of health. Everything has been A-OK. Runs great!

About a month ago I noticed occasional drops of oil on the driveway and developed an exhaust rattle.

Last Tuesday, I had it into the dealer (not the same as I bought it from) in my town to check out the oil leak and rattle as well as a few other maintenance items as we were leaving on Friday to take a trip from Chicago to Yellowstone Park in Montana. Dealer tells me the oil leak is caused by a leaky cam seal. They suggest that if we're going to have that work done, I should also replace the timing set since they have to take it all apart anyway. I didn't really have much of an opinion and I needed it working well for our trip so I authorized the work.

Got the vehicle back on Thursday and used it to run errands, etc. around town. Ran great and no problems at all.

We leave for Yellowstone early Friday morning. Check oil at the first fuel up and all is a-ok. We successfully get to Mt. Rushmore and spend a day tooling around that area then move on Yellowstone on Sunday. Just past Billings, MT, we're going up a steep hill with cruise control on. Just near the crest, it downshifts to maintain speed and we get over the hill. As soon as it upshifts again, the SES light comes on, oil pressure gauge drops to L and the oil idiot light came on, engine starts knocking. We pull over immediately and shut it down.

Got it towed into Billings and dropped it off at the Nissan dealer and rented a car for the rest of our trip. Dealer tells me the engine is toast and needs a full rebuild, or a more cost effective replacement engine. He won't give an opinion as to what failed without tearing into the engine, so I tell him I'll tow it home and figure it out later. Vehicle has a tick over 77,000 miles and I've owned it for about 5K of those.

What would you do in this situation? If I drop it back at the dealer that serviced it, I feel like I won't get an honest opinion if they made a mistake that caused this...but I'm not sure how I get an independent opinion. It just seems too coincidental that right after they tore the front of my engine apart, 1000 miles later it self destructs.

Take it back to the dealer that did the work. Something failed and they should be held responsible for it.

On the bill for the original service, what are the Ts&Cs? They would usually state a warranty period/mileage and some other info that might clarify the situation.

You need to contact the dealer that did the original work. Ask them how you should proceed.

Towing from MT to IL is probably a bad/expensive idea. Maybe find a good indy guy in Billings?

What a PITA!!!
t

If the work was done at a Nissan dealer, I believe the warranty may be valid at any Nissan dealer and should be 12 months/12000 miles. It's something you may want to check into. If you don't trust the dealer, contact 1-800-NISSAN-1, Nissan's customer support hotline, and they should be able to verify this.

smj999smj wrote:If the work was done at a Nissan dealer, I believe the warranty may be valid at any Nissan dealer and should be 12 months/12000 miles. It's something you may want to check into. If you don't trust the dealer, contact 1-800-NISSAN-1, Nissan's customer support hotline, and they should be able to verify this.

Exactly!

smj999smj wrote:If the work was done at a Nissan dealer, I believe the warranty may be valid at any Nissan dealer and should be 12 months/12000 miles. It's something you may want to check into. If you don't trust the dealer, contact 1-800-NISSAN-1, Nissan's customer support hotline, and they should be able to verify this.

the warranty may be valid at any Nissan dealer if the problem is some kind of defect (defective part)
but if the problem is botched labor, it may have to be repaired (or paid for) by the servicing dealer
and this is all based on the assumption that the current problem is indeed a result of the cam seal/timing set episode

so what happened?

Due to the holiday it took me forever to get through to Nissan customer service. Talked with them this week and they said I'll need to take it back to the dealer that serviced it if I expect to get anything repaired under warranty.

Dealer wants to charge me a tear down fee (roughly $500) before they make any judgement.

I'm consulting with a local lawyer before I make any final decision. I have a hard time believing that if the dealer's tech screwed something up that they would come right out and say so and replace the engine. Hope to have a more concrete path this week.

I agree that an independant 3rd party is required to make sure you don't get screwed.

I guess my update was a little longer than I thought. I ended up renting a u-haul and an auto carrier and pulled it home 1100 miles. It's sitting in my driveway.

can anyone shed some light on where leakage at a cam seal would manifest itself externally?
that is, where would the leakage be seen originating from?
and would it necessitate removal of the front engine cover to repair it?
I guess what i'm getting at is this:
the front cam seals would be housed underneath the front engine cover, no?
therefore, any leakage should be internal (into the cavity beneath the front cover)
so where would there be visible external oil leakage?
or was it rear cam seals leaking?
are there rear cam seals?
do the camshafts have to be removed to replace them?
I guess I just don't trust dealerships, and i'd like to know not only for my own information, but morleyz might need some of these answers in order to determine whether or not the dealer is being truthful with him.
smj999smj, you no doubt have more experience with these engines than the rest of us.
can you help shed some light on this?
Thanks

B.T.W. morleyz, I feel terrible for you that you are having this problem, and really hope you can get the help necessary from us here to help straighten it out.

I'm not aware of any camshaft seals used on the VQ-series engines. Is there a part # on the repair order for these "cam seals?" Camshaft seals are commonly used on timing belt engines, not timing chain engines.

smj999smj wrote:I'm not aware of any camshaft seals used on the VQ-series engines. Is there a part # on the repair order for these "cam seals?" Camshaft seals are commonly used on timing belt engines, not timing chain engines.

this is what concerns me
the original diagnosis of the oil leak may have been bogus
so if they indeed recommended these repairs on the basis of something that could not be a problem in the first place, and then further recommended the timing chain/tensioner upgrade work be done at the same time, then.............
I wish I could see a copy of the repair order

It should have been listed on the receipt. If not, ask for it. If you've already hired a lawyer to pursue legal action, have him request it if they won't give it to you.