Merry Christmas Nissan owners – your car may have a serious defect

Nissan is recalling 14,700 of its 2011-12 models because of troubling defect, which could cause the engine to suddenly lose so much oil the engine could seize, if the condition were ignored. Any owner who had to replace an engine before their car was two years old would not be likely to buy that brand again.

Based on a document filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and reported by Christopher Jensen in The New York Times, Nissan confessed faulty bolts connecting the oil filter to the engine on certain models could break. In this case, the engine-oil warning would light up and the engine could start making an unusual sound. If ignored, like you might on a long drive when a known repair shop is just a few miles always, the engine could possibly seize up – in other words become several liters of junk.

The 2011 models are all SUV’s, including the Infiniti FX, Nissan Pathfinder and Nissan Xterra. The suspect 2012 models are the Infiniti M, Nissan Frontier, Nissan NV, Nissan Pathfinder and Nissan Xterra.

Apparently the possible problem may extend to both V6 and V8-powered models of all the vehicles. Nissan plans to will send recall notices to affected owners in mid-January.

An NHTSA investigation is underway involving 8,100 Infiniti M45 sedans from the 2003-4 model years after complaints of an inaccurate fuel gauge. The agency received 43 complaints, including 26 saying the vehicle stalled well before the gauge read empty.

We hope your vehicle is unaffected but kudos to Nissan for jumping right on this. Meanwhile, if you drive one of these and your oil warning light comes on, pull over immediately and see that your oil filter is securing attached. Nobody needs a seized engine in their day.