Nissan Pathfinder Engine Problems

Nissan told us that "the battery in the Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid is covered for the same period as the new-vehicle warranty, which is three years or 100,000 km, whichever occurs first. There is the option for buyers to extend this new-vehicle warranty up to a total of six years as part of the Genuine Nissan Extended Warranty program."

Timing chain failures on the Pathfinder are relatively common, but that doesn't means it will happen to yours. Keeping up the service will help, and your mechanic should be able to keep an eye on it when it goes in for service.

Nissan's claims for your Pathfinder are 10.2 L/100 km average overall, and 12.4 L/100 km in urban situations. Using the latter figure as a guide your car is consuming around 30 percent more fuel than the company's claim. It must be remembered that the claim is taken from a standard lab test and not real life, and that it's meant to give a comparative figure when comparing one car to another, but to then find you car is guzzling 30 percent more fuel is unacceptable. Take it back to your dealer and demand something be done about it.

Remember that the fuel consumption figure quoted by Nissan is derived from a laboratory test, not real-life running. It’s meant to give you a guide so you can compare it to other makes and models. Even so I would expect your car to get close to the consumption in the real world that you and I live in. I would think you should be able to get between 10 and 10.5L/100 km, not 13. Go back to the dealer and ask them to have your car investigated by Nissan to find out why it’s not delivering reasonable fuel economy. If they refuse go direct to Nissan and make the same request.

It's good to hear that you have got a successful outcome. As you say Frank Horgan should consult his dealer rather than putting up with what is clearly a potentially dangerous situation.

I don’t believe that what you want is out there, and can only reiterate past advice, buy a Patrol/Pajero/Prado/LandCruiser.

You're right, the cam timing chain should last the life of the engine. They shouldn't be breaking, particularly at such low kays, as your friend's did. We have had other reports of failures in the Navara, but Nissan appears to be doing nothing about it.

It's possible that they might come to the party and help out with part of the cost of repairs, so you should approach them with a claim. You might find, however, that because the car is six years old, you bought it secondhand so there's no record of its previous use, and it's well out of warranty I think your claim could be rejected.

The fuel sender problem is a common one with the Pathfinder, one you reckon a company like Nissan with all its resources could fix. That it doesn’t seem to be able to is frustrating, but made even more so by the lame excuses they trot out to try and justify it. Try appealing to Nissan’s sense of fair play and see if you can convince the company to come to the party and replace the unit, or cover part of the costs of the replacement. If that doesn’t work, try your state government consumer affairs people.

Yes, they do. It generally seems to happen at 80,000-plus km, so you should be safe for a while. In the meantime make sure you keep the servicing up to it, as some Nissan mechanics blame a lack of servicing for the failures, although it appears to be caused by wear to the chain and the tensioner.