Nissan Problems

The high cost of complex replacement parts for relatively new vehicles is a trend that has been thriving lately. Once some cars are more than a handful of years old, a replacement engine or transmission can easily exceed the value of the whole car. At which point, owners have a tough decision to make; replace the car or pay up for the fix.

Aside from the financial aspects, you also have to decide how comfortable you are unloading a ticking time bomb on to a potentially unsuspecting buyer

This is actually a pretty common problem and there seems to be two common causes. The first is leaking seals inside the turbocharger. The turbo needs oil to lubricate it, but if its seals are leaking they can allow oil into the inlet tract and, therefore, the intercooler.

The second cause is possibly even more common and involves the crankcase ventilation system allowing oil into the intake (and intercooler). A modern engine needs to consume its own crankcase fumes and burn them (rather than vent them into the atmosphere) as part of its anti-pollution systems. But in many cars (and modern turbo-diesels are the prime suspects) those fumes can contain some oil mist which, once enough of it has accumulated, will form the oil droplets you’re seeing in the intercooler.

While a faulty turbocharger will need to be replaced, if the problem is the work of the crankcase ventilation system, it still should be addressed before the oil mixes with soot from the exhaust gas recirculation system (another emissions-control device) and forms a horrible, back gunk that clogs the engine’s intake system. If hat happens, costly disassembly and cleaning is required.

Even if you’ve caught this in the early stages (before the gunk can build up) the oil can still cause problems with sensors inside the inlet system and could cause poor running and high fuel consumption. A good quality oil catch can is the preferred method of stopping this occurring as it 'catches' the oil mist before it gets to the inlet tract.

Bad news. That generation of X-Trail had a six-speed manual option on the base-model two-litre petrol, front-wheel-drive model and on the all-wheel-drive turbo-diesel. But if you wanted an X-Trail with an automatic gearbox, then it was a CVT or nothing.

This is probably because who ever serviced the car failed to manually switch off the service-engine reminder light. This is often done via a scan-tool through the diagnostic port.

But in the case of your car, you should be able to do it yourself. Turn on the ignition and you’ll see that the service light is illuminated. With the ignition still on (but the motor not running) press the small button that you’d normally twist to control the brightness of the dashboard lights. After a few seconds, the service light should start to flash. Release the button and then give it a single push (but don’t hold it). Now turn the ignition off. If you’ve got the sequence correct, the next time you turn on the ignition, the service reminder light should have disappeared.

If this was an older car, the explanation would be simple: Cars always have at least a driver on board, but sometimes only a driver. Which means that the driver’s seat gets worn out faster than any other seat in the car. But you car is quite new, so that shouldn’t be the case.

Assuming there’s no manufacturing flaw in the seat or the way it’s mounted, the cause of this could be as simple as a driver’s seat that has more adjustments available (manual or electrically-operated) than the front passenger’s seat. If that’s the case, you might find that the mechanics of those adjustments gobble up some space that is used for foam or other padding in the not-so-adjustable passenger’s chair.

A modern engine like the one in your Nissan uses electronics to control the ratio of fuel and air, rather than a physical choke like older engines use. However, in order to control this ratio, the modern engine relies on a range of sensors dotted around the car to tell it what’s going on. Examples include a throttle-position sensor, ambient temperature sensor, coolant temperature sensor and many more. If just one of these sensors fails or starts relaying false information, all aspects of the car’s running (including its throttle action) can be compromised.

But before you start scanning the car and spending money to fix the engine flaring during gear changes, take a hard, critical look at what you’re doing with the pedals when shifting gears. If you don’t completely release the accelerator pedal during a gear change, or get your hand-foot co-ordination wrong, the engine will naturally flare during the shift. And because modern cars have a throttle-by-wire system, there’s not the same degree of feel and feedback through the accelerator pedal as some of us are used to. It sounds a bit obvious, but checking your driving style is the first step.

You may have a damaged or worn transmission that is simply not operating properly in a mechanical sense. But it’s also worth checking the level of the transmission fluid because low fluid is a common cause of this sort of problem. Without sufficient fluid and, therefore pressure and volume, the gearbox can’t operate properly, with symptoms including slurred shifts, transmission slippage, clunky or noisy operation and slow gear selection.

The correct way to proceed here is to have the car scanned to see if it will offer up what ails it. The on-board computer is designed to recognise a problem or fault, record it and then hand over that information to a mechanic during the scanning process.

You can try to diagnose the problem yourself, but doing so by replacing random parts is not the way to go. You can easily replace perfectly good – and expensive – parts and still have a car that won’t start.

But if you do want to tinker yourself, the first thing to check is the electric fuel pump. These require periodic replacement and when they fail, they just stop, and that’s it. To check the pump, turn the ignition to the start position and listen carefully for a buzz or humming noise coming from under the car. It can be difficult to hear, but if it’s present, then the fuel pump is probably not the problem. No buzzing or humming suggests the pump is the culprit.

Honestly, though, there are literally hundreds of reasons a car will turn over but not start.

Yes it does. Clean transmission fluid is critical to an automatic transmission which relies on tiny oil passages and complex hydraulic systems to operate correctly. Without a filter, debris and swarf from the transmission itself could soon block these pathways and cause major problems.

You can buy filter kits online for very reasonable prices, but replacing the filter is only part of a transmission service. A specialist transmission shop can advise you when your car’s gearbox needs its next service, based on kilometres covered and the condition of the fluid inside.

This is a pretty common problem with older cars: Often the owner’s manual goes missing from the glove-box and the tyre inflation sticker that would once have been attached to the car has either peeled off, become too crazed or faded to read, or painted over after an accident.

Meantime, the answer for your Nissan depends a bit on what type of tyres you’re using. If they’re light truck tyres and using the van as intended, then between 40 and 50psi might be a good starting point. But if you’re using normal car tyres, then between about 32 and 38psi might be better. The other deciding factor is how much load you’re carrying. If you’re loaded heavily or towing, then definitely go up a few psi.