2008 Nissan Sentra Engine Problems

Your transmission was replaced under warranty in 2016, but failed again in 2019 after just 40,000 miles. You discovered that Nissan issued a service bulletin in 2014 recommending a transmission cooler be added to prevent overheating on 2007-2012 Sentras, but the dealership did not install it during your warranty repair. Nissan is now refusing to cover the second transmission replacement. The fix would involve installing a transmission cooler and replacing the transmission again.

Your check engine light has come on. A mechanic diagnosed the problem as defective catalytic converter sensors that are no longer working properly. This will likely require replacing the faulty oxygen sensors that monitor your catalytic converter's performance.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 NISSAN SENTRA. WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE RPMS INCREASED AND THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO BE COASTED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE CONTACT POWERED OFF THE ENGINE. ONCE RESTARTED, THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO DRIVE NORMALLY. THE FAILURE RECURRED THREE TIMES. THE CONTACT CALLED ALAN JAY NISSAN AT (863) 402-4280 (LOCATED AT 1700 FLARE RD, SEBRING, FL 33872) WHERE AN APPOINTMENT WAS SCHEDULED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 34,481.

SLOWING APPROACHING STOPS ENGINE WOULD CUT OFF, IT HAS HAPPENED A NUMBER OF TIMES.

IT STARTED WITH A SMALL CLUNK NOISE THAT WILL GO AWAY AFTER A WHILE OF DRIVING THE CAR, SIX MONTHS LATER THE CLUNKING NOISE DOESN'T STOP,MOVE FROM REGULAR OIL TO FULL SYNTHETIC OIL, NEW SPARK PLUGS, BUT NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK, NOW THE NOISE IS SO LOUD I AM AFRAID THE CAR MAY CATCH FIRE, BUT HAD NO CHOICE BUT DRIVE IT, MY CAR HAS LESS THAN 100 K AND I BOUGHT IT NEW EXPECTING THIS CAR TO LAST WAY LONGER THAN THIS, IS NOT FAIR OR THIS TO HAPPEN SPECIALLY WITH NISSAN KNOWING THE PROBLEM THEY HAD WITH PUTTING SMALLER PISTONS THAT WILL EVENTUALLY BREAK, PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!! *JS

THE EXHAUST MUFFLER FLANGE FAILED. IT WAS SEVERELY RUSTED, WHILE THE EXHAUST PIPE AND MUFFLER WERE IN GREAT SHAPE. THE FLANGE APPEARS TO BE MADE OF STEEL WHILE THE REST OF THE EXHAUST APPEARS TO BE STAINLESS STEEL AND NOT AFFECTED BY THE WINTER WEATHER IN WESTERN NY STATE. THE CAR WAS 5 MONTHS OUT OF WARRANTY. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 NISSAN SENTRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND GASOLINE FUMES WERE EMITTED ON THE INSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THAT THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER WAS DEFECTIVE AND WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER DENIED ANY ASSISTANCE WITH REPAIRS TO THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 90,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 91,000.

THE AIR COMPRESSOR ON MY 2008 NISSAN SENTRA WENT OUT. WHY THERE'S NOT A RECALL??? *TR

MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON IN MY CAR ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS WE NOTICED A TICKING NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE. I TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP THE NEXT MORNING TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT. I WAS TOLD I WOULD NEED A NEW ENGINE BECAUSE OIL SLUDGE BUILT UP IN MY ENGINE. THEY WANTED $6300. I HAD 20K MILES ON MY CAR. THE WARRANTY WOULDN'T COVER IT BECAUSE I HAD MY OIL CHANGES DONE BY FAMILY AND I DIDN'T HAVE THE RECEIPTS FOR MY OIL FILTERS AND THE OIL WE BOUGHT. I HAVE CHECKED DIFFERENT SOURCES ONLINE AND THIS SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM WITH 2008 NISSAN SENTRA'S, BUT THE WARRANTY DEPARTMENT DENIES IT. I ASKED THEM IF THEY WOULD AT LEAST TAKE SOME FAULT SINCE I COULDN'T FIND RECEIPTS (EVEN IF THE OIL WAS NEVER CHANGED, AN ENGINE IN A BRAND NEW CAR SHOULD NOT BE SLUDGED AFTER 20K MILES OF IT), BUT THEY WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING. THEY WOULDN'T DISCOUNT THE COST TO ME AT ALL. I HAD TO PAY THE FULL PRICE OUT OF POCKET. I BOUGHT THE ENGINE AND HAD IT DONE ELSEWHERE, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY NISSAN IS NOT VERY TRUSTWORTHY. AS I CALLED AROUND TO GET QUOTES ON THE COST TO HAVE AN ENGINE INSTALLED JUST ABOUT EVERY MECHANIC I SPOKE WITH SAID THAT'S CRAZY TO NEED A NEW ENGINE AFTER 20K EVEN IF THE OIL WAS NEVER CHANGED. *TR

WHILE DRIVING TO FLORIDA FROM DC FOR VACATION, THE ENGINE STARTED MAKING A RATTLING NOISE. SINCE WE WERE ON A TRIP, I FIGURED I WOULD TOP OFF THE ENGINE OIL JUST IN CASE. THE ENGINE WAS BONE DRY. THE NOISE SEEMED TO GO AWAY AFTER ADDING OIL AT FIRST, BUT THEN THE NOISE BECAME LOUDER, AND THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. WE TOOK THE CAR TO THE NEAREST DEALER WE COULD FIND. WHEN THEY LIFTED THE HOOD AT THE DEALER, THE OIL HAD EXPLODED AND WAS EVERYWHERE. WE WERE TOLD THERE WAS CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE IN MY 2008 SENTRA, BUT THEY COULD NOT DETERMINE THE EXACT CAUSE. SINCE I DID NOT HAVE MY MAINTENANCE RECORDS WITH ME (I WAS ON VACATION), THEY REFUSED TO EVEN CONTACT NISSAN WARRANTY WITHOUT PROOF OF ALL OIL CHANGES. THEY CLAIMED THE ENGINE FAILED DUE TO LACK OF OIL CHANGES. I COULD NOT AFFORD A FACTORY ENGINE, SO THE PURCHASE OF A USED 2008 SENTRA ENGINE VOIDED MY EXTENDED WARRANTY. AT THE TIME OF FAILURE, THE CAR HAD A LITTLE OVER 35K MILES. FURTHER RESEARCH ONLINE INDICATES A POSSIBLE OIL CONSUMPTION ISSUE, WHICH THE DEALERSHIP DENIES. *TR

AT 50,000 MILES, I HAD A CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE WITH MY 2008 NISSAN SENTRA 2.0. WHEN I PULLED INTO THE GAS STATION, MY CAR HAD NO COOLANT AND NO OIL AT ALL. THE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT DID NOT ILLUMINATE AND THE COOLANT GAUGE APPEARED NORMAL. THE DEALERSHIP CANNOT TELL ME WHY THE WARNING LIGHTS DID NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN FLUIDS BECAME LOW. I SERVICE MY CAR REGULARLY. MY CAR GAVE NO INDICATION OF ANY PROBLEMS. DEALERSHIP STATES THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF LEAKAGE. NISSAN IS STATING THAT IT IS DUE TO LACK OF SERVICE - MY POINT IS THE WARNING LIGHTS DID NOT ILLUMINATE AT ALL WHICH RESULTED IN ENGINE FAILURE. IF I HAD BEEN ON THE HIGHWAY THIS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT INJURY, FIRE, ETC. *TR

ENGINE KNOCK, MY CAR HAS A PISTON SLAPPING AROUND IN THE ENGINE. I WAS TOLD BY DEALER "SIMS NISSAN IN WARREN, OHIO" TO DRIVE MY CAR WITH THE BAD ENGINE UNTIL THEY GET A NEW ENGINE WHICH WOULD BE AROUND 3-5 DAYS TO RECEIVE. THEY WOULD THEN GET ME A RENTAL CAR WHILE THEY PUT THE ENGINE IN. I INFORMED THE OWNER KEN SIMS THAT THIS VEHICLE IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND HE TOLD ME NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN IF I DID NOT RUN THE ENGINE AT HIGH RPM'S THAT WOULD THEN CAUSE THE PISTON TO GO THREW THE ENGINE. I ONCE AGAIN TOLD HIM THIS IS UNSAFE AND IF HE WAS SO CONFIDENT THAT NOTHING WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO PUT IT IN WRITING. I WAS THEN TOLD THAT HE WOULD HAVE A HUGE LAWSUIT ON HIS HANDS IF SOMETHING HAPPENED AND NOW KNOWING IF I RUN IT AT HIGH RPMS AND THE ENGINE BLOWS THEN I AM RESPONSIBLE. I TOLD HIM AGAIN THE CAR WAS UNSAFE AND HE TOLD ME THAT I WOULD BE FINE. TIRED OR ARGUING, I DROVE THE CAR HOME FROM DEALER GOING 20MPH WITH 4 WAYS SO I WOULD NOT RUN THE ENGINE AT HIGH RPM'S. THE CAR IS SETTING IN MY DRIVEWAY, AFRAID TO DRIVE SINCE DEALER REFUSED TO GIVE ME ANOTHER LOANER OR PAY FOR A RENTAL. SO, I AM OUT. DEALER HAS TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND I FEEL AS I AM NOT BEING TREATED FAIRLY, WAS DEGRADED LIKE I DID NOT KNOW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT, HAD TO DRIVE AN UNSAFE VEHICLE ON THE ROAD WHERE THE ENGINE COULD HAVE GONE OUT OF CONTROL AND HARMED ME AND OTHERS ON THE ROAD. AND TO THINK THEY WANT ME TO CONTINUE TO DRIVE THIS UNTIL A NEW ENGINE COMES IN. I HAVE MORE COMMON SENSE AND WILL NOT PUT MYSELF OR OTHERS AT RISK DRIVING THIS VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE ALSO HAS A RECALL FOR THE MASTER CYLINDER HAVING A CRACK. DEALER HAS NOT EVEN TALKED ABOUT FIXING THAT, AND I HAVE NOT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE ON THIS YET EITHER, IT WAS POSED IN JULY. THIS IS NOW OCTOBER. *TR

AT 700 MILES, CAR WOULDN'T START. HAD TOWED TO DEALERSHIP-CAR STARTED-COULDN'T FIND A PROBLEM. AT 1700 MILES, CAR WOULDN'T START-HAD TOWED--COULDN'T FIND ANY PROBLEM. 9/15/08 (2480 MILES) CAR STALLED IN TRAFFIC, WOULDN'T START. POLICE PUSHED ME TO A SAFE AREA--HAD CAR TOWED TO DEALERSHIP-NO RESPONSE YET. I FEEL VERY UNSAFE, NOT KNOWING WHEN I'M GOING TO BE RANDOMLY LEFT ON SOME STREET CORNER WAITING FOR A TOW TRUCK. AM PLANNING A TRIP OUT OF STATE--DO I DARE? I DON'T THINK SO. *TR

2005 SENTRA 1.8 S. HEATER WOULD BE HOT THEN COLD, HAVE REPLACED THERMOSTAT 5 TIMES. CAR NEVER OVERHEATED. GAUGE WOULD GO JUST UNDER 3/4 OF WAY AND THEN SUDDENLY DROP TO NORMAL. 69,000 MILES, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, READING MULTIPLE MISFIRES. BRINGING TO DEALER FOR FUEL TANK RECALL. RUNNING VERY ROUGH, RPMS 2000 BEFORE VEHICLE WILL MOVE MAX OUT AT 5000. AS SOON AS YOU REMOVE FOOT FROM GAS, SUDDENLY DROPS TO ALMOST 0 RPMS. DEALER SAID BLOWN HEAD GASKET, OIL PAN GASKET BAD. HAD TO HAVE HEAD IN MACHINE SHOP DUE TO 2 PLUGS STUCK. WHEN I PICKED UP VEHICLE, MECHANIC SAID HEAD WAS WARPED. I ASKED WHAT I NEEDED TO WATCH FOR BEING THAT IT NEVER DID OVERHEAT. THE RESPONSE WAS, WITH THIS GAUGE GOES JUST OVER HALF, IT IS OVERHEATING. ENDED UP COSTING 2,000.00 FOR A 3 YR 4MONTH OLD VEHICLE THAT NEVER OVERHEATED. *TR