Top 5 Problems Nissan Altima Sedan 3rd Generation 2002-06

In this video, we're gonna talk about the top five problems we came up with this third-generation Altima.

Number 1. Car stalls while you're driving. So you're heading down the road, and it stalls, but it happens intermittently. So it might stall, and then you're like, "Oh, what's happening here?" And you [vocalization] and it starts right up and you're like, "Must have been just a glitch." Then you drive it for three days, five days, could be even a month, happens again. It's an intermittent stalling. And they are saying it's due to the cam or crank sensor, and it's very intermittent. It's so intermittent that Nissan had a recall on some of them, but not all of them. So if you wanna find out if yours is a recall item, call your Nissan dealer with the VIN number, just like usual, and they'll tell you whether it covers. And here's the cam sensor, location on the 2.5, and the crank sensor is down below. Remove this cover. Then we're gonna remove the air box, tubing, and you're gonna have access to the crank sensor. This is the location of the crank sensor. It's in the bellhousing, right here.

Number 2 is fuel pump premature failure. What happens to it is it's inside of the gas tank, and it doesn't give you the pressure you need. So say your specs are, we're gonna say, 55 to 62. It's just off the top of my head. If this pump is only putting out 48 psi, it might actually run. Some cars' manufacturers don't run on low fuel pressure. But when it's on the lower side, it's causing intermittent failure for running, starting, stalling, lack of power. That's it. They know about it. Nissan is actually, if they replaced it, they put a label in the engine compartment next to the AC condenser label like the AC specs. So if you don't have a label there, and you've got an '06 like this Nissan, well, it's not gonna be covered. But you'll know it hasn't been changed to the updated style, and we just can replace it.

Number 3 is converter, catalytic converter. The one closest to the engine block, up here on the 2.5s, it is off the manifold. This is known for failure. What causes it? Low fuel pressure, which we know was number 2. That will cause that, so it's a lean condition. Rich, running rich, if you have a check engine light and your engine skips, it's dumping raw fuel, or just the fact that it was manufactured wrong. So what happens is that honeycomb inside on that converter, it breaks up. It's gonna set a code. And you have code for CAD problem, CAD efficiency, and it's gonna be the front one here. Don't neglect it because when it breaks up into pieces, it can actually get sucked back up into the valve train and cause bent valves. It's unlike a converter that's down on the exhaust that some of us are used to. Those pieces will block it and cause the car to stall. This can do that also, but it also can be sucked back up through the exhaust manifold, and that's not gonna be a good result for you.

Number 4. Motor mounts. Mostly the right side motor mount, which is the passenger side fender, located over here in the timing chain area, and if we can get in there, this one you can see is already cracking. The rubber gets deteriorated, and, obviously, if there's oil sleeping on it or soaked in oil, that's gonna cause a faster breakdown, but these are notorious for it. So what will happen is someday you just start putting your car in drive or reverse, and you start feeling a real banging, banging, and it's coming from the front of the car, and it might make the exhaust make a bang up on the floor. You're like, "Geez, I don't quite remember that." And it could happen slowly, so you might get used to it, but if you get someone in your car that's not used to it, they might be like, "What's that noise?" Pay attention to it. Come out here with a good flashlight. Check your mount out. If it's torn, you just diagnosed it yourself.

Number 5. Now number 5 kind of follows with number 1, cam sensor. Well, I didn't put it in with number 1 because it is on its own. It has to do with a no start at all. Like you're done. You're in the water done. What happens is you crank, crank, crank, no start. Now there's two different models for this generation. Earlier models might have come with a distributor, and it might even be the third generation, not the fourth. But if you have the Altima with a distributor, I've replaced many of these in my time, inside the distributor on these Nissans is where they put the cam sensor if you have the distributor, which would be mounted right here. And if oil gets in there, it is a done deal. That module gets soaked, the cam module gets soaked, and it is done. It misfires, or it just does not start. So you would have to replace that whole distributor and fix your valve cover leak because, more than likely, that's what it is. Sometimes it's an inner seal on the driveshaft of that distributor. Replace that. But if you have just the cam, this is what we're looking for, the cam sensor right here, and it is oil-soaked. So now we're gonna pay attention to the wiring going to it and that connector. You're gonna disconnect that. You're gonna look for oil has cracked it, deteriorated it, maybe the two wires are touching each other. If that's the case, you're gonna redo the harness. You get a new harness in, put that in, and put the whole new cam sensor in, and then you should be good to go.

Hopefully, you enjoyed this video, and you liked the top five that we came up with on this Altima. Don't forget if you're not a subscriber, please subscribe. Ring that bell. It turns on all your notifications, and you can watch all our videos.