2002 Nissan Altima 2.5 S from North America - Comments

Bought a new 2.5 S Altima on 1/24/01 for my wife's Christmas present. Just turned 68,000 miles (out of warranty) and all of the sudden see oil fumes coming out of the exhaust pipe and as should be expected, hi oil consumption. From what I can gather it looks like the cat. converter problem that I see referenced all over the net. Put in some heavy weight oil hoping to slow down the usage, but I'm thinking the cylinders of this engine are scored and this is a BIG problem. Called Nissan NA, but don't think they want to deal with the problem. Have owned 3 Nissan's over the past 17 years and bought them all brand new. If I don't get any satisfaction this will be the last Nissan I purchase.

We have a 2002 Altima that was purchased new; currently 103,000 miles. We have had reoccurring warning lights and continual cold start issues. The dealership told us that we were cranking the car wrong, but they cannot tell us how to do it properly since the issue still exists. The car has left my wife on the side of the road a few times. About a year ago, we started having A/C and Heating issues below highway speed. We have had the O2 sensor changed, crank indicator fixed, coolant drained and pressurized twice, and now they are telling us that the head gasket is allowing coolant into the Number 4 cylinder. We are now having the head gasket replaced at a discount for 600.00 plus. The dealer has tried to help with the cost, but this is obviously a design issue. We have had three Nissans and I believe this to be the last unless someone steps up to correct the problem.

I own a '02 2.5 Altima with 112K miles. The car floods out, won't start, the fuel dilutes the crankcase oil causing it to burn. Why does the car flood out? The head gasket is gone allowing coolant to foul the plugs, thus the high coolant consumption. The cat is gone too, I am told, from coolant contamination. Estimate to repair is $1500. I have already replaced the O2 sensors to the tune of $600. Nissan should own up to this defect.

Hello I have a 2002 Nissan Altima with 92 000 mile on it,and since I bought her,I have had no problems! My altima has a V6 in it,it does not get good fuel economy, but it starts very well at -30 celsius, next time I propose to the buyers of 4 cylinder Altimas to buy a V6, it make a very significant difference.

I wish you good luck with your Altimas

Silveralti24.

I also own a 2002 Nissan Altima 2.5SL. It is a hunk of junk! The car idles rough when it first starts, there is a water rushing sound under the dash, and my check engine light has been on since 70,000 miles. I have 75,000 miles on the car and it has already blown a head gasket. I am constantly refilling the radiator with coolant. My private mechanic, who is a family friend, notified me of the problem and he also stated that the catalytic converter was also bad. I did not want to pay for the repairs after reading so many negative comments of the common problems with this crappy car. I reported the problem to Nissan Consumer Affairs. Mark Worley a specialist told me to take the car to a Nissan Dealership to have it diagnosed. Now the dealership wants to charge me $95.00 just for looking at my car and telling me I have a blown head gasket, Thanks a lot Nissan for stepping up to the plate. Oh yeah, now they want to take apart my engine and look at my car to find out what is causing the problem, and charge me for it with no guaranteed reimbursements. I am now trading my car in and going to try to get whatever it is worth for a more reliable vehicle. I have vowed never to by a Nissan Product again. There should be a class act suit filed against these thieves. I paid 21,000 for 75,000 miles. Nissan SUCKS!

I purchased a 2002 Nissan Altima with a 2.5 Liter engine brand new from a local dealership. At approx 80,000 miles I just had the oil changed and approx 1000 miles later my wife called me and said her oil light came on when she went made a sharp turn with the vehicle. She drove the car home and to took 2.5 quarts of oil to bring it to the operating level. There was recall and some of the engines were replaced for catalytic issues and piston ring issues. In contacted Nissan and requested that they fix the vehicle as it was the same issue related to the recall. The refused. I had the engine rebuilt and a ring had broke and scored the #3 piston causing the excessive oil consumption. The excessive oil in the chambers would cause the spark plugs not to fire creating a hard start condition. Also there is a head gasket issue as well. In the process of trying to get this vehicle started from the excessive oil consumption, I found antifreeze on the #3 plug. I turned the engine over without the spark plug installed and antifreeze came out of the cylinder. If your having problems starting the vehicle try replacing the spark plugs. If it works you have bigger problems-time for another vehicle Cold Start-Heat-Oil Consumption this vehicle had it all. A class action law suit would be bittersweet. This is my last Nissan product as well. Nissan-your fired.

I bought my 2002 altima 2.5S brand new. Five years later it has 170,000 miles on it. The car looks like new. inside and out. I made my last payment today. It has been at the dealership for a week now. It started with a head gasket problem The head was warped and coolant was entering cylinders 1 and 2. I did most of the work myself. What a job it was. Bought a new cat/exhaust manifold, had the head machined, put it back together and I had a hard time starting it. eventually it started, but idled at1500 rpm. Put it in drive and it idled at 1000 rpm. I took it to the dealer and they said it needed a new ECU and a complete wiring harness. They can't seem to keep the car running. I have put over $4,500,00 into this car in the past 4 weeks. I really liked this car, but it has left a bad taste in my mouth.

My next car will not be foreign.

I also own a 02 Nissan Altima 2.5S, and am having problems starting it. I have no clue what is wrong with it, but it sounds like the same problem some of you guys are having.

My vehicle has 88,000 miles on it, and after I had the oil changed at 500 miles, afterwards there was no oil in my car, and also no antifreeze.

I called Nissan and they want to charge me 125.00 just to look at it. I don't know what to do. I can't afford 125.00. I'm so upset. There has to be a problem with these 02 Nissans. 02 was the year for the new body style. I always hear people say to wait 1-2 after the body style change before purchasing it, because there are always problems. I wished I would have listened.

Angry and depressed in IL.

I bought a 2002 Altima a year ago with 141,000 miles on it. It now has 156,000 miles. The car starts fine, but it also uses between 1-2 quarts of oil per 500 miles. When the temperature outside exceeds 80 I have trouble with the engine overheating. I replaced the thermastats earlier, thinking that would fix the problem on most cars, and then water pump this last weekend and still the problem exists. One thing I have noticed, if I'm at a stoplight and the temperature gauge is going up the a/c will kick off. Also if I put the car in neutral and rev the engine to 2000-2500 rpms the temperature gauge will go back to normal. My next thought was to put a new belt on it because the water pump pulley only runs on the smooth side of the belt. I thought it might be slipping. Has anyone else tried this with a similar result? jwmsbacon@aol.com.

I feel good after reading these comments. I owe a Nissan Altima 2002 as well and I had the service engine light on for a while so I got it checked and they told that the spark plugs need to be changed as well as one ignition coil. This cost me $200.

After couple weeks I started noticing that the oil started getting really dirty and low. Also the coolant kept disappearing every 4-5days I refilled it. So, I took it to the repair shop and they told me that the car has a blown head gasket. The cost to repair that will be $1400. I am so upset. Anyone know what the cheapest cost to repair this will be?

I have a 2002 nissan altima, I started adding oil every day, anti freeze, car drove poorly @ 50,000 MILES. I was told to replace sensor, I did. The check engine light came on. The converter was below threshold, The converter turned cherry red, the car cut off.

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS NISSAN KNOWS THAT IT ALL DUE TO CONTER GETS BLOCKED, ALL OF YOUR COMPLAINTS ON THIS SITE ALL GO TOGETHER, That's HOW IT STARTS, I'm IN NEW YORK AND MY CAR COULD NOT PASS INSPECTION. ****UNDER THE FEDERAL EDMISSION LAW YOU HAVE 80,000 MILES OR EIGHT YEARS AND IT IS COVERED**** NISSAN REPLACE MY ENTIRE ENGINE FREE OF COST!!! Because I knew better. I did all the recalls, After they do recalls take somewhere to make sure. asK for the old parts. Look into what I say. You may email me at hotrescuebabe231@yahoo.com to disscus my altima problems ans solutions. *****SINCE THEY REPLACED MY ENGINE MY AC BLOWS HOT AIR AND THEY TOLD ME THE COMPRESSOR IS FROZEN, I'm LOOKING INTO IT BECAUSE BEFORE THE REPAIR I COLD FREEZE ALASKA.

This site helped me in solving my '02 Nissan Altima problems - I traded it in after owning it only 5 months. It was fine for the first few months, then the check engine light came on, and from there this site was like a checklist for me.

Garage suggests replacing cat converter, check.

Low coolant, check (oil was fine though).

Stalling, check.

I decided to cut my losses before I needed a new engine - but it cost about the same. I traded it at the same dealer where I bought it, & took a $4000 loss. I don't care, at least now my wife is driving a dependable Honda Civic.

I have 2003 2.5l Altima. I'm getting a code 420 and also the idle is fluctuating. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

Your 420 code is a random misfire. Check your spark plugs. I changed mine at 167,000 miles. That's how my problems started. the check engine light came on randomly after changing the plugs with the NGK's like they come with. I now have 170,000 miles on mine. It ended up being a head gasket issue. Actually the gasket was fine. The head was warped. These 2.5 litre engines have a cast iron block and an aluminium head. Good luck my friend. I can be reached at gsebel@greatamericanpublish.com.

We also have a 2002 Altima with the 2.5 engine... started having trouble around 100K...was told to have the engine flushed, did so twice, then the oil consumption, 3 qt a week, check engine light and loss of compression. Took it to an independent mechanic not knowing of any of the problems, $4,500 later for used engine, 2 catalytic converters, O2 sensor, air flow sensor, only 3 weeks later, same problem starting over again... check engine light, revs up high when started, sluggish and noise starting.

ANY SUGGESTIONS? I DO NOT have another $4,500 to do this again!!!

Thanks---my email is kathytbell@gmail.com.