First cube breakdown??

8490 Views 16 Replies 13 Participants Last post by AGCube, Sep 11, 2009

Tony F

Discussion Starter · Sep 6, 2009

A few days ago my wife was turning into the local Target parking lot when the Cube engine stuttered and lurched, and she lost all power. All the lights on the dashboard turned on, and the engine died. It started again fairly easily, but was running 'lumpy', lots of coughing and spluttering, and continued like that for several more stops and starts. By the time she got home the car was running and driving just fine, but we've now got a light on the display saying "Service Engine Soon"

We looked in the manual, and it says the problem is likely to be either the CVT or the emissions controller, but could also be a missing or loose fuel filler cap. We checked the cap immediately and it certainly seemed tight, so could it have been that?

We called the Nissan dealer and they said that so long as the Service Engine Soon light isn't flashing, then the car is completely safe to drive, and if the problem is in the fuel cap then it will probably clear itself in a few days. Unfortunately they were short of staff in the service dept. and they won't be able to look at the car until tuesday morning. Since then we've put another 50 miles or so on the car over several short journeys, and of course the light is still on.

So, how concerned should we be, and has anyone else has this problem?

Cheers,

Tony

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CubeLuvIt

· #2 · Sep 6, 2009

That must have been worrying for you.
I hope you get it sorted.You should take it in and have them do diagnostic checks on it anyway.
It may indicate something or at least if not put your mind at rest.
I hope somebody has some pointers for all of us.
There are so many computer type chips involved in these cars that can go wrong,go wrong,go wrong.
There are bound to be failures.
I took extra extended warranty insurance for my Cube as I had the experience of a computer type chip failure in a previous car [GM Passport Optima,Daewo motors which I nicknamed the "Berliner Buick" as it was an Opel design]
after the warranty had expired and had I not extended the warranty the bill would be over $1000,mostly labour.
Must say it was an excellent going to work car.
Cheers'
Bryan.

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mpm

· #3 · Sep 7, 2009

WOW!! Tony, what you are describing is almost exactly what happened to my wife and I a few weeks ago! It was late at night and we were in our vacation town and my wife was driving about 25mph or less and the same thing happened. The car was "surging" and then it felt like it was braking for her and she said she was not braking at all. The car never died, but was just acting very weird and we didn't have much more to drive for the night. We only had like 1 mile more to go before we got to our hotel, but I worried all night about it thinking that the cvt was broken or something.... The next morning we left and the Cube was fine, perfectly fine. 2 days later was our 3 month check up at the dealership and they said everything was perfect. We had about 3K miles on it. It has not done it since that night on vacation, but it was just very weird. I will say that I drive another cvt driven car by Jeep and if you coast to a stop sign it will feel very weird sometimes as it manually goes down to the lower "gears". I don't know...

Tony F said:
A few days ago my wife was turning into the local Target parking lot when the Cube engine stuttered and lurched, and she lost all power. All the lights on the dashboard turned on, and the engine died. It started again fairly easily, but was running 'lumpy', lots of coughing and spluttering, and continued like that for several more stops and starts. By the time she got home the car was running and driving just fine, but we've now got a light on the display saying "Service Engine Soon"

We looked in the manual, and it says the problem is likely to be either the CVT or the emissions controller, but could also be a missing or loose fuel filler cap. We checked the cap immediately and it certainly seemed tight, so could it have been that?

We called the Nissan dealer and they said that so long as the Service Engine Soon light isn't flashing, then the car is completely safe to drive, and if the problem is in the fuel cap then it will probably clear itself in a few days. Unfortunately they were short of staff in the service dept. and they won't be able to look at the car until tuesday morning. Since then we've put another 50 miles or so on the car over several short journeys, and of course the light is still on.

So, how concerned should we be, and has anyone else has this problem?

Cheers,

Tony

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CubicKrom

· #4 · Sep 7, 2009

I read on another forum something about an emission or gas vapor valve sticking that caused similar problems.

If I find it I'll post it up. 8)

ewraven

· #5 · Sep 8, 2009

Just an FYI,

Stores like Autozone will hook up there scantool and read the check engine light code for free.

I've had a Nissan throw the Check Engine Light from the gas cap not being tight enough. It sure didn't surge and do all that stuff that yours did though!

As a rule of thumb, I always make sure that the gas cap clicks at least three times while tightening it.

Good luck at the dealer tomorrow!

Nigal

· #6 · Sep 8, 2009

ewraven said:
Just an FYI,

Stores like Autozone will hook up there scantool and read the check engine light code for free.

I've had a Nissan throw the Check Engine Light from the gas cap not being tight enough. It sure didn't surge and do all that stuff that yours did though!

As a rule of thumb, I always make sure that the gas cap clicks at least three times while tightening it.

Good luck at the dealer tomorrow!

If you're into gadets you can buy a Scangauge II. It'll tell ya everything about your car you ever wanted to know including maintenance codes.

http://www.scangauge.com/

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coolguy

· #7 · Sep 8, 2009

Tony F said:
A few days ago my wife was turning into the local Target parking lot when the Cube engine stuttered and lurched, and she lost all power. All the lights on the dashboard turned on, and the engine died. It started again fairly easily, but was running 'lumpy', lots of coughing and spluttering, and continued like that for several more stops and starts. By the time she got home the car was running and driving just fine, but we've now got a light on the display saying "Service Engine Soon"

We looked in the manual, and it says the problem is likely to be either the CVT or the emissions controller, but could also be a missing or loose fuel filler cap. We checked the cap immediately and it certainly seemed tight, so could it have been that?

We called the Nissan dealer and they said that so long as the Service Engine Soon light isn't flashing, then the car is completely safe to drive, and if the problem is in the fuel cap then it will probably clear itself in a few days. Unfortunately they were short of staff in the service dept. and they won't be able to look at the car until tuesday morning. Since then we've put another 50 miles or so on the car over several short journeys, and of course the light is still on.

So, how concerned should we be, and has anyone else has this problem?

Cheers,

Tony

very disconcerting :no: please take it to the dealer ASAP and let us know what's up!

dsmcube

· #8 · Sep 9, 2009

I guess they just get hickups every now and then.

ChristineK

· #9 · Sep 9, 2009

Tony F said:
We called the Nissan dealer and they said that so long as the Service Engine Soon light isn't flashing, then the car is completely safe to drive

This bothers me a little, its a car not a game show.

If the light is on then a problem existed or persists. using an OBD-II (On Board Diagnotic) tool is key here. I bought one, but as above you can borrow one for free. If you just had air vapor lock then you can clear the error code and see if it immediaty returns or not. You would be surprised how often a gas cap removed and retightened can fix problems. An OBD tool is less than $100.00 and saved my butt and others around me many times.

Good luck and I hope it works out.

Pejay66

· #10 · Sep 9, 2009

I agree, it is a car not a game show. Your dealer should look at it and fix it as it is under warranty. I have 9,800 miles and not a burp!

Pejay66

Tony F

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 9, 2009

Well the car is back from Nissan... and the problem wasn't the gas cap. :no:

My wife took the car in this afternoon, and explained the problem to the guy in the service dept. He hooked the car up to the computer and said that the code was to do with a problem with the solenoid on the camshaft that deals with engine timing. Hmm, didn't see that one coming!

He said that it's a very well known problem with the Versa, and as this is pretty much a massively more cool Versa then I guess we can expect to see this coming up more often.

The code has been cleared, and a new solenoid is on order. They said they'll call as soon as it comes in.

So, that's the story!

Cheers,

Tony

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Pejay66

· #12 · Sep 9, 2009

Thx much for the info. I travel a lot in my Cube and I don't want that to happen.

Patrick

AGCube

· #13 · Sep 10, 2009

Tony F said:
He said that it's a very well known problem with the Versa, and as this is pretty much a massively more cool Versa then I guess we can expect to see this coming up more often.

Sorry to hear of your mishap.

I guess I would be asking myself if it's a well know problem with the Versa and our engine is the same why don't they have the sensor in stock? Not to excuse the problem to begnin with.

fotomoto

· #14 · Sep 10, 2009

A "very well known" problem could simply mean a FSB (factory service bulletin) has been issued on the Versa line. Being an optimist, I see this (a known power plant history) as a good thing and one of the reasons I bought a "first year" model. OK, we know it's not really a first year model either in many respects but.......

elDizzle_foShizzle

· #15 · Sep 11, 2009

All I know if this friggin better not happen to me. they better have that part in stock or they're paying for my rental if i have any down time. wow.

Tony F

Discussion Starter · #16 · Sep 11, 2009

elDizzle_foShizzle said:
All I know if this friggin better not happen to me. they better have that part in stock or they're paying for my rental if i have any down time. wow.

That was pretty much our attitude on this one, although to be fair we didn't have any down time at all, and when we called the Nissan dealer we were told that if they needed to keep the car for any reason then we'd be given another car off the lot to drive for as long as we needed it.

Can't say fairer than that!

Cheers,

Tony

AGCube

· #17 · Sep 11, 2009

Tony F,

Sounds like they are taking care of you and as you said you haven't experienced any down time.

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