2008 Engine Trouble

8104 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by VinnieVersa, Nov 18, 2012

maravis

Discussion Starter · Aug 19, 2011

Hello Versa Fans - I own a Versa 2008 SL, and took my car to service as the 'Engine Service Soon' light was lit. Per service guy (Nissan Dealership), engine need to be replaced as one of the cylinder has less pressure (75 psi instead of 180 psi) . There was slugge built in, which the service guy cleaned up and now the 'Engine Service light' is off. I'm interested to know your experience and suggestions - Before is spend $4300, as my car is not covered under warranty.

Save

1 - 14 of 14 Posts

robj80

· #2 · Aug 19, 2011

your car has a 6 year 60k miles warranty on the engine. Are you over 60k miles?

if this is coming out of your pocket then buy an mr20de out of a sentra. You should be able to find a used one for under $1k. Then swap it in yourself or pay someone to do it. It's a direct swap I hear so shouldn't be too much money to have someone do it. My guestimate would be $1,000-$1,500.

Save

08versailles

· #3 · Aug 19, 2011

^ what he said. $4300??? no way!

Save

06_warrior

· #4 · Aug 19, 2011

What they both said. No way would i pay $4300.00 for another 1.8 motor when you can get a 2.0 motor. Faster, more hp & torque and i bet better gas milage too.

Save

hemifan87

· #5 · Aug 19, 2011

I have to agree if mine goes out I will be putting in a 2.0 you can get them for about the same price but they seem to be better, and why not more hp for the same money.

Save

RKEY35

· #6 · Aug 21, 2011

08 Versa sedan mystery problem

New to forum. To be honest I have never had a problem with my V before. I am at a loss though. I drive about 1500 miles a week. (Mostly at night) I own an 08 and have 173k miles on it. I maintain it and change oil every 4k. Now it has no engine light on, nor is it throwing any codes at dealership. At highway speeds the lights get real dim, rpm's spike up to about 3500 shortly, then I loose power. It never stalls though. The dealership has had it for three days and they can't diagnose anything. Can anyone offer any advise or help? Thanks

Save

08versailles

· #7 · Aug 21, 2011 (Edited)

does check engine light work when key is on but engine not running?..just to make sure it's not burned out. Had an aerostar with CEL burned out lol.
The alternator may not throw an error code, but i'm not really sure about that. Dim lights tell me possible voltage regulator on alternator. If you can, take alternator to a shop where they can check it right on the bench. Or get someone to check if it is charging while running. This is just a guess but hope it helps. Can anyone tell if I'm on the right track?
It doesn't sound fuel-related to me.
edit: how about the belt that drives the alternator? Loose?

Save

BluV3R18

· #8 · Aug 21, 2011

maravis said:
Hello Versa Fans - I own a Versa 2008 SL, and took my car to service as the 'Engine Service Soon' light was lit. Per service guy (Nissan Dealership), engine need to be replaced as one of the cylinder has less pressure (75 psi instead of 180 psi) . There was slugge built in, which the service guy cleaned up and now the 'Engine Service light' is off. I'm interested to know your experience and suggestions - Before is spend $4300, as my car is not covered under warranty.

so sorry to hear that man...
I'm goinna have to agree with everyone else.
Replace the 1.8 with a 2.0 from a nissan sentra.

What kind of oil do you put in it and how often was it changed?

Save

BluV3R18

· #9 · Aug 21, 2011

RKEY35 said:
New to forum. To be honest I have never had a problem with my V before. I am at a loss though. I drive about 1500 miles a week. (Mostly at night) I own an 08 and have 173k miles on it. I maintain it and change oil every 4k. Now it has no engine light on, nor is it throwing any codes at dealership. At highway speeds the lights get real dim, rpm's spike up to about 3500 shortly, then I loose power. It never stalls though. The dealership has had it for three days and they can't diagnose anything. Can anyone offer any advise or help? Thanks

on your case it does sound like the alternator.

I had a 1997 Subaru legacy with over 200,000 miles on.
and here's my experience:
the alternator quit charging after a while.
lets say for the first 10-20 minutes of driving it was fine...but then the lights got dim and lost power.... RPMs didn't jump because it was manual but it it was an automatic the rpms would jump back up to match the speed the carwas going gtgbye

Save

RKEY35

· #10 · Aug 23, 2011

Thanky you for your input. I will pull the alternator out and bench check it. It was giving the right output though when I checked it and the battery first off. The check engine light came on yesterday! Its official now. NIssan found a stored code, it is 1st and 3rd gear ratio off. Nissan says new transmission is needed. I do not trust that diagnosis though.

Save

Newowner2011

· #11 · Aug 23, 2011

I would still check alternator, Just because voltage output is correct doesn't mean its putting out proper amperage. I would check into that, if its ok then you may have another problem.

Save

Rand0m0sityxX

· #12 · Aug 24, 2011

^^ Also check your alternator belt, if its going bad, or close to breaking I believe it can cause the lights to dim. Its high mileage so it about the time for a belt of you haven't already done one (or it could be ready for another if it was changed around 100k).

Save

Terl

· #13 · Nov 17, 2012

Hello: My 2008 Versa MT with 160K miles had the same issue. It would suddenly start slowing down at 65MPH (3000 RPM) and depressing the throttle had no effect. The slowing continued until the engine reached about 2500 RPM at which point I could increase speed to around 65 MPH then it would slow again. This sequence continued until I got into town. In town there were no issues. This occurred every day for 3 days in a row some in the morning and some in the evening and under different engine loading conditions. There were no visual indications of a problem, no check engine, no dash lights, nothing. I plugged in a data logger and monitored all ODBII data available. The data indicated that the alternator voltage was varying from approximately 14V (at 2500 RPM) to less than 12V (at 3000 RPM); at the same time both oxygen sensor voltages would vary as well as other related outputs. Even though a load test indicated the alternator was operating correctly, I replaced the alternator and the problem went away. Examination of the removed alternator revealed the slip clutch was excessively slipping at high RPM resulting in a low voltage condition. Data logger data is now steady and correctly indicates proper data changes correlated to throttle position. My theory is that the voltages in the ECM are well regulated whereas the sensors rely on alternator voltage which is normally regulated but in this case were allowed to vary outside of normal limits. The ecm was responding to the varying O2 sensor data and either leaning out the mixture thus starving the engine and reducing RPM and power or going into limp home mode (which limits engine to 2500 RPM). I rejected the limp home mode theory because there were no codes indicated and no pending codes stored; the shop manual indicates that if the ecm goes into limp home mode, it will throw a code that indicates what caused it to go into limp home mode. Summary: In my case of loss of power at highway speeds; replacing the alternator eliminated the problem. The problem has not happened again in over 2 weeks of driving over 100 miles per day.

See less See more

Save

VinnieVersa

· #14 · Nov 18, 2012

Teri: Wow!! Thanks for the details on how you were able to trouble shoot the alternator problem. I was not aware that the alternator had a slip clutch, but your details makes sense. What type of "data logger" did you use to view the live ODBII data? I am using a ScanGaugeII but it does not give the details that you posted. I will have to see if the Versa Online Manual that Rob posted shows the alternator details. Thanks Again. VV

Save

1 - 14 of 14 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month