2003 Nissan Sentra ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN SENTRA. WHILE DRIVING LESS THAN 10 MPH, A LOUD POPPING NOISE WAS HEARD FROM THE ENGINE. THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THE VEHICLE STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. THE VEHICLE RESTARTED AFTER APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES AND WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER WAS FAULTY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A LOCAL DEALER WHO CONFIRMED THAT THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER WAS FAULTY AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED AND THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE, BUT DID NOT OFFER TO ASSIST. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 25,000. UPDATED 09/10/15*LJ UPDATED 10/05/15*LJ THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THERE WERE MULTIPLE PROBLEM CODES THAT APPEARED ON THE DIAGNOSTIC SCANNERS. UPDATED 02/09/16*JB
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN SENTRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN MAKING BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT TURNS, THE VEHICLE WOULD SHUT OFF WITHOUT WARNING ALSO, ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS ALREADY STARTED AND WARMED UP, SHE WAS UNABLE TO RESTART IT AGAIN, WITHOUT CONSTANTLY DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS WHICH WAS SIMILAR TO NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER 03V477000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:MODULE). THE DEALER WAS NOTIFIED WHO INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THERE WERE NO RECALLS ASSOCIATED WITH HER VEHICLE AND THAT THE ECU NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED AND ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT HER VEHICLE WAS NOT UNDER RECALL. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 90,000. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 72,000. UPDATED 02/09/11*LJ UPDATED 05/09/11
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN SENTRA. WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. ONCE THE CONTACT TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE, IT DID NOT RESTART UNTIL THE FOLLOWING DAY. ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE TACHOMETER WAS NOT WORKING. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 86,000.
2003 NISSAN SENTRA, FIRST NOTICE THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT COME ON. THEN, THE CAR WOULD FEEL LIKE IT WAS LOSING POWER WHILE DRIVING. TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP, THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT BUT THEY SAID IT MIGHT BE THE BATTERY OR ALTERNATOR. SO, THEY GAVE ME A NEW ALTERNATOR AND A NEW BATTERY. THEN, SHORT TIME AFTER THE CAR STARTED LOSING POWER AND JUST STALLING COMPLETELY. POWER STEERING GOES AS WELL. AS TIME GOES ON THE OCCURRENCES ARE BECOMING MORE FREQUENT. SEVERAL TIMES THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED I HAVE ALMOST CRASHED INTO SOMEONE WHETHER I WAS TRYING TO MAKE A TURN OR MY CAR SHUT DOWN AND SOMEONE ALMOST HITS ME. SO, I LOOKED UP THE RECALLS DONE ON MY MODE, MAKE, AND YEAR CAR AND FOUND THAT THERE WERE RECALL ON PARTS THAT ARE CAUSING THE SAME PROBLEM FOR ME. SO, I CALLED UP NISSAN AND TOLD THEM MY VIN AND PROBLEM AND THEY SAID THERE AREN'T ANY RECALLS ON MY VIN AND MY VIN SHOULDN'T BE DOING WHAT THE RECALL DESCRIBES. EVERYTIME I DRIVE THIS CAR I FEAR THAT I'M GOING TO HIT SOMEONE OR SOMEONE IS GOING TO HIT ME BECAUSE THIS UNKNOWN REASON AS TO WHY THIS CAR DOES THIS. I DON'T FEEL SAFE GETTING FROM POINT A TO POINT B IN MY VEHICLE. *TR
I HAVE TRIED A NUMBER OF TIMES TO HAVE NISSAN FIND THE REASON WHY MY CAR HAD A DELAY IN START FOR 2 YEARS. I HAVE NO SUCCESS, ONLY EXCUSES , AND RUN AROUND. NOW MY CAR IS NO LONGER IN WARRANTY AND THEY ARE STILL GIVING ME THE RUN AROUND WHEN I TOLD THEM THAT IT APPEARS TO BE WHAT THE RECALLS ARE STATING.*AK
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2003 Nissan Sentra has 5 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.