Just going to post a little story about my experience (thus far) with a power train warranty issue. This is not a bitch session and not an anti-Nissan gripe session - just a short journal of events leading up to why I currently drive A Nissan Quest mini-van.

I currently have about 43k miles on my 2005 Xterra, which I purchased new in June of 2005. At around 41k miles I began hearing a whirring or whining sound coming from the engine when accelerating over 2k RPM's. A little back story about this event though, as it's very directly related to my current situation...

Around a year ago at 30k miles I'd read a post on this board about a certain timing chain guide issue that was appearing in our engines - and that the symptom was a whining sound above a certain RPM. I decided to take it in as it was still under warranty, but before I did I made a little video of the sound and posted it on You Tube, the link can be found HERE . At that time I was told the sound was actually my power steering pump - which was replaced under warranty, and which seemed to fix the problem.

11k miles later - the sound returns, slightly different, and definitely more noticeable. I did not take a video of it this time though At first I thought it was coming from my belts, power steering, or the alternator - not wanting to fall into the same apparent miss-diagnosis I had the first time. I had a mechanic friend check it out and we determined that it wasn't the power steering and the belts looked good. He didn't think it was the alternator either, but that it might be a seized bearing or something inside the engine.

My brother had a similar experience with his 2006 Frontier which I thought might be my problem. With his, he'd get a rattling and whining sound behind the dash that he only heard on hard acceleration, and that turned out to be a faulty 'clutch bearing' which in his case was replaced under warranty. The diagnosis on that too was aided by a post on this board which he used to help the dealership determine his issue. Mine didn't sound exactly the same though and I eventually decided to just take it in and bear the brunt of whatever cost was incurred to fix it out of warranty.

I was contacted a day later and given the 'good news' - it was a faulty timing chain guide, my first miss-diagnosis at 30k miles, and it was covered under power train warranty. They ordered the parts and I scheduled a visit 3 days later to bring it in for 2 days worth of service. It was due to be complete the night before I flew out to Japan for 2 weeks so I was decidedly anxious about getting it back in time.

Of course it didn't get done in time.. They called me the night it was due to be picked up, the night before I left for Japan, to say they needed it another day. I arranged to have my wife pick it up the next day and she reported to me in Japan that everything seemed fine. She doesn't normally (if ever) drive the thing so I took that for what it was worth and asked her not to drive it too much until I got back.

On Monday of this week I returned and was picked up in the Xterra by my wife. The X had been parked in the garage both weeks and still had that dealership tag on the rear view mirror. I started it up and immediately noticed it was shaking somewhat violently at 500 RPM's. I asked if this is how it had been and she replied that she didn't know, or hadn’t noticed (AARGGH!!), and just then, the check engine light came on which she did say had not been on prior to picking me up.. In all the truck had been driven less than 60 miles between when I dropped it off 2 weeks earlier, and when I started it up at the airport.. I decided to bring it back in on Tuesday.

On the way to the dealership Tuesday morning, about 3 miles into my drive, I witnessed the scariest sound I'd ever heard from any vehicle I've ever owned. I wasn't accelerating, just maintaining speed at around 35 MPH when it sounded like I ran over a cardboard box filled with wine glasses. It sounded like the box was stuck under my engine bay and the glass was shattering - a tinkling sound. I drove about 20 more feet before realizing the sound was actually my engine!! I killed the ignition and coasted to a stop beside the road. I had to call my wife to give me a ride to the dealership where the truck was towed in for service and I was given the keys to a Nissan Quest Mini-van.

I was called on Wednesday afternoon to say the truck was fixed. The diagnosis was this; my belt tensioners had gone out - 3 of them. The extremely rough idle was caused by one of the cams in the engine getting stuck in a 4 degree (or 40?) angle for full advance, so 3 of my cylinders were firing in acceleration mode, while the other three were in normal mode. Everything was fixed now though and I was good as new and asked to come pick it up.

When I arrived my service advisor went to pull it into the bay. I saw the truck back out of a parking space in the back and disappear around the side. I waited another 10 minutes before he walked back to the bay with a look of sincere embarrassment and frustration on his face. Between the time it had been fixed (again), and the time he pulled it around to the bay, the check engine light had come on, and it was apparently broke (again). He explained that they were going to call Nissan engineers because they'd never seen this sort of problem and that they would do everything up to replacing the engine to make it right..

I asked to see the truck and was taken to the garage where I met the mechanic who'd serviced it. He contradicted the service advisor by assuring me that everything was fine and that it was probably a little dust on a sensor, a 20 minute fix, but to be sure they wanted to keep it another day to be sure. This was Wednesday.

They never called me Thursday. Now were closing in on noon on Friday and I still haven't been called. My wife loves the mini-van though; I guess that's a good thing.