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how can i fix my nissan almera-engine malfunction light?

my nissan almera 1.5s O3 plate has been giving me grief, the problem started last week, if i revved the car past 2500rpm in 1st gear it would judder as if it was about to stall. it happened in every gear after that when it reached 2500rpm. it would only happen maybe every other day, that was like i said a week or two ago, today however it did not happen, although the engine malfunction light came on. i am clueless as to what it could be and i'm too scared to go get it fixede as i have very little cash, if anyone can shed the littlest bit of light on this it would be great.
McMullg83, June 2007
I''m having the same alarm on my car. Can someone help me to understand what is "timing chain" for ? and how do we call it in french , please ?

Aiglekzd, June 2014
I bought Nissan Alemera 05 from dealer after bought and drive on way going home Malfunction light came out but its drive smoothly please any one could suggest what i need to do ?

mujk, September 2013
hi i have a 52 plate nissan almera 1.8 sport+ and it keeps cutting out and wont start back uo but if left for a few minute it will start, engine management light has come on and is staying on. it only seems to be doing it when the engine is hot. also my radio keeps losing power for a split second then comes back on. anyone got any ideas?

Toni, March 2013
I have nissan almera 1.5 2000 model and malfunction light came on without any pre-symptoms..i went to garage and he checked through computer and fault was in crankshaft sensor.he removed the code and its been running alright.

xee, December 2012
my nissan almera engine misfires when its cold and manerger came on but when its warm it drives ok

steve, November 2012
find the fault code&check the sensor,wires&connector if all ok look for a mechanicle fault ie worn timing chain etc,diganostic codes avilable on ebay for under £10 have saved hundreads of pounds finding&clearing fault codes on my nissan almera gti.good luck,and good fun.

mark lawrence, August 2012
hi my almera 2001 1.5 activ judders on start up whilst pulling away then after a few seconds its fine , it drives well but some times when i put my foot down to the floor it loses power and wont pull i have change both lamba sensors and lower cam sensor , could this be a throttle body sensor error eml is on to , i took it off but it comes back after about 30 - 40 mile , the car has been like this since i bought it and never seems to get worse ,i have done about 5000 miles in it . flex exhaust hose has been replaced aswell

steven, May 2012
Nissan Almera sucks. I'm the only one who can drive my car otherwise any other person will cause mass accidents.
I've had several near-death experience.

Nissan Almeras should be barred all over the world[I'm in South Africa]!!!

Musa, May 2012
forget everything else - it's the timing chain without a doubt!!!

rev counter flickering, car juddering, engine malfunction light on coming up with a cam / crank sensor code etc etc etc.

and by the way it's not the nissan car that's the problem.....it's the renault timing chain part that is the problem.....unfortunately nissan have let themselves down and got into bed with renault. wrong move making a great car into a big french mistake.

although i understand nissan customer services are denying all knowledge that it's a timing chain problem.

Bruce, February 2012
Hi Guys,i have 2003 almera management light on and jerking,going to nissan this afernoon,will let you all no what they say!!.

sprinter man, sligo irl, January 2012
i have a rattling noise in engine while in idle mode and bit noisy any ideas?

t shaw, January 2012
I purchased a 52 plate 1.5s Almera for my daughter. After driving for a short while the engine management light came on and the car went into 'limp mode' (max speed 20 mph). This happened as we were overtaking on a dual carriageway - scary!! Had to pull over onto the hard shoulder, the other driver looked confused and annoyed at my actions. Anyway did some searching on the internet and it all pointed to a streched timing chain. Not happy with this, as the car has only done 42k miles, I purchased some engine diagnotic software. It brought up an error code which pointed to the throttle body position. So I took the car to Nissan specialist in Cardiff whoose diagnostics also pointed to throttle body, but he still thought it was the timing chain. He wanted £600 to fix, but still could not guarantee this would fix the problem. I then read that the 02-03 cars has a main dealer recall to replace the crank and camshaft sensors. I rang them to find that this car had not been recalled and could have it done free of charge. Great, or so I thought, as this did not fix the problem either.
When the management light is reset, the car drives normally for a while, then it repeats itself. Damn annoying, and dangerous. Any ideas?

saracen02, October 2011
i have nothing but trouble with my nissan almera i contacted the nissan complaints team they kept me on line for ages then basicly fobbed me off, ive had to change my timing chain twice and its still playing up, i asked the nissan complaints team to aknowledge if the timing chain goes and i lose power on the motorway someone could be killed, they said i needed to go to a nissan mechanic, i said no-one can afford to go t them they charge ridiculous prices so they said its all my own fault....never ever buy nissan agin.

wayne o'connor, August 2011
Report your case here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=294927256889&v=info
http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/onlineservices/vehicledefects.htm
http://nissantimingchain.proboards.com/
Don't forget to give Nissan a call on:(UK)01923 899999

tn, April 2011
Engine light displayed. Checked at garage wher they said it was caused by the crankshaft sensor which was confirmed by the retrieved diagnostic code by them.
However new crankshaft sensor was fitted and the dash malfunction light went out. It never lasted and the light came back on after a few miles. When checked by the diagnostic machine it showed up the same fault; crankshat sensor.
Question: Is this caused by the Timing chain being streched.

billy, March 2011
the timing chain as stretched get it checked out at nissan

andy, February 2011
this is only 1 thing ! TIMING CHAIN ! dont let none of these garages rip u off people doin test tellin u it cud b plugs , ecu , sensors etc save ur money and put it into the problem THE TIMING CHAIN! ebay do kit from £145.00 up to around £200 then the hardest thing! try n find a gud decent honest macanic, hope this helps.

leemond, December 2010
My Nissan Amera lost power completely just as I was driving home. Luckily I managed to pull the hardshoulder quickly. It was scary. I searched on the internet and it looks that even if you managed to find the cash and fixed the problem it'll happen again.
Nissan seem to make poor timing chains but they are not prepared to fix their own problem.
I phoned their customer services but they just gave me a case number. What's the use of that to me?!
Where Am I going to find £1800 from???
I'm going to phone watchdog about this.
I'll never buy a Nissan again.

NissanVictim, December 2010
hi i have exactly the same problem as everyone else on here! mines a 1.5 1991 model almera, it jutters when accelerating, its burning petrol and loses power when changing gears. I've had sensor changed and spark plugs garage says the next step is to replace the edu but what if this dont work? anyone any ideas what to do next? Please

littlemiss, December 2010
my girlfriends car has the same problem...when she first got the car it seemed like a good deal, it drove perfectly and i was actually surprised at how good it was.after a few weeks i noticed the rev needle stuttering at around 5000rpm. it didnt feel like a major problem really so we kept driving it, intending on getting it checked out in the future.we lent the car to a friend for a few weeks and when we got it back the rev needle was twitching at lower rpms than before.i started to notice sudden dips in the power as if the brakes were coming on and off, going round corners was terrifying as the engine speed kept rising and falling, making the cars momentum all wrong, i couldnt get it above 40mph the last time i drove it. from what i can see this will happen to every almera at some point, and if repaired it might brake again within 1000miles, this is a stupid fault but a serious one. its dangerous, and we wont be getting another nissan

daniel, December 2010
Add your Nissan Timing chain story here:

http://NissanTimingChain.proboards.com

Let's try to make Nissan recognise that it's a common issue.

NissanTimingChain, November 2010
Last year (Oct 2009) Nissan Almear's Egine light came on, took it to Nissan who said it was the timing chain and would cost £1000.
I phoned Nissan head office and spoke to someone with he name of Michael who gave me a case number and said no body ever reported this problem!

Shame on you Nissan.

I got the timing chain replaced at a local garage for £500.
Last week (Oct 2010)the same thing happened and this time Nissan said it would cost £1500-£1700 to fix.
The car is not worth that much and it's time to get rid of it.
Timing chain is a common problem on Nissan Almeras, but Nissan refusing to do a recall.
Keep reporting this problem to Nissan customer services (UK 01923 899999) and warn everybody about it.
I'll never buy a Nissan again.

NissanOwner, November 2010
My car wouldn't pick up speed, took it to a Nissan specialist dealership who ran diagnostics and told me it was the timing chain. Paid £600 to get it fixed and it still didnt work - Nissan have now said its the air flow meter! I have now phoned Nissan head office to complain that they should know their cars and how to fix them! I have a case number and am waiting for some answers. Please do the same and log it with Nissan so we can get some answers!

FedUpNissanDriver, November 2010
I have the same problem. studdering at 2500 and also stalls quite a bit at low RPM. We think it is the CPU.

I have the 1.7l engine, not the 1.5. only 41,000 km on it. How could it be the timing chain with such low miles?

Dan, June 2010
Best thing to do is get any codes read from the vehicle and also get the timing marks checked to see if the cam chain has stretched

regards

ac-and-autoelectrical-services.co.uk, September 2009
when i put my foot down my car loses power also the malfunction indicator is nearly always on

john beavis, September 2009
nissan customer services
01923 899999

THE MORE PEOPLE THAT PHONE CUSTOMER SERVICES TO COMPLAIN ABOUT TIMING CHAIN THE MORE CHANCE THERE DO SOMETHINK ABOUT IT BECAUSE AS FAR AS CUSTOMER SERVICES R AWARE THERES NO PROBLEM WITH TIMING CHAIN SO THEY WONT ISSUE A RECALL

Paul, September 2009
you will prob have a timing chain stretched it is a comman prob on the 1.5 engine

richard, August 2009
defo the timing chain. nissan have big problem with these, even at low milage. brings up fault light because cam and crank sensors detect timing is out. the chain stretches and isn't noisey. check tensioner, if extended by more than 10mm...change it. donea few. approx 4-5hrs. nice little earner for someone!

robbo, January 2009
i had same on mine get a bit wire find the socket where you plug the obd into, on the two ends put the wire in turn on ignition wait 10 seconds pull one end of wire out then do same again this will erase faults to get the light off

john, December 2008
Just ad my timing chain changed as car was juddering, a few days before it went into the garage the engine light came on, they fixed car, car is still driving fine but now the engine light s back on again any ideas?

indianatel, November 2008
Hi i have a simular symptoms. When driving and i go up gears i loose power. The car burns a lot of petrol. One day it broke down and AA started it they said it need a cylinder change and possible spark plugs. I took it to garage after garage including Nissan. All said something diffrent. 1st garage ran diagnostic check code P02 misfire came up they changed all spark pluges put in new no.2 cylinder and ereased light. after 5 min in engine light came back on. 2nd took to electrical garage he checked wires to ecu and said its the ecu. 3rd took it to nissan they said its the ecu and i have a damaged exhaust it litterally hits humps. 4th garage said its time belt , setting off things cam shaft etc, loosing power and misfiring. 5th garage they have sent off ecu to be looked at. However the car is pertol 2002 almera 3 door 1. series. i called nissan they said their could be a hair line crack in po2 cylinder the compression not right, mass air flow sensor. Does anyone have idea as now i have been quoted for new ecu 780 not inc vat or to fix not sure . can you recommend suppilers that are cheaper. i am not working due to illness and it really taking a toll on me.

Dawn Wray, September 2008
I have the same problem the malfunction indicator coming on. Is disconnecting the battery really a good idea? Will the light just not come back on again if there is a problem?

Ryan, February 2008
disconnect your battery leads overnight, this will turn the m.f.l. off, and clear the memory of faults, this light can create worry and imageinary problems out of all propotion that dont exist. if its not broken, dont try to fix it, top it up with oil, and water, and drive it untill it stops altogether, even the garages with all their diagnostics, work on an elimination process, not always finding any fault at all but still charging you 35£ for telling you so. as for the timeing chain nissan are one of only a few that use them instead of a cam belt and when they brake they leave the valves to hit the tops of the pistons, another con! when all they need to do is loose a bit of compression and notch the piston crowns as they all used to be, belts hold up trouses, chains hold sprockets together,
if your trouble is due to a timeing chain fault, my spanners are going on ebay.

honestwelsh cjh, January 2008
Hi. I've been searching the net for the solution to my problem and came across yours. I am having the same trouble with my nissan almera which i bought about a week back and have only done 25miles on it after I bought it from a second hand car dealer. Its a 1.5S 01 plate. The malfunction indicator light came on a couple of days back and its been bothering me as to what the problem could be. I have the same juddering problem as you mentioned which only happens sometimes, while the car drives fine on other occasions. However the malfunction indicator remains on continuously.
Did you find a solution to your problem.. and how much did it cost you if you don't mind me asking. I am quite low on cash right now and quite worried about getting it fixed. :(

Div, September 2007
its your timing chain, got the same problem with mine...will cost...ALOT :(

Sunit, August 2007
link Click here to see other fixes for Nissan Almera.