Nissan Almera no power

UnawareCaesar

I have a 06 Nissan Almera and the power seems to drop off around 2-3000 rpm. A lot of stuff has already been looked at including mass air flow sensor, air filter, coil packs etc.

Anyone ever had anything similar our any ideas what else to check?

nd

Yep unfortunately. The sister had a 02 with the exact same thing. The cause was the the timing chain had stretched.

She decided to sell the car to a mechanic rather than fixing it.

UnawareCaesar

nd wrote: »

Yep unfortunately. The sister had a 02 with the exact same thing. The cause was the the timing chain had stretched.

She decided to sell the car to a mechanic rather than fixing it.

I had that checked by a mechanic. Not stripped down and checked but the timing was compared against a another Almera and all seemed fine. I'll be bringing it to get checked at Nissan on Monday but just wanted to see if there was something straight forward before I go to them.

Donadea Leo

UnawareCaesar wrote: »

I had that checked by a mechanic. Not stripped down and checked but the timing was compared against a another Almera and all seemed fine. I'll be bringing it to get checked at Nissan on Monday but just wanted to see if there was something straight forward before I go to them.

does it drop and kick back straight away or does it stay down for a bit. If your engine light comes on you could get your mechanic to put the computer on it. I have had similar issues twas the ignition coil so changed that but now have another problem with crank shaft sensor. It started as a power problem but seems to be progressing to difficulty starting, cutting out when just starting out and rough idling. Must get it fixed. Mines an 03.

nd

It's fairly easy to check the timing chain yourself.

Take the rocker cover off


and then look down to the left of the engine to see the chain tensioner.

If it looks like this your chain is stretched/worn out

UnawareCaesar

nd wrote: »

It's fairly easy to check the timing chain yourself.

Take the rocker cover off


and then look down to the left of the engine to see the chain tensioner.

If it looks like this your chain is stretched/worn out

Thanks a lot. What should it look like if it's ok?

nd

that silver thing springs out further and further as the chain wears/stretches



it'll be out very little if the chain is in good condition.

(it's out as far as it can go there)

UnawareCaesar

nd wrote: »

that silver thing springs out further and further as the chain wears/stretches



it'll be out very little if the chain is in good condition.

(it's out as far as it can go there)

Thanks a million. I'll have a look and see what it looks like. Might post a picture if it looks suspect.

chicorytip

Is the car shuddering or hesitating when you accelerate? If not, then the problem is more likely to be a faulty sensor (probably crankshaft). I had the same problem with my own Almera (04) recently. It's not that major a repair - about 130 euro.

UnawareCaesar

chicorytip wrote: »

Is the car shuddering or hesitating when you accelerate? If not, then the problem is more likely to be a faulty sensor (probably crankshaft). I had the same problem with my own Almera (04) recently. It's not that major a repair - about 130 euro.

No shuddering really just lacking in power. Did you go through Nissan or an Indy?

chicorytip

Good, reputable indy, yeah.

Stoolbend

Tensioner out 10mm means chain has stretched and needs to be replaced.

Is there not a little inspection plate on the chain cover? It's easier to remove than the rocker cover.

UnawareCaesar

Nissan looked at this during the week. They've said it's the catalytic converter. Getting it changed on Friday so well update after.

UnawareCaesar

Got the cat converter replaced at a cost of 400 by an Indy garage. Made no difference. Anyone know if I have any comeback with Nissan over this?

nd

I doubt it very much. Tbh Idk how they came to the conclusion that the cat. was causing the problem.
It was a Nissan main dealer that looked at it?

Did you check the timing chain?

dieselbug

nd wrote: »

I doubt it very much. Tbh Idk how they came to the conclusion that the cat. was causing the problem.
It was a Nissan main dealer that looked at it?

Did you check the timing chain?

I would suspect perhaps the cat had disintegrated and the garage diagnosed a blocked exhaust. If this is the case it may still be blocked faurther back. Easy to diagnose.

Just guessing though.

UnawareCaesar

I never got a chance to look at the chain but I may between now and Thursday when it goes back to them.

I asked if they had and they said they just put it on the computer and read an error code that indicated the cat converter needed to be replaced.

dieselbug

UnawareCaesar wrote: »

I never got a chance to look at the chain but I may between now and Thursday when it goes back to them.

I asked if they had and they said they just put it on the computer and read an error code that indicated the cat converter needed to be replaced.

"indicated" is the key word as that's all the fault code does, it's an indication of where the problem may lay. There are many other tests to do before condemming the cat or any other component.

These have a deserved reputation for timing chain trouble with a variety of symptoms and it should be one of the first things to eliminate.
An oscilloscope is the most accurate way to check the chain. You can look at how the timing is behaveing right through the revs but not to many garages will have one.

Checking the protusion of the tensioner will be a good test.

dieselbug

Was fuel supply checked by anyone?

I know you say lots has been checked but I dont see any mention of fuel pressure or flow being checked.

The symptoms would fit, fuel starvation at 3k under load.

Uncle Ben

Just a thought. Ive an 06 nissan primera. Like the op I had problems with loss of power. I feared it was dodgy petrol or worse and got O2 sensors checked etc. All to no avail. Then I went to the Nissan Primera owners club forum and apparently it is a common problem with the primera, the almera may be the same.
Anyway the solution was to replace the brake bulbs and fix the earthing problem. The remedies are on the site. Apparently the 'brake light problem is fooling the onboard computer that the car is braking and hence the power is reduced with out the driver knowing.'
I got the problems solved and have never had a reoccurrence.

chicorytip

UnawareCaesar wrote:

I asked if they had and they said they just put it on the computer and read an error code that indicated the cat converter needed to be replaced.

Has the possibility of a faulty sensor (either cam or crankshaft) been definitively ruled out ? It still seems like the most probable cause to me.

browniepoints

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Just a thought. Ive an 06 nissan primera. Like the op I had problems with loss of power. I feared it was dodgy petrol or worse and got O2 sensors checked etc. All to no avail. Then I went to the Nissan Primera owners club forum and apparently it is a common problem with the primera, the almera may be the same.
Anyway the solution was to replace the brake bulbs and fix the earthing problem. The remedies are on the site. Apparently the 'brake light problem is fooling the onboard computer that the car is braking and hence the power is reduced with out the driver knowing.'
I got the problems solved and have never had a reoccurrence.

GRRR more electronic gremlins built in .
You couldnt invent that if you treed
Merc a few years back had the car stop and it was faulty back door sensor said door was open so engine stopped for safety reasons as programed to do .Took moths for a indy to figure it Merc hadnt a clue what it was .

Jed

UnawareCaesar

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Just a thought. Ive an 06 nissan primera. Like the op I had problems with loss of power. I feared it was dodgy petrol or worse and got O2 sensors checked etc. All to no avail. Then I went to the Nissan Primera owners club forum and apparently it is a common problem with the primera, the almera may be the same.
Anyway the solution was to replace the brake bulbs and fix the earthing problem. The remedies are on the site. Apparently the 'brake light problem is fooling the onboard computer that the car is braking and hence the power is reduced with out the driver knowing.'
I got the problems solved and have never had a reoccurrence.

How did you diagnose that if you don't mind me asking?

I left it back in to the main dealer who spent half a day to tell me they couldnt find anything and wanted the €60 diagnosis fee plus Labour from there on in to continue looking. When I arranged to drop it in it was €60 for a diagnosis so I told them I'd be paying no more than that until they had a diagnosis. They of course backed down and told me I could take the car away for no charge.

They did rule a few things or such as timing chain, however the wouldn't look at writing our fuel supply so I think that's my next port of call.

Uncle Ben

UnawareCaesar wrote: »

How did you diagnose that if you don't mind me asking?

I left it back in to the main dealer who spent half a day to tell me they couldnt find anything and wanted the €60 diagnosis fee plus Labour from there on in to continue looking. When I arranged to drop it in it was €60 for a diagnosis so I told them I'd be paying no more than that until they had a diagnosis. They of course backed down and told me I could take the car away for no charge.

They did rule a few things or such as timing chain, however the wouldn't look at writing our fuel supply so I think that's my next port of call.

As stated earlier it was the loss of power similar to the ops that initially made me aware of the fault. I thought it was dodgy petrol however the fact that the local gardai fuel there made me dismiss that almost straight away. I have a mate who is a mechanic and he checked the plugs, sensors, exhaust system etc and couldn't find any fault yet the power loss continued.
I then began googling 'primera power loss' and after a few different searches I was directed to the primera owners club -NPOC. co. uk and there were plenty of threads with symptoms and remedies. There are also videos and photos of how to rectify same. I brought it down to my pal and he did the rest by elimination of symptoms.