1.2 DIG-T - Oil loss

[gloucester]

Welcome to this forum.

When I part exchanged my Qashqai when I decided it wasn't worth the risk of keeping it, the issue wasn't apparent to me. However I was surprised at how little it was examined by the Suzuki dealer. He just had a brief look around it - didn't get as far as starting the engine never mind taking it out for a test drive.

What symptoms has your car got - just oil use or the rattle too?

[Huntsman]

As I reported earlier in this post I part exchange my previous 2015 1.2 Dig-t Tekna for a 2020 N-Connecta as I could not live with the worry of the 1.2 engine. If I remember correctly it had about 26000 miles on the clock. Upon looking at the DVLA website I now see that the Tekna registration is no longer listed. I know there can be various reasons for this, i.e shipped abroad (very unlikely), written off, re-registered to a personalised plate but I am leaning towards engine problem and not economically repairable. Whatever the reason, I have slept a lot easier since getting rid of it.

[Darren-65]

Advice needed: A couple of weeks ago, my wife was just about to make a fairly long journey, so as I always do, I checked the oil. It looked about half way on the dipstick, os I put a little more in. Anyhow, when she started the car, which had been fine the day before, the engine made a loud rattling sound. I told her to switch off. She then tried to start it again, but it just turned over without firing. My immediate thought was the timing chain. Anyhow, it had it recovered and sent to our local Nissan dealer. A week later I get a call to say the engine needs replacing at a cost of £9600. The car is a 2014, with the 1.2 DIG-T engine. It has done just over 60K miles.

As you can imagine, I was shocked. There was no explaination from the dealer as to what the problem with the engine was; they just said there's no compression.

Since hearing the news, I've been doing some online research. I've read through much of this thread, and it seems to me that we have suffered from the same fault as many other here have. We bought the car 6 years ago, second hand. Having read through this thread, it seems to me that Nissan know there is an issue. I spoke to the dealer today and told him about my research; I asked if he knew of the problem. He said he didin't, but the sound of his voice makes me think that they know full well.

My question is, given that this car is now nearly 10 years old, has anyone in the same position been able to recover any costs from Nissan or a dealer? I fear that I do not have much chance, but if I know that some one in my position has had some success, then that'll give me hope.

Many thanks.

[gloucester]

I've already answered on your first posting of this issue at viewtopic.php?t=13295

[rickwilliams]

Hello,

Very long story short, I appeared to have all the hallmarks of a defective J11 1.2l petrol turbo charged engine. My VIN is within the range of defective engines, but having stripped the car, Nissan have concluded that the exhaust valves on cylinder 3 are burnt out and need replacing.

Nissan customer service have agreed to pay 100% of the cost of the parts (apparently c. £500), but are leaving me with the bill for labour and putting it all back together (c. £2,850!)...However, the car has had a recent history of needing large quantities of oil:

July 2019 mileage: 25,854 - This is when I bought the car
(2020 - Lockdown/Pandemic)
April 2021 mileage: 32200 - Full service and MOT. New brake pads and 4 x new tyres.
In August 2021 we moved to Stroud in Gloucestershire
Dec 2021 mileage:39015 - Car required 3.5 litres of additional oil(!)
From here on, I checked the car every month for oil levels
June 2022 mileage: 43092 - Service & MOT + Full oil change (replaced oil filter also)
Sept 2022 mileage unknown - Personally added 2l of oil
Dec 2022 mileage: unknown - Personally added 2l of oil
Late Feb - engine shuddered on the motorway driven by my wife with kids in the back
early March 2023 mileage: 48997 - new spark plugs and coil
The vehicle has been off the road and with Nissan since

Between Dec '21 at 39015 miles - April '23 at 49000 miles, call it 11,000miles, I've had to add 7.5l of oil and in that time it's also had a complete oil change on top. That can't be right.

Nissan are looking to fix the fault (the exhaust valves) but not the cause (excessive oil consumption caused by the wear of the piston rings):

"Under a certain driving pattern the oil consumption on the HRA2DDT engine may increase significantly causing the oil
level in the engine to be reduced. The increased oil consumption is caused by wear of the Piston Rings, which allows oil
to be drawn into the cylinder and burned. The resultant low oil level can cause the Chain Tensioner to be starved of oil,
causing failure of the Chain Tensioner and an associate rattle noise from the Timing Chain. "

I am planning to speak with them again to discuss this with them and getting to the root of the problem, but any thoughts/opinions greatly appreciated.

Rick

[gloucester]

Welcome to this forum.

The exhaust valve issue sounds new. I can't recall that coming up before - anyone?

£2,850 sounds exorbitant for replacing valves. What's that, around 25 hours?

[rickwilliams]

Thew Nissan garage is charging £144 an hour for labour (ANY labour)...so far it's cost an hour's worth to check the OBD and 4 hours to strip the engine down to the valves...Any almost 6weeks of waiting to find the time for them to do that...

[rickwilliams]

Nissan Customer Services are now refusing to speak to me about this and keep closing my customer case number despite the exhaust valve replacement clearly not being the root cause of the fault on my engine - For the record, this entire debacle has taken nearly 3 months of ohhhh'ing and ahhhh-ing between the Nissan garage and Nissan Customer Services and the only the thing Nissan are willing to do is pay for the replacement of the exhaust valves on one cylinder (some ~£50) and clean the other cylinder exhaust valves.

They have refused to find any discount whatsoever for the enforced labour hours that they have stipulated...For which I am being charged £144 per hour for 19hrs of labour (An inexplicable £2736 in total)...To source and change one cylinders' exhaust valves which doesn't address the underlying problem...

In the time they have had my car in their garage, I was lucky enough to be given a courtesy car by the manager at the services garage (this was because she knew how long these things take with Nissan customer services, and I thank her for it!) but during my time in charge of that vehicle I travelled over 3,000 miles...I'm taking the car back tomorrow and do you know how much oil I need to top the engine up with??? NONE. Not one drop...

Nissan customer services is a disgrace. Everything is done verbally, and when it's done via email, the team closes the ticket down and waits for you as the customer to respond...

I have never been more disgusted, infuriated, blindsided or sickened by a business' tactics than I have been with Nissan's. \

ANYONE who owns a Nissan should sell it tomorrow. There is nothing good about this company or its opinion of you as their customer. They will utterly screw you over. Their previous CEO who packed himself up in a suitcase speaks volumes.

I have written to every automotive publication with my story and a number of them are reopening their case files. If anyone is having problems with their Qashqai, I would strongly recommend getting in touch and selling at your earliest convenience.

I will never purchase another Nissan in my lifetime and nor will anyone I know...Nissan can go f**k itself

[david sunderland]

Article in French newspaper THE CONNEXION ABOUT1800 OWNERS ARE taking RENAULT to court for 1.2 renault and nissan defects in that engine.... It's in English

[gloucester]

https://www.connexionfrance.com/article ... -deception