Vehicle recall 11V244000 · April 20, 2011

Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX4

In areas of the country in which heavy concentrations of road salt are used, a mixture of snow/water and salt may enter an assembly location hole in the upper strut housing,…

Summary

Nissan is recalling certain model year 1996-2004 pathfinder and model year 1997-2003 Infiniti QX4 vehicles originally sold, or currently registered in, connecticut, delaware, iowa, illinois, indiana, massachusetts, maine, maryland, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, washington d.c., west virginia and wisconsin. In areas of the country in which heavy concentrations of road salt are used, a mixture of snow/water and salt may enter an assembly location hole in the upper strut housing, causing water to collect at the mating surface of the strut housing panel and the inner hood ledge assembly. Over time, this snow/water and salt intrusion may result in corrosion of the strut tower housing in some subject vehicles.

Consequence

The strut housing may crack and pull away from the inner hood ledge assembly. This may lead to grinding noises, increased steering effort, and possibly the steering column to break, resulting in the loss of steering control, which could result in a crash.

Remedy

Nissan will inspect the strut housing and repair the vehicles as necessary, free of charge. An interim notification letter was sent out in may 2011. The second notice was mailed on July 25, 2011. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.

Notes

Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov.