Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - HEADLIGHTS | ||||||
| PE04020 | NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC. | 02/26/2004 | 06/24/2004 | FAILING HEADLIGHTS | ||
| Nissan and ford found that the original equipment headlight stainless steel bulb terminals may over time cause elevated contact resistance and overheat the electrical connector housing.this can result in a headlight flickering, bulb outage and heat deformation to the headlight connector.in april 1999, the supplier of the headlight for nissan and ford changed to a bulb using the stainless steel terminals that did not meet original specifications.on july 17, 2000, the supplier began using a bulb meeting the vehicle manufacturer's specifications.this problem can affect independently either headlight but does not cause simultaneous failure of both headlights. the problem also does not affect front parking lamps.as a result, the complaints typical report single failure of one headlight.there are no crashes or loss of vehicle control reported.a safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that no safety-related defect exists.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | |||
| 07/11/2010 | 96000 | ||
| Back on july as i was on the hwy, set my cruise control, for the first time since i've owened my nissan, at 55mph, the speeddometer stopped working, my right headlight went out. now ever since then, it has gotten worse, i have replaced the right headlight 3 times . i've noticed that when i grab the handle of the turn signal it crackles, and causes the headlights to flicker, and the odometer doesn't work when the speed control is on zero while driving. | |||
| 10/27/2010 | |||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2000 nissan quest. the contact was driving at night approximately 45 mph with the headlights in activation. suddenly, the headlights became inoperative. the contact maneuvered to the side of the road and then resumed without the activation of the headlights. the contact's visibility was extremely limited. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they replaced both headlight bulbs. the failure reoccured after the repair. the vehicle had not been repaired. the failure mileage and vin were unavailable. js | |||
| 07/15/2003 | 40000 | ||
| Both headlights will not illuminate. the problem is not the fuse as when you push the wires connected to the lights, they will illuminate. as soon as there is any vibration they go out. | |||
| 03/25/2004 | 0 | 12/04/2001 | |
| I have had to change my headlights repeatedly (going on 3rd time) and my tail light (1 time). in addition, i have problems with my accelerator pedal; it seems to stick, until i apply enough pressure then it takes off abruptly fast, had these same problems (with replacing head and tail lights and accelerator) when i had my 1993 nissan quest, but dismissed them. now i see a correlation with the 2000 quest i have now. the low profile of my quest caused my transmission pan to leak fluid, because of a dip in the road. constant problems when parking due to the front end of my quest being too low and scraping the curb. problem with heating system in the rear, only blows out cold air regardless of setting it to heat. there is a very strong gas smell when my car is running (this was also experienced in my 1993 quest) only compact incident was when my tranmission pan cracked going down the street and going down a dip in the road (not a pot hole). other than these things i have been very pleased with my purchases, very reliable but these are a few things i've noticed and hope that you will consider my concerns to further be investigated. | |||
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - HEADLIGHTS | |||
| 07/22/2007 | 68000 | 3 | 07/03/2000 |
| The headlight bulbs continue to burn out and during the last replacement of the bulbs, the collars retaining the wiring harness crumbled in my hands. both collars look like they have been exposed to a lot of heat. then while i was trying to remove the bulb, it came back on. the wiring socket was loose and needed pressure in order to work. this too, looked like it was exposed to a lot of heat where the wires connect to the sockets. is this a design defect? *jb | |||
| 02/07/2005 | 48000 | 2 | 04/02/2004 |
| Your closed defect investigation into this matter stated that it was a defective bulb that was used until july of 1999. after both my headlight bulbs went out simultaneously in the summer of 2004, my mechanic replaced not only the bulbs, but the connectors too. guess what? my headlight bulb just melted it's connector again...in 2005... using the corrected bulb indicated in your investigation. why isn't nissan and ford and their supplier correcting this problem? it is hard to go on a trip or work at night when my other light may go out before the other is fixed. it also cost about $100 to fix. *jb | |||
| 10/05/2004 | 37000 | 1 | |
| The head light bulbs did not work unless the harness was adjusted. this problem occurred frequently. *jb *sc | |||
| 07/07/2004 | 38900 | 1 | 05/07/2004 |
| Both of my headlights just stopped working at the same time. my mechanic stated the connectors melted. when he tried to obtain them from nissan, he was told they no longer are available! this makes me believe that it is indeed a safety issue if they have stopped selling the connectors. *jb | |||
| 08/15/2002 | 40000 | 2 | |
| Consumer complained that the headlights go out intermittently while driving at night. dealer was notified and they replaced the headlamp connectors, but the problems recurred. *ak | |||
| 02/03/2004 | 38820 | 1 | 06/20/2000 |
| I'm the owner of 2000 nissan quest , my car starting give me a problem last month when the right side headlamp its went out [failure] , i did found out its somthing worng with the socket , if i used my hand hold the socket the light will came on. now everynight if i have to drive at night i have to open the hood and used my hand to hold the socket so the light will come on.*ak | |||
| 12/23/2003 | 71000 | 2 | 06/10/2000 |
| The connection to the headlight bulb on my 2000 nissan quest is intermittent and the headlights go out. *ak | |||
| 12/14/2003 | 48000 | 2 | 06/10/2000 |
| Heater coil failed, leaking coolant inside of the vehicle. headlights fail while driving. gas pedal binds causing suddening acceleration. seatbelt fails to connect fully.*ak | |||
| 10/01/2003 | 3 | 09/01/2002 | |
| Gas pedal sticks causing the van to lurch forward. headlight socket has been replaced once and again has overheated and fried inside component so light bulb will not work. switch on driver side window is no longer operable. *la | |||
| 09/10/2003 | 23000 | 2 | 09/26/2000 |
| While driving headlights failed. connector problems. *la | |||
| 11/15/2003 | 4377 | 1 | |
| While driving headlights intermittently failed. dealership/mechanic informed the consumer that the problem was caused by the electrical wiring system. the problem had not been resolved.*ak | |||
| 02/15/2002 | 50000 | 1 | 11/01/2000 |
| Faulty headlight assembly: the headlight assembly in the van melted due to heat and corrosion. the parts department of the dealership informed me that he had seen lots of this problem and always overstocked this part. dealer stated that i must have not replaced the boot covering correctly and it was not nissans fault i had to pay for the replacement. it happened again i got the same answer. not nissans fault. *la | |||
| 10/05/2003 | 1 | ||
| While driving headlights failed intermittently. *ak | |||
| 07/11/2003 | 38000 | 200 | 11/26/2002 |
| While driving home after dark, i made a stop and when i got back in my 2000 nissan quest the headlights would not go on. after several failed attempts to get them to come on and after looking at the light bulbs and realizing they were not blown out, i finally managed to get one light on to drive the short distance home. when the headlights were looked at during daylight hours, we determined that the connectors on both headlights had literally melted away. i'd like to know, since i've seen and heard other complaints, what nissan is doinig about this. during this terrible experience, i had three children in the car with me. i don't feel safe driving my minivan at night for fear of the headlights burning out again, or worse yet, causing a vehicle fire!!!*ak | |||
| 07/10/2003 | 1 | 07/05/2000 | |
| I have a 2000 nissan quest, i have had to replace the connector to the passenger side headlight 3x's since aug of 2002. the connecto burns out. the most recent incident was 07/10/03. my husband replaced the connector and it burnt out by the next day 07/11/03. my concern is an electical fire. *ak | |||
| 04/09/2003 | 26986 | 5 | |
| The headlight plug turned black and became hot which caused the headlights to burn out frequently. *nlm *ts | |||