[lexilou999]

Hey all, '09 Frontier that just came back with rear diff. that got water in and made frothy metal coleslaw out of it.... at 15,000 miles. My question is, does anyone know how long it would take for water to do enough damage to make that whining noise that alerted me?

Dealership says no-go cause I own a boat- which to them means I submerged the rear axle underwater -which of course I did not- would have been nearly floating away at that point... anyhow its Feb. and 6 months since the two times I launched the boat, but last month they lifted and sprayed out the underside to get all the rocks and mud outta wheels... again, could this be something they can claim happened 6 months ago and just now appeared after the dealer wash down last month? Thanx

 

[bdhaeh]

Drain and fill, take it to another dealer. Do the axle vent mod.

 

[AndysLog]

what?!?!?!?!
wrong. dont touch it. take it back to the dealer tomorrow. tell them your going to leave there and get a lawyer if they dont give you a new rear axle.

15k miles man. grow some huge nuts. you just paid the better part of 30k for that truck.

 

[bdhaeh]

Andy, I agree the dealer should replace the axle under warranty, no questions asked. But, if they give him **** about owning a boat, they are not going to do good work even if they warranty the job.

PS, I did not mean to do the vent mod until he got a new axle.

 

[AndysLog]

what do you mean do good work? its not the labor that cares. they still get paid. the work will be done and done right other wise it will fall back on them.

i would go back there. speak to the manager. and be calm but firm about how mad you are. its a brand new truck. they will warranty it if you give them enough grief. esp if you say your going to get a lawyer.

 

[dubie2003]

Since nobody actually told you what happens yet I will fill you in.

The axle vent is on the passenger side of the axle and its is susposed to allow pressure to exit the axle but not allow anything back in. This works for a bit until the vent gets clogged with dust and it no longer works. Its usually gets stuck in the open position since the pressure in the axle pushes it that way. If not, it just blows axle seals, lol.

I agree with the others, the axle vent is not a standard piece of maintance so it should have nothing to do with warranty or anything. I would go back and firmly state your case and if they still refuse, you can either do a quick drain/fill and take it to another dealer or you can go the Nissan Corp route.

After the axle gets fixed it would be highly advised that you go and do the axle vent mod. There is a thread on it here and then another on clubtitan.org. This will eliminate the stupid "vent" and replace it with a threaded barb fitting, 6-8feet of fuel line and a fuel filter that you can locate behind your passenger taillight. This way the water would have to be halfway up your brakelights before it has a chance to enter the axle.

 

[colin123]

1 i've never seen anywhere in the manual that states if you submerge the axle in water that you void you warranty on any part so that right there is bs

2 we know it, they know it, the whole world knows their axle vent sucks a big one and blows seals and lets contaminates in. 15k its warranty work hands down. ask them how water would get into the axle in 15k miles if the vent was working the way they say it should. you should have a new axle under that thing no problem just stand your ground. i never saw anywhere that says your axle warranty is void if you own a boat either

 

[lexilou999]

more on the "submerged" frontier...

No kidding man, I'm really pi**ed about it- they already called Nissan corp. and put up the front that since I own a boat thats the story they're sticking to. I told them if they're gonna make up stories it better be better than a pickup truck that can't drop a boat in the water twice... water would have had to be over the top lugs- its bullshit. Anyway- a month or two ago they washed down the underside of the truck cause I got so much mud/dirt up there living on a dirt road. Could they, while having it lifted have sprayed enough water in there to cause this? Especially if the vent was stuck open from crap anyway? That's why I asked about if anyone knew the time frame for how long it would take water to really screw up the diff. thanks for the info....

 

[00 FRONTIER]

Just curious, what axle do you have?

The dealer is playing games. I doubt that enough water was sprayed in to cause the issue but who knows. Its under warranty, if they still give you grief you could go to another dealer and not mention that you own a boat.

 

[AndysLog]

you know those frontier booklets you can get at nissan. im pretty sure the 08 books have a frontier pulling a boat out of the water. actually. yes. it does. ill find mine.

 

[AndysLog]

 

[airbag]

Vent tube mod was the FIRST mod I did to my truck. I wheel in water frequently enough so I knew to check my axle and was suprised to see that there was no tube. Here's a pic of the vent on the left and vent barb on the right. I have a first gen with H233B axle but they are basically the same.

 

[mustard23]

[sarcasm]you didn't see the line that said boat ownership voids your warranty?[/sarcasm]

 

[colin123]

[sarcasm]you didn't see the line that said boat ownership voids your warranty?[/sarcasm]

it must be on the fine print on the page on the right :laugh:

 

[Clint]

[sarcasm]you didn't see the line that said boat ownership voids your warranty?[/sarcasm]

I am amazed at how the individual working at the dealership interprets things on his own. You pull out this brochure and show it to him and he'll stammer to find another excuse. Would this same service writer tell you that pulling a 6000 pound load is too much when in print it's still fine? I'll bet if you went to a different dealer you'd get a different response.

Clint

 

[kannibul]

what do you mean do good work? its not the labor that cares. they still get paid. the work will be done and done right other wise it will fall back on them.

i would go back there. speak to the manager. and be calm but firm about how mad you are. its a brand new truck. they will warranty it if you give them enough grief. esp if you say your going to get a lawyer.

Some places will bottle up if you mention lawyer or anything that involved the courts or media.

 

[Clint]

You're not asking for anything unreasonable, only what you're entitled to. That's what the warranty is for.

Clint

 

[kannibul]

No kidding man, I'm really pi**ed about it- they already called Nissan corp. and put up the front that since I own a boat thats the story they're sticking to. I told them if they're gonna make up stories it better be better than a pickup truck that can't drop a boat in the water twice... water would have had to be over the top lugs- its bullshit. Anyway- a month or two ago they washed down the underside of the truck cause I got so much mud/dirt up there living on a dirt road. Could they, while having it lifted have sprayed enough water in there to cause this? Especially if the vent was stuck open from crap anyway? That's why I asked about if anyone knew the time frame for how long it would take water to really screw up the diff. thanks for the info....

It's all in who you talk to. Get the GM, or the district/regional manager.

my Honda motorcycle - the shop denied the fork seals going out where warranty-covered items, along with the stains on the forks from the oil coming out. Dealership said it's "wear item", though on the Honda website it says it's covered as a warrantable item.

The district manager happened to be at the shop that day, and overheard the conversation, and I had the bike there. He looked at it, and said "fix it, this is covered"


You case is similar. Boat or not, the vent is a defect in design. Even if you did submerge the rear-end, had it been designed properly (like how other manufacturers are doing it these days...with a vent and a hose), then it wouldn't have been a problem. A lawyer would see it that way, a judge would see it that way, therefore if the dealership and Nissan is smart, they would see it that way as well.

Nissan should be doing everything they can to not deny warranty claims like this, because right now people are looking at all overseas models with a critical eye, because of the recent Toyota BS.

Also, one other thing, is that the manual says nothing about not submerging the rear end. No warnings, no cautions...until I came here, I would have never known about the vent being an issue.

 

[lexilou999]

nice-I'm bringing that picture! I went to another dealer Saturday, smooth talker gonna try to do something but no word back yet, Nissan already said no-go...I never would have even known about the vent mod till it was toast.... ya think they would just recall on that vent save a few bucks swapping out differentials

 

[FitzIngarage]

Do you see any oil stains around the drain or fill plugs? Maybe Nissan forgot to apply factory sealant to these and water leaked in?