On 6/27/2017 1:16 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 6/27/17 12:52 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

Talked to the Nissan Arbitration Specialist this morning. She claimed
she was unaware that the new engine did not fix the problem.

I expressed my desire to pursue the buy-back that she committed to
last week. Reminder her that she had said if the new engine didn't
fix the problem or it's installation was going to be delayed that
Nissan would not "drag this out" and would do the buy-back.

She now has to verify with the dealership or the regional Nissan rep
that indeed, the new engine didn't fix the problem.

I asked how long it would take to process all the paperwork, etc., as
I am anxious to pick out another vehicle as a replacement. She said
it normally takes 4-6 weeks.

*WTF*!

"Why so long?", I asked.

She said they have to get a copy of the title from whoever financed
the car along with a copy of my registration.

Told her I didn't finance it. Paid cash and *I* have the title.
(fortunately it arrived in the mail yesterday).

I told her it has now been a month since I bought the car. I had it
for two days and it's been at the dealership ever since.

She's going to try to expedite the buy back but it's still going to
take a while. Paperwork shuffle and bureaucracy.

So, I'll just keep driving the rental loaner Nissan is paying for.
Had it for 27 days now. Nissan has paid for about 40 hours of
diagnostic labor, a new engine and shipping costs, the labor to
install the engine and for testing and will now be buying back the car.

All for a $200 component and about an hour's worth of labor that
doesn't give a fault code if it's bad.


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I won't argue with your guess as to what is wrong, but isn't there a
chance it might be something else? What is distressing is the
unwillingness of Nissan and the dealership to give your guess a
chance...that might have ended this foray into the black hole a couple
of weeks ago.


Since this is non-political, I'll reply. :-)

I am still almost 100 percent convinced that the problem is what I
described. I am not arrogant enough to assume that I know for sure, but
it's the only theory that ties together all the symptoms and
observations made.

The electrical burning odor I noticed a couple of times but then stopped
is more telling to me than the lack of heat. Little DC motors don't
smell like they are burning up if they are operating properly.

The problem is this: Once the winding of the motor opened, there is no
more burning odor. It becomes one of the standard, "Cannot duplicate
problem" things. Plus, the ECU did not return a fault code for this
problem. I can guess why not, but I am not an expert at what the ECU
senses. I think it just sees that 12 volts is applied to "Pins X and Y"
when you call for heat. In the scenario I have described, it *would*
report that. But, because there's no current flow through the winding,
the motor won't turn, opening the valve.

I think Greg's explanation makes sense. We live in a world of
procedures based rather than old fashioned troubleshooting.
It's probably cheaper for Nissan to replace an engine than to hire more
techs or engineers to really dive into what the problem may be.