NEWS:   Nissan recalling more than 240,000 trucks

WASHINGTON -- January 8, 2009 -- Nissan Motor Co. is recalling more than 240,000 trucks in 20 cold weather states to fix a problem that could prevent front air bags from deploying in a crash.

The government said in a posting on its Web site Wednesday that the recall affects the Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra for the 2005-2009 model years.

In states where winter time road salt is used, a mix of snow and salt could enter a crash zone sensor area and rust, interrupting the signal and potentially preventing the front air bags from deploying in a crash.

Nissan spokesman Colin Price said the problem was discovered through warranty claims and there had been no crashes or injuries linked to the issue.

MORE RECALL INFO:   Nissan Pathfinder      Nissan Frontier      Nissan Xterra

DECEMBER 2008 -- Nissan is recalling 242,720 MY 2005-2009 Pathfinder, Frontier and Xterra vehicles originally sold in or currently registered in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. In those areas of the country which use heavy concentrations of road salt in the winter, a mixture of snow/water and salt can enter into the front crash zone sensor (CZS) housing. If this occurs, the CZS may internally rust resulting in a signal interruption. If this happens, the red air bag warning light will illuminate to alert the vehicle operator. This issue could result in the non-deployment of the driver and passenger front air bags in a crash, increasing the risk of personal injury. Dealers will replace the front CZS with a counter measured sensor. These sensors were manufactured in Japan. The manufacturer has not yet provided an owner notification schedule for this campaign. Owners in the other states will receive extended warranty coverage for the sensor to 10 years. These owners will be notified of the warranty extension by mail and will receive a sticker to place in their warranty booklet explaining the extended warranty coverage.  08V690

SEPTEMBER 2007 -- Nissan is recalling 372,250 MY 1997-2001 Pathfinder and MY 1997-2001 Infiniti QX4 vehicles. Vehicles originally sold in or currently registered in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. During the coating process of the fuel filler tube assembly, a sufficient coating may not have been applied at the lower mounting bracket. This could result in an opening in the coating which can allow water to enter and make contact with the bare metal of the tube. This may result in surface rust but not perforation of the tube. However, in those areas of the country which use heavy concentrations of road salt in the winter, if a mixture of snow/water and salt makes contact with the bare metal, corrosion may occur to a degree which results in perforation of the tube. In this case fuel leakage may occur when filling the tank. Fuel leakage, in the presence of an ignition source, could result in a fire. Dealers will replace the fuel filler tube assembly with a new one with an improved coating process. The recall is expected to begin on or about November 26, 2007. 07V435

NEWS:   Nissan recalls Pathfinder & Infiniti QX over fuel tube leak

CNN.com - September 27, 2007 -- Nissan Motor Co. announced a recall of nearly 420,000 Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX4 SUVs from 1997 and 2001 due to possible corrosion in a tube used to pump gas

More than 370,000 of the Nissan SUVs under that company's recall were originally sold or are currently registered in 22 "cold weather" states including Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia. Another 45,000 recalled vehicles are in Canada.

In states that use road salt during the winter, a mixture of snow, water and salt could cause corrosion on the bare metal part of a fuel filler tube and allow fuel to leak.