Vehicle report

2012 NISSAN VERSA

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Defect investigations

3 actions

PE16013 · PE

AIR BAGS Investigation

The Office of Defects Investigations opened this Preliminary Evaluation to investigate complaints alleging an inadvertent deployment of side air bags on model year 2012 Nissan Versa vehicles.The three complaints indicate the driver or passenger curtain and seat mounted air bags deployed when the front door on the same (affected) side was shut.According to Nissan, the defect identified involved the dissimilarity of the metals used in the side air bag sensor electrical connectors, gold versus tin materials.This combination may lead to fretting and oxidation on the connector pins of the Satellite Sensor and the harness which connects it to the Airbag Control Unit (ACU).Fretting and oxidation increases the likelihood of a momentary loss of connectivity, and thus communication from the sensor to the ACU.When communication is lost between the side impact sensor and the ACU, the system is designed to enter a ?backup state? mode of operation.The backup state allows the curtain and seat-mounted side air bags to deploy should the communication be accidentally lost during the course of a crash event. In this mode, the ?safing path? is used in the ACU algorithm for a deployment decision.By design, the safing path has a lower threshold for deployment compared to the normal state which requires both safing and trigger path thresholds to be met.Consequently, if this momentary communication loss occurs when the door is closed forcefully, it may cause the curtain and seat-mounted side air bag, as well as the seat belt pretensioner to deploy inadvertently.On March, 6, 2017, Nissan North America, Inc, submitted a Defect Information Report to NHTSA establishing that it will address this issue.See recall action 17V-144 for further details; remedy details and timing are to be determined.Accordingly, the investigation is closed.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at SaferCar.gov under the following ID numbers: 10743601, 10732337, 10779675

PE15019 · PE

SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:COIL SPRINGS Investigation

In a letter dated September 10,2015, Nissan North America,Inc. (Nissan) notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a safety defect that may result in coil spring fracture in approximately 218,019 model year (MY) 2007 through 2012 Nissan Versa vehiclesproduced from May 8, 2006 through November12, 2012 and originally sold or ever registered in the following 22 states and the District of Columbia: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia and Wisconsin (NHTSA Recall 15V-573).Nissan indicated that the recalled vehicles may contain front coil springs that received inadequate phosphorous coating, have low residual stress, or a combination of both.Surface imperfections resulting from coil-to-coil contact when the spring is compressed may lead to crack initiation.Exposure of the surface imperfections to road salts, in regions with heavy use of road salts for snow and ice control, may promote crack propagation in the spring that could result in spring fracture.If the coil spring fractures it may puncture the front tire and possibly the brake line while driving, which may increase the risk of a vehicle crash.ODI's analysis of complaints it has received from the public (VOQ's) and Nissan complaint data submitted in response to the information request letter for PE15-019 identified a total of 468 non-duplicative reports alleging coil spring fractures in the subject vehicles, including 142 VOQ's and 367 Nissan complaints (41 of the incidents reported to ODI were also reported to Nissan).While the recall region accounts for approximately 43 percent of vehicle sales, the analysis found that 94 percent of the complaints involved vehicles sold or operated in those states.Approximately 27 percent of the VOQ's reporting coil spring failures in the recalled states indicated that the failure resulted in a punctured tire.ODI also identified one complaint that alleged brake line damage from a failed spring.Nissan's recall will replace both coil springs free of charge.Based on Nissan's safety recall, this investigation is closed.The 142 VOQ's referenced in this resume are: 10236143, 10405369, 10443746, 10452956, 10491553, 10497737, 10503060, 10504557, 10512390, 10512975, 10514582, 10516024, 10516085, 10521216, 10522261, 10526334, 10533856, 10537404, 10537407, 10548678, 10552124, 10559853, 10562485, 10565283, 10572591, 10578519, 10583059, 10583154, 10583496, 10583673, 10584979, 10585327, 10585377, 10585751, 10586397, 10586444, 10587798, 10588347, 10588427, 10592366, 10592498, 10592780, 10593373, 10593621, 10595215, 10596802, 10598404, 10598877, 10606859, 10606998, 10610082, 10618059, 10640845, 10644269, 10645075, 10649515, 10653189, 10659632, 10662158, 10663102, 10667071, 10667845, 10669949, 10670829, 10671894, 10676522, 10680544, 10680740, 10682397, 10691419, 10692629, 10693347, 10694156, 10694420, 10701250, 10702765, 10703126, 10704658, 10705882, 10706351, 10711805, 10712045, 10712922, 10714243, 10715041, 10715175, 10716106, 10717254, 10717320, 10717403, 10717412, 10717489, 10717563, 10720958, 10721782, 10721824, 10722113, 10722459, 10722915, 10723873, 10723972, 10723973, 10724158, 10724899, 10725002, 10725328, 10725377, 10725542, 10726251, 10726736, 10726741, 10730138, 10730154, 10730342, 10731050, 10731692, 10731799, 10731901, 10732054, 10732062, 10733059, 10733144, 10733309, 10733349, 10733607, 10733781, 10733854, 10735347, 10735353, 10735606, 10736199, 10736227, 10743474, 10743634, 10743790, 10744

PE12023 · PE

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL Investigation

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation after receiving Nissan early warning reports (EWR) concerning supplemental restraint system (SRS) light illumination on model year (MY) 2012 Nissan Versa vehicles.Information in the reports suggested that the SRS spiral cable harness from the spiral cassette to the driver?s air bag module became pinched within the steering wheel assembly during installation.The pinching condition was apparently causing a short to ground condition. As reported by Nissan, the shorts were the result of isolated operator errors, specifically errors in the way the harness was routed in the steering wheel area.Nissan advised that a production countermeasure was implemented on December 10, 2011 in order to reduce misrouting the spiral cable harness.If an electrical short does occur, the red air bag warning light is designed to continuously flash to alert the driver.However, a shorted harness may prevent the air bag from deploying in a frontal collision.The opening resume originally identified the subject vehicle population as all 2012 Nissan Versa vehicles. It was noted by Nissan that the MY 2012 Versa Sedan and MY 2012 Versa Hatchback vehicles were built on different platforms and varied significantly in design, specifically in that they are equipped with different steering column and air bag module components.Accordingly, the subject vehicle population for analysis was limited to 2012 Nissan Versa Sedan models.Through analysis of the data Nissan provided, ODI determined that 13 manufacturer reports and 39 warranty claims submitted were potentially a result of pinched and/or shorted spiral cable assemblies. These reports occurred prior to the assembly process change on December 10, 2011.ODI notes that an additional six warranty claims occurred after the process change, but this population had a significantly lower rate of failure than those occurring beforehand.Therefore the subject vehicle population shown above covers sedan vehicles built from the start of production through December 9, 2011.ODI?s analysis indicated that this condition typically occurred early in the life of the vehicle with 40% occurring prior to vehicle sale or delivery, and 69% with less than 2 months in service.When compared to ODI investigations involving similar air bag concerns, this investigation has a low rate of failure.ODI has not yet received any related consumer complaints and no injuries or crashes have been reported that relate to the alleged problem. Therefore, a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist.The agency will monitor this issue and reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.

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Complaint counts are reports filed with NHTSA, not failure rates. A common model collects more of them than a rare one that breaks more often.