Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (engine, cooling system, oil leaks, timing chain, exhaust).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2002 Nissan Altima owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2002 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the traction control warning light illuminated. The vehicle hesitated to restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 03V455000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 133,000.
I've owned my 2002 Nissan for about 6 months now the previous owner informed me prior to purchase about issues she was having and the reason she was selling the car, explain to me that her friend who has worked on cars 20+ yrs felt if cause could be found it was repairable but seems luck she had is now the luck I'm having. I have a couple ppl look over the car under hood and run diagnostics but nothing can be found.. I can't afford to junk the car my income budget is tight and doesn't allow much wiggle room to purchase a new ride a friend told me about the NHTSA website so we went exploring entering my VIN number comes back no recalls but looking over the recalls for saying make and model and year of my vehicle there's 12 to 15 recalls on it from headlights which I'm is an issue to engine stalls to catalyst issues but yet I'm told that no because we're done on my vehicle I know I'm not …
first, I started to notice my car would loose power while driving, over a couple months, it started to stall and/or completely shut off while driving at low speeds or at red lights! When this first stared happening, the car would immediately fire back up when cranked, after about a month of this, I noticed, I could not drive at or above 45mph or it would shut down, or drive for more than 15 minutes and it would shut off...AND NOT START AGAIN! It would crank, but not start, I would have to wait 30 minutes or more and then it would start right up! This is dangerous due to the immediate- no- warning shut off, whenever and wherever! I've almost caused multi car pile up! Not to mention my kids in the back seat and on the interstate! We could have been slammed into, and pushed down the interstate and over into other lanes! There's a recall on 2002 Nissan Altimas for THIS VERY ISSUE!!! …
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 Nissan Altima. While driving 55 MPH, the contact heard a loud noise and the vehicle began to decelerate. The vehicle was pulled over to the shoulder lane and caught fire. The fire department extinguished the fire and filed a report. There were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 225,440.
First there was a random misfire when I first started it that morning. Eventually got it to start, allowed it to run for a few minutes, and then attempted to pull out of the driveway. Once I put it in drive in and moved a few miles the engine completely shut off. Got it back home, changed the camshaft sensor and while attempting to see if the problem was resolved the catalytic converter began to overheat and caused a small fire near the sensor.
Nissan Altima 4 door. My daughter [redacted]. While driving the vehicle ignition switch, oil, cooling, coil pack cause a major crash, totaling a complete wreckage. [redacted] sustained, serious medical attention, taken to the hospital by ambulance. I started a series of complaints which Nissan failed to comment or investigate.
Tl contact owns a 2002 Nissan Altima with a 2.5 liter engine. The contact stated that the check engine light illuminated on two occasions. The first failure occurred approximately in March of 2006 and again in May of 2009. She found NHTSA campaign id number 03V084000 on the internet and realized that she was experiencing the same issues with her vehicle; however, the dealer stated that her VIN was not included in the recall. In 2006, the dealer stated that the catalytic converter was clogged and charged $1,000 to have it replaced. A recall notice in 2002 did not state that it was related to a VIN at that time. The recall was later amended in 2006 and 2008 to pertain to a specific VIN. In May of 2009, while driving 20 MPH, the check engine light illuminated again and black smoke and oil poured out of the tail pipe. …
Tl contact owns a 2002 Nissan Altima. While driving at speeds of approximately 69 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The warning blinkers were activated and was unable to maneuver the vehicle from the center of the highway. The gear was shifted into neutral with the foot applied to the brake pedal. The vehicle was pushed to the to the median with another vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The recall repaired was performed under campaign id number 07V527000 reprogramming of the ECU), before the vehicle was completely off the lot, the vehicle stalled a second time without warning. The dealer advised a diagnostic test to determine the actual failure, at the owner's expense. The contact refused to pay out-of-pocket for a recall associated repair. The dealer stated the vehicle was "unsafe to drive." the identical failures occurred one mile from the dealer. …
Car would not start. Towed to mechanic and found out it was crank shaft positioning sensor. After repair was made I found the recall on this website. According to Nissan service dept. Looking in Nissan database this repair was made at 28K miles before I bought the car. I had to have the same thing repaired and Nissan will not reimburse me for the repairs. According to the safety information posted about this recall the sensor can overheat and cause loss of power to the engine and cut off the engine completely. This happened to me a couple of years ago and luckily I was in a parking lot driving at a slow speed, but prior to that I was out on a country road and it was getting dark. If it had happened then I May have been hit by another car. Since this part is still defective or not redesigned it is putting other Nissan owner's at risk of this happening again. …
Purchased vehicle pre-owned,seller appeared honest & truthful about the vehicle,however after about 2 weeks of ownership I noticed high oil consumption,probably about a quart a week,,didnt think much about it,except that I probably have bad rings,or leaking intake valves/seals and would require costly engine repair.my daughter came home one day and mentioned the car wouldnt go over 15 MPH,so I took it for a ride & as she said,intermittantly the vehicle would only go 15-20 MPH,rendering the car unsafe to drive,,when I got back with the car I opened the hood only to see the front catalytic converter was glowing bright orange and no exhaust exiting the tailpipe,,,I know enough about cars to know that can only mean the converter is clogged solid,,,,inquired at a local Nissan dealer what the warranty was on the the cat and they said it was 8 yrs,80K miles,,,did some research on the web and …
Related recalls
Engine and engine cooling
On certain passenger vehicles equipped with a 2.5l engine, the crankshaft position sensor can overheat causing a brief interruption in the signal output from the sensor.
Remedy: Dealers will reprogram the ECM free of charge. Certain my 2006 altimas which have been previously remedied under recall campaign 06V223 (Nissan r0606) are not included in this recall since the reprogramming for 06V223…
Engine and engine cooling
On certain passenger vehicles, the circuit board for the crank position sensor or cam position sensor May have an improper solder joint due to solder deformation caused by heat stress accelerated by the existence of flux residue during the soldering process.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the crank position sensors. Camshaft position sensor(s), and in some cases, the variable timing control sensor(s).
Engine and engine cooling › Exhaust system › Manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
On certain vehicles equipped with the 2.5 liter engine, the exhaust pipe hanger pin May catch debris from the road that could be ignited by contact with the main catalyst. Also on 2002 altima and sentra vehicles, certain engine operating conditions May cause the pre-catalyst to overheat and damage the catalyst substrate.
Remedy: Dealers will remove the protruding portion of the exhaust pipe hanger pin. In addition to the corrective action, in order to reduce the risk of fire in the event of poor or improper maintenance that could result in oil…
NHTSA investigations
Engine compartment fires
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened this investigation on October 18, 2002 based on three reports indicating that the engine compartment in model year (my) 2002 Nissan altima vehicles equipped with the 2.5 liter engine caught on fire without any warning to the driver while the vehicle was driven at highway speeds.one non-burn related injury was reported as a result of the complainant exiting the vehicle…
Engine complaints in other Altima years
Frequently asked questions
How common are engine problems on the 2002 Nissan Altima?
NHTSA has 682 complaints about the engine & cooling of the 2002 Nissan Altima, 65% of the model year's 1,047 complaints. The component named most often is engine (164 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2002 Nissan Altima engine problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 07V-527 (engine and engine cooling, Nov 14, 2007); NHTSA recall 03V-455 (engine and engine cooling, Nov 17, 2003); NHTSA recall 03V-084 (manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe, Mar 11, 2003). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2002 Nissan Altima engine problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 90,000 miles, and 7% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 8 crashes, 23 fires and 13 injuries to engine & cooling problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.