Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2002 Nissan Sentra owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I was driving on the massachusetts turnpike at about 65 MPH in the right hand lane. I smelled a burning smell, but attributed it to a factory I drove by. My foot was on the gas pedal, and all at once my car was powering down, and the spedometer was dropping at a rapid speed, despite my foot on the gas pedal. Then, the brake light came on, the engine light, and I cruised my car over to the breakdown lane. Thankfully, no cars were behind me to rear-end my vehicle. There was a lot of smoke coming out from under the hood. I put my hazards on, but everything powered off. I turned the car off, and ran far away from the car, not knowing what it would do. I called 911, and patrons stopped to assist me before the police and firemen arrived. …
Dt: contact stated while driving vehicle stalled. While pushing the vehicle off the road another vehicle hit the contact's vehicle from behind. The contact stated there was NHTSA recall campaign 03V477000 but the contact wasn't notified about this recall. The contact and passenger sustained injuries.
While driving at highway speed driver saw smoke coming from the hood. The consumer stopped the vehicle, got out, and smelled plastic burning. The engine compartment was on fire. The fire department was called to extinguish the fire.
2002 Nissan Sentra se-r we own has been giving us a re-occurring problem with both the unified meter that controls the speedometer and affects the ECM to throw up the engine light to come on..causes a massive slow down in speed when the speedometer goes out while driving..brought this to the attention to a local Nissan dealer, mike shad of orange park and was informed not to worry about the engine light and just have the ECM "reflashed". We followed the instructions from the service center of mike shad Nissan and had the system reflashed..speedometer worked briefly and went out again..to this day it continues to stay on "engine light", and the speedometer still works off and on and continues to wreak havoc on maintaining a safe speed. Also a major issue regarding the "long engine crank time before engine starts". …
On sept 16, 2014, my 2002 Nissan Sentra would not start. Thinking it was a battery problem I had it towed to my mechanic's shop. A day or so later, the mechanics could not find what was wrong with it. I had the alarm worked on recently and the alarm installers were nice enough to swing by the shop and take a look at it. Turns out the alarm was not the issue. While talking about the car's problem, the head mechanic and head alarm installer kept mentioning the word "recall". Next I had it towed to the dealership, melloy Nissan. A melloy mechanic said that the computer was bad and a replacement would cost $900. The mechanic told me it was not under warranty. I researched the emc problem online. I called Nissan USA about the emc since it seems to be a common problem with sentras. They said they would take my complaint under consideration. On the sept. …
Had just exited off hwy - was driving ab 45 MPH - as I slowed down to approach a stop light - car cut off/shut down completely - car would not restart until approx 45 minutes later. Car towed to victory Nissan dealer - crank position sensor failed - was replaced. (crank position sensor - recall for previous year models.) emergency brake cable was adjusted - charge to customer $39.80. Had premium maintenance and state inspection at pence Nissan oct 29, 2003 - at which time neither problem was recognized. Brought to pence's attention that gear shift indicator light was out. Was told that bulb needed to be replaced at customer expense. Pence Nissan (approx 5 miles to residence) - poor customer service - service manager has not returned my phone call (left vm message). Repair invoices need to be more detailed/complete. Victory Nissan (approx 25 miles) - very accommodating. …
I have a 2002 Nissan Sentra. This vehicle will stop running in normal freeway driving conditions. Without warning my car stalled in heavy commute traffic. My car is only three years old, and I had a hard time starting it. Once it started, it stalled again only a few miles down the road. I have since found out that there is a recall on the foam surrounding the electronic control module. The recall states that the foam can contaminate the ECM. I took my car in to the dealership and they replaced the foam, but did not replace the ECM. The contaminated ECM is what is making the car stall. The dealer only did the recall work, and did not fix the damage that was done to the ECM. I would like to warn all Sentra owners that they are driving a dangerous car. This car could potentially stall on the freeway or find themselves unable to start the car many miles from home. …
I currently own a 2002 Nissan Sentra se-r spec v and it is old but has been taken good care of and it only has 110,000 miles on it. Vehicle problems smoke black really bad, uses up to 5 quarts between oil changes, idles rough, runs rough. It has had a couple recalls I checked up on like the pre cat header it had been replaced in 03. I replaced coil packs, spark plugs, mass air flow sensor, cam sensor, and crank sensor. All this virtually did nothing and with vehicle oil consumption and fuel usage the engine is shot and will be in need of rebuild or replacement. I have read many reviews of others with the same car and have had the same and worse problems, and it just makes no sense how Nissan can screw up that bad and screw that many people out of money because of manufacturing defects. …
Recently the ECM in my 2002 Nissan Sentra failed while driving causing lose of control of my vehicle. After researching the issue online I found that there is an active recall for the foam that covers the ECM. The problem being that the foam traps moisture causing the ECM to fry. Nissan would not cover the ECM under the recall in which I had to pay $800 for the repair. I filed a claim with Nissan for some kind of reimbursement and I was denied because of the car's mileage and being out of warranty. I feel as though I was robbed $800 due to the fact that this is a known problem with this vehicle and yet Nissan will not step up and take responsibility for their defective part. I would like some kind of reimbursement for the $800 I had to spend which technically should have been covered under an active recall on this part.
I drive a 2002 Nissan Sentra. I regularly maintenance this vehicle. My car completely shut off in the middle of traffic with no prior warning like a light going on in the dashboard and refused to restart! A police officer had to put flares out in the intersection so that no one would hit us. My husband and I were fortunate that no other vehicle in the intersection collided with our vehicle. The only way we could get the car to the shop was by a tow truck. It turned out that the car's computer had gone completely dead. I am grateful that we were not injured, but I consider that a car system that fails to warn the driver in advance that there is a malfunction in the computer that runs the car is highly dangerous! I would not want any driver to have this frightening experience!
Related recalls
Electrical system › Ignition › Module
On certain passenger vehicles equipped with the qg18de engine or qr25de engines, the foam material used for the interior lining of the electronic control module (ECM) box emits sulfur as it cures.
Remedy: Dealers will remove the inside lining material from the ECM box. Owner notification began on December 22, 2003. Owners should contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
Electrical complaints in other Sentra years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2002 Nissan Sentra?
NHTSA has 54 complaints about the electrical system of the 2002 Nissan Sentra, 18% of the model year's 304 complaints. The component named most often is ignition › module (17 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2002 Nissan Sentra electrical problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 03V-477 (module, Nov 14, 2003). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2002 Nissan Sentra electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 79,000 miles, and 14% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 1 crash, 3 fires and 2 injuries to electrical system 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.