Nissan To Recall 500,000+ Vehicles

FRANKLIN, Tennessee — Add Nissan to the list of manufacturers involved in massive recalls. On Wednesday, Nissan announced that it is recalling 539,864 vehicles, a majority of which are in the U.S., for faulty fuel gauges and brake pedal pins that partly disengage.

The Nissan recall comes on the heels of GM's recall Tuesday of 1.3 million compact cars with suspect power steering and Toyota's recall of 8.5 million vehicles worldwide.

The Nissan vehicles with brake pedal pin problems include the 2008-'10 Nissan Titan, Armada, Quest and Infiniti QX56. Nissan said 178,916 of those vehicles are in the U.S., while 25,869 are outside the U.S. "There have been three reported instances of brake pedal pins partially disengaging, causing a loss of normal braking ability," said Nissan in a statement.

In a phone conversation with Inside Line, Nissan spokesman Fred Standish said that of the three reports, one is in the U.S. and two are in the Middle East. He added that "the pins were misformed and could become dislodged from the housing." There have been no accidents, injuries or deaths reported with the brake pedal pin recall, he said.

In a separate recall, Nissan is recalling 418,865 vehicles in the U.S. for faulty fuel gauges. They include the 2005-'08 Nissan Titan, Armada and Infiniti QX56 and the Nissan Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra built between January and March 2006 and between October 2007 and January 2008, the automaker said in a statement.

"Vehicles at higher mileage levels may have fuel gauges which incorrectly indicate the amount of fuel in the tank," said Nissan in a statement. "This may result in the vehicle running out of fuel while the gauge reads greater than empty."

Standish said that typically "fuel goes down to a quarter of a tank and [the gauge] will stop." He noted there are two causes for the faulty fuel gauge. One is a problem with corrosion on the sensor that causes "an interference with the electronics on the sensor," he said. The other is a mechanical problem "where part of the sensor system will come in contact with the side of the fuel tank," he said. No accidents, injuries or deaths are related to the faulty fuel gauge recall.

The Nissan recalls will begin in March. In the case of the faulty fuel gauge, Nissan is advising owners to "maintain a fuel level of at least a half tank." Customers with questions can contact Nissan at (800) 647-7261.

Inside Line says: If you own any of the aforementioned Nissan vehicles, have it checked out ASAP with your dealer. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent