NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE11-020: Brake Master Cylinder Internal Leak
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE11-020 on May 23, 2011 and closed it on March 14, 2012. NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2007–2008 Nissan Altima for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE11-020 (also written PE11020)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed March 14, 2012
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Nissan North America, Inc.
- Component
- Service Brakes, Hydraulic — Foundation Components — Master Cylinder
- Vehicles and equipment
- 2007–2008 Nissan Altima
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE11-020.
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE11-020 to investigate possible brake performance loss due to brake fluid leaking from the master cylinder into the brake booster in the subject vehicles.
A total of 237 complaints were identified by ODI and Nissan.
The majority of complaints and warranty claims reported that brake malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) illumination as the only symptom of a problem.
Only 12 complaints alleged any effect on brake performance and in each of these the drivers were able to stop the vehicles without incident.
No crash claims could be attributed to the alleged defect. Returned part analysis data provided by Nissan showed that most of the master cylinders replaced under warranty did not have a leak condition.
These replacements may have resulted from brake MIL illumination due to pad wear.
For most of the warranty claims, in a few cases where a master cylinder leak was found, Nissan's testing showed that the leaks were extremely slow and would require thousands of miles or months of driving before brake performance could be affected.
After an extensive study of replaced master cylinders for a presumed leak, Nissan was unable to identify any concern with the parts or design of the subject components that could affect brake performance. Nevertheless, Nissan does recognize a concern with premature brake MIL illumination and has decided to address this problem by conducting a voluntary service campaign covering approximately 1.17 million model year 2007 through 2012 Altima vehicles (up to June 25, 2011 production, the date of Nissan's running change for the longer life brake pad).
Nissan's owner letter for the service campaign states, As your brake pads wear over time, the brake fluid level in the master cylinder reservoir will drop and may cause the brake warning lamp to illuminate.?Although this is a normal condition, there has been concern that the brake warning light illumination may be caused by a slow fluid leak over time.
Nissan's service campaign will inspect the brake pads and test the master cylinder for leakage.
If leakage is detected, Nissan will replace the master cylinder at no charge.
If excessive pad wear is observed, customers will be notified and will be responsible for repairs.
For more details concerning Nissan's service campaign, see the PE11-020 file on www.Safercar.gov. Based on the low failure rate for confirmed master cylinder leakage in the subject vehicles and the low probability that the condition would affect brake performance, this investigation is closed.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE11-020. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Nissan
All Nissan recallsWhat an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Nissan VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE11-020
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.