This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Filled the tank on my way to work and began smelling gas. Upon coming out at the end of the day there was a large puddle of gas under the car. At this point the smell of gasoline in the car was unbearable. Got the car home and found fuel leaking on the passenger side near the rear wheel. Looking under the car and found fuel streaming from the front portion of the fuel tank near the support strap. It appears that the tank is cracking in this location. Without removing the tank it appears to be a stress fracture of some kind in the plastic tank.
Gas tanked cracked adjacent to the mounting strap causing gasolene spillage - this is a well documented problem and should be addressed by the manufacturer.
The gas tank on the 1995-1998 Nissan 240sx is made of a composite material. Between Friday May 7, and Saturday May 8, 2010 a stress fracture in the fuel tank formed on the passenger side of the vehicle, adjacent to the strap which holds the tank to the car. The fracture in the tank resulted in a large quantity of fuel leaking over the garage floor. This was a very serious problem as it could have led to a severe vehicle and house fire. The failure has not yet been corrected. To prevent more fuel from leaking from the vehicle, and to reduce the possibility of a fire, the vehicle's battery was disconnected, and the remaining fuel in the vehicle was siphoned into gasoline container. The replacement of the tank requires removing the entire rear subframe of the vehicle which consists of the rear suspension and driveline-- a labor intensive process. This is the second composite part that has failed on the vehicle within two months. The manufacturer also uses a radiator with composite inlets and outlets. Over time and due to heat cycling, the composite material developed a stress fracture resulting in coolant being dumped out of the vehicle.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Vancouver, WA, USA