Nissan Recalls 215,000 Cars Due to ABS Component Leaks and Fires

Nissan is recalling over 215,000 sedans and crossovers in the United States to repair a anti-lock-braking-system part that can ignite under the hood, as per the filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

This is the second time Nissan has attempted to repair vehicles with defective ABS actuators—the component that pulses the brake lines to avoid wheel lockup during heavy braking—since their first recall for similar issue in August 2016. That recall impacted only the 2015–2017 Murano and 2016–2017 Maxima. The new recall includes 94,795 more cars, including extra Murano and Maxima models from the same years including two more models, consisting of 16,269 Infiniti QX60 models from 2017 and 46,232 Pathfinder models from 2017–2018. An overall of 215,124 cars are affected.

Nissan has probed multiple incidents of ABS actuators that either smoldered or ignited since June 2016. Then as now, the major cause is a leaky actuator in which brake fluid can drip onto an adjacent circuit board, resulting in an electrical short, and potentially melt the board or ignite. Temperature variances during production of the actuator’s oil seal and “insufficient lubrication” can lead it to “wear prematurely,” Nissan stated. If a failure takes place, the ABS warning light will illuminate on the instrument panel. Nissan did not state if ABS performance would be impacted.

Starting in mid-October, dealers will change the ABS actuators, including those they already replaced in the earlier recall, with redesigned actuators. Nissan recommends owners not to drive their cars and park them outside if their ABS warning light comes on, although the automaker did not mentioned coverage for loaner cars.