The Nissan Club banner

Dealer says so called "drone" is normal

8K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  c0ol 
#1 ·
I've had my 2.5 in three times for service and each time I complained of a rattle and slight vibration at about 1500 rpm. First time they said they could not hear it. Second time they thought is was a loose heat shield. Third time I took the service guy for a ride and he said it was a normal fuel economy "drone", characteristic of the vehicle.
It is annoying since most of our driving is around town at about 1500 rpm. I have driven two others that do not have this "normal characteristic" and am concerned. Is the dealer right or is he taking me for a ride?
 
#3 ·
Akley, thank you for the response. I did some checking and found info on the TSB including the following from this forum:
(I'll be calling the Service Manager Monday morning)

Subject: SB 2013 Altima Sedan With QR25DE Engine; Rattle or Groan Noise From Engine A

Summary of NTB13040:

IF YOU CONFIRM: A rattle or groan type noise is coming from the right front strut tower / engine area when: - An applied vehicle is traveling at 20 - 40 MPH AND / OR - The engine is running at 1,400 - 1,500 RPM AND - The generator (alternator) is the source of the noise. NOTE: This noise may be misdiagnosed as CVT or heat shield related. ACTION: Replace the alternator with the one listed in PARTS INFORMATION. - Refer to the M ELECTRICAL & POWER CONTROL > CHG Charging System section ofthe Electronic Service Manual (ESM). See this bulletin for further detail.
 
#5 ·
Part of the way Nissan achieved the mpg they're getting on this car is by dropping RPMs as low as possible, and as quickly as possible. This results in that lugging you're experiencing.

The dealers are telling you it's normal, because it probably is for this car. If it's intolerable to you, you might have chosen the wrong car to buy.

I wish I had better news. The lugging doesn't generally bother me, especially when I see 36+ mpg on the highway in a fairly large family sedan.
 
#6 ·
Yep, the auto manufacturers today have to pull a lot of tricks to get past the government mandated minimum mpg requirements.

I know I had issues with the engine vibrating on an 03 Altima I was working on. I finally found out via this site that it was the clutch going bad in the alt pulley.

In all of my years working on cars I had never seen an alternator with a clutch on the pulley.

Nissan did this to get a few more mpg's out of the car. Honda has its version of the alternator clutch, but its in an electrical form where the alternator is turned down until it sense's an electrical load [cooling fans comming on, AC turned on, etc].
 
#7 ·
We had the same issue with my wife's 2013 2.5sl. I never really drove it much but when we bought a new Murano, I started to drive it all the time and could not stand the low rpm groan. Took it into the dealership and asked if they would do the alternator tsb and because of the mileage (58k), they wanted $500 to change the alternator to the one with the clutch. I argued that it should be under the power train warranty but they would not budge. Nissan finally agreed to pay $300 toward the fix but the alternator seemed to take forever to come in so we instead traded the Altima in on a Accord and could not be happier. I'm sorry to say this but the 2013 Altima was really a piece of junk and not up to Nissan's usual standard. We had other problems as well from day one with that car as well, passenger door rubbing, heated seats not working right, driver seat belt installed backwards, it was sad.
 
#8 ·
Forgot all about the door rubbing thing, I had that too, resolved with new rubber inserts. Fortunately I've been spared the mechanical wowes some of you experienced. Many car companies these days have had increased quality control issues, and they are assembled here. Once all the small things were fixed, it been an enjoyable ride though. I plan to keep mine a while, unsure what will come next though. I don't want to trade it in on another one, as it's finally all fixed! Don't want to start that over again, and no more first year redesign cars!
 
#10 ·
hmmmm I seem to have a similar issue. Mine I can't tell where its from if I roll down the windows. It can be heard the loudest from 40-55 MPH anything higher wind noise muffles it and RPM really does not matter. Sounds like a small plane drone. I had the tires rotated and still sounds the same. Waiting for the snow t clear up a bit more from the roads to take it in.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top