As noted in another thread.
Unofficial knock test procedure.
Recommended testing area should be with the front of the car in a garage, or close to a wall so sound can be reflected up to your ears.
1) Car in Neutral With Park Brake On.
2) Start Car, idle to normal operating temperature.
3) Place smart phone/camera/audio recorder on ground under front bumper near oil pan, recording
4) Slowly depress accelerator pedal to 1100 rpm and hold, then press slightly more to gradually increase to 2400rpm
5) Repeat step 4 a few more times.
6) Start from idle and increase to 2400rpm, varying between light accelerator pressure to heavy 'blips' of the trottle to 2400 RPM (I found this most obvious)
7) Review captured audio/video.
Alternate method - On road test
1) Allow engine to reach normal operating temperature.
2) Roll down all windows.
3) Radio off
4) A/C off
5) Headlamps and other electrical loads off.
6) Find an area that has high curbs and accelerate from 0-20 kph, attempt to hold the car in 1st gear before 1-2 shift for autos (Or select L for autos)
7) Starting off from a stop and making hard right and left turns (think 4 way stop) seems to make the sound more pronounced.
If you have the knock:
Report the defect to Nissan Canada, use my customer service complaint #3879549 if you need or they state its never been reported before. They will steer you at a dealership but now at least NC is aware. Bring the car to the dealership for evaluation with a print out of this thread. Dont loose your cool. If you dont get the result you want, call Nissan back and request another dealership. They prefer to keep the problem with one dealership. In other words, you notice the issue and bring the car to say... Kingston Nissan, then they want you to finish there.
If you do not have the knock:
I reccomend periodically checking for the knock. Some engines exhibit it shortly after break in. Some like mine, didnt manifest until 15,000km, and didn't get loud enough to be noticed until 34,000km. Patience is key.
The only way we are going to get recognition of the problem and a solution to the original manufacturing defect is to keep badgering Nissan Canada and making the problem obvious to them. Failing that and if we find enough Micras with the same issue, then perhaps a more public route is ideal. But first we need to find out how serious the problem really is. We need more micra owners to do this test so we can get a better idea on how bad the issue is. We noticed that when the trim panel caused a possible safety issue and discussed it on the site, how fast a recall came flying out the doors like it was on fire. It is entirely possible that NC could be watching this thread and/or forum.
What I want to see is Nissan renewing the warranty from the replacement date. So if the engine is bolted in at 10000 km, the warranty on it should last until 110,000kms. Maybe a buy-back/upgrade program. A make-better program with oil changes for life for free to help put a little more confidence back in our minds. Something.
The idea here is to get the attention of Nissan and get this resolved quietly before a lawyer has his Micra go sour and launching a class-action, or going to Transport Canada about it. We love our Nissans and we don't want this to deter new owners from joining the club.
Last edited by Howie; 09-11-2015 at 12:26 AM.
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View my fuel log 2015 Micra S automatic: 7.9 L/100 km ... 35.7 mpg (Imp) ... 12.6 km/L ... 29.7 mpg (US) ...