Corrosion through the driver’s foot well could compromise a wiring harness.
Beginning March 2, Nissan will notify owners to fix a potential issue with an electrical connector under the dashboard of 2014 – 2016 Rogue models. According to the document submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “If the connector becomes corroded, electrical current may continue to flow between the connector terminals.” Water and salt making their way through the driver’s-side foot well could wick up the harness tape and damage the connector.
Problems resulting from such damage could manifest in a few different ways. Drivers could experience a failure with their power window or seat controls, or the all-wheel-drive system warning light could illuminate. Problems could progressively worsen from there, to include a battery discharge, “thermal damage to the connector”, a burning odor or smoke, and in the worst case condition, a fire. Nissan claims there have been three “unconfirmed” incidents in the U.S. where this corroded electrical connector may have been at fault. The automaker further cites two “thermal incidents” and two more incidents with “localized thermal damage” in Canada — and none of the incidents have resulted in injury.
How many cars are affected and how to handle this recall
Per NHTSA documents, the problem may occur only in 1% of the targeted recall population of 688,946 vehicles. That figure includes 383,726 Rogues built at the automaker’s Smyrna, Tennessee plant. The other 305,220 were built at the Renault Samsung motors plant in South Korea. No other Nissan or Infiniti vehicles used this design, and Rogues built after the 2016 model year use a different manufacturing process, and will not have this issue.
Nissan is already notifying dealers, and will send notices out to affected owners beginning March 2. If you have a Rogue built in the 2014 to 2016 range, you can check the NHTSA recalls site for more information. The NHTSA’s number for this recall is 22V-024, while Nissan’s own recall number is R21B9. Nissan expects a repair to be available in the spring, and will contact owners who have paid out of pocket to fix the issue about reimbursement.
