First, a little background on the noise I was hearing and the TSB to fix it.  When driving over bumps that flex the chassis in a diagonal matter, such as driving up entryways at an angle.  2009-2010 Maximas equipped with the dual panel moonroof don’t have a welded-together roof structure like most cars.  Instead, three metal crossmembers hold everything together.  There is one at the top of the windshield, one in the middle, and one in the back, where the back glass starts.  These crossmembers are bolted to the roof rails that run from the base of the windshield to the base of the back glass.  The TSB states that about a dozen bolts need to be torqued to a 44 inch-pounds, and requires specialized tools to accomplish.

I had an 11am appointment last Monday, October 11th, at Criswell Nissan, in Germantown, MD, where I bought my Maxima.  They had gotten more cars in that morning than expected, so I waited about 45 minutes before they pulled my car into a bay.

The service manager, Jeremy Heskett, was kind enough to let me watch and photograph the work being done to my car, so I took full advantage of that and took a bunch of photos.

Prior to pulling my car into a service bay, the techs had to reproduce the noise I was hearing, which eventually required me driving them around.  Since I had taken note of how to make the roof “pop,” I had the car reliably making the noise enough for them to begin work.

The technician, Justin, made quick work of dropping the headliner down to gain access to all the bolts that hold the roof together.  As it turns out, Justin is the same tech who replaced the sunroof motor only days after I had bought the car.  After about 15 minutes, he had the headliner hanging down far enough to see all the bolts.  A total of about 45 minutes elapsed from when he pulled the car into the service bay to when he was backing it out for a test drive.

I was especially happy to see Justin cleaning his tools before using them, which helps prevent stains on the interior trim panels.

We drove around the parking lot again, in the same manner as before starting the work, and no more noises were heard from the roof.  Since the service visit, I haven’t heard any more noise coming from the roof, so I’m completely satisfied with the work Justin did, and look forward to getting my windows tinted.

The following pictures show the headliner being dropped, the bolts being tightened, and the headliner being put back in and the trim pieces being reattached.

Headliner being dropped:

Bolts being tightened:

Headliner and trim being put back together:

by John Suit

Thanks to Criswell Nissan’s Jeremy Heskett for letting me photograph the work, and Justin for doing a great job!

Related posts:

1. Owner’s Log: 2010 Nissan Maxima, Update 3
2. Owner’s Log: 2010 Nissan Maxima, Update 1
3. Owner’s Log: 2010 Nissan Maxima, Update 6 (Final)

From what Consumer Reports is saying, they experienced the issue while doing a report on the Fusion Hybrid.  The driver started braking for a stop sign and found that the brake pedal went down further than normal, but the car didn’t slow quickly.  The brake system dash lights lit up as the driver blew through the stop sign, and after coasting to a stop and restarting the engine the car performed as it normally should.  Ford was notified, and within a few days, issued the TSB, which they also call a “Customer Satisfaction Program.”

The TSB in question is coded “TSB-09-22-11,” so owners of Fusion and Milan Hybrid sedans built on or before October 17, 2009 can mention this code to their service advisor to ensure that the issue is fixed.  The solution is a software fix, much like Toyota’s probably will be.

In the mean time, if you experience this issue, full braking power should be available if you push the brake pedal down about an inch further than normal.  If you do experience this issue, push the brake pedal down firmly and you should be fine, no need to actually measure the difference.  Once you restart the car, the brake controller will have reset as well, so your brakes should work properly.

Ford will begin notifying owners any time now, as they specified “early February, 2010″ as the start date for the program.  For once, an automaker is taking a safety issue quite seriously, having already devised a solution and letting its customers know about it.

No injuries or crashes have been reported because of this issue, but we’ll keep you updated when more is known.

Consumer Reports‘ video of the issue:

by John Suit

Source: Consumer Reports via AutoBlog

Related posts:

1. Review: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid
2. Update: 2010 Prius DOES have braking issues
3. PedalGate: Now SteeringGate? Toyota Corolla Steering issues