2001 Nissan Primera 2.0L Petrol · ND51 DSE

DVSA recall R/2003/170, launched 8 December 2003, names Primera cars built between 1 January 1999 and 30 September 2002 - 111,831 UK vehicles, which is effectively the whole 1999-2002 facelift range. The engine angle and position sensors in the management system can fail internally, causing the engine to stall and in the worst case making it impossible to restart. On a 20-year-old car the recall is long expired, the sensor itself is cheap but the diagnosis is not, and a hot car that cuts out and will re-start only after cooling is the classic symptom.

The P11 was caught by DVSA recall R/1995/063 (and its follow-up campaigns on the platform) for front flexible brake hoses that could chafe against surrounding suspension components and split, losing hydraulic pressure. On surviving cars the rigid steel brake lines running over the fuel tank to the rear multi-link beam are also a classic MOT failure point in the UK: winter salt and road spray lodge above the tank, rotting the lines unseen until the pedal turns spongy or drops under heavy braking.

On 1.6 and 1.8 petrol Primera models, DVSA safety recall R/2001/154 was issued across 40,455 vehicles built between 1 March 2000 and 31 July 2001. The Hall-effect crankshaft and camshaft position sensors (a shared component across the QG engine family) suffer from internal microscopic solder fractures and thermal breakdown. When hot, the sensor stops sending engine speed and angle signals to the ECU, cutting fuel injection and ignition abruptly, stalling the engine at road speed, and preventing hot restarts.