Five problems related to service brakes have been reported for the 2004 Nissan Altima. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Nissan Altima based on all problems reported for the 2004 Altima.
Car was stalling 2 days ago shut it off and drove away just fine not even 4 hours later my fiance was driving the car home he came up around a hill /bend on a city street the car locked up on him along with the oiil brake and battery light the breaks wouldn't do anything car wouldn't stop he ended up going head on into a tree in the neighbors yard. Car is completely totalled. There was a malfunction in the car somewhere and I believe the security of the car or the ecm is what locked it up on him there was no steering in the car as well. No recalls pop up with my VIN # but I am suspected to believe there was something wrong internally. It was at 240,700 miles. He was expectidly only going 30 miles an hour but with the pictures im attaching it seems like the computer toom over the speed control.
When car sits in cold weather climate brake pedal gets hard and locks up. Loosing the ability to come to a stop. It usually happens when car has been sitting for a few hours in weather below 20 degrees. It's a common issue with Nissan owners having problem with Nissans faulty brake vacuum valve.
Every winter or when the weather gets cold there is a strong smell of raw gas coming in through the air vents, when car warms up in morning even with all windows open smell is choking and unbearable. Also brakes squeak terribly like a big truck when turning to left and braking, even at slow speeds, such as in a drive thru or parking. Even brand new brakes. Lastly and most scary is the driver seat shifts, rocks, forward and back when braking hard or during a sudden stop. Purchased car in 2007 as a lease return.
The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Altima. While driving 25 mph, the contact heard a loud crunching noise coming from the front of the vehicle. As a result, the stopping distance increased. The dealer reprogrammed the vdc and stated that the failure could be due to the brake booster. Approximately five days later, the failure recurred. As of October 4, 2007, the dealer had not inspected or repaired the vehicle. The current and failure mileages were 59,800.
When temperature drops below 32 degrees,when care is first started power brakes do not work until care warms up, taking care to dealer they said this is normal and you have to wait for car to warm up because of a check valve on brake booster having moisture inside.