general problems of the 2002 Nissan Xterra

I was entering a parking spot at my normal slow speed when suddenly the engine went into an extremely high rev and the Xterra made a sudden lunge forward. In a matter of seconds it slammed into a number of other parked cars. It was as if it had a mind of its own. I can only guess it was a stuck gas pedal, stuck throttle or stuck accelerator. Over the years I have had nothing but american cars, the last several were caravans with no issues of this type. This Nissan is the first foreign car that I have purchased.

I purchased a used Xterra about 6 months ago. I was pulling into a parking spot in a shopping mall at a low speed when the engine suddenly went into a high whining rev and the vehicle lurched forward and took off out of control. Before coming to a stop it ran into four other parked cars. I was as it had a mind of its own. This has never happened to me in all my years of driving only american made cars. The Nissan is the only foreign car I have owned and will likely be the last after this episode.

The distributor has ball bearings under the solenoid and photo for cam sensor that comes apart and and goes every where internally. It caused me to go off the highway and almost got hit by a trucker when it completely stooped my car with out warning of any kind on the highway. There was no sensor indicator until I turned the car off and it only registered the crankshaft sensor after the car was turned of an on to figure out what was wrong. It almost caused my whole electrical system to burn out as well. Please look into this and pull the material certifications and builds of material for the internal items of this, especially the ball bearing that came apart. This is the most common malfunctioning item on this model and year. I'm an industrial and build inspector at century fasteners corp. Please review this as it could be fatel to some one who dose not know how to control a situation like this. Please and thank you, casey singleton 2002 Nissan Xterra and all related model engines.

2002 Nissan Xterra, unit 1 was traveling eastbound on the ohio turnpike when the engine caught fire. (ohio traffic crash report # 10-0086-91) updated 03/29/11.

Driving down the highway 65 mph, engine began knocking suddenly, oil light came on, engine stopped. Had vehicle towed to dealer, they told me I needed an engine I asked what caused the problem, they said sludge got in the engine caused it to seize up, they did not determine how the sludge got in the engine.