A possibly faulty ignition switch has led Nissan to issue a recall of just over 160,000 vehicles in North America, including 13,000 here in Canada.
More specifically, a spring within the mechanical key ignition system can malfunction, causing the key to move from the On position to the ACC position. This can turn off the engine, as well as cut off power to the airbag system. Potentially this could result in a collision, which is bad enough, but also in which the airbags don’t deploy.
Nissan says that it is not aware of any incidents that have resulted from this potential defect.
In Canada, the recall affects some but not all 2017-2018 Frontier, Micra and Versa Note models and 2017 Sentra cars, as well as 2017 NV200, NV1500, NV2500 and NV3500 models.
In the United States, some 2017-2018 Juke, Frontier, Sentra, Versa, Versa Note, NV, NV200 and taxicab models are affected.
Nissan’s recall requests owners of affected vehicles to separate their ignition key ring from all their other keys, rings and keychains, so that the key doesn’t bear any more weight.
The company says it will inspect these vehicles’ ignition switches and replace them if needed, starting in September.