2019-2025 Nissan and Infiniti Recall: Engine Failure
Recall Facts (from NHTSA)
- NHTSA Campaign ID
- 25V437000, 26V080000, 26V081000
- Announced
- 2025-06-27
- Units affected
- 443,899
- Defect
- Three campaigns cover Nissan's variable compression VC-Turbo engines. In 25V437 the engine bearings, specifically the main, A-, C- and L-link bearings, may carry a manufacturing defect that leads to engine damage and engine failure. In 26V080 increased engine oil temperature can degrade lubrication until the bearings seize. In 26V081 an engine control module software change made at the start of 2024 production extends contact between the plastic electronic throttle chamber gear and its mechanical stopper during the start-up diagnostic, stressing the gear teeth until one fractures.
- Consequence
- Engine failure can cause a loss of motive power and an inability to restart, increasing the risk of a crash. In certain rare cases a bearing failure may breach the engine block and discharge hot oil, increasing the risk of an engine fire. A fractured throttle gear can interfere with the remaining throttle gears and prevent forward or reverse engagement on restart.
- Remedy
- For 25V437, dealers inspect the engine oil pan for specific metal debris, budgeted at under one hour. On 1.5L VC-Turbo vehicles with no debris found, dealers replace the oil pan gasket and engine oil and reprogram the engine control module. On 2.0L VC-Turbo vehicles with no debris found, dealers replace the engine oil. Where debris is detected and confirmed by the Nissan Powertrain Call Center, dealers replace the engine, budgeted at up to fifteen hours. For 26V080, dealers reprogram the engine control module, inspect for diagnostic trouble codes and test drive the vehicle, and may inspect the oil pan for metal debris and replace the engine if necessary. For 26V081, dealers reprogram the engine control module and inspect and replace the electronic throttle body assembly as necessary. All repairs are free of charge. Owners of 25V437 vehicles were notified beginning August 25, 2025. Owner notification letters for both February campaigns were mailed April 8, 2026. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 800-647-7261 or Infiniti customer service at 800-662-6200. Nissan's numbers for these recalls are R25A8, R25A9, R25B1, R25B2, R25E2, R25E3 and R25E4.
Nissan has filed three separate safety recalls on the variable compression VC-Turbo engine family, and the arithmetic that follows them around is wrong almost everywhere it appears.
The first, campaign 25V437, was filed June 27, 2025 and covers 443,899 vehicles. That figure gets quoted as a Nissan Rogue number and is not one. Nissan's Part 573 report breaks it into four populations that reconcile to the total exactly: 348,554 Rogues built March 12, 2021 through August 1, 2024, plus 84,536 Infiniti QX50s, 5,685 Altimas and 5,124 Infiniti QX55s. The Rogues carry the 1.5-liter three-cylinder KR15DDT. The other three carry the 2.0-liter four-cylinder KR20DDET.
That campaign closed out a federal investigation. Regulators opened PE23023 in December 2023 after owner reports of engine failure, knocking and metal shavings in the oil pan.
Why the Totals Do Not Add Up
On February 11, 2026 Nissan filed two more campaigns on the same engine. Campaign 26V080 covers 323,917 Rogues from the 2023 through 2025 model years, built October 4, 2022 through November 18, 2024, for a different bearing failure path: rising oil temperature degrading lubrication until the bearings seize. Campaign 26V081 covers 318,781 Rogues from 2024 and 2025, built November 13, 2023 through April 28, 2025, for the throttle body gear.
Those numbers cannot be added together, and Nissan says so in the filings. The 26V080 report states that certain 2021-2024 Rogues already included in 25V437 will be remedied of the newer defect if they receive the earlier repair. The 26V081 report states that certain 2024-2025 Rogues subject to it are also subject to the campaign filed the same day. Published totals of 640,000, 642,000 and 737,000 Rogues are all sums of overlapping populations.
Three Very Different Defect Rates
Nissan's own estimates of how many vehicles carry each defect vary more than the campaigns suggest. For 25V437 the company estimated 1.2 percent. For 26V080 it estimated 0.6 percent. For 26V081 it estimated 100 percent, because every car in that population received the affected control module software at the factory.
By the time it filed, Nissan had logged 3,111 warranty claims on the throttle condition and reported no accidents or injuries connected to it.
The Repair Branches
The 25V437 remedy is not a single procedure. Nissan classified it as inspect and repair, and what a given car receives depends on what a technician finds in the oil pan. No metal debris means a gasket, fresh oil and a control module reflash, well under two hours of work in total. Debris confirmed by Nissan's Powertrain Call Center means a replacement engine, and the filing allows up to fifteen hours for it.
Both outcomes close the campaign and appear the same way on a vehicle history report, which matters a great deal to anyone shopping a used one.
A Software Change Nissan Made Itself
The throttle recall has the most unusual chronology of the three, because Nissan wrote the cause into the filing.
A dealer technician reported a no-start on a 2024 Rogue fleet vehicle on February 27, 2025, with the throttle plate stuck closed. Nissan traced it to a fractured gear inside the electronic throttle chamber, then found the reason in its own production records: at the start of 2024 model year production it had changed the control module software, and the revised start-up diagnostic held the plastic gear against its stopper longer on each ignition cycle. Repeated loading stressed the teeth until one broke.
On October 13, 2025 Nissan told regulators the condition did not create an unreasonable risk to safety, on the reasoning that drivers experience reduced engine power with a warning message rather than a sudden stall, and that the car can only be immobilized from a standstill. It proposed a service campaign instead of a recall. Discussions with NHTSA continued through January. On February 4, 2026 Nissan decided to conduct a voluntary recall.
What Owners Should Watch For
Both bearing filings are unusually specific about advance warning, and the language is worth quoting to any owner who is worried. Nissan states that bearing failures are not typically instantaneous and tend to progress over time, allowing drivers to receive multiple forms of audible and visible advance warning: abnormal noise from the engine compartment, rough running, an illuminated malfunction indicator lamp and warning messages in the instrument cluster.
Neither bearing campaign carries a do-not-drive or park-outside advisory. Noise from the engine bay under load is the earliest reliable signal, and it is a reason to book the inspection rather than wait for the letter.
Following the February campaigns, Nissan extended warranty coverage on the VC-Turbo long block assembly. Reporting on the March 11, 2026 bulletin describes coverage running to 120 months or 120,000 miles against the standard five-year, 60,000-mile powertrain term, with reimbursement available to owners who already paid for engine repairs. Nissan's consumer affairs line is 800-867-7669.
Affected vehicles
| Make | Model | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Nissan | Rogue | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Nissan | Altima | 2019, 2020 |
| Infiniti | QX50 | 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 |
| Infiniti | QX55 | 2022 |