— Nissan Titan XD diesel truck crankshaft problems caused the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to open a federal investigation in November 2023 following complaints the Cummins 5-liter engines lost power.
Nissan diesel truck owners complained their trucks lost motive power when the crankshafts failed in the 2016-2019 Titan XD trucks.
NHTSA learned the trucks lost power because the crankshaft main bearings failed and fractured the crankshafts.
In addition to losing motive power, drivers were unable to restart the Titan XD trucks.
Diesel truck owners complained the Cummins engines vibrated and knocked before they stalled and owners typically saw illuminated warning lights. Some Nissan owners also complained of repeated attempts to restart the trucks which overheated the starter motors and melted the starter wiring.
Out of nearly 39,000 diesel trucks, NHTSA didn't find any reports of fires or injuries, but one owner said their truck hit a curb after the crankshaft broke.
Safety regulators found owner complaints about the engines decreased for each model year and 50% of the crankshaft failures occurred by 60,000 miles "with a significant decrease in failures after 80,000 miles."
"Assuming average yearly mileage driven, the newest model year trucks (2019) would be near or past peak failure mileage." — NHTSA
NHTSA closed the Nissan Titan XD crankshaft investigation based on the available warnings a driver will receive and because of the low crankshaft failure rate.