Engine Nissan MR20DE

The 2.0-liter Nissan MR20DE engine (or MR20 for short) was produced at the Yokohama plant from 2005 to 2020. At first, it was installed on Nissan Lafesta and Nissan Serena minivans, as well as on the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy sedan (in Russia, Nissan Almera, produced by AvtoVAZ). Since 2006, it has been installed on the Nissan Qashqai (in Japan – Dualis, in America – Rogue), and since 2007 – on the Nissan X-trail. This engine is installed not only on Nissan cars, but also on Renault cars under the M4R index.

This is a completely classic power unit of the Japanese school of motor building of that time: a 4-cylinder aluminum block with cast-iron sleeves and an open cooling jacket, an aluminum 16-valve cylinder head, a timing chain and a phase regulator only on the intake camshaft. There are no hydraulic lifters here, the valves are adjusted by selecting solid pushers.

Fuel injection here is conventional distributed, however, thanks to the use of an electronic throttle assembly, the motor was eventually able to fit into the strict Euro 5 environmental standards.

MR family: MR15DDT, MR16DDT, MRA8DE, MR18DE, MR20DE, MR20DD.

Specifications

The engine was installed on:

• Nissan Bluebird Sylphy G11 in 2005 – 2012;
• Nissan Serena C25 in 2005 – 2010;
• Nissan Sentra 6 (B16) in 2006 – 2012, Sentra 7 (B17) in 2012 – 2020;
• Nissan Teana 2 (J32) in 2008 – 2013, Teana 3 (L33) in 2012 – 2020;
• Nissan Qashqai 1 (J10) in 2006 – 2013;
• Nissan X-Trail 2 (T31) in 2007 – 2014.

Disadvantages of the MR20DE engine

• This unit is very reliable and does not have any serious design flaws, however, many owners complain about oil consumption, and sometimes even from low runs. To get rid of the oil burner can help the selection of oil, decarbonization or already overhaul.
• According to the regulations, the timing chain is designed for the entire service life of the unit, but in reality it often requires replacement up to 200,000 km. And most often together with a phase regulator.
• The specialized forums describe cases of a strong drop in power in hot weather. The air temperature sensor, which is built into the mass air flow sensor, is most often to blame for this.
• The aluminum head of the block here is quite delicate, it is afraid of both overheating and simply the excessive effort of the master when screwing in bolts or, for example, spark plugs. Be extremely careful or you will have to look for a new cylinder head due to cracking.
• The minor problems of the unit include floating speed due to throttle contamination, the constant whistle of the belt of mounted units and the knocking of valves requiring adjustment.

Frequently asked questions about the Nissan MR20DE