FRANKLIN, Tenn. -
For the second time in less than a month, Nissan North America issued a voluntary safety recall of more than a half million vehicles.

The recall announcement  from late last week — which covered vehicles in the U.S., Canada and other parts of the world —  is to replace the lower steering column joint and shaft on Frontier and Xterra vehicles and the positive battery cable terminal on Sentra vehicles.

Nissan indicated this latest recall covers:

—Model year 2002 through 2004 Nissan Frontier vehicles manufactured from July 9, 2001 to Oct. 20, 2004 in Smyrna, Tenn., for the North American markets.

—Model year 2002 through 2004 Nissan Xterras manufactured from July 9, 2001 to Jan. 6, 2005 in Smyrna, Tenn., for the North American markets.

—Nissan Sentra vehicles manufactured from May 15, 2010 to July 8, 2010 in Aguascalientes, Mexico for global markets.

A deeper breakdown for vehicles beyond North America is as follows:

—Nissan Frontier vehicles manufactured from Nov. 30, 2001 to June 26, 2008 in Curitiba, Brazil for South and Central American markets.

—Nissan Xterra vehicles manufactured from Feb. 17, 2003 to June 13, 2008 in Curitiba, Brazil for South and Central American markets.

In the U.S. approximately 240,000 Frontier, 261,000 Xterra and 14,000 Sentra vehicles are included in this campaign, according to Nissan. The automaker added that in Canada approximately 4,500 Frontier, 9,900 Xterra and 1,900 Sentra vehicles are involved in the recall.

Nissan explained that it recently discovered that in certain rare instances, the lower steering column joint on the affected Frontier and Xterra vehicles can develop corrosion that limits the movement of the joint. If the vehicle continues to be driven in this condition the automaker conceded the joint may — in an extreme case — lead to cracking of the steering shaft.

OEM officials noted this issue was discovered through three field reports from Canada and six from Brazil. They said there are no field reports of this issue in the United States or other affected markets.

For the affected Sentra vehicles, Nissan indicated the issue stems from the connector on the positive battery cable terminal. The automaker pointed out connector deterioration could lead to difficulty starting the vehicle and in rare cases a possibility of stalling at low speeds.

Nissan emphasized that no accidents or injuries have been associated with either of these issues.

The company plans to begin owner notification in early December once replacement parts are available. Nissan wants vehicle owners to bring the units to franchise dealer to have the new parts installed free of charge.

Customers in the U.S. with questions can contact Nissan Consumer Affairs at (800) 647-7261. Customers in Canada can contact Nissan Canada Consumer Affairs at (800) 387-0122.

“At Nissan, we’re committed to the safety and satisfaction of our customers. We regret any inconveniences that our customers may experience as we address these issues,” noted Kevin Martin, vice president of total customer satisfaction for Nissan North America.

Back on Oct. 28, the automaker revealed a voluntary safety recall to replace an electrical relay for the engine control module in certain Nissan and Infiniti truck and SUV models in the U.S and Canada. The announcement included approximately 747,000 potentially affected vehicles in the U.S. and approximately 23,000 in Canada.

The Auto Remarketing story containing details about that recall is available here.