Nissan to recall 270,000 units due to steering glitches

Japanese automaker Nissan Motor has announced a safety recall of 270,000 units of two vehicle models sold in the United States and Canada due to a possible problem with steering control.

An assembly hole can allow road salt and snow to collect in the steering assembly and cause corrosion, Nissan said in a filing with US safety regulators.

The strut housing may crack and pull away from the inner hood ledge assembly, Nissan said.

This may lead to grinding noises, increased steering effort, and possibly the steering column to break, resulting in the loss of steering control, which could result in a crash.

In areas where heavy concentrations of road salt are used in the winter, a mixture of water and salt may corrode steering-related parts, according to Nissan and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The problem ''may lead to grinding noises, increased steering effort, and possibly the steering column to break, resulting in the loss of steering control, which could result in a crash,'' according to the NHTSA.