Weird Nissan things

[gogmorgo]

Has anyone seen anything like this before?

Hard to get a picture of it with the windows there, but it’s a big burnt streak in my roommate’s headliner, not far off the rear window. Looks almost like a cigarette burn, but like, longer. Two feet long. And she doesn’t smoke, doesn’t smell like anyone else has smoked in there either. 
It’s a newer Altima, couple years old at most. She had a passenger ask about it today, but hasn’t noticed it before. My guess was a burnt wire above the headliner but everything we could think of back there is working, no burnt fuses either, and you’d think if a wire got that hot you’d have other issues.

The car’s new enough I don’t want to screw with warranty by tearing into stuff so I haven’t done much more than poke it. It’s cold, like it seems like it happened a while back or something. But I really have nothing. 

[Pete M]

I don't think you can void a warranty by pulling a pillar trim and poking your head up there.   should be just a couple screws

 

but yeah, my first thought was a hot wire up top.  

[DirtyComanche]

That doesn't seem like a good thing.

 

I'm betting there's a nice charbroiled wire back there.

 

I'd think heated rear window.  If sized incorrectly it could get hot enough to burn, but not actually fuse.

[MontanaManche]

This might be a bit of a stretch but maybe she had something reflective shine up and leave a mark durring a hot bright day.

[DirtyComanche]

1 hour ago, MontanaManche said:

This might be a bit of a stretch but maybe she had something reflective shine up and leave a mark durring a hot bright day.

 

It's Canada.  The sun ain't that hot.

[500 MJ]

Has she been hauling any items in the back that might have left a mark on the headliner? Have you confirmed it is a burn? 

[JustEmptyEveryPocket]

8 hours ago, MontanaManche said:

This might be a bit of a stretch but maybe she had something reflective shine up and leave a mark durring a hot bright day.

This was my first thought as well. If she parked next to an office tower with a bunch of reflective windows you could get a focus effect that bounced off a mirror and burned the interior.

If you figure it out, please update this thread. I'm curious now.

[gogmorgo]

Definitely a burn mark. The fabric is melted together around the edges.

My concern on the warranty is if I start poking around and there is a burnt wire, the burnt wire might get blamed on the guy who was poking around instead of whatever the problem was. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I haven’t figured out yet how to peak under a modern headliner without stretching some of the plastics just enough so they don’t quite fit correctly any more. I mean they’re probably going to end up replacing the headliner anyhow but she wants to take it in to the dealer so I figure I’ll let them do the poking and prodding. 
 

As to hot sun, it is sun baked Alberta, not the BC rain coast, and afternoon sun can be brutal. I did ask about something reflective (and she is from the city so buildings are a possibility) but she said she’s never put anything on the rear shelf. That was my second guess, I figure if she was parked facing north for a full day, she’d have the afternoon sun run the course, and even a plastic blister pack might be able to focus the sunlight enough to make a big burnt streak like that as the sun moved, maybe with a pole that got in the way to explain the break in the line.

 

I really do want to take a peak under the headliner now, but the car was gone when I got up this morning, not sure where she went. 

[mjben]

I vote water bottle.

[mjeff87]

Could really have been a sunlight reflection/burn....coulda been a water bottle left on the back deck one sunny afternoon like Ben says.  Funny that it narrows in the center, and then that little "blank" spot in between the marks.

 

My neighbor has one window on the south side of his house, which faces my window-less north side of the house.  Every year, around mid-November when the sun angle is juuust right, and the siding temperature is cold, sunlight reflects off of that window and warps my siding right on the corner.  If my house was 3 feet further away it would just hit the brick foundation and not be an issue.  We've both come up with a plan to fix the problem this year, so I don't have to keep replacing the siding

[gogmorgo]

Well she went home to the city last night, guess we’ll see if it went in to the dealer. 

[gogmorgo]

So for those of you who gave up wondering about this, the dealer was stumped. They had no idea what could’ve done it. I’m thinking a freak focused reflection off something is probably the best explanation.

[Pete M]

weird 

[Ωhm]

Could it be deliberate? Possibly something similar to a BIC lighter.

[gogmorgo]

Maybe, but she’s usually pretty careful about keeping her doors locked (or so she says) and I haven’t heard about a break-in. But there were a couple suspicious vehicle fires in town shortly before she noticed it... but it seems like there’d be easier ways to set a car on fire if that’s what you were trying to do. She’s had kids in the back there too I guess, but I’m pretty sure they’ve all been under two.

But she does load up the back seat with shopping, etc, pretty frequently from what I’ve seen.