2005 Nissan Frontier: stuck in gear or won't shift

5 of the 532 complaints about the 2005 Nissan Frontier describe stuck in gear or won't shift.

owner complaints: 5
of this car's complaints: 1%
typical mileage: 124,950
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 8 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Stuck in gear or won't shift by model year

2026
1
2024
2
2022
1
2020
1
2019
1
2013
3
2012
10
2010
1
2008
1
2007
9
2006
6
2005
5
2003
1
2000
1

What owners say

Filed Apr 1, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 132,715 miles · CA

Vehicle wouldn't shift into a high gear. This after hesitation, stuttering, and other issues. Transmission cooler failure resulting in transmission failure and radiator failure. Common defect. Local nissan dealers as well as nissan consumer affairs department unwilling to fix or to "good will" a solution. 3700$ at a local licensed garage to fix.

Filed Jun 10, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 124,950 miles · CO

I was at a stop light and when it turned green my truck felt like it was stuck in neutral and wouldn't get into gear. With hesitation, it finally jumped into gear but was very sluggish with hardly any power. It was quite dangerous with a line of vehicles behind me I thought I was going to get rear-ended. Thankfully I was only 2 minutes from my office where I was able to pull in the parking lot and unload my two children and call my wife to pick us up. I had to have my car sit there over the weekend because I didn't feel safe driving it. On the following monday I had it towed to a transmission repair shop where they diagnosed it as a cracked radiator head with coolant leaking into the transmission causing this failure. I then had it towed again to the nissan dealership where they diagnosed it and confirmed the first diagnosis. They said unfortunately I was over the mileage and to call the national nissan dealership and petition for assistance. After looking up all the information I find it discerning that nissan hasn't done the right thing and recalled this to make it right.

Filed Jun 14, 2013 · Transmission · 129,104 miles · TX

Driving on freeway, felt a vibration in the vehicle, and then a rapid decrease in speed as the transmission seemed to shift out of gear and loose power. Luckily, was able to make it across three lanes in heavy traffic to safety. Vehicle would not shift into gear, and had to be towed to my local dealer. Luckily I was driving the truck instead of my wife or son, and was able to maneuver the vehicle out of this dangerous situation.

Filed Dec 21, 2011 · Transmission · 67,000 miles · MN

Truck would not shift into drive after backing up. Had been having trouble with the od for about a month. It would vibrate or rumble at speeds of around 60mph. Stopped using the od and it seemed ok until yesterday. Checked coolant for transmission fluid like everyone else with the same problem and there it was. This is very obviously a manufacturers defect with so many people having the same trouble.

Filed Jul 24, 2011 · Transmission · 111,007 miles · TX

Took my truck to peltier in tyler for an ECM relay recall. Mechanic looked at truck and found that the radiator transmission cooler was leaking anti-freeze into my transmission. Was told to replace radiator immediately and flush transmission. Did this however transmission went into limp mode and progressively got worse. A mechanic replaced the valve body which cost over $1000 for the part alone and checked the clutch packs in the transmission. Clutch packs checked okay however the mechanic could not guarantee that the torque converter was okay. Vehicle seemed to drive okay after the repair. Now the torque converter seems to be going out and the vehicle will go into the limp mode. I have to disconnect the battery to reset the code and it will drive okay for about 10 miles and the service engine light goes on. When this happens the vehicle goes into the limp mode. My mechanic told me that he thinks the torque converter is shot and will have to be replaced. Update as of 07/192011 - mechanic replaced my torque converter and rebuilt transmission. The old torque converter came apart and after pulling the transmission, he saw a lot of metallic shavings on the screen on the valve body. While driving to work on 07/22/2011, I was driving around 70 MPH with the cruise control on. All of a sudden my RPM gauge redlined and my transmission went into neutral. I immediately released the cruise control by tapping the brake pedal. With no shoulder on the road at my location, an 18 wheeler was quickly coming up on my rear. I put my flashers on and was able to coast to an exit. The 18 wheeler came within inches hitting my rear end. Now my frontier is in dunn's transmission shop in tyler, tx to be repaired. As of this writing, the problem has not been diagnosed but I am sure the problem will be in the valve body since something caused the transmission to go into neutral. Probably some metallic material got inside something in the valve body which was replaced in march 2011.