On saturday, october 15, I was crossing a busy intersection between two major highways when my transmission failed. Luckily, I was able to get it up on to the concrete median in the middle of the highway. I had 4 children in my vehicle when this occurred, and luckily a nice police officer witnessed what was happening and stopped to offer assistance. Later that night, my car was impounded because I wasn't able to tow it that day. I had to pay $275 to get my vehicle out of the impound lot and to the transmission shop. The transmission shop calls and says my transmission is completely "shot" because the coolant mixed with the transmission fluid and I have to replace the transmission and the radiator. The expense alone is more than I can spare, not to mention the danger that my children were in when the truck decided to come to a dead stop at the busiest time of day on a weekend!
2005 Nissan Pathfinder transmission complaints
Page 16 of 21: complaints 431 to 460 of 585, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Fuel gauge not working,radiator fluid leaking into transmission damaging transmission,front passenger seatbelt getting stuck.
2005 pathfinder transmission in overdrive gear the car felt like it was going over a grated road. Took into nissan and after 2 days of tests determined that the radiator leaked into the transmission and now both the transmission and radiator have to be replaced for over $5,500. Nissan did extend the warranty to 80,000 miles but since my car has 98,000 and was never routinely serviced by nissan they will not offer any monetary help. Nissan knows there is a problem with the radiator/transmission. I called up an independent transmission repair franchise and as soon as I said 2005 pathfinder he knew radiator leak caused the problem. There should be a national recall issued.
At about 40,000 miles fuel gauge stopped working. And started having intermittent electrical problems. Headlights going on and off when in park. Fan starting when key is turned but not cranked. Anti-theft system locking me out from starting the truck. 70000 miles vehicle would intermittently not start. It would crank but not start. Took it to nissan and was told nothing could be done on their part. I was told it was the ecu, bmu,tmu, and ipdm were all bad. I replaced the ipdm and bmu and ecu. Truck still ran rough. At 91000 miles nissan now says my transmission is bad due to the radiator coolant leaking into the transmission but I am out of the 80000 mile warranty. Nissan said they will pay half to fix if I pay half of the $4600 transmission repair. Nissan can not explain why this happened but acknowledged that this is a big complaint of the 2005 pathfinder.
Radiator leaks fluid into transmission, nissan knows this is a flaw and they will only flush your transmission, just to put it off until you are out of warranty. I started taking my nissan in at 52,000miles for this problem and they kept telling me that they are unfamiliar with the problems I was experiencing and they couldn't find anything wrong with the truck. Now I'm out of warranty and my transmission needs replaced. Nissan also has a problem with they fuel gage, sometimes it shows gas levels, and sometimes it doesn't. I have ran out of gas 3 times now, on the highway! Again, nissan knows this is a problem, they even sent an "extended warranty" to cover this problem specifically. But, only if you are under a certain mileage. And they didn't send me the notice until I was under the mileage limit by 300 miles! Please help!!
First time- transmission failed- new one installed under extended warranty- has gone bad again last week- they tell me the coolant is leaking into the transmission and has ruined it, the gas tank needs replacing, new radiator, new catalytic converter, new u-joints for the second time. My extended warranty has expired- they are telling me that I need $8000.00 worth of repairs to fix the problems. That is more than the vehicle is worth with 155,000 miles on it!!! Please help.
The transmission on my 2005 nissan pathfinder has failed due to an apparent leak in the cooling system that allows radiator fluid to leak into the transmission. We brought the vehicle to the dealership as it began to make loud noises while driving, apparently struggling to shift gears, and sounded as if it was about to fall out of the vehicle. The dealership pretended that they did not know what was wrong with the vehicle until I brought them the research I had found online (which there is plenty pertaining to this same exact problem with this same exact make, model, & year vehicle). Then they finally admitted that they were aware of the this widespread problem but that unfortunately the vehicle was out of warranty and that I will now have to eat the $6,000 repair bill that they've given me. Based on the research I've done, nissan corp. Has known about this problem for some time and has failed to address it.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. The contact stated that the air conditioner would not blow cold air when the vehicle was idled. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that there was a leak within the air conditioner. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact also stated that the vehicle would experience trouble shifting into first or second gear. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the radiator fluid was leaking into the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. While driving, the contact stated that the vehicle would drag or hesitate while shifting into the next gear. The dealer diagnosed that the radiator fluid was leaking into the transmission, causing it to fail. The transmission and radiator were both replaced, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified and assisted with the initial repair. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 112,000.
The vehicle had difficulty changing gears and the check engine light came on. On 8/22/11 I took the car into a nissan repair shop and it was confirmed that due to a faulty radiator, coolant leaked into the transmission causing corrosion. I was told that I would need a new radiator and transmission at a cost of approx. $6000. I called nissan consumer affairs and spoke to 2 representatives and a supervisor who stated that due to the milage on my car, they would offer no assistance with repairs. I pointed out that this is a result of well documented defects with the radiator however they stated that nissan has no obligation to assist me as the product has not been recalled.
My 2005 nissan pathfinder was losing speed especially when passing vehicles on the highway, the 2005 nissan pathfinder would not go into reverse. I noticed that the car was not running properly for over 3 weeks. I took the pathfinder to a transmission expert and they did diagnostic tests and the expert said that the radiator had a hole in it and radiator fluid went into the transmission and the transmission was gone. He showed me the transmission stick that showed me that radiator fluid mixed in with the transmission fluid. The transmission expert said that they have seen a number of nissan pathfinders with the same problem. A week later, I took my 2005 nissan pathfinder to another transmission expert for a second opinion, this expert did the diagnostics and confirmed that the radiator had a hole in it that allowed for radiator fluid to go into the transmission. He also stated that they have seen a number of 2005 nissan pathfinders with the same problem and he recommended that I go to a nissan dealership to see what they say. I went sheehy nissan in glen burnie, md in which they did a diagnostic test and found that coolant mixing with the trans fluid causing improper shifting. The recommendations were to replace the trans assembly, radiator, and trans cooler. The service manager told me that nissan had an extended warranty on the radiator for 80, 000 miles or up to 2013. I had 85,000 miles on my 2005 nissan pathfinder. I called nissan USA and told them the problem and faxed the diagnostic invoice to them. Two weeks later they told me that they would pay for the parts and I would have to pay for the labor. Luckily, my insurance company paid for the radiator, trans, and trans cooler. Nissan has known about this problem for and refuses to do a recall on the radiator and this is unacceptable! This affects 2005-2007 nissan pathfinders and this is a safety hazard if the vehicle trans stalls or shuts off while driving on highways and roads. A recall is needed!
2005 nissan pathfinder radiator assembly & transmission defect my 2005 pathfinder was diagnosed with the nissan noted radiator assembly defect. Radiator coolant and transmission fluid are mixing.
The problem first began with my 2005 nissan pathfinder on march 27, 2011, when I first noticed there was no heat in the cabin. Then on april 29, 2011, while driving on the highway, I noticed my vehicle would not accelerate in excess of 45 MPH. It seemed that the transmission was slipping. As the nissan was parked in our garage, we noticed fluid leaking onto the ground. The fluid had a milky white substance in it. After doing some research, we realized that with this particular model, there were known problems with coolant leaking into the transmission. We had the pathfinder diagnosed on june 3, 2011 by billings nissan. We had informed the service department at nissan that we were suspecting the transmission was contaminated with coolant. Nissan informed us that it was impossible for the coolant to leak into the transmission because they are separate units and that the milky white substance in the transmission was a result of air entering the transmission. After much dispair, we decided to trade in our vehicle and took a huge loss on the trade-in value. We felt that if we decided to replace the transmission, and that the radiator was in fact damaged and also needed to be replaced, that we would only be faced with the same issue down the road and would need to replace the transmission a 2nd time. On june 28, 2011, we received a report from the dealership that we traded the pathfinder at stating the transmission was indeed contaminated with coolant and that the radiator and transmission both needed replacing. If only we had received proper diagnosis from nissan initially, our course of action may have been different and would have thought about fixing the pathfinder versus trading it in. As a result, we have lost money on the trade in value, and have incurred an unexpected expense of a new vehicle (payments, registration, insurance). Dealer lied to us. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
I am a car dealer in montana, purchased a 2005 nissan pathfinder at the auction with 85,000 miles for re-sale. Showed it once to a customer, it ran fine, I drove it home 8-6-11. 78 MPH on cruise control on the interstate. The transmission dis-engaged, I barely recovered from hitting the medium at that speed. Turns out this is an issue that the transmission cooler leaks fluid into the trans on 90% of this model year. Even though I am a dealer...this is not right. $4500.00 repair. Thankfully it was not one of my customers. Nissan should re-call every one of these and make it right. I cannot believe there has not been a death from this failure. I am sure there has been many stranded travelers that may have died as a result.
I was driving along at approximately 60 MPH when the pathfinder seemed to be loosing power and it appeared the transmission was slipping. I pulled off the 4-lane; put the vehicle in park; turned the vehicle off; restarted the vehicle and continued on my trip. It initially seemed as though it was corrected; however, when I stopped for a traffic light the vehicle would rev but was slow to pull out. I was able to take the vehicle to a nissan dealership. Later that evening I received a call that the transmission fluid appeared burnt and that the transmission would need to be replaced to the tune of approximately $6,900. The service rep told me that there was radiator fluid mixed in with the transmission fluid in the transmission. I also have reported this problem to nissan through its website. The vehicle has approximately 149,000 miles. This is a serious problem that cause serious injuries or death if one was pulling into or out of traffic when this problem is encountered. A recall must be made for the safety of nissan owners and the community at large who also may be impacted by this problem.
Crack in the radiator assembly occurred leading to internal leakage of the engine coolant. 2005 nissan pathfinder with automatic transmission began hard shifting in the fall of 2010. This was a constant daily occurrence if the driver forgot to take the pathfinder out of overdrive. It sounded like the old 1970s ford universal joint as it shifted into gear. At times the car felt like the back-end was being pulled in the opposite direction. At cruising speed, the back wheels would sound like they were running over the corrugated concrete near a toll booth or lane dividers on a highway and the transmission would cause the car to shudder. It would seem to fall out of gear while the car was moving at speed. Going uphill, the pathfinder would hard shift and hesitate to engage into gear. Accelerating on to the freeway was never an issue, but it would not immediately shift into the appropriate gear at highway speeds. On several occasions, it would stay in neutral when shifted into reverse. The most common symptom was the shuddering noises at 30 MPH. If the overdrive was turned off, all symptoms would diminish or disappear completely. Took it to the dealer in december and they could not duplicate. Took it to the dealer in may and they could duplicate, but not consistently and saw no mixing of coolant and transmission fluid. Towed it in to the dealer in august, the damage is done, the fluids have mixed and the transmission computer has shorted out. Repair recommended is to replace transmission (including computer) and radiator and hoses. Customer cannot afford the $6,000 price tag on the repair. Nissan north america will not assist as pathfinder is out of warranty.
Started experiencing shudder when the automatic transmission moved between 1st and 2nd gear. Scheduled appointment at dealer to investigate and minimized driving in the meantime. Symptom did not occur over two day period until driving on third day where the issue worsened rapidly until transmission became inoperable above 10 MPH. I investigated the issue and learned that this is a well known issue with the pathfinder where the radiator fluid fails into the transmission, causing both the radiator and transmission to fail. I inspected the antifreeze to observe traces of transmission fluid. Checking the transmission fluid, the fluid was darken and above the high-level mark for the fluid level. I had dealer investigate and this is in fact what had failed. Nissan had extended the warranty to 80k miles specifically because of this issue. My car currently has 89k miles and I am looking at a $6000 repair bill that I refuse to repair. Nissan is offering zero assistance to address the problem. This is a known issue with nissan pathfinders. There are thousands of complaints on the issue with nissan and there have been no actions other than raising the warranty to 80k miles. This is gross error in the design of the product and can cause significant injury depending on the timing of the transmission failure. Do people have to die to get nissan to take responsibility for their poor design? I am done with nissan as a brand and suggest that the fed investigate their inaction in addressing this problem.
Since april 2011 my 2005 nissan pathfinder started to rattling and vibration under the vehicle. After having it checked by a mechanic in may 2011 he stated that the transmission and coolant is missing together. The fluid was changed on june 26, 2011, that came out looking like chocolate milk and it is still vibrating at 45 and 64 miles per hour. I under stand that this is a manufacturer problem for the way it was designed and should be fixed by the car dealers and not the consumer. The solenoid in the transmission jumps offline and once the vehicle is turned off and back on it resets and the vibration continue as you drive. The changing of the transmission fluid did not help the problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. The contact stated that the vehicle would hesitate when shifting gears and would not engage when shifted into reverse. And the vehicle would lung forward at any time. In addition, the vehicle would lunge forward abnormally at any time without warning. The dealer diagnosed that the transmission would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified and assisted the contact with the failure. The failure mileage was 92,900 and the current mileage was 93,000.
The family and I all got into the car after grocery shopping, it seemed to be a normal night except when my mother went in for reverse to get out of the parking spot the car accelerated backwards and the car took over, our mother was yelling saying ' the brakes wont work ' everybody was in such a panic the car hit two circles in the store parking lot. Luckily no one was there. We ran into the store gate which was there just in case those sort of things happen but my brother who was sitting in the passenger seat stop the car by putting it in parking.
Transmission started slipping started jerking while driving, alsosounded like tires were making noise especially around 40 MPH. I was driving on rt 62 near my home and was very fortunate not being t-boned as a pulled out,my pathfinder didn't go like it was supposed to, fortunately the oncoming vehicle stopped. I took it to a nissan dealer and they said that the 2005,2006,2007 pathfinder were known to have an issue with the cooler failing and breaking down the transmission and that they knew about the faulty cooler for along time. Nissan said they increased the warranty from 60,000 to 80,000 but other than that they have done nothing. And didn't inform the public. My family and I, didn't get hurt or hurt someone else, however this scenario could be very dangerous and nissan should inform the public and recall the transmission and faulty cooler before deaths start happening.
I have a 2005 nissan pathfinder le 4x4. I purchased the car new. During the life of the car I often noticed the car downshifting for no apparent reason but it would go away and I forgot about it. About 6 months ago and about 113000 miles it got worse and started making noises and often it sounded like I had a flat tire. My mechanic inspected the car and thought it might be the transmission so he referred me to a transmission specialist who informed me after an inspection that water was in the trans and the transmission was shot. He said this was due to a faulty part or something that allowed water to get into the transmission from the radiator and that there might be trans fluid in the radiator or worse, in the engine. He seemed to think that if left this way the trans could seize up causing a great amount of damage to the engine and possibly the car going out of control due to this potential seizing up condition. Fortunately, there was no trans fluid in the radiator. I had it flushed and everything seems to be okay. Checking on line I have noticed numerous complaints for this year, make and model of nissan regarding this exact issue. Almost $4000 later hopefully my problem has been solved. Nissan needs to step up and make restitution.
2005 nissan pathfinder - noticed shudder around 60 MPH intermittently for about one week then problem became more frequent occurring around 40-45 MPH. While trying to take it to dealership, transmission failed while making a left turn causing the vehicle to stall in the path of oncoming traffic. Dealership said that radiator had failed, leaking coolant into transmission which required both to be replaced. Since failure occurred at 90,000 miles, warranty on radiator that has a known manufacturer defect is void and thus previously covered transmission warranty is also void. Nissan of north america will not stand behind their product and recall the part, leaving their customers stranded both on the side of the road and in their wallets. Transmission failure is an obvious safety issue for many reasons. The loophole appears to be that since the failure is due to the radiator, anything relating to the transmission is null and void.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle suddenly decelerated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who stated that radiator fluid leaked into the transmission and a sensor within the transmission needed to be replaced in order to provide a full diagnosis of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the sensor for the transmission was on back order. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 135,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. The contact stated the transmission on the vehicle failed twice. The contact stated the transmission began to function with some resistance. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told the radiator failed causing coolant to mix with the transmission fluid. The failure and current mileages were 124,128. The consumer stated the design of the cooling system on the vehicle allowed for cross-contamination of the transmission fluid with the engine coolant. The valve was defective, and ultimately failed.
Transmission/radiator coolant cross contamination causing the pathfinder to stop in the middle of the highway. My 2 year old son was in the child seat in the back seat of the vehicle.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. The contact stated the transmission failed and the vehicle would start to vibrate when driving 55 MPH or more. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where a transmission flush was performed. The dealer advised that there was no need for repairs yet the failure persisted. The contact took the vehicle to a second dealer and was advised that fluid was backed up in the transmission. The radiator and transmission would both need replacing. The failure mileage was 120,000 and the current mileage was 86,000.
Radiator developed internal crack leaking coolant into transmission. Radiator had to be replaced, transmission needs replaced. Fuel level sensor failed and replaced at 70,000 miles.
2005 nissan pathfinder with 93,000 miles. Had original issue with transmission in 2009 a slight shimmy and once the transmission slipped, as soon as it slipped I took it to the dealership. The service manager at the dealership told me coolant had leaked into transmission and would have to replace: radiator, and transmission at ~$6,500. I asked for options the dealer said I could try replacing radiator, flush transmission and add new transmission fluid for ~2,500, he said it may make it 5 more miles or 500k miles, but expected the transmission would at some point fail. I took the vehicle to local trusted repair shop and had radiator replaced and transmission flushed with nissan transmission fluid and filled with nissan transmission fluid for less than $1k. Had no issues since. On june 6th out of the blue as I was driving home from the lake, I felt the shimmy again, immediately backed off the accelerator and then slowly got back into the gas, as I did I felt the transmission slip a little. Less than 1,000 feet down the road I noticed smoke in the rearview mirror and immediately pulled the vehicle to the side of the road within 1,000' as I came to a stop thick black smoke came from beneath the vehicle and shut the car off, and I realized the car was on fire. I opened the door to get out and flames were coming from under the running boards. Within 3 minutes the car and all it's contents were completely destroyed by the fire. It was obvious from my vantage point and the pictures I took during the fire that the fire originated from the transmission overheating and the catastrophic failure resulting in a thermal event. The vehicle was totally destroyed, thank god I was alone.and the dealership could care less.
I am filing this complaint since nissan does not do anything with the problem to be fixed, I have a 2005 nissan pathfinder, when were on the road our car is having trouble shifting starts jerking, and were so scared that will not make it home because the way its acting we finally made it home and the ca would not reverse we look online and search what' causing the problem and read a bunch of complaint with the consumer at automotive.com stating that the reason for the problem is the radiator fluid leaked into the transmission that causing the transmission to burn, called around with a bunch of auto mechanic and when I mention that I need my transmission replace the mechanic immediately said you know you need your radiator replace because that is causing your transmission problem I filed a complaint with nissan and denied the complaint this should be in the recall because this is dangerous if you weren't aware of the problem if your on the road hope you can help us with this problem.
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