My vehicle lost all power. First started to shake and rattle, then all power was lost. Upon further investigation, my engine coolant looked like a milk shake. Call nissan, and they said it happens quite often that they have a name for it, "the milk shake". Appearently the inner tube, that cools the trans, broke causing fluids to mix, resulting in failure of transmission.
2005 Nissan Xterra: sudden loss of power
21 of the 845 complaints about the 2005 Nissan Xterra describe sudden loss of power.
- owner complaints
- 21
- of this car's complaints
- 2%
- typical repair cost reported
- $4,100
- typical mileage
- 107,000
- recalls
- 1
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall and 5 service bulletins for this area of the car. See below
Sudden loss of power by model year
What owners say
The vehicle in question started to lose power when driving this past saturday. So, basically my car does start then after driving it a few minutes or more will stiffen and cut off. Thank you
I was driving from pennsylvania to suffern ny and when I took the exit to suffern the car lost power with preview sign that was going to happen. When I try to get to a shop to check it out it was smoking and I saw liquid under. The car will start but cannot move anymore or move slowly. I have to leave it in someone's house.
Purchased a one owner nissan in late 2016 w/ approx. 85-86k miles on it.got approx. 4-5 mths of use before it completely lost power & became inoperable(approx feb/march of 2017).my wife & I were driving home & basically lost all power w/o any warning.thank god we were on a side road @ the time & were able to safely pull over.it has been parked since early 2017 & rendered useless.$9000 down the drain.vehicle only has 89k miles on it & in immaculate shape inside&out.now we're faced with the financial burden of a $4000+ transmission rebuild + ECM/TCM module replacement. My mechanic picked up on the problem immediately.he checked the radiator & it looked like strawberry milk.I owned 1 other nissan before this & can truly say I will never,ever own another.I felt very confident in the vehicle mechanically. But if I'd known about this defect I'd have never purchased it.now I'm basically out $9000 or have a $4000+ repair to even be able to recoup any money & some of my losses.if I had any inkling of information about this defective part in nissan's I'd have never purchased it.I originally considered nissan a good car maker & ranked them closely w/ honda & toyota in performance & dependability.needless to say.all that's now changed.I cannot believe the federal safety agency did not demand that nissan publicly announce these issues as to protect the consumers & current owners. But I'd never heard a thing about it & I "work in automotive finance"!!! I will admit, nissan was successful in ripping many people off & without so much as an apology. Much less any potential financial assistance that they caused.nissan needs to wake up & do right by their customers or they wont have them long.trust me when I say.that day draws closer w/ every person who finds themselves in this similar situation.thanks & I hope you do something about this injustice that was allowed to happen on your watch!!!!!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan xterra. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle lost power and stalled. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and restarted, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic who diagnosed that the radiator fluid mixed with the transmission fluid. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 99,000.
Takata recall. - xterra has had radiator replaced, transmission fixed twice due to bad valve body. Now it is shuddering again at 40mph down the road. This needs to be addressed. Transmission failed going down the highway, causing it to go into failure mode. I lost all power by the time I could get pulled over and stopped.
Transmission fluid and coolant mixing. Poor and dangerous design. Took the car to the dealership several time with them like they never heard of the issues(shuttering when climbing on a slight incline, losing power, over heating) after complaining they change the radiator, rear axle, and transmission. This was at 99,295 miles on the odometer. The repairs took a month to complete. Now less then a year and at 128,000 miles on the odometer, it is happening again!!! Also the extended warranty is over. The dealership is now saying that it is not their problem. Now I have to pay $1200 to change my radiator so I can drive this time bomb. And they suggested that I change the transmission again for $8,000!!! I will never buy nissan again. I guess I will drive it until it dies. Searched online and found out that this is a known issue. The federal safety agency, what are you waiting for to call a recall???
While driving and in flow of traffic vehicle lost all power, but rpms would still increase due to faulty transmission in the xterra. Faulty transmission leads to mixing of the radiator and transmission fluid causing loss of acceleration. Almost caused an accident with another vehicle.
While accelerating, after pulling from a county road onto a state highway, my vehicle "stuttered" and immediately lost power to the drive train. Discovered that I had water in my transmission.
My 2005 xterra s-v6 4x2 had loss of power and had to be towed to a dealership. They diagnosed the problem as a failed transmission fluid cooler located in the radiator assembly that allowed coolant to mix with and contaminate the automatic transmission fluid, resulting in damaged to the radiator that had to be replaced and the transmission is now damaged. There were no warning signs leading up to the failures. When I spoke to nissan they stated there was no recall. After I did some research, I found out there is a extended warranty. When I called nissan back they stated it was only up to 80,000. So repairs are on me.
Car started vibrating like it was going over a rumble strip, loss of power/rpms, unable to accelerate. Problem was intermittent and got worse. Took it to nissan dealership, and apparently this is a known problem on some makes and models manufactured between 2005-2010 with defective radiators that leak coolant into the transmission system hence damaging it. Since I was at 100,000miles I had a copay of $3000.
I have experience what many other owners of a nissan xterra have experienced with a defective radiator. A leak in the radiator has allowed coolant to mix with and contaminate the automatic transmission fluid, resulting in damaged internal transmission components and a damaged internal transmission computer. In less than a week since noticing loss of power in my vehicle it became inoperable. Due to the high number of these incidents involving the nissan xterra transmission parts have become impossible to find to rebuild the transmission. As a result they only recourse to resolve this problem is a costly $6000 replacement of the transmission.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
Engine and engine cooling
- What is wrong
- Nissan is recalling certain model year 2004-2006 armada, titan, infiniti qx56 and model year 2005-2006 frontier, pathfinder and xterra vehicles. The intelligent power distribution module (ipdm) assembly contains an engine control module (ECM) relay that has a diode for electrical current noise reduction. The ECM relay may allow silicon vapor to form and, over time, the silicon evaporates from the diode molding which causes silicon oxide to develop on the ECM relay contact due to arcing.
- Risk
- This could cause engine stalling increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the ECM relay inside the ipdm assembly. This service will be performed free of charge. The safety recall began on december 6, 2010. Owners may contact nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 10V517000 · Recall details
Questions about the 2005 Nissan Xterra loss of power
Is sudden loss of power a common problem on the 2005 Nissan Xterra?
21 of 845 owner complaints about the 2005 Nissan Xterra (2%) mention sudden loss of power. The model year with the most reports is 2005.
How much does it cost to fix sudden loss of power on the 2005 Nissan Xterra?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $4,100 (median of 9 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2005 Nissan Xterra?
There is 1 recall and 5 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2005 Nissan Xterra
Fuel gauge 262Check engine light 143Transmission failure 115Stalling 48Overheating 28Slipping 28Jerking 23Won't shift 17Won't start 16Fuel pump 13Shudder 13Airbag light 11Hesitation 10Grinding brakes 8Engine failure 8Knocking 7Whining noise 6Water leak 5
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