Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan xterra. The contact stated the transmission began slipping and the vehicle was taken to the dealer for a diagnosis. The dealer advised that anti-freeze was leaking into the engine because the intake valve gasket was bent. The dealer stated that the valve gasket was bending because the intake valve and radiator were made of plastic. The failure mileage was 86,000 and the current mileage was 95,000. Updated 05/03/11*lj the consumer stated due the defect with the radiator, anti-freeze leaked into the transmission fluid and caused the transmission to fail. Updated 08/04/11
2005 Nissan Xterra engine complaints
Page 10 of 10: complaints 251 to 280 of 280, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I just recently started experiencing a 'shudder' under mild acceleration between 40-60 MPH with my 05xterra, v6 4x4 (~120k miles). Feels like my rear wheels are going over a rumble strip and only lasts a few brief moments. Took my xterra back to dealer and they indicated possibility of transmission cooler leak allowing antifreeze to enter torque converter and transmission causing slippage; although they checked my fluids and no cross contamination was evident. They recommended replacing torque converter, transmission and radiator...to the tune of ~$5000...there's got to be better answer...and accountability on their part...I searched on line and found that I'm not alone with this issue... A number of folks have experienced the same issue...nissan has even acknowledged a problem and has extended their warranty on the radiator, but not the torque converter, but my mileage exceeds the extended period; if they know of the issue, why isn't there a re-call...if the torque converter fails while driving, it will most certainly cause an accident...problem is getting worse and more frequent...there needs to be action by nissan to correct this condition before someone is seriously injured due to a known problem...
Multiple complaints: at approx 55k miles, engine would rev out before shifting gears, at approx. 72k miles started vibration when at steady speed (approx 45 MPH), so purchased new tires. At approx. 76k miles temperature gauge would fluctuate and vibration and gear slam increased. At approx. 79k miles blower stopped working and temperature gauge would go up and down. At 80,532 mi. Had radiator replaced and coolant flushed and two transmission flushes done, as coolant and transmission fluids mixed due to radiator leaking. Transmission continued vibration and began slamming again 3 mos. Later. 6 mos. Later engine overheated , had towed. Engine was bad due to overheating from radiator assembly fault nissan describes. Rebuilt engine, new timing chain and timing control valve, and new radiator. Still cannot drive vehicle- severe transmission slamming gears, vehicle stalls when you take foot off gas, oil pressure gauge goes to bottom when foot off gas and up when you depress. Since, nissan has extended warranty to 80k for radiator assembly can crack and internal leakage of coolant mixes with transmission fluids. I am not covered they say, but if I had been notified of this 2 years ago I would have been. Their letter specifically states that it can occur at "higher mileages". I want nissan to reimburse me costs incurred and fix my transmission. I have been without a vehicle on and off for 8 mos. Of the past two years, and do not think this vehicle will ever run properly due to their negligence to notify owners of the potential problem. I've seen hundreds of complaints. Also have had engine light go on and off for last 2 years- due to fuel sending unit problem, nissan has extended warranty for this to 72k. I now have 94k - these issues need to be recalls and owners reimbursed- please investigate warranty extension issue! Also had squeaks, battery issue, no start even w/new battery, cleared electronics/radio blown, cds don't eject, driver window won't go up unless pulled.
On my 2005 nissan xterra, radiator warranty extended from 36,000 miles/36 months to 80,000 miles/96 months in 2011. However, my radiator was replaced at 40 months/88,000 miles in 2009. 11 months later (2010) I had to replace my transmission because of their defected radiator. Why was my data excluded when nissans extended their warranty? I have spent over $10,000 in repairs since I have bought my 2005 xterra brand new.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan xterra. While driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning causing the fuel pressure to fluctuate abnormally. The vehicle was towed to a private mechanic where they informed the contact that the fuel level sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but shortly after repairs, the vehicle would not start and was taken back to the dealer. The dealer informed the contact that the ipdm was defective and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired yet the failure recurred twenty minutes after repairs with the illumination of the check engine warning light. The dealer then advised that because the ipdm failed, it also caused the catalytic converter to fail and that would also to be replaced and advised the contact that there was no guarantee that the repair would remedy the failure. The manufacturer advised the contact to trade the vehicle in. The vehicle was traded in november 2010. The failure mileage was unknown.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan xterra. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH the vehicle suddenly shut off. She pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and had it towed to a dealer. The dealer inspected the engine and stated the timing chain broke and the entire engine needs to be replaced. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local mechanic for a second opinion. The local mechanic informed the contact the engine does need to be replaced. The failure mileage was 131,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Twice in the last day the car has accelerated in an uncontrolled manner. First was in moderate traffic about 30 MPH after driving for about 40 minutes. Stepping on the brakes with full force barely slowed the car. Went to breakdown and just missed another car. Second time this am. Started the car put it in reverse and the engine took off at 3000 to 4000 RPM. Fortunately it was on snow in driveway and no one was behind. Could not stop the wheels from spinning. Eventually got it into park. Only work on this engine was recall work done 2 weeks ago involving the engine control module. This is extremely dangerous.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 nissan xterra. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle stalled and the service engine soon light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the technicians stated the ECM filter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. After the repairs were made the contact received a recall notice the federal safety agency campaign id number: 10v517000 (component: engine and engine cooling). The manufacturer was contacted in regards to reimbursement and informed the contact the VIN was not included in the recall. The approximate failure mileage was 75,000.
My 2005 nissan xterra had just under 100,000 miles on it. The transmission began to slip and there would be no power. I had it towed to nissan and the radiator had leaked coolant into the transmission, destroying the transmission for about a 5,000 $ repair. Nissan offered no explanation other than "it happens", and after further research, found that I'm not the only case of this happening. Luckily for me, I was on a secluded state road when my transmission first slipped. Had I been on a freeway, I would have lost all power in a busy and unsafe location. Http://www.carcomplaints.com/nissan/xterra/2005/transmission/radiator_causes_transmission_failure.shtml.
*** ipdm and double catalytic converter failure in 2005 nissan xterra *** my 2005 nissan xterra engine once shut down as I am driving on a busy street; I had to let the xterra coast a short distance without power to pull over and stop my SUV to the side of a safer section of the road. I could not immediately restart the car. After waiting about 15 minutes, I was eventually able to restart and drive the SUV. The problem, however never went away. Periodically the engine will shut off without warning. It finally got to the point where the car would not start at all. I had to have the car towed twice, including a tow to a nissan dealership in santa monica. The incident began in april 2010. In may 2010, the nissan dealer in santa monica checked the problem and indicated that the ipdm had to be replaced. This was an expensive repair. Shortly after the ipdm was replaced, 1 of 2 catalytic converters in the xterra failed and had to be replaced. 6 months later (december 2010), the other catalytic converter failed. I believe the ipdm issue is severe. I believe the ipdm issue is also associated with (and likely to be the cause of) the failure of catalytic converters in the vehicle. In my case, it is double failure since both catalytic converters failed 6 months apart from each other. Failure of the catalytic converter is an environmental concern.
My 2005 xterra with 82k miles started vibrating badly when accelerating over 50mph. It felt like I was driving over rumble strips. I called nissan assist on 12/29/2010 and was told my radiator had failed, leaked into the transmission and totally destroyed it. My only option was a $4600 replacement of the radiator and transmission. The nissan assist guy then told me that nissan knew about the problem, but instead of issuing a recall, they simply extended the warranty from 60k to 72k miles (this was an error on his part, because the extension was actually to 80k miles). Regardless, it didn't apply to me because I was at 82k miles. Nissan is trying to ease the pain with extending the warranty however, they make no attempt to contact you about it. You either need to find it yourself or your screwed.
Beginning summer 2010 2005 nissan xterra (purchased new in 2005) began making rumbling noise (as if going over rumble strips) while driving. Incident occurred frequently at differing speeds for the next several months. No other problems were evident at that time. In november 2010 while driving on freeway vehicle began overheating, blowing hot air through air conditioner, and registering hot on gauge. Vehicle was immediately taken to local mechanic who was unable to determine problem. The next day vehicle was taken to dealership where car was purchased and told that the transmission needed to be replaced due to radiator fluid leak. After research and finding that this is a common occurrence the owner decided not to have the vehicle fixed at her expense and is not driving the vehicle until an agreement is made with nissan. While there were no injuries or accidents in this incidence research shows that there have been numerous reports of transmission failures in traffic either causing or almost causing accidents. Nissan's failure to alert 05 xterra owners of this problem that they are well aware of is negligence and risks health and safety. Further, it can be found that the problem cannot be fixed by simply replacing the original parts as the parts and design were defective to begin with. Research has shown that after being "fixed" by the dealership the problem has occurred again.
Engine stopped while moving causing instant decelaration, cars following had to take evasive action found defective ECM unit by nissan dealership
First problem - when I had 53,000 mi on it, it was still under warranty, it started cutting out and wouldn't accelerate at all, had to have it towed to the dealer to find out that the transmission was bad. They said that he radiator leaked, flooding my transmission with coolant and ruined my transmission. They refused to honor the warranty stating that "the tranmission did not fail - the radiator did (which was not covered under warranty) therefore the transmission was not covered". I had to let them replace the radiator and flush the transmission 3 times - it cost me $1,400 out of pocket - now here I am 30,000 miles later and my reverse will not work at all, my transmission needs replaced. So I had paid 1,400 just to buy myself an year & a half and now I need a new transmission. 2nd problem - I have the fuel gauge/sensor problem, also. I filled up one day, got in my car and gauge read empty & check engine light was on. I had a rip-off mechanic charge me $170 to replace the sensor - nothing ever changed, gauge is still broke and light is still on. Nissan is so wrong for not handling their problems, consumers deserve to be treated fairly. There should be a class action suit against them - just read these complaint boards. Somehow I have both of the most common problems with these vehicles.
I own a 2005 nissan xterra 4x4 off-road SUV (VIN#[xxx]), around 50,300mi. The incident occurred on nov. 5, 2010 around 11pm. My xterra started to stall on the freeway and I was able to pull over to the side of the road safely where the engine died. I tried re-starting it and the engine ran rough, so I turned it off. I tried re-starting it after 30 seconds this time the engine ran smooth, waited for a minute and then started driving back onto the freeway heading home. About a mile later the engine started to stall again and I had to pull off to the side of the road right away almost nearly hitting another vehicle because my engine had no power to speed up because it was dying. Luckily no accident, just a near miss. I was able to re-start my xterra again and was able to make it home safely. I had to tow my xterra to the nissan dealership. From their diagnosis. The dealership service rep told me that I would need to replace my ipdm. He was checking to see if this part would fall under my powertrain warranty. He called me back later and told me it would cost $550 to replace it. I asked what about my powertrain warranty, he told me he have to get back to me because the warranty specialists was sick. Just my luck. I will have to wait till monday to see if I was covered under the warranty. They didn't even offer me a loaner car over the weekend. I informed him about the recall on the ipdm nissan put out on oct. 28, 2010. The service rep said there was no recall on the ipdm. Go figure! I'm going to bring him a copy of the recall notice from your website. As of right now nothing is being done to my car. Very unsatisfied customer information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Nissan xterra engine stalled on the highway abruptly two times on oct 27th 2010. Car towed to dealer for repair on oct 28th, 2010. Complete intelligent power distribution module replaced after a 10 day long wait with no feedback from dealer or manufacturer about recall of this part. Manufacturer not returning calls to consumer regarding covering complete cost of services in spite of the condition clearly being a recall issue (campaign id 10v517000).
Problem as described by nissan service tech: xterra was towed to us with the concern "my xterra is slipping, will not go backwards, will not drive in drive, only drive in 3rd, hooked up to computer and came up p1716". We confirmed the car would not move in reverse, as it was towed in and parked so that backing up was the only option. The code p1716 is related to the transmission turbine circuit not functioning properly. Upon further diagnosis, we removed the radiator cap to find the radiator filled with the milky combination of coolant and transmission fluid. The radiator is a sub-level radiator, where the top portion is for coolant and the bottom portion is for cooling the transmission fluid. The radiator cracked internally causing the fluids to mix. The transmission and radiator need to be replaced to rectify the problems. New transmission is $3215.71 with the estimated arrival date of tuesday, september 21. The new radiator is $538, currently in stock. The labor estimate is $1442.70. The estimated completion of work is wednesday, september 22, with estimated total bill coming to $5560.16 tax included.
Radiator cooling system for transmission fluid causes malfunction of transmission causing unpredictable shifting and acceleration / deceleration nissan dealership charging customers over 900 dollars for repairs......knowingly this engineered defect exists with most 2005 nissan xterra vehicles.
2005 nissan xterra has a part which allows the transmission fluid to pass through and be cooled in the radiator. This part breaks, allowing the transmission fluid and radiator coolant to mix. This ruins your radiator, but more importantly, it burns up your transmission, because the coolant released into the transmission through the busted line does not have the constancy to lubricate the transmission parts properly. Over a very short period your transmission is ruined. This leads to slipping, shifting late, and can lead to the car not taking off at the anticipated speed from a stop sign or light, possibly causing an accident, because of being stranded in the intersection. Other symptoms can be temperature gauge reading hot when stopped, A/C blowing warm when stopped. I know this is not an isolated incident. By simply doing a google search for "2005 nissan xterra radiator transmission". The top results contain links with titles such as "2005 nissan xterra faulty radiator destroys transmission" and "2005 nissan xterra radiator causes transmission failure". I know there are others (many) out there. We need to organize and get results for this issue. My mileage may be relatively high, but many others were in the 50,000 mile range when the failure occurred. I have already spent $500+ on this issue. Now that I have to replace my transmission, it could be $5,000! Help!
2005 nissan xterra with 69000 miles began shuttering every now and again when driving around town. It started getting progressively worse during the next few weeks. Thought it might have been the tire balance and had it checked. Balanced the tires, the shuttering was still there and began to get worse when driving at higher speeds I.e. 60mph. The rear end would shutter very hard to the point where we couldn't drive it any longer. Taking it to the shop revealed that the transmission had radiator fluid in it which was caused by cracked radiator lines leaking into the transmission. The fluid was into all the transmission gears. Come to find out that this is a common problem with nissans and the only way to get around this problem is to place an external cooler to the transmission. Since the 5yr/60k power train warranty ran out, nissan has no interest in assisting a well known problem of theirs. There complaint dept takes the info and places it into a database. Well the damage has already been done to the transmission and had to be replaced and an external cooler was installed which we had to go out of pocket on ($4100.00).
Faulty radiator leads to transmission failure nissan has know of this problem and done nothing about it cost of repair 5000 to 6000 many 2005 nissan xterra and pathfinders owners I know have had this problem please help!
I have a 2005 nissan xterra. The transmission had vibration intermittently. Transmission finally went out due to a faulty radiator. This vehicle is equipped with two coolers one air and one water cooled. I have read of many complaints for this. Nissan knows of the problem and should recall it. I bought this vehicle used from pat peck nissan with a warranty. At 6mos I received a letter that the warranty was not valid on this vehicle and they reimbursed the cost of the warranty. I feel that they knew this was a problem.
1. Vibrations coming from rear of car at 35 MPH. Vibration get worst when accelerating to 40 MPH, shifts hard,RPM's increase then decrease(jumps all over the place). Occurs all the time. Faulty lines between coolant system and transmission. Coolant mixed with tranny fluid. Replaced, radiator,flushed engine, flushed tranny 2 times. Installed external transmission cooler and bypassed radiator, so this wont happen again, my have to replace transmission in future because of the damage done to it by the coolant mixing with tranny fluid. Out of pocket expense $1463.12 parts and labor at a local nissan dealer. I was told that this is a common problem with nissan 4x4 vehicles. This should be a recall. And if my transmission goes I feel that nissan should replace it free of charge.
2005 thru 2007 nissa xterras and pathfinders made in these model years have a defective radiator. The transmission line corrodes and coolant leaks into the transmission line and contaminates the transmission. Repairs have to made to the radiator, transmission and all associated lines.
My car would shut off everytime I went over a bump. The repair guy said it was the computer that went out in my care. Then 2 months later my engine went out and my catalytic converter. My vehicle almost stopped in the middle of the busy freeway.
Internal radiator failure that LED to a transmission failure in the middle of the highway. I had the radiator replaced at a cost of $1,300.00 by the nissan dealer where they assured me that the transmission was fine. A month later I paid $5,000.00 to aamco to have the entire transmission rebuilt. This has happened to countless 2005 pathfinders and xterras. Nissan will not provide financial assistance or make a recall. Nissan needs to be held responsible!
2005 nissan xterra, radiator failure , causing transmission fluid to leak into coolant and coolant leaking into transmission, causing transmission to fail. Repair cost about $5,000. A source within a dealership said it is common occurrence with 2005 xterras and pathfinders, if caught early it can be fixed ,however most customers don't know this until is too late. There is no notice from nissan on this problem or warning.
Error code on 2005 nissan xterra - p0643 has shown up on many models with this engine. Noted on an emission inspection for annual tx inspection.
Service engine light and fuel sensor sending unit failure.
3 months after purchasing vehicle I noticed that the car would squeal for 5-10 minutes when 1st starting, it did not matter if it was in the morning or mid-afternoon. I took the truck into the dealer and the drive belt was replaced. About 2,000 miles later the problem re-occurred, I took the truck back to the dealer and this time the auto tension pulley was replaced. About 1,000 miles later the truck was once again taken back and this time the lead tech assured me the problem would be fixed and the drive belt was replaced for a 2nd time. I have now had this truck for 9 months and again had to take in, this time I dealt with the service manager who was not helpful. They once again replaced the drive belt and stated this was a known nissan problem and that the problem will present itself again but they can not do anything until nissan issues a recall or tsb. I called nissan's 800-nissan1 number and spoke to a customer service rep. I was told that I would receive a call from the regional manager by the end of the next business day since I had taken the truck in 4 times for the exact same problem, I have yet to receive any calls from nissan's regional rep. I feel that both the nissan dealer and nissan are unwilling or unable to satisfactorily fix the re-occurring problem once and for all, and that I am just being given the run around.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2005 Nissan Xterra?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history