Radiator coolant leaked into transmission causing overheating. Replaced radiator $1200 now required to replace transmission for $3510 parts, $1450 labor, and $100 fluid at tischer nissan laurel maryland. Transmission feels like riding over rumble strips.
2005 Nissan Xterra engine complaints
Page 8 of 10: complaints 191 to 220 of 280, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Nissan is well-aware of a design flaw that allows radiator fluid to cross-contaminate transmission fluid. They jokingly (at least their dealers) refer to it as a "strawberry milkshake". The antifreeze degrades transmission parts and causes transmission failure. A quick web search shows over 300 such cases.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan xterra. While parked, the contact attempted to start the vehicle but the engine would not start. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnostics. The technician stated that the radiator and transmission would have to be replaced due to coolant from the radiator leaking into the transmission, causing an electrical shortage. There was an investigation under the federal safety agency action number: dp12004 (power train:automatic transmission:cooling unit and lines power train:automatic transmission:torque converter power train:automatic transmission:control module (TCM, PCM)) that could have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 104,324.
Just as I was about to enter the 405 freeway in long beach, my xterra would not accelerate. The garden grove nissan dealer said it was due to a leak in the radiator that caused the transmission to give out. I was charged $5,000 to repair. I filed a claim with the dealer and that's when I first learned that I had been given an extra 20,000 miles warranty back when my xterra only had 60,000 miles. I was never notified of the extended warranty and I've been taking my xterra to the dealer for all maintenance since I bought it from the dealer.
Coolant leaking into the transmission ruined both the radiator and transmission.
Transmission damage attributed to contamination by engine coolant. The source of the contamination is a cracked atf line that runs through an engine coolant chamber in the radiator.
I was driving along and check engine light came on. Checked internet and found out that many people had this happen around 50,000 miles. This is supposed to be guaranteed for 50,000 miles and in practice most last a lot longer, but not in the case of the xterra. Nissan has noticed the large number of incidents but although they have completely redesigned the system they refuse to recall it. Many of the posts here take about the engine conking out at speed which is an unsafe condition. The dealer admitted today that they have seen 4 this month, its becoming a real problem and should be recalled. Dealer quoted me $70.00 for the quote, $590.00 for the canister, and $90.00 for labor. I can't believe that nissan would know about the bad design, engineer a fix for it, and withhold the fix from the customer, unless they are willing to cough up almost $800.00 to fix their mistake. This scares me as SUV accidents are usually pretty bad with far more rollovers than regular cars. Please take the appropriate action before someone is seriously hurt.
I was driving my car after a long trip, I had about a quarter tank left. I parked my car and when I returned to use it to run an errand I began to drive. My gas tank needle went all the way to below empty then my check engine light turned on as well. I have looked up this issue and found out there were multiple complaints about the exact same thing that happened to me. This is a nissan issue that should not be taken out of pocket from the consumer. Especially since there is a long history regarding this exact same problem.
Transmission cooler leaked into radiator, fouled cooling system with transmission fluid, also fouled transmission with coolant. This caused vibration in the transmission, loss of acceleration, check engine light was activated for a clutch solenoid switch, and unknown possible damage to the transmission.
Radiator failure causes transmission and engine coolant to mix causing catastrophic transmission failure. Nissan knows about this problem but has decided to turn their backs on their responsibilities and hope fending off class action lawsuits will be less expensive than fixing the issues they have caused. This is ignorant and arrogant on their part. Not only will this hurt those of us who are scraping by, but it will hurt nissan in the long run, as nobody who is experiencing what I and many others are going through currently through will ever, ever but their products again. I submit that the president of nissan USA be forced to attempt to drive my xterra to and from work or school with his family . When he about causes a wreck or endangers his family, maybe he will see then the fatal errors of his faulty money hungry calculations. This is absolutely ridiculous that our great country hasn't forced these people to do the right thing, since they obviously cannot do it on their own.
Transmission failed to shift and made loud noises while driving. Caused the car to shake but did not lose control. Failed part in radiator allowed antifreeze into transmission and transmission fluid into radiator. Complete failure of radiator and transmission could have occurred on highway at speed. Know issue from nissan who did nothing to communicate to vehicle owners on risks or precautions to take as well as no ownership for fixing this.
First incident occurred in april 2011 - while driving the transmission began to fail and would not shift. I had to have the vehicle towed because it would not drive faster than about 15-20 MPH. The nissan dealership diagnosed the problem as "internal fault in valve body" and replaced the valve body. This incident cost me $1568 and a week without a vehicle; went in to dealership on 4/20 and I picked it up on 4/27. Second incident occurred in june 2012 - while driving with my kids in the vehicle, on a busy street, the transmission began to fail again and would not shift. Once again, the vehicle would not drive faster than about 20 MPH. This time I had the vehicle towed to a local transmission repair shop. The diagnosis was "fluid is full, but is black and burnt, dipstick for the trans is crusty looking..." the transmission shop rebuilt the transmission and replaced all faulty parts, including the valve body. This incident cost me $3865 and eleven days without a vehicle; went in to transmission shop on 6/15 and I picked it up on 6/26. In fourteen months, I have had transmission failure and have had to replace the valve body each time, a very expensive part. It is simply unacceptable that the manufacturer patches the vehicle, instead of fixing it, not to mention charges the owner for their defect.
First incident occurred in april 2011 - while driving the transmission began to fail and would not shift. I had to have the vehicle towed because it would not drive faster than about 15-20 MPH. The nissan dealership diagnosed the problem as "internal fault in valve body" and replaced the valve body. This incident cost me $1568 and a week without a vehicle; went in to dealership on 4/20 and I picked it up on 4/27. Second incident occurred in june 2012 - while driving with my kids in the vehicle, on a busy street, the transmission began to fail again and would not shift. Once again, the vehicle would not drive faster than about 20 MPH. This time I had the vehicle towed to a local transmission repair shop. The diagnosis was "fluid is full, but is black and burnt, dipstick for the trans is crusty looking..." the transmission shop rebuilt the transmission and replaced all faulty parts, including the valve body. This incident cost me $3865 and eleven days without a vehicle; went in to transmission shop on 6/15 and I picked it up on 6/26. In fourteen months, I have had transmission failure and have had to replace the valve body each time, a very expensive part. It is simply unacceptable that the manufacturer patches the vehicle, instead of fixing it, not to mention charges the owner for their defect.
Radiator failed leaking coolant into transmission. Radiator had to be replaced and transmission rebuilt at an out of pocket cost of $3,800.
Transmission locked up on highway. Evidently engine coolant had gotten into the transmission by way of failure of the radiator. Could have been killed...
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan xterra. The contact stated that the radiator fluid leaked into the transmission, causing the transmission to seize. In addition, the cooling system failed. The radiator and the transmission were repaired by a local mechanic but the cooling system was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,000 and the current mileage was 131,000.
Vehicle fuel gauge is reporting wrong information, shows empty when full and a half tank when empty. Service engine soon light stays on. Very dangerous barely made it to gas station.
Radiator failed allowing antifreeze into the transmission.
Nissan's 2005 xterra has a major flaw in its cooling system and transmission. Apparently the coolant in the radiator leaks into the transmission causing the transmission to fail. This is very expensive as the radiator and the transmission have to be replaced. Flushing the system is not enough. This should have been recalled and repaired by nissan before the problem became costly. Apparently nissan has known about this for some time. This is disgraceful.
Transmission failed due to a a known defect in the nissan cooling system for 2005 xterra's - this defect allows anti freeze to leak into transmission and cause failure.
I've noticed recently that my xterra started shuddering while cruising at highway speeds, and has been shaking while shifting between gears. Additionally, there was a specific occasion where my vehicle stopped accelerating while merging onto the highway. When I took it to a local nissan dealership for to fix a separate recall notice, I was told that my transmission fluid had mixed with my coolant, which meant that I would need to replace both my transmission and radiator.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan xterra. The contact stated while driving at low speeds the vehicle began to jerk. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The dealer inspected the vehicle and confirmed that the broken radiator welding caused fluid to leak into the transmission forcing the gear to improperly engage. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and denied assistance with repairing the vehicle. The failure and the current mileage was 104,000.
Radiator fluid leaked into my transmission, which caused transmission failure.
Total transmission failure after engine coolant floods transmission, causing vehicle to lurch and stop. Incurred repair costs at dealership of $5,968.89. Nissan is aware of this problem on 2005 xterras, but failed to inform owners to replace faulty radiators which causes the transmission failure. Nissan secretly extended the power train warranty to 80,000 miles because of this problem (owners not informed), but the transmission failure associated with this issue does not occur until after 80,000 miles. One website, caromplaints.com, as 23 pages of complaints from 2005 xterra owners documenting this issue. Ref: http://www.carcomplaints.com/nissan/xterra/2005/transmission/radiator_causes_transmission_failure.shtmlnissan refuses to reimburse owners for the repairs. The nissan consumer affairs file no. For my complaint is [xxx]. Please help. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Radiator cracked and leaked coolant into the transmission. Both radiator and transmission damaged. Estimated cost of repairs around $4700.
There was a loud rumble and jerking while driving at 35mph. Fluid was leaking badly also. I took the car to nissan on on april 21, 2008. They said they could not duplicate the problem. Again, the car started jerking and making loud rumbles. I took it back to nissan and they said the u joints were bad and replaced them. As soon as I pulled out of their parking area, the car did the same thing. So, I took it back again. This time, they told me that the radiator was coming apart and leaking antifreeze into transmission. They charged me $1285.89 to replace the radiator and flush the transmission. It is now 2012 and the car is doing the same thing again. The problem was never fixed properly to begin with. I need a new transmission at a high price. Anyone reading this should phone me at so that we can start a class action law suit against nissan. Lets inform everyone who has had this problem. From what I have been reading, thousands of people have had the same problem. This is a safety issue as well as a costly problem. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
We have a 2005 nissan xterra that we had to have a transmission replaced on in 2007 because radiator coolant leaked into the transmission. Again, the same thing has happened. Recall these cars, please. They are dangerous and this repair is very expensive. I had read the complaint history and I am not the only one with this problem.
While driving, the engine cuts off without warning causing all systems to shut down, including brake assist and power steering causing a near collision twice, once while navigating a curve at low speed with a ditch on the right side and once while navigating a curve at higher speed and nearly coasting into oncoming traffic. The issue is due to a known defect in the radiator causing coolant to spill into the transmission. This is a major safety concern that appears in vehicles without warning in any circumstance at any speed. Please initiate a recall asap for our safety!
Radiator corrosion leaking fluid into transmission. Replacing radiator and transmission. Replaced vaporizer solenoid and the ipdm unit (voluntary recall) which caused stalling while driving. Fuel sensor replaced. Mandatory recall on the ECM unit. No notification on voluntary or mandatory recalls.
Radiator failed and allowed coolant to mix with transmission fluid. Both radiator and transmission need replaced at a cost of $6411.00 (includes labor).
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