2006 Nissan Xterra: engine overheating

Filed Aug 18, 2019 · Transmission · 144,000 miles · VA

I purchased a 2006 nissan xterra after-market in august 2019, mileage 144k. There was no indication of a problem during a test-drive, and it otherwise appeared to be in good condition. Three days later, during city driving, the car began to strain to enter first gear from a stopped position (stop sign, traffic light), first a little, and then significantly, and began obstructing traffic-flow, and began overheating after multiple stop/starts. I was barely able to get the car home (4 miles) without having to pull over and call a tow-truck. A trip to the transmission shop on the next business day confirmed not just a transmission problem, but was told it was due to a known defect in nissan SUV-type vehicles from this time-period. The car from the used dealer came with "car protection plus" coverage specifically for power-train issues, who denied that they would cover this particular transmission problem for this reason. I now own a very expensive paperweight, or pay a repair bill of $3k-$4k to fix a transmission and radiator that is more than the value of the car.

Filed Jun 23, 2019 · Engine, Transmission · 70,388 miles · CA

Radiator coolant leaked into transmission and we only have 70,000 mileage. Purchased extended warranty but nissan service said they don't covere the repair and our extended warranty expired. We saved this cat for our 16 years old son for his college soon ang preparing for dmv. We save money for his car so we don't need to worry. Now, we are worried because it will cost us$8,000 for repair by replacing transmission and radiator. Besides this I have to pay $190.00 for diagnostic fee. We are not rich and we prepared this car for our son, for his safety, now his 16 years old this june 2019 and ready to take the wheels, this car is his car for college. Now, I'm heartbreaking because it's garage kept car with blanket all the time. 70k mileage only. Security plus says 72 months/75,000 on odometer. We really need help for repair.

Filed Aug 14, 2018 · Transmission · 165,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 nissan xterra. While driving 25 MPH, the transmission slipped and prevented the vehicle from going into gear. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that coolant leaked into the transmission, which caused the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 165,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Jun 12, 2018 · Transmission · 83,000 miles · MD

Radiator design failure allowed mixing of antifreeze with automatic transmission fluid. Caused failure of both radiator and transmission. Nissan previously offered assistance in repair but discontinued. Will not repair my xterra as is now past extended warranty, but well under total miles. Overheating in traffic stop lead to failure. Nissan should have recalled all 2005-2007 xterras and frontiers with defective radiator. Nissan took no action to notify owners that has not had repair. Nissan only notified owners that had experienced failure and offered to compensate costs. Failure was preventable with a fairly simple by pass of the transmission cooler or a replacement of the radiator to a redesigned version nissan issued in 2010. Many owners were helped by nissan previously because of a class action lawsuit. Now, nissan is no longer assisting owners with the failure even though it is still caused by the design failure of the radiator and not any action by the owner. If the owner had driven the vehicle harder and added more miles faster and experienced the failure, nissan would have compensated them I. Whole or in part. Owners with low mileage and older vechicles that are now experiencing the failure or will in the future are not being assisted by nissan. Nissan should have done a complete recall of all vechicles with the defective radiator. Owners are now forced to bear costs of $7,000 in repairs. A transmission failure can be a serious safety hazard if the transmission were to lock up while driving. Fortunately my transmission failure occurred slowly and the radiator failure was catastrophic so the vechicle could not be driven. Nissan should be made to supplement their prior extended warranty to cover any failure of the radiator causing contamination of the transmission fluid. Failure is referred to as strawberry milkshake of death.

Filed Dec 20, 2016 · Transmission · 143,500 miles · CO

Car overheated while driving on the highway and wasn't able to accelerate any more... Took to the shop and they flushed the transmission multiple times to try and save. Radiator and hoses were replaced first. Ended up having to go back for a failed transmission. Costs were $5587.25 which I couldn't afford and had to take out a loan for.

Filed Sep 28, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 112,234 miles · AL

The coolant leaked into the transmission, causing the transmission to fail. Vehicle was in motion on a highway. *recall transmission failure*

Filed Sep 20, 2016 · Transmission · 143,000 miles · NC

Vehicle would not shift on busy rd. Coolant leaked onto transmission per nissan dealer. Nissan has known about this issue. This could have a bad safety issue as I had to try to get vehicle to dealer. I transport a handicapped chip ad well ad alzheimer/dementia clients and this could have been LED to a very bad accident. Why had there not been a recall on this being nissan has known of this problem?

Filed Sep 6, 2016 · Transmission · 84,000 miles · TX

Coolant leaking into transmission. While driving, vehicle shuttering, shaking and overall unsafe for myself and my 5-year old son.

Filed Aug 2, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 89,000 miles · NJ

Well known problem with the radiator coolant leaking into the transmission lines and thus into the transmission. Simple, inexpensive fix to replace the faulty radiator was not communicated to me and now it's too late to save the transmission. Nissan got away with murder and caused thousands of people money that they should not have had to pay for defective parts. These parts should have been recalled as they cause a major safety hazard while driving. Having your transmission fail on you while you're driving is a major safety concern. But because not enough people actually died from it a recall was not required.

Filed May 6, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 112,000 miles · MD

In october 2015 I noticed that my xterra was overheating and the transmission was slipping at times. When I removed the radiator cap to check the coolant, it looked foamy and milky, like a lime smoothie. I thought I might have a blown head gasket and took the vehicle to my mechanic, who told me about the issue with nissan radiator and transmission cross-contamination. He told me that flushing the systems would not help and the entire cooling system and transmission would need to be replaced to the tune of about $6500, which I didn't have. He told me to contact nissan. Unfortunately, at the time my xterra was diagnosed, it had 112,000 miles on it, which was beyond the scope of nissan's extended warranty which came about as a result of the class-action lawsuit. The only thing they did for me was give me a refund on a recall item for which I'd paid before the recall came out. They also offered me a "business associate's" discount on another nissan--as if I'd buy one after this! Because I am mobility challenged, I must have a vehicle to get to work, doctors' visits, etc. I was forced to buy another vehicle. The payments have me so strapped for cash that once I get my bills paid there's nothing left for groceries or pet food, much less putting gas in my car! I am so disgusted with nissan for putting me in this position I can't even put it into words.

Filed Sep 22, 2015 · Transmission · 87,000 miles · LA

I was driving on the interstate at about 70 miles per hour went my car starting losing power and jerking. The cars behind me were getting right behind my car and slowing down,they were yelling at me to speed up and, I was so scared one of them would hit the back of my car and cause a accident and kill me,I tried to get the car to the to the side of the interstate but had a hard time crossing traffic,I was praying to make it across with out getting .nission knew that my xteria was was recalled for this issue but did not send me a recall notice or anything in the mail,now they want me to pay the first $3000 to fix my transmission. But they build the car that way so I think they should fix it. I had a guy who worked on my car before and he said that due to a cracked coolant leak into my transmission, my transmission went out. I sure wish no one else went through the same thing on the interstate, it was bad., I am disabled and cannot afford the $3000 so my car is now useless and I have no way to go to the doctor.

Filed May 21, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 131,500 miles · VA

As I came up to stop at a red light, the xterra began to shudder and the tachometer started rising and falling until I finally stopped, then the tachometer dropped below 500 RPM and the truck turned off. Restarted it fine, but it stalled again. I quickly figured out that although it is an automatic, I needed to drive it like a manual. So I put it in neutral, started it again, it did not stall, then I revved the engine to 2,000 RPM and put it into drive. Off I went, and it did not do it again that day. However, over the next month it became a growing problem, until it finally was occurring every single time I stopped unless I put it in neutral. I took it to the mechanic who spent 4 hours diagnosing it to be certain of the problem. Which they said was a failing torque convertor and plate. It failed due to coolant leaking into the transmission from a broken housing coming off of the radiator (apparently a very common problem for which nissan refuses to take responsibility). Not hard to verify their findings due to the presence of pink milkshake looking liquid in the radiator. Final verdict, at best it needs a new torque convertor and plate, but with the amount of effort to install those and unknown further damage from the coolant leak, a new transmission was recommended.