Problems with 2005 Nissan Pathfinder ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

I was driving my 2005 nissan pathfinder on august 11th, 2012 with my entire family inside the vehicle. we were rolling in traffic at about 40 to45 mph when the vehicle all of a sudden stopped accelerating. i was able to safely pull over to the side of the road. while inside the vehicle trying to figure out what was going on, a passerby told me he saw a fire under the vehicle. i immediately got my family out and called 911 to have the fire department come out and look at it. by the time the fire department got on scene, the fire had died out. i had my vehicle towed to a transmission shop because a fireman suggested it was an issue with my transmission. the repair shop told me a cooler under the radiator busted causing coolant to get inside my transmission, which caused transmission fluid to get on my catalytic converter which started the fire. they quoted me $4900 in repairs, telling me i needed to have my transmission and radiator replaced. i am extremely upset because for one, my entire family could have been killed or injured including myself, my wife, and 3 sons ages 3 9 & 13. secondly, i've only had the car for 5 and half months at the time and still making payments on it. in fact, i owe just about $1000 more on the loan for the vehicle verses the cost of repairs. so now i am left with no vehicle, no way to take my kids to school, and the ugly fact that i am not the only person who has experienced the same issue with this vehicle. after a little research via the internet, it looks like this is a normal occurrence with this model. in closing, i am just looking for any sort of help i can get to help give me and my family some relief of this tragic and dangerous situation. things could have ended up much worse and i really feel this vehicle presents a safety hazard to our roadways. *tr

In 2009, at 74,000 miles, i noticed the car "bucking" when driving. started doing research and found that the radiator coolant leaks into the transmission cooler destroying the transmission. nissan offered no help or recalls despite the fact that hundreds of the same vehicle were experiencing the same thing. shortly after my vehicle passed 80,000 miles, nissan issued a recall on only the radiator which doesn't help me. i immediately flushed the transmission and radiator to try to avoid complete failure of the transmission, bypassing the transmission cooler part of the radiator. the vehicle drove but the transmission constantly slipped in and out of gear at random times throughout the next 30,000 miles. last week, the transmission finally quit in the middle of a busy intersection. i had to push the car into the nearest parking lot. now the car is sitting in my driveway because it will cost me $6,000 to repair the transmission and radiator. nissan needs to step up and admit that this should be a recall. i love nissans (this is my 3rd) but after this problem i may never buy another one. *tr

On 11/15/11 nissan flushed the radiator. on 7/11/12 the transmission went out due to the coolant leaking into the transmission. nissan should have 100% responsibility of this issue. nissan has know about this issue for years and they extend the warranties to the max of 100,000 miles. most of these issues occur after 100,000 miles. nissan needs to reimburse and or recall all 2005-2010 pathfinder's, xterra's and frontier's as this can be a safety issue when you are driving at high speeds and the transmission fails. my wife almost got rearended because this issue. i want to be reimbursed of the repairs that were done on my vehicle. *tr

Transmission failed. sent to nissan dealership and put me to another transmission place. the transmission was redone again. after that transmission failed again and the mech. noticed the mixing of radiator fluid in the transmission fluid. then i contacted nissan and nissan corp. they both pushed me aside saying that they could do anything do to the mileage. i increased the urgency to nissan corp. i am in the military with no car for my wife. i have expended over 5 k already and now needing to do more. *tr

I was traveling on interstate i-95-n near exit 7 at a high rate of speed, my transmission failed due to a crack(fault )in the radiator assembly unit. as i attempted to exit the interstate while losing speed, i was almost rear ended by a tractor trailer and hit by another car. eventually, after coasting down hill to an intersection of center of new england/ new london turnpike, had to get out and push the vehicle with help from other persons to nearest service station. nissan extended warranty on radiator assembly unit to 8yr/80,000. i have 6yrs+/92000, took extremely good care of this vehicle and am now being told i need to pay $6,500.00 to fix vehicle (while i still owe $12,000.00). should have been a recall before someone gets killed (if not already) and /or the warranty should be offered for at least 120,000 miles. what a poor attempt to cover up an obvious design flaw, while trying to hide from their obvious liabilities for this situation.

My problem started with my 2005 pathfinder over a year ago,i went to the nissan dealer they told me that i need to drop off my vehicle for them to fix it i asked if nissan covering it they said no i have to pay $2,500. this is not my fault it's their problem. why do i have to pay for them to correct their problem with a radiator leaking and messing up the transmission? *js

Radiator leaked into transmission fluid. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. the contact stated that the transmission started to exhibit a loud noise when shifting gears. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the technician diagnosed that the radiator fluid leaked into the transmission. as a result, the transmission and radiator needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was not included in any recalls. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 70,000 and the current mileage was 99,000. *tr

Coolant mixing in the transmission system. some issues with slipping at first, mechanics couldn't figure it out. said they would have to take apart the transmission to figure it out since there were no codes being tripped. then the slip got worse and they happened to discover how bad the fluid looked by the u-joint underneath the car. it was only then that they discovered that the problem could have been related to the radiator coolant leak. they proceeded to fix the radiator and related components and flushed the system several times ($726.81) only 2 months later the transmission was acting up again and almost failed on the freeway, stuttering the engine and smoking a bit. fortunately, we where able to limp the vehicle home and get it to the mechanic the next day. vehicle was at the shop for 3 weeks, then the mechanic thought he had it fixed. we drove the car about 5 miles down the road, the vehicle started to stutter and slip again and the check engine light came on again. we returned the vehicle to the shop, they checked the codes and determined that the transmission would need to be replaced. this is ridiculous...... when you pay this much money for a vehicle, there is no reason why a transmission should fail in 94,000 miles. i can't believe all the horror stories i have read on the internet related to this nissan transmission issue. i feel a sick to my stomach right now just thinking about the financial impact that this has and will cause to my family. there is absolutely no reason that nissan shouldn't be responsible for this catastrophe. especially after they have identified that this is a known issue. *tr

Not even 3 months after we purchased our used nissan pathfinder.i had just dropped my older children off at school and my car started to have a hard time. i knew i had to get my vehicle to safety. as i approached a intersection intersection on a very busy main route the car would not move at all. i was scared because the speed on that street is 50+ and i was stuck in the middle of the road with my 7 week old. after being towed and transferred to coastal nissan in norwell ma. we were told about the "recall" and forced to borrow $2500 so that we could pay to have the vehicle repaired. nissan told us it wasnt a safety complaint. i beg to differ! i was stranded on a busy street with a newborn if we were struck the outcome could have been horrific. i hope someone will finally do something about this problem! *tr

The vehicle experienced loss of power while driving at 60mph in the freeway. after a few similar incidents i took the vehicle to the dealer for a recall that described a similar issue, a relay was changed.. the vehicle continue experiencing the jerking until a few weeks ago that it look like transmission fluid leaked in the driveway. i took the vehicle to the nearest shop for a check up. apparently coolant was leaked into the transmission. we took the vehicle to nissan we the hoped that they would honor a warranty extension, they asked as to pay for a test to confirm what we already new. we were told that we needed to contact nissan's 800 number corporate office cause there was a chance that they might want to extend the warranty. i understand that they extended the transmission warranty to 80k due to this common issue. they totally denied the extension cause my vehicle had 107,000 miles. thanks god that we have not had an accident as a result of this issue. now we have to incur the expensive cost of replacing the radiator and transmission. this factory defect should be paid by nissan and we need an investigation into this common issue. please let's not wait until a fatality occurs for your organization to initiate it. *tr

2005 nissan pathfinder...radiator cracked leaked coolant into transmission. common problem nissan will do nothing about. *tr

Radiator crack and leaked coolant into the transmission causing damage. this problem is well known to nissan. *tr

Radiator coolant leaked into my transmission, with cross contamination into the radiator at 96,000 miles. there is a known defect of radiators failing from the inside, leaking coolant, thus ruining the transmission. nissan extended radiator warranty to 80,000 miles but most failure is between 80k-120k. i had radiator replaced and a transmission flush for $900. i fear the transmission is ruined. nissan should have notified all owners of this potential problem rather than ignoring it. *tr

My 2005 pathfinder was running fine until it started developing a case of thermostat fluctuation; it would almost go into the red and then drop all the way back down to the normal level. i took it to precision tune and they replaced the radiator hose assembly. a few weeks after that, the tranny started slipping. as i had already read from other consumers, i knew what was happening to my truck, and because the truck already had 120k + miles on it, i knew what nissan would likely say. sure enough, one afternoon, i got in the truck and it wouldn't accelerate forward. i immediately had it towed to nissan in april and began the fight to get it fixed; they quoted me $5100 to replace the tranny and radiator due to coolant leaking into the transmission case and transmission fluid leaking into the radiator. i contacted their consumer affairs, and not only did they tell me they wouldn't cover it, but referred me to the bbb (a very brazen move in my mind, to have a company refer you to them about them). they already knew the bbb wouldn't help because it was outside of the warranty. nearly four months later, it still sits at the dealer, because i can't afford to pay the repair cost (i still owe for two years on the vehicle), and nissan refuses to fix it, although they know the problem exists. someone has to die, i guess, before they pull their vehicles off the road and fix the problem. *tr

2005 nissan pathfinder. took off out of parking garage, car lost power (wouldn't accelerate) and the service engine soon light came on. took car to independent shop who advised that the computer code they were receiving from the car was a manufacturer code and i would have to take it to the dealer. took car to dealer and was told that radiator had failed and caused the coolant and transmission fluids to mix, resulting in damage to the transmission. recommended repair was replacement of radiator and transmission with an estimate of $5,200. i bought car at 48,000 miles from the dealership as a nissan-certified pre-owned vehicle. i've had multiple problems including replacing the fuel sending unit as well as a catalytic converter. the car had 115,000 miles at the time of the incident and i contacted nissan to request assistance with the cost of the repairs but was denied any help. *js

The check engine light came on in the vehicle and the car stalled or wouldn't accelerate after the gas pedal was pushed. we took the vehicle to the nissan dealership and were told that there was a crack in the radiator and were advised to have it replaced and also flush the transmission to remove any radiator fluid. paid over $1000 for the replacement. picked up the vehicle on 4/11/12. on the evening of 4/12/12 the car stalled and wouldn't accelerate again while in drive, check engine light came back on. we had the car towed to the dealership and now we have been advised to replace the transmission ($4700 repair). have not moved forward with the repair but found that other owners have experienced the same problem. hoping to participate in a lawsuit to avoid this issue for other owners in the future. on march 26 approx. we took the car to the dealership to address an issue we were having when we started the car. sometimes the car would jump at the start as if it were in drive. the issue couldn't be found by he service tech so they advised us to get a tune up. we paid over $500 that week for a tune up. the car was inspected at that service visit but nothing was mentioned or noticed about the radiator. we wondered how this catastrophic breakdown could appear out of nowhere. the problem happened a few days after the car was serviced and inspected. *tr

I began to have trouble when attempting to accelerate, the car appeared to stay in low gear. took it to nissan they recommended to replace the radiator and transmission for $5,000! i bought this car on good faith knowing nissan is a quality product and this is now happening. nissan apparently knows about the issues with a leak starting in the radiator, and leaking fluids into the transmission, which causes the transmission to go out. nissan extended the warranty on the radiator till 80,000 miles knowing about this problem, but after doing research everyone having the problem is over 80,000 miles! nissan will not do a recall! this is unbelievable. i paid very good money for this car, and now have to spend another $5,000 to repair, with a known problem that nissan will not cover. i will never purchase another nissan vehicle, since they do not apparently care about their customers. *tr

The transmission started slipping when accelerating at all speeds. coolant was found in the trans fluid. the radiator and water pump had to be replaced. we had to also add a oil cooler as a precaution. now 8k miles later the transmission has failed and will not shift into 5th gear. best case scenario is a new trans valve assembly for $1500 or worst case new trans for $6500. *tr

Just over a year ago our 2005 pathfinder's transmission failed due to nissan installing a faulty radiator in the vehicle when it was made. due to the expense of getting it fixed, it still sets in the garage waiting to save up the money to fix the issue. over the year, nissan has admitted it was a problem but instead of fixing it, they say they will cover it if the vehicle has low millage. the radiator problem is not millage dependant. we drove our pathfinder and it was beyond the millage they would cover. so i guess i am being penalized by nissan for driving the pathfinder. i just wish nissan would do the right thing for its customers. *tr

Well my pathfinder was working great and i never had any problem with it then one day i'm driving it to work and it just stop i kept accelerating and it wouldn't move. a friend of mine came and looked at it and told me on the spot you radiator busted and filled your transmission with coolant and that destroyed your transmission and destroy it did. my friend to told me funny thing is that could have been prevented by installing an external cooling which he would have done for 100 bucks if only had nissan let me know that the 2005 pathfinders had this issue. oh well i feel cheated and i swore in my life i will have a nissan car again or acura for that matter nor anyone in my family. this one i'm stuck with but once guaranteed that the mechanic gave it's about to expire i'm selling it and i'm definitely not buying nissan again! ever! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. the contact stated that when driving 40 mph or above, the engine would flood, causing the vehicle to hesitate. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was advised to the contact that radiator fluid was leaking into the transmission and causing the transmission to fail. the dealer stated this is a known problem, but the manufacturer was not going to cover the cost of the repair unless the vehicle had been serviced by a dealer for all maintenance issues in the past. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 110,000.

My wife noticed acceleration decreasing and then when she change the gear to drive the car didn't move. then, it finally went into drive. we took it to dealership and they stated the radiator and transmission will have to be replaced due to radiator fluid leaking into the transmission. we heard about this issue happening frequently with other nissan pathfinders. therefore, we contacted 1-800-nissan1 to see if we could get some kind of help. i talked to a representative named [xxx] from a company that creates a case with the hope that nissan will cover the costs. after two and half weeks a decision was made not to cover the cost of repair due to the car was bought used and it is over the 80,000 mile extended warranty. if it is a defect, isn't the manufacturer responsible. this is not caused by the consumer and is not wear and tear. i have a nissan altima with over 230,000 miles and the transmission is still producing. i loved nissan cars up until this very moment. i have been researching to purchase another nissan, but after this my mind has changed. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).*tr

Tuesday morning after dropping my children off at school, i had just made a left hand turn through an intersection in heavy traffic. i was traveling approx. 45 mph when bam!....my car all but stalled and would not accelerate. the car behind me almost hit me, i could barely get the car to steer and had trouble getting enough juice to pull it over safely to the side of the road. after much research, i see that nissan radiators are defective; they rupture and allow the coolant to spill over into the coolant system in transmission, contaminating both and ruining both radiator and transmission. there are countless stories of people stalling in traffic or completely losing enough acceleration power in a very abrupt manner that someone is going to get very hurt, if not die. what if my kids had been in the car with me? what if we would have been in heavier traffic in different circumstances? the thought of this makes me sick to my stomach. i was very lucky not to have been hurt or hurt someone else after what happened. nissan and you all need to acknowledge that a real safety risk exists here. a recall must be done! sickens me to think of those who will eventually lose their lives. how can going from a full functioning speed to no speed at all in the most abrupt, nerve-jarring manner possible in heavy traffic and not being able to maneuver your vehicle not be a safety issue? please explain this to me. oh, and as if it isn't enough that nissan obviously has no regard for their consumer's safety, they are limiting the warranties in such an unrealistic manner that the consumer is forced to foot $6,000-$8,000 to fix the issue that they clearly knew about and could have prevented from the get-go. *tr

While driving vehicle stalls and shuts down without warning . vdc off and slip lights come on in dash board has happened multiple time in last four weeks . nissan dealership had vehicle for nine days and could not recreate problem when picked up from dealership vehicle died on way home .contacted dealership said nothing they can do without them witness the problem. now vehicle sits useless in carport. *kb

Internal components of the radiator fail allowing coolant to leak into the transmission via the tranny cooler. this ruins the internals of the transmission and cause irreparable damage. *tr

There is a nissan manufacturer defect of faulty radiators that are causing radiator coolant to leak into and destroy the transmission of the vehicles and ends up killing valves, seals and the torque converter on 2005-2010 nissan pathfinders, nissan xterras, and nissan frontiers. this defect can cause an owners transmission to fail and lose forward propulsion on a highway and can cause catastrophic loss(es). *tr

The transmission is starting to slip. sometimes when i'm coming to a stop i'll jump forward. the dealer said the radiator and transmission needs to be replaced. why would do radiator affect a transmission. nissan know there is a problem with the transmission and a radiator leak inside transmission. they should recall and fix this problem. the estimate i got to repair is $5200 dollars. *tr

On 2/1/12, i had one incident when my car was stopped and when i accelerated and it gave me a push/pull slow to move. on 2/2/12 the same thing occurred multiple times. my check engine light eventually came on and then my car eventually would not accelerate after being stopped. i towed it to midas, who said they were unable to fix it. i brought it to lee miles transmission and they told me the radiator fluid mixed with antifreeze fluid causing corrosion and contamination within the transmission. i picked it up on 2/6/12 and it was fine driving home. while on my work on 2/7/12, the same problem occurred in which i was not able to accelerate. i had it towed back to lee miles and it's possibly the torque converter that was replaced with the transmission. *tr

I took in my pathfinder this week after weeks of hearing a deep noise coming from the engine when i tried to accelerate around 2000 rpm. turns out the radiator wall cracked and came apart allowing the coolant and transmission fluid to mix together. apparently this has been a problem in pathfinders, especially the 2005 model. i had the radiator replaced (total cost $1,671.61) but was told this is probably a band-aid fix because there's no way to tell how much damage has been done to the transmission. *tr

Radiator fluid leaked to the transmission which cause transmission failure. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. the contact stated that the radiator failed and caused coolant to penetrate the transmission. the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer to have the manufacturer warranted radiator replacement performed; however, the repair did not correct the failure. the radiator coolant penetrated the transmission and caused the engine to overheat. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the radiator and the transmission needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was notified. the approximate failure mileage was 89,000.

The radiator failed causing coolant to leak into the automatic transmission. bother were ruined and had to be replaced. the repairs cost $5000+ this issue is well documented on top shelf internet websites including edmuands.com and others. many folks are under power when the engine stalls, at any speed.. nissan is not offering recall. a class action lawsuit is underway. this is a dangerous design defect (cooling the transmission via the radiator) and people may be injured or worse. maybe it has already happened to some? *tr

Noticed that fuel and oil pressure gauges would not register fuel or oil levels correctly, the miles till empty will not work. we have no idea when we are going to run out of fuel, started getting worse, than notice the check engine light came on, had vehicle diagnose, turned out that both the fuel and oil pressure sending units needed to be replaced, there are numerous pathfinders with the same problem but there are no recalls on these issues. this repair is very costly and is dangerous to be driving without the fuel and oil sending units. why are there no recalls? please help! *tr

My coolant is leaking into my transmission and its on its last leg..oil pressure gauge is broken along with fuel indicator and many other problems. *tr

Radiator core is cracked, which is causing the radiator to leak. it is undetermined at this time if any antifreeze has leaked into the transmission; however, over the past several months, i have on a few occasions experienced the automatic transmission operating erratically (e.g., down shifting or not shifting into passing gear when under full power). the vehicle is scheduled to have its radiator replaced on 11/30/2011, and at that time, i will have the transmission fluid analyzed to determine if any antifreeze has entered the transmission. i pray it has not! *tr

2005 pathfinder wouldn't go in gear intermittently and i had to maneuver out of traffic to the side road and then was unable to backup no reverse! i turned the car off and back on and i was then able to to drive home and park the vehicle. this happened again the next day when taking it to our mechanic to have the vehicle diagnosed. the mechanic had issue of this while test driving. received a call from the mechanic and was told to take it to a nissan dealer for repair. there have been numerous complaints to nissan about a defective radiator issue and over time leaks into the transmission. nissan has been aware of this issue and has refused to make this right for their consumers. we took the vehicle to the nissan dealer and was told they would contact nissan to see if they would help with repair. nissan refused to assist or repair the issue that started with a known defective part. i am assuming by the response received from nissan that they are ok with a consumer that can't afford to repair their vehicle with an issue that is from a known defective part have to take their chances in driving to and from work safely until they can make enough money to have the repair done. thank you nissan. *kb

Know issues by nissan not being addressed... radiator/oil leak - warranty extended but does not cover our vehicle. timing chain failure in nissan vehichles - no warrant extension covered. more info available upon request. letter sent to nissan on 1/15/2012 detailing all of the issues.

I was not told by anyone in the service dept of the radiator assembly issue with nissan 2005-2010 frontier, pathfinder, and xterra. i found this information by surfing nissan website. i did this because i was being told by every repair shop in the surrounding area of birmingham that nissan is well aware of this issue and should do a recall on it. i called nissan consumer affairs on 1-10-2011 about the information that i discovered. i was told that i needed to take my vehicle back to the nissan dealership to access the repairs a because it had been over 30 days since i took my vehicle into a nissan dealership for service. then, my request would be reviewed by consumer affairs to see if nissan would pay for the repairs. i explained to the representative that i did not have another $100 to have the service dept to tell me the same thing again. i got an email 2 weeks ago from nissan for a survey and never heard anything back. i am paying for a vehicle i have not been able to use since november of 2011. when i purchased this vehicle in 2008 i also purchased the extended warranty with nissan, which now is expired. i could not afford to pay $5,695 for repairs so i went out and found a license transmission shop that could do it at a lesser amount. the transmission shop told me that they are having a difficult time with nissan and ordering parts for the transmission because nissan can not produce the parts fast enough due to the high demand for repairs for this issue. even though, i have 114,700 miles on my vehicle i am asking nissan to do the honorable thing and pay for the repairs. *tr

I took my vehicle into sierra nissan, birmingham alabama on 11-11-2011 for service due to experiencing problems. i was told that the cooler from the radiator had leaked into the transmission and the transmission fluid leaked into the radiator and both needed to be replaced. i was not told by anyone in the service dept of the radiator assembly issue with nissan 2005-2010 frontier, pathfinder, and xterra. i found this information by surfing nissan website. i did this because i was being told by every repair shop in the surrounding area of birmingham that nissan is well aware of this issue and should do a recall on it. i called nissan consumer affairs on 1-10-2011 about the information that i discovered. i was told that i needed to take my vehicle back to the nissan dealership to access the repairs a because it had been over 30 days since i took my vehicle into a nissan dealership for service. then, my request would be reviewed by consumer affairs to see if nissan would pay for the repairs. i explained to the representative that i did not have another $100 to have the service dept to tell me the same thing again. i got an email 2 weeks ago from nissan for a survey and never heard anything back. when i purchased this vehicle in 2008 i also purchased the extended warranty with nissan, which now is expired. i could not afford to pay $5,695 for repairs so i went out and found a license transmission shop that could do it at a lesser amount. the transmission shop told me that they are having a difficult time with nissan and ordering parts for the transmission because nissan can not produce the parts fast enough due to the high demand for repairs for this issue. even though, i have 114,700 miles on my vehicle i am asking nissan to do the honorable thing and stand behind their company vision "enriching people lives", by paying for the repairs of this vehicle. *tr

Radiator leaked into transmission causing the vehicle to stop. major problrm on 2005 pathfinders and nissan won't respond to the problem. *tt

My car had 1/4 fuel, i filled the tank to full, the gas gauge do not set the car to full tank, i read the book and made the instructions but the gauge do not change, when i run the car for 2 hrs. and i turn off, it began to change to full tank. the other issue was when i had a 1/2 tank of gasoline...i stop for 5 minutes and i leave the car on, when i returned saw the gas gauge in empty... actually i have the check engine light on for some days and off for the others days. *tr

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. *tr

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. *kb

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! *tr

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.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. the contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the engine began to rev, but the vehicle would not accelerate. the contact stopped the vehicle on the shoulder of the road. after placing the vehicle in park and switching the gear back into drive the failure did not continue. the contact also stated that the vehicle would idle and lose power. the failure would occur intermittently. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostics, where the technicians stated that there was a leak in the transfer case. the vehicle was not repaired at the dealer and was instead taken to a transmission technician. the technician stated that the radiator was cracked and leaked water into the transmission, causing the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 58,500. updated 2/22/12 *cn

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. *kb

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. the contact stated that the vehicle stalled numerous times while driving at various speeds. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where a diagnostic was performed that located the failure at the radiator. the contact was advised that radiator fluid mixed with the transmission fluid and caused the vehicle to stall. the radiator and transmission was replaced however, the failure was not corrected. the check engine warning light illuminated as the heather and air conditioning unit failed to operate. the vehicle was taken back to the dealer. the dealer inspected the vehicle and located the failure as the radiator. the dealer advised the contact that the radiator needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and denied assistance with the repair. the failure mileage was 130,841 and the current mileage was 144,121. updated 1/7/13 *cn the consumer stated radiator coolant leaked into the transmission, twice. the first time, was in july 2011, and nissan replaced the transmission and radiator at a cost of $ 6,981.86. the second time it occurred was in september 2012, at a cost of $ 1499.19. nissan replaced the transmission with an after market transmission and flushed the radiator. updated 01/09/13

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 nissan pathfinder. the contact stated that the radiator failed. the vehicle was repaired by a local mechanic, but the failure recurred. the dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. the failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 90,000.