Problems with 2004 Nissan Titan POWER TRAIN

2004 nissan titan truck - rear axle seals are leaking so badly oil is getting on the rear brake rotors causing them to be in-operative. this is a very serious problem experienced by many titan owners as shown with a simple internet search. *tr

Rear passenger axle seal is leaking and is coating brake pads and brake rotors. this should not be leaking especially when this vehicle is not high mileage nor is it driven crazy/recklessly. this is causing brakes to not be as effective as it should be. *tr

Left rear axle seal leaking oil and accumulates on brake rotor cover. if not corrected , could lead to failure of entire drive assembly due to absence of fluid. *js

I was pulling out of the parking lot and driving onto a main street when i heard a clunk clunk and the rear end started hopping and i noticed i had no gears. we call ed aaa and had them tow us to a few different places before we ended up at nissan in spokane valley and they put in a brand new rear end. price and labor cost us...$3,583.33. *tr

I first heard a "whine" or "howl" coming from the rear end 2 years ago, when i took it to the dealership, they told me i need a complete rear end assembly at the cost of 4000$. i could not afford that, and they said you couldn't rebuild the rear end, because nissan wouldn't release the parts for it. i drove on it for 2 years before it went out on me on the 21st of april, 2012. ive read up on hundreds of complaints, about the rear ends on nissan titans going out, and nissan not having a recall. *tr

Driver side bearing failure seal failure causing axle oil to pour out and axle shaft to fall out. emergency brakes failed due to being covered in oil. *tr

Just had both manifolds replaced under nissan warranty. as i was driving away from the dealership i heard a loud pop turning right from the rear of the truck. turned around back into the dealerships parking lot i heard another pop? the service tech drove it around their service area and said my rear differential was going out. nissan has known this has been an issue for years especially in the early trucks years but refuses to fix it under a recall. this is a $3500.00 fix which the consumer has to pay and nissan profits from a poorly designed component. there needs to be a recall on all nissan titans from '04 - '07. *tr

Both rear wheel axle seals have failed at 67,906 miles. leaking both sides. caught in time so that rear brakes are not destroyed and rear end/differential not destroyed. this is a known defect affecting this truck prior to 2008. a definite design defect. someday someone is going to get hurt due to rear brake failure or loss of control when catastrophic rear end failure occurs. *tr

Rear differential went out. *tr

Had the rearend go out 91,000 miles had nissan rebuild then went out again at 94,000 miles nissan didn't stand behind their warranty now still sitting in the driveway till find a good salvage one . *tr

Rear differential spider gear failure. when accelerating noticed a pop and vehicle drive train slipped and disengaged. vehicle rolled to stop. when restarted vehicle moved but with significant grinding and popping. mechanic found spider gears in rear differential destroyed. *tr

After front differential had failed and would not engage 4wd. took to dealer and replaced under warranty. after 1 1/2 years started to whine and grind again dealership said sorry was out of warranty. 3 differentials in 3 years woohoo a real winner here. *kb

Rear diff started with small wine noise in am on way to work - 11.6 miles. went to lunch - another 6 miles - noise a little louder - not bad - just a little louder. go home in evening - made it another 6 miles and noise sounded like some one was crashing into the back of the truck as the back end locked up and sent me skidding across the road. luckily no one was in the lane next me!! failure according to dealer was from the 'vent' tube being clogged and causing it overheat and blow the seals... so, almost a catastrophic accident if was on highway, and now 3500 dollars to fix because of a 5 dollar check valve! this is insane. google around for the titan rear diff, and i am not the only one out there!!!! *tr

The seal on the drivers side rear failed, began to leak oil all over the inside of the rim and the brakes. this was within a few miles after having had a dealership press a new bearing onto the axle and occurred within an hour of the vehicle having been picked up from the shop. dealership admits to having seen an issue with the rear differential and knowing that it would leak but having decided to not inform the customer about the issue. *tr

Discovered the driver's side rear axle oil seal leaking. vehicle maintenance has been accomplished in accordance with nissan maintenance schedules. discovered nissan technical service bulletin (tsb)ntb10-032 stating entire axle shaft assembly (axle, new retainer, axle bearing, oil seal, bearing cage, and abs rotor) be replaced on 2004-2008 models when oil leaks are discovered to correct the problem. the tsb did not elaborate why the entire assembly is to be replaced. it can only be assumed that all parts of the assembly are considered defective and require replacement. i presented the tsb to my nissan service department and they said they only need to replace the oil seal, axle bearing, and spacer contrary to the prescribed service procedure in the tsb. within 200 miles of replacement, the new oil seal leaks indicating the cause of the seal failure has not been resolved. unresolved axle seal leaks will result in axle failure and brake failures when pads are soaked by gear oil leaks. *tr

Right side axle is leaking fluid to rear disk brake. to fix one side is 2200. after searching on titan forums, discovered this to be a defect with this truck. this is a truck that had synthetic diff oil and never towed, yet has such major failure so soon? this is a serious safety issue. *tr

I bought a brand new 2004 nissan titan from a dealership in ohio in september of 2004. had a few other issues about the truck during all this time of ownership but nissan had issued recalls to take care of those issues and i was pleased with them and their service. i am at present experiencing rear differential problems related to leaking rear seals and faulty components in the entire rear differential assembly. i have read thousands of reported differential problems on the 2004 through 2010 titans and nissan north america refuses to take responsibility to eliminate this safety defect and recall all the titans for new differential replacements at nissans expense. i hope to god people driving the titans are not killed because of this obvious problem and defect in workmanship and material. i will never deal with nissan ever again for anything and everyone i come in contact with for the rest of my life will be told by me how unreliable and honest the nissan company is i just spent 2900.00 dollars to replace my differential with a newly engineered and designed differential made by designed by and install on my truck by nissan employee's. never again! *tr

During a turn onto another street, the rear differential broke apart and seized, stopping the truck in the middle of the intersection. *kb

Car into dealer for service. found two cracked manifolds on both sides of the engine resulting in excessive noise and exhaust gases to be released into the cab. both sides need full replacement at nearly $1,200 per side. this is ridiculous on a vehicle with only 70k miles on the clock. *tr

Within a 5 mile range the vehicle started to whine, then clank, then lock-up. emergency brakes failed and rear differential failed... vehicle was undriveable. this vehicle just hit 100,000 miles. repair is > 1/5th of vehicle value. this is a very common failure in 2004 nissan titans. very dangerous - especially if towing a trailer (which is what this vehicle is advertised to do) *tt

The rear axle seals are leaking and has caused my rear brakes to slip due to the differential oil getting on my brake pads and rotors. this is my second encounter of this problem and nissan still refuses to do anything about it. *tr

The real axle seals in both sides are gone and continuous leaking is inevitable. *tr

My 2004 nissan titan rear differential went out today, i have never hauled anything and am pretty light on the pedal. the vehicle just hit 58,000 miles and i'm the original owner.the clanking was unbearable my ride home. *tt

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 nissan titan. the contact was driving 10 mph when the brake warning light illumined just as the brakes seized. the contact was able to move off the roadway where the brakes independently released. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who stated that the power train column shift assembly needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign id number: 04v408000 (power train). the failure mileage was 110,000 and the current mileage was 140,000.

Winding noise coming out of rear end, rear differential failing, bearings failing. *tr

The rear axle seals in my 2004 nissan titan 5.6l se started leaking. the current mileage is 89,000. the seals are extremely hard to find. when replacing the axel seals you also have to replace the spacers and the bearings. not only that but the fluid from the leak has got onto the brake pads and rotor. it started leaking terribly in only a matter of a few days. *tr

Popping sound coming from rear of vehicle . dealer inspection revealed rear differential failure . vehicle has 71000 miles and is dealer maintained. dealer to replace entire rear assembly at a cost of 3600 dollars. the vehicle is a 2004 nissan titan . *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 nissan titan. the contact was driving 60 mph when the vehicle started to make a loud noise and became hard to drive. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the rear differential was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 83,000.the vin was not available.

My 2004 nissan titan is leaking lubricant out of the rear seals. it wil cost around 1200 to fix and the truck only has 58,000 miles on it and has done no towing ever! *tr

I was driving on the freeway where the speed limit is 65 mph. i was going that speed when, what i thought was my drive shaft, basically exploded and fell apart whilst i was in motion. i have kept up one all mandatory and basic maintenance work and have never had a problem with it before. parts flew out from all around my truck and it slammed into a complete stop as if i had made impact into something. passing vehicles had to stay clear of the debris an i had to push my truck into the emergency lane. highway patrol asked if i was alright and i stated to have already had a tow truck on its way. when my truck was towed to the shop they said the rear end actually gave way and broke, including the drive shaft which snapped into two pieces, one of which was launched into traffic. luckily no other vehicles were damaged nor people hurt. the mechanics said they've been in business for 57 years and i was lucky to have come out of that the way i did, because in most cases the truck would have flipped and rolled. the damages were extensive and extreme for something i had no control over. the shop informed me that this was nothing to do with the way i was driving it or anything i could have done, and they found it "weird" that it happened the way it did. very dangerous and near traumatizing. i was unable to select the correct components above so i just wanted to be clear that it had everything to do with my drive shaft, rear differential, and power line. *tr

Changed engine oil over july 4th 2011 weekend and noticed oil all over transfer case. upon further inspection found two bolts missing from top of transfer case. drained transfer case fluid to which only a quarter of a quart was left and was extremely black with metal fragments in it. tried to match bolts for missing ones and filled transfer case with fresh fluid. *tr

I noticed a build up of fluid on my driverside break rear rotor and hub. when i took it to the shop, they told me that both rear seals were leaking onto my brakes and hubs. i took it in to get it fixed and was quoted $700. they then noticed that a tsb just came out that said that just the seals cannot be replaced. that they now are required to replace both axles, bearings, seals, etc to fix the problem, and would be $2600. they explained that if i didn't get it fixed my brakes would malfunction because of the of the thick build up of oil, and ultimately, there would be a catastrophic failure of the rear axle because of the fluid loss. rendering the vehicle useless, or cause of an accident if it happened while driving. *tt

Instrument lights stay on, brake vod, slip. google search lead to checking real axle seals both are leaking. no repair to date will take to shop on monday 6/20. *tr

I just purchased a 2004 nissan titan le 4x4 about a month and a half ago. i am the 2nd owner and bought it from a guy who bought it brand new in 2004 and took very good care of it. the truck only has 55k miles. just last weekend, 6/19/2011, it started making banging and grinding noises in the back wheel. at first, i thought i ran over something and it was stuck in the back wheels. after examining the rear wheel area and the brake pads, everything looked normal. however, the noise got louder and louder. it sounded like i was dragging a refrigerator. i felt a stutter in the vehicle and it started to struggle to go when i would put the truck into drive. i assumed the brake calipers may have been jammed and brought it into an auto service center to be examined. about 2 hours later, i went back to the shop and the technician took me to go see the problem. they examined the rear brakes and differential and found numerous large chunks of broken metal inside, which she said were pieces of shoes, hardware, and gears. they confirmed that the problem was in the rear differential and that the gear damage had likely caused a chain reaction damaging the entire left rear axle assembly and e-brakes. the rear axle seals were leaking too onto the wheels. all these parts needed to be replaced along with the rear axle. the service shop quoted me $3800 to get this fixed! i was in shock as i just bought the truck. of course, i could no longer drive the truck either as it was in pieces and not drivable. what am i supposed to do? i don't have this money. i had no choice but to tell the service shop to go ahead with the repairs and i will just have to put it on a credit card. i decided to do some research and went on to several internet sites for nissan titan owners to see if others were experiencing similar problems or if there was a recall for this. after reading pages of entries posted by other titan owners, i found out i was not alone. nissan needs to help pay for these repairs! *kb

Not known while driving vdc abs brake lights all come on ,found both rear axel seals leaking. *tr

Rear axle seal failure. *tr

Left axle seal leak on 2004 nissan titan, seal replaced at 63,000 miles. at 65,000 mile now rear differential is bad, needs replacement at a cost of $2800. *tr

I have now only owned this truck for one year. i am only the second owner. i have had multiple drive train issues now with this truck and it is only currently at 75,000 miles as of 11/20/2011. 04/22/11 turned a corner from a four way stop to hear a light grinding noise that turned to a heavy clunk and tire hop. took it to a local trusted auto repair tech to find that my e-locker deteriorated and literally grenaded my whole carrier assembly. the only fix according to nissan is to replace the whole rear differential as in new case fully assembled w/ rotors and all. local shop did research and said this is a common issue they have a lot and nissan does not sell individual parts to replace. local shop had to build whole new custom rear end from seals in w/ a detroit true trac mechanical locker. at the same time shortly after found gear oil in driveway from front pumpkin to find drivers side c-clip broke and axle shaft is not engaging (in other words no dependable 4wd) had that all fixed in 05/2011 and seemed okay never had used the 4wd. now 11/19/11 went to go find a christmas tree and turned on the 4wd again just in case. once again a broken c-clip out of nowhere. i have now had two broken c-clips within about 6 months of each other w/o 4wd being used. bought the truck for $16k and have now put in almost another $4k in front and rear end repairs. nissan is losing a lot of customers by not owning up to their mistakes and design flaws. *tr

Rear axle seal leaking on brakes. truck wont stop very well.nissan knows about this problem. *tr

2004 nissan titan se truck. rear axle seal leak. *tr

Front right tire was wearing irregularly and was informed at tire store that wheel hub may be worn and causing the problem. took the vehicle to the nissan dealership and not only was wheel bearing assembly identified as an issue but was informed that front differential needed replacement (front axel pulling out from front differential) at cost of $1755 (additional to the $373 to replace the front wheel hub assembly). the rear differential on this vehicle had already been replaced under warranty in april'08 (based on clicking noise while driving) which triggered me to research this defect on the internet and nhtsa web site and ask the dealer about other similar failures seen. i have found numerous issues with the front and rear differentials reported on both 2004 and 2005 titans due to what appears to be a faulty design that was later changed on the 2006 model year. i called nissan customer affairs to open a request for support and was informed based on years of service and mileage they would denied supporting this complaint, i escalated to the next level of management and was again denied any support. clearly there is an issue with the differentials on the 2004 titan that needs to be investigated since this should not be considered normal wear and tear to replace both differentials on the same vehicle given normal highway passenger driving (no off road, no towing).

Pass rear axle seal blew out and leaked differential fluid. differential fluid leaking on rear brake rotors which could cause brake failure, which was a major safety concern to me. at time of failure no suspension modifications had been done to vehicle. also, the rear differential oil will slowly leak and cause the rear differential to lose fluid and fail. as this seemed to be a very common problem with the nissan titan, nissan should address this issue and offer a permanent fix so we would not be faced with the safety issue in the future. *tr

Rear axle seal failure. oil leaked all over my brakes causing the brakes to not function properly. truck is a 2004 with 69,000 miles, so it is not covered under any warranties. nissan needs to address this issue as it is a valid safety concern. *tr

2004 nissan titan, both rear axle seals leaking. oil leaks out very fast and must refill constantly. oil also leaks on and into the wheel and brakes. *tr

My brakes started to fail. upon inspection it was determined that my rear axle seals had failed. fluid has leaked all over the bottom, into my brakes. resulting in total brake replacement. it is very costly and i am currently trying to find a shop to fix. apparently it is mainly a dealer repair; how convenient. *tr

I have a 2004 nissan titan. my rear axel seals are leaking. this truck only has 85k, as of 6/10/11. i rarely pull trailers, or any heavy load. this is my daily driver. i do mostly city driving. i noticed there was a problem when my brakes started acting up. ex. i was driving near my house when, i pressed my brakes and it almost went to the floor. it also kicked in the abs, when i was only doing about 10mph. the emergency brake light came on flashing. every time i pressed the brake(only two times) it did this. i pulled over and turned the truck off. got out looked around and did not see anything wrong. i got back in the truck and drove straight home. it did not do this again until about 15k miles later. i then took it straight to nissan and they told me this was the problem. they told me only one was bad. about a week later i put the truck on a lift myself. i noticed both were leaking! i dont understand why this would happen unless it was a manufacturing default. there is never a hard strain on my drivetrain. it is 2wd and my work truck in the city. i have also read on the forums that this is a known problem. my radiator also busted last week. up till now i have never had any problem with this truck. *tr

While driving in slick conditions i placed my 2004 titan in 4 hi, didn't notice any improvement in traction, slip indicator continued to light on acceleration. 4 hi indicator showed engagement but the truck was not engaging in either 4 hi or 4 lo. took the truck to an auto repair shop. the "c" clips on the shaft had failed and allowed the shafts to come out of the splines. due to that the shafts not being in place they ovaled the sockets, the differential oil leaked out, the bearings went out which in turn cased both the front differential and the transfer case to fail. i got the truck repaired, replaced both the transfer case and front differential, at the cost of $2500. a week later it snowed almost 12 inches. engaged 4 hi while leaving the drive way, drove approximately 4 miles and the truck lost 4 hi again and was making a grinding noise i put the truck back into 2 hi noise stopped. took it back to the shop and the shaft has come out again, even though this was a new front differential and was told that there is no fix for this problem. it happens and will continue to happen when ever 4 wheel drive is used or is to be engaged.

Left rear axle seal is leaking, at 85,436 miles. *tr

2004 nissan titan: pulling away from a stop sign a loud bang was heard and forward motion ceased. once able to get back underway loud banging was heard. vehicle lurched badly around corners. towed to dealer. inspection found rear differential had failed requiring replacement. repair was estimated at 3771.00 + tax. vehicle had 131k miles. vehicle was traded in on purchase of new vehicle at a discounted value of 4000.00 due to repairs required. *tr

Truck was due for a state inspection, truck would not pass- because of rear brakes not functioning due to leaking rear axle seals. rear axle seals leaking causing emergency brake to not function. found a forum with the same problem many owners are having-titantalk. how can this problem, which is a safety problem, not be a safety recall? come on nissan, you just lost another customer. thanks to you, i will be only buying gm products. *tr