Problems with 2004 Nissan Titan POWER TRAIN

2004 nissan titan crew cab xe 4x4. radiator has failed, rear differential leaked, rear differential axle seals failed, front differential failed twice"c-clip", transmission leaked three times, front brake rotors replaced, driver side power window failed, something to do with the shifter fell out from underneath the dash, rear shackles for leaf springs are failing, numerous safety recalls and even more information bulletins that nissan will not repair. *tr

It was around 3:30 pm and i was just getting off of school. there was a good amount of snow on the ground so i decided to put it into 4 wheel drive. i drove for about 4 miles to get onto interstate 69. i started to accelerate and as soon as i got up to around 45mph, i heard a loud bang from the front end. the truck jerked to the left, i grabbed the steering wheel with both hands preventing from slamming into a semi in the lane beside me. luckily i didn't get hurt. i know it is the differentials are completely trashed. i have an appointment at the nissan dealership to get it diagnosed. i believe that i should not have to pay for the damage since this has been a major problem in the titans. i bought a nissan because i heard they were very reliable, and the company is willing to help. i sure do hope they help me out with this major defect in my truck. i really hope that this becomes a recall before someone really gets hurt, or even worse, killed.

I was accelerating from a stop on to the highway and felt/heard a "clunk" in the rear of the truck. every time i turned i heard/felt a "clunk". it would even do it every so often at highway speed. the rear differential went out in the truck. i had to replace it. *tr

Took my 2004 nissan titan into dealer for oil change and they informed me that the rear left axel was leaking. the truck has 107.000 miles. *ln

I was at a stop light and as i took off getting my truck up to 15-20 mph i noticed a whining sound. it sounded as if the sound was in the rear of the truck. come to find out that the rear differential was shot. the ring and pinion failed in the truck and shards of metal effected the gears as well.

When my 2004 nissan titan le 4x4 pickup (66420 miles) failed at attempting to climb the hill to my house, i discovered that although 4wd was selected, it was apparently not engaged. upon investigation it was discovered that the driver's side half axle came out of the front differential. upon research i discovered this is apparently a recurring problem with nissan titan 4x4s. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who repaired the problem by re-inserting the half shaft into the front differential. *tr

The rear axel shaft starts to leak due to seal failure but is actually due to spider gear failure causing excessive pressure build up causing the seals to fail. there are over 1000 recoded instances on the internet and supposedly one causing a serious accident with injuries. on calling 3 different dealers all were aware of the issue but nothing is covered past the 3 yr 36,000 mile warranty. all dealers service centers stated they have not seen this failure prior to that frequency. *tr

While driving kid's to school one morning truck locked up wheels and skidded through traffic for couple 100ft from 35mph or so. got out of car and could see that something in left front suspension hanging out and some kind of fluid everywhere. incident almost caused me too crash and also stranded myself and kids. car was towed to mechanic as i could do nothing to get car to move, also assumed was not to safe to try and drive. after diagnosing was told that left front axle flange had fell out of front differential and would need the entire front differential replaced with left front axle as well which got caught in suspension and locked up wheels. cost on repairs would run around $2000.00. service writer advised that should be or possibly covered under warranty as truck has 6 year 60,000 mile warranty on power train. truck has 64,872 and is a 2004. called 3 different dealerships and all said no due to 4800 miles over, but that i could drop off and they would gladly repair and see if nissan would do anything. was not comfortable with that as most visits to dealership always ended up same way. " sorry we couldn't help here's your bill ". not happy with this whole thing checked up on this problem and found are 1000's of complaint's for the same issue for the exact same problem and how it occurs all over internet, lemonlaw site, forums and also here at nhtsa. after having truck repaired at local shop also found out that nissan has designed a entire new differential to fix this issue. although when i spoke to these dealerships service department they knew nothing of the sort. the parts department had no problem giving this information to the mechanic at my shop that performed repairs. it seems a bit scary that not only does the dealership and or manufacturer know about this, but also government and traffic/highway safety people and yet we just keep driving around with our families and loved one's trusting these vehicle's because no one is telling us different. *tr

Problem: noise in the front axle and would not shift into 4-wheel drive while moving. during an oil change, the dealer noticed that the front axle was leaking. recommended replacement and mentioned the original equipment was inferior to the replacement. several months earlier the rear axle was leaking and the dealer replace that seal as well. cost: front differential axle $1,700 & rear differential $900. total of $2,600 in two months. my concern is why does a vehicle (2004 & 47k) need a complete front end replacement? come on nissan, please recognize you have a manufacturer defect or an engineering issue and take responsibility for this! *tr

Rear differential seals failed. nissan service advised me both axles needed replaced along with new seals. over $1660. they have a service notice that axles in titan pick-ups need upgraded. sounds like they know the axle set up leads to seals that leak causing differential failure. *tr

2004 nissan titan 55,000 miles..rear seal leaking fluid, dealer said it was a poorly made axle and had to be replaced. this is a wide spread problem as i have read complaints on the internet. cost $822...lost traction on the front wheels yesterday morning during snow storm. took it to the dealer this morning. mechanic said we were lucky the wheel didn't come off on the drive there. lots of titan owners saying defect on front axle also...truck is still in the shop and they want $1,100 to replace this axle and ground up pinion or something to that effect. we have also had this truck in the shop to fix 3 other safety recalls. would appreciate any help you can give us. do not understand why nissan is not being held responsible for this defect. *tr

Driving when i heard noises from back of truck 2004 nissan titan stopped and checked , called a tow truck and found out i had blew rear axle seal and the pin from the rear end and now i need to replace the whole rear end called nissan they said 2006 was corrected and to look for aluminum cover ones because the steel cover ones were the old version. yes there are 339 complaints on here for powertrain issues for 2004 titan. thanks. *tr

Front differential/axle on my four wheel drive nissan titan is broken and leaking fluid, truck will not go into four wheel drive any more. i was at the nissan dealership getting an inspection performed when they noticed the failure.

I was driving my 2004 nissan titan and my rear end locked up on me. i lost control of the vehicle but was able to avoid crashing. come to find out it was a bad rear seal on both sides. seems to be a common problem with this truck. *tr

Rear differential bearing failure resulting in ring and pinion damage

Axle seals are leaking that can cause improper rear braking. nissan hasnt addressed the issue as a recall but several issues has been noted.

Grease leaking from right front axle. axle will not stay engaged into front differential. nissan says differential must be replaced.

2004 nissan titan rear axle seals (left and right) showing sign of leakage at 90,100 miles. this is the second occurrence for this problem with this vehicle. i purchased the vehicle in july 2006 with 51, 100 miles and discovered both rear axle seals leaking. nissan replaced the entire rear axle in july 2006. now 5 years and 39,000 miles later the problem returned. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 nissan titan. while driving approximately 30 mph, the contact attempted to accelerate but the vehicle hesistated and jerked before accelerating. the vehicle was parked. when the contact examined the vehicle, he noticed that the transmission fluid was mixing with the radiator coolant. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that there was an internal crack that caused the mixing. the vehicle had not been repaired. the current and failure mileages were 51,200. the vin was unavailable.

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 nissan titan. the contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph, the transmission line blew and fluid leaked out. the vehicle was towed to a local repair shop where the contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. the vehicle had not been repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 108,000.

1. heard a popping / grinding noise once put in gear and while moving up to 50 mph. 2.both rear axle bearings and seals on 2004 nissan titan crew cab bad was told could damage rear end gears and possibly wheels falling off in transit. 3. replaced both rear axle bearings and seals to also include ring-snap, axle spacer, left rear wheel sensor. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 nissan titan. the contact stated that the shift assembly failed and could not be moved from park. the manufacturer advised the contact that the previous owner fulfilled the recall repair under nhtsa campaign id number: 04v408000 (power train:manual transmission:column shift assembly ). the dealer advised the contact that any repairs to the vehicle would be at the contacts expense. the vehicle was parked and was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 79,891.

Both exhaust manifolds have developed cracks and leaks. nissan refused to repair if not within 70k warranty. *tr

Several times in the past month while driving on the highway the truck has stalled followed by a loud thud from the transmission - all of the dash lights come on, and the vehicle restarts, but the transmission does not engage for several seconds and only one gear is available until the vehicle is shut off and restarted. also have had some problems starting the vehicle since the first 2 occurrences on the highway. replacing the ipdm as this is a known issue with the vehicle. this is a very unsafe problem that needs to be corrected immediately. *tr

2004 nissan titan se 4x4 has a known rear differential problem which leads to failure. rear differential is leaking onto brakes/rotor. my vehicle has never towed anything and only has 58,000 miles. nissan dealer says past warranty but admit known problem. i was told to contact nissan directly. differential fluid has metal in it. unsafe conditions on all early models of this truck and nissan is avoiding the issue they need to have an immediate recall before someone is killed. *tr

Sept 27 2010 traveling home from w.v from camping. we was on i - 77 s bound at mile maker 10 in fancy gap. we smelled something funny. i looked at my right mirror and saw white gray smoke coming out of the back of my 2004 nissan titan truck. i pulled over and when i put my foot on the brake i had none, due from the heat of the fire, i got out and saw my drivers side under the fender on fire. i had transmission fluid everywhere. transmission fluid had sprayed on the manifold and caught fire, then the gas line ruptured. i had a transmission fluid and gas fire. thank god i had a fire extinguisher as well as another man stop to help put it out, it took two fire extinguisher to put the fire out, one wasn't enough.we could have been killed but i was told that the reason why my truck didn't blow up was because i had a full tank of gas. well i took my truck into nissan and they told me that i had a rupture in my transmission line and that it was a defective, faulty line. i find out later that they had a technical bulletin out on the 2004-2005 armada and titan dated aug 1 2005.i had my truck in for a transmission flush 45 days before this happened and no one told me about the bulletin.no one asked me if i would like to replace my lines and clamps. i didn't know anything about this bulletin until wednesday night when i did research. if they had told me about this, this could have been prevented. nissan knows about this and i am trying to work with them. i hope they do the right thing about fixing my truck and paying my tow bills. the weird thing is i tried to get the va state troop to do a report and he said they don't do that anymore. *tr

My 2004 nissan titan was in 4 wheel drive on flat sand. it was engaged in 4wd. simply driving off the beach, the front left axle disconnected from the differential and leaked all the fluid . i did not notice this until i was on the street. the dealer said that nissan created an upgrade for it but it was not warranty. luckily i did not drive with it like this home. i do not know what could have happened. i have always maintained my vehicles and not abuse them. in no way was this a action that tested the limits of my vehicles design. the axle simply popped out. *tr

The rear universal joint has failed. i took to the vehicle to a mechanic for inspection on or about 9/2/10 and i was told that the u-joint had 3 big pieces of metal laying in the bottom of the housing. i then had the vehicle towed to hubler nissan in indianapolis, in and the service department confirmed the previous findings. hubler stated that they would have to replace the complete rear axle. the approx. cost would be $2,500-$3,000. *tr

I have a 2004 nissan titan. i began having humming sound from underneath my vehicle at speeds above 20mph approximately 3 months ago. the humming has recently turned into a much louder whining noise, so i took the truck into nissan for evaluation. they claim my rear differential is bad and the entire rear end needs to be replaced. they are unable to repair rear differentials according to the service manager. i performed a rear end fluid change and found several pieces of metal in the oil. the pieces looked like teeth from gears. nissan claims they've never heard of any problems before. due to the $3000+ price tag for replacing the entire rear end, nissan recommended i get a new truck. i feel like they are aware of a problem, but do not want to admit it thus far. i believe a rear end failure could cause a fire and or cause a loss of vehicular control. *tr

The rear axle seals were replaced with oem 2 years ago. they are now leaking again allowing gear lube to run down the tubes onto the rear brakes and tires. rendering the rear brakes and parking brakes useless and unsafe to drive. this makes the parking brake useless putting the whole trucks weight constantly on the park pin of the transmission. this rear brake loss caused brake fade of the front brake coming off an interstate nearly rear ending another vehicle. i saw on the forums and your own complaint search that it is a very common and dangerous issue and needs to be resolved. the problem must lay in the axles and not the seal themselves to be going so often. i tow sometimes and this is my daily driver so i must fix the problem asap. i have to replace brakes and rotors all the way around along with parking shoes axle seals and bearing retainers. this is very expensive.

Rear axle seals are leaking on my 2004 nissan titan. rear diff fluid is getting on rear disc brakes, braking inhibited. this is the second time this has happened. first seals were replaced at 48,000 miles, now leaking again at 97,000 miles. *tr

Rear wheel seal out on 2004 nissan titan 4wd. oil gettin on brake could cause fire. *tr

Both rear axle seals were leaking at 51,000 miles so they needed to be replaced. this causes a safety concern because the diff oil leaks onto rear brakes. now they are both leaking again at 76,000. *tr

I have a 2004 nissan titan truck. a rear axle seal leaked. this is the second time i've had it leak. differential gear oil leaks, which could get on the brakes. the first time, i had to replace the differential which also failed. i replaced the seal and bearings. this will be the second time i will be replacing them. if i had not checked it would have been a safety issue, as oil could get on the brakes. also, due to nissan's policy of not selling rear end parts (in the differential) i had to buy a whole new rear end the first time. i did not save the old parts. *tr

At around 106,00 miles the rear driver's side axle seal blew out with enough force to destroy abs sensor and parking brake assembly. 2,000 miles later passenger side rear seal blew out and rear differential totally locked up. this is apparently a known defect that nissan simply won't acknowledge. this repair ended up costing around $4,100 to repair at my expense, on top of the $900 paid previously to repair original seal failure. *ln

My nissan titan crews brakes were not performing well on a trip i took. after getting home i noticed oil on my garage floor at both rear brakes. the rear diff. was leaking all over the brake backing plate to the extent that oil was being slung throughout the wheel well the rear axle has failed the driver side rear seal required replacement due to excessive leakage when i parked the truck it had moved several inches back until another gear engaged the problem is not design itself it is the quality of the metal being used for the gears i feel nissan should be forced to recall this potentially dangerous manufacturer defect. *tr

Rear differential went out on my nissan titan 2004. denied by nissan for any assistance. nissan denied any other complaints of rear differential problems. *tr

Differential started to wine at about 58,000 miles. noticed that the right rear-end of diff is leaking oil. reported it to dealer, but they said nothing is wrong, do not hear anything, no idea what it is. concerned that the oil may end up on the rear brake rotors in which case rear brake failure may occur. rear end starting to fail now at 72,000. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 nissan titan. while the vehicle was parked he engaged the emergency brake and the vehicle made a grinding noise causing the vehicle to move. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who advised him that both rear axles seals were blown and saturated with oil. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was unknown. the current mileage was 83,167.

2004 nissan titan 67000 miles, driving on regular road in good repair, rear differential starting making noise. next day, differential locked up. inspection showed broken teeth on ring and pinion gears. *tr

The events leading up to my front end axle failure was due to slight use of the 4wd in mild snow conditions the first time. i had it repaired by a factory nissan authorized dealer and had the same problem occur less than 30,000 miles later. nissan is saying its not their fault but i was not abusing the 4wd simply just using it. basically the front left axle breaks a clip and the axle shaft going into the differential slides down. over time unnoticed i'm sure this could be detrimental to the front end components until a catastrophic steering/wheel failure. i will be trying to contact nissan to get their story of why this keeps occurring. *tr

The vehicle in question is a 2004 nissan titan with approx. 36,000 miles of use on the vehicle. on several uses i heard 'clunking' noises from under the vehicle. on the last time before taking the vehicle to the dealer, the abs warning light illuminated and the 'clunking' noise was like a grinding noise also. the dealer told me the differential had failed and needed to be replaced. this part is an extremely important part of the vehicles ability to operate safely. this part failed with only 36,000 miles on it. clearly it is a defective product and action to force the manufacturer to correct the problem to prevent serious injuries to others is required. the dealer also stated that the radiator had failed and replaced it without authorization. when questioned about this the dealer stated it was a crack in the seam. *tr

Rear axle seals began to leak at 75000 miles. vehicle has been driven on highway at all times. the nissan dealer notice the leak during an inspection. numerous forums have complaints of the axle seals failing due to improper venting. leakage of gear oil onto rear brakes presents a safety hazard to my family. request nissan replace axle seals and do a recall to reengineer a new venting system for axle seals. *tr

Rear axle seals on my nissan 2004 titan have been replaced 4 times in the last 2 years, i just had them replaced and the new seals are leaking. this is due to a poorly designed axle by nissan; of course they will not stand behind their poor design. the bulletin put out by the car manufacture is to replace the axle's being both sides in the rear at a cost of thousands should nissan do the work. i find this very disturbing as do thousands of other 04, 05, 06 model year titan owners. the real problem is if gone undetected by some, the rear can lose all of its oil causing the rear to lock up! this could and would kill people if the accident were bad enough. the second issue here is and i quote, ?c'mon nissan, stand behind your product and recall what could be a fatal situation here? unquote?. as much as i like the titan, this issue has sickened me to the point that i will shop elsewhere when the time comes. talk about passing the buck! i have seen the axle removed and rust pits form under the seal causing the leak. it is as though the metal used is from china. *tr

Nissan titan 2004 4x4se rear differential went bad and needs repair.was repaired for axle leak about 3 years ago by dealer and replaced differential cover and fluid but am now out of warranty. this is a well known problem in just about all year titans whether they are 2 or 4 wheel drive. *tr

I have just had the rear differential fail on my 2004 nissan titan at 95k miles. the truck had been used for towing but only about 5 times a year. it has a tow package and most of the miles on it are highway miles. *tr

2004 nissan titan spider gears busted, working on getting it fixed now. *tr

I was driving in loose gravel and i felt an unusually feeling in my rear axel, so i drove the vehicle slowly home never felt it until i arrived to my home and then i parked it. i then called a transmission mechanic and had the vehicle towed to transmission repair shop. the repair shop called and tried to get replacement parts for my rear axle and where unable to. so they had to get a hole new rear axle not just new parts but a completely new rear axle. the new rear axle is completely different from the original, which makes me and the mechanic that owns the repair shop believe that the original rear axle was faulty. other wise why wouldn't the rear end be the same and be able to get replacement parts for the old rear axle like you can with most vehicles. *tr

Rear end failure of dana 44 in a nissan titan, had to replace all for $3000.00. *tt

Driver and passenger side rear axel seals leaking causing fluid to get on to brake rotors. *tr