Unknown Or Other Problems of Nissan Pathfinder - part 1

We were woken up by load popping sounds coming from outside our residence at approximately 130 am. When I looked out the window I saw that our 8 month old 2011 Nissan Pathfinder le was on fire in our driveway. This fire was so intense that the entire passenger compartment of the vehicle was engulfed with 15-20 ft high flames. We had not driven the car in 2 days and there had been zero after market modifications or major mechanical done on the vehicle. The fire department said that there was no evidence of suspicious behavior involved in the fire.

See all problems of the 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 🔎.

While driving down the highway my husband and I experienced loss of power and had to pull onto the side of the road. We were towed from there to the mechanic who explained to us that the internal radiator had leaked fluid into the transmission causing failure to both. Since our warranty was outdated we are now out 6000$ and are struggling to fix this. I am very frustrated and disappointed in the vehicle. We had our children with and I am very glad that we were not at a busy intersection or interstate.

See all problems of the 2007 Nissan Pathfinder 🔎.

Per Nissan dealership diagnosis: technician found anti-freeze/transmission fluid mix in both radiator and transmission (failure in radiator cooler) trans (tcm); no communication with other vehicle ecms catastrophic transmission failure. Dealer recommendation: replace transmission and radiator. Full transmission fluid and radiator flush of systems.

See all problems of the 2005 Nissan Pathfinder 🔎.

Radiator can fail and allow transmission fluid to mix eventually destroy the transmission. Ive checked the coolant and it has turned a milky pink color. Appearently, there are alot of owners with the same problem.

Rough shifting prompted a check of the transmission fluid at the dealer. Was told the radiator cracked and leaked coolant into the transmission and both components needed to be replaced immediately. They offered refurbished parts for the out of warranty repair for $5480. An independent repair shop offered new parts for $5200.

See all problems of the 2006 Nissan Pathfinder 🔎.

This vehicle has approx 80k miles when heat stopped working and transmission started shifting hard. I was informed by my mechanic that coolant had mixed with the transmission fluid and that it was a known problem at Nissan. We replaced the radiator and fluids. A few months later the transmission is inoperable and Nissan has refused to acknowledge the issue. My mechanic at midas of richmond va informed me that he sees this problem all the time and that Nissan is doing nothing. Clearly, Nissan knew this was a problem and has refused to take any action due to the high cost of the repair. This is clearly a safety issue as well as a known defect issue. I cannot believe the manufacturer would be allowed to install a major vehicle component with a known defect and for the customer to have no recourse.

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!.

I am having multiple issues with my 1998 Nissan Pathfinder due to corrosion. The most recent incident was while I was driving my muffler fell off. I took it to a shop and when they raised the vehicle, the entire exhaust system had corrosion and holes from it. This was followed by last years strut housing corrosion which broke off the strut from the frame of the vehicle while I was driving. I lost breaks and had to step on pedal all the way, and then the vehicle gradually came to a stop. The recall notice came after the incident. This was followed by the previous year's gas tank corrosion which caused gas to drip. Also a recall notice came in and Nissan dealer fixed issue.

See all problems of the 1998 Nissan Pathfinder 🔎.

My 2005 Nissan Pathfinder shuttered excessively when decelerating from the interstate and from that point forward had difficulty shifting into higher gears. I immediately took it to a mechanic and was told the transmission had gone bad. In the process of replacing the transmission, they discovered the radiator leaking into the transmission and the computers in the transmission and the car were not communicating.

I was driving my vehicle when suddenly the front wheels locked. The engine went off and the power steering was also locked -up and I lost control, the car spun out, and hit the jersey barrier with the back.

See all problems of the 1999 Nissan Pathfinder 🔎.

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 minutues and I leave the car on, when I returned saw the gas gauge in empty. . . Actually I have the check engin light on for some days and off for the others days.

I havent finished paying off my car and already the transmission of my Nissan Pathfinder 2007 xl is failing. The radiator spilled the cooling liquid into the transmission, which then proceeded to cause serious problems to the transmission. The guaranty expired after 100 000 miles, even though prior to that the mileage the guaranty still applied. Now, in order to fix the transmission, or replace it for a new one, will cost me over $5000usd. I'd like to unite to the existing complaints/lawsuit against Nissan on the matter of the faults found in the 2007 Nissan Pathfinder, as I feel that is unfair that the company with the knowledge of fault in its product has not warned the public and has proceeded to sell the product to the public, leaving us with a faulty machine that in the end is more expensive, and not a satisfactory product. I am hopeful that the company will response to all of our complaints, stepping forward and taking responsibility for the inconvenience they have caused, and hopefully taking ownership of the expenses that due to their lack of responsibility, have been incurred on to us, the consumers.

I am a car dealer in montana, purchased a 2005 Nissan pathinder at the auction with 85,000 miles for re-sale. Showed it once to a customer, it ran fine, I drove it home 8-6-11. 78 mph on cruise control on the interstate. The transmission dis-engaged, I barely recovered from hitting the medium at that speed. Turns out this is an issue that the transmission cooler leaks fluid into the trans on 90% of this model year. Even though I am a dealer. . . This is not right. $4500. 00 repair. Thankfully it was not one of my customers. Nissan should re-call every one of these and make it right. I cannot believe there has not been a death from this failure. I am sure there has been many stranded travelers that may have died as a result.

Many instances of the car jerking, jerking forward when trying to slow down or stop. The rpm reving up to dangerous levels for no reason and trouble driving uphill. My car has become a major safety issue. First the fuel gauge stopped working, which caused me to run out of gas and stalling in the middle of an intersection. Next, my car stalled for no reason while driving, that was repaired, something to do with a relay switch, now the transmission issues, possible radiator failure and the need of a new catalytic convertor in a car with 100k miles. . . . That's insane !!! someone is going to be seriously hurt or killed if they don't fix these vehicles and people don't have thousands of dollars laying around to fix it. So, no food, rent or bills being paid for over a month just to pay for repairs is even more of a hardship to families. Please help us before something happens. Thanks !!!.

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 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 warrantee.

Nissan used bad radiators in 2005-2006 that break, leak into transmissions, and require users to purchase both a new radiator and transmission. This happened to mine, and then I found countless complaints online. Nissan knew that the radiators were faulty, but didn't perform a recall, which put a lot of cars on the road with transmission failures that are dangerous.

My family and I were driving back from a small trip while on our way home our truck starting shaking when it reached speeds of 40 to 50 mph it did this about 3 different times on our way home. We pulled over to check but were not able to find anything, we were nervous because we had not had any problems with our truck. Once we had made it into to town we were at a stop sign as my husband accelerated to cross the intersection the truck hesitated to speed up. It appeared to be that the truck was stuck on 1 to 2nd gear. Luckily it was late in the evening and there was no oncoming traffic when we crossed the interception, if not I hate to think what could have happened. It felt like the truck was going to die right in the middle of the intersection. Next day we took the truck in to our mechanic. He informed us that there was water/coolant from the radiator that leaked into the transmission, he advice us to take it in to our local Nissan dealer shop. We had to pay Nissan $96 for them to perform a diagnostic test because they would not accept our mechanics results. Once the diagnostic test was performed it confirmed what out mechanic had informed us. We submitted a claim to Nissan of America, and sadly they denied our claim. Their reason behind the denial was because the extended warranty for the radiator covered up to 80k miles our truck was over about 35k miles. We are stuck with a bill of over 6k to have the truck fixed, it requires a new transmission, radiator, tranny cooler line flush and coolant flush. I have been on the phone with Nissan for over 11/2 week with no results other than Nissan refuses to fix our truck because we have surpass the 80k miles. What I don't understand is how is it possible for a 6 year old truck to have such seriouse problems with transmission due to a falty radiator which Nissan was well aware.

The family and I all got into the car after grocery shopping, it seemed to be a normal night except when my mother went in for reverse to get out of the parking spot the car accelerated backwords and the car took over, our mother was yelling saying ' the brakes wont work ' everybody was in such a panic the car hit two circles in the store parking lot. Luckly no one was there. We ran into the store gate which was there just in case those sort of things happen but my brother who was sitting in the passanger seat stop the car by putting it in parking.

Radiator leaks into transmission causing transmission to mess up. Nissan is aware of the issue and told me it happens on higher mileage Pathfinder but they only extended the warranty to 80,000 miles. I researched the 2005 Nissan Pathfinder and found that this is an ongoing problem that occurs with this year and model. I feel there should be a recall on this problem and Nissan should be held accountable.

My brand new timing chain failed, destroying my engine and costing me over $8000 in repairs in addition to the cost of the timing chain ($1100).

Extreme rear end wobble (sway) at highway speeds.

See all problems of the 1997 Nissan Pathfinder 🔎.

At this time, this has been no accident. However, there is severe frame rust that could result in an accident. The frame rust occurs along the rear axle, steering column, and various other locations along the underside of the vehicle. In addition, the rear suspension control arm was replaced due to defect which allowed to vehicle to sway uncontrollably.

I was driving on the highway and the transmission failied. It was sudden and there was no warning. I was driving along fine and all of the sudden I had no power. I was able to pull over and get help. When I took the vehicle into a repair shop I was told the radiator leaked fluid into the transmission and ruined it. I had to pay to replace both the transmission and the radiator. I also received a letter from Nissan stating this was a known design flaw. When I asked to be reimbursed I was told I was outside of the warranty mileage. I disagree if the damage was caused by a defective part, not wear and tear and not misuse of the vehicle they should recall this on all vehicles regardless of mileage, etc. I have tried contacting Nissan several times and I have been told there is nothing they can do. The damage cost about five thousand dollars to fix and it all had to come out of my pocket. I am so disgusted with this company and the terrible way they handle their mistakes. I will never buy another vehicle from them and I have warned others to get their vehicles checked before they get stranded somewhere or possibly have an accident because of the gross negligence of Nissan.

I own a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder and have been doing all the required maintenance on it in a very timely manner. It is a very well maintained SUV and had only 49,997 miles on it. I got a safety recall notice on it for the ecm relay issued and took it to the dealer. I was also experiencing some whining noises. The service dealer advisor at the dealership told me that my timing chains had a problem and needed to be replaced. He said this was a serious issue and could lead to engine damage and is a potential road hazard. He also said it needed to be fixed immediately, as this was a known problem, that had been experienced by a number of other customers and that Nissan motor CO. Had issued a service bulletin ntb09-128 regarding this problem. I am really surprised that Nissan did not think it was necessary to communicate this piece of important information to all its customers. My son who is 21 years old drives this SUV on ski trips and I am really alarmed that this defect which was known to Nissan could have lead to some serious road hazards. Nissan has acted in a very callous manner because they did not inform their customers about the possibility of such a serious issue which can lead to road hazards. They did not issue a safety recall to fix the issue. I request you to kindly investigate this issue and ensure that Nissan communicates this serious flaw to all owners of 2006 Nissan Pathfinders and any other model which has the same issue. Updated 03/07/11.

Timing chain and fuel sending unit on 2005 Pathfinder is defective. While the maunufacturer recognizes this as an ongoing problem, they are only willing to cover those vehicles up to 72,000 miles. A claim was filed and rejected on both problems as my vehicle has 82,000 miles.

Nissan needs to step up! this is an unbelievable amount of what is wrong with the world. Since having the many other problems fixed on my Pathfinder(2005) I am now facing an issue of it running sluggishly, high rpm's and less get up. That was one of my favorite things when we purchased the truck, I thought it was safe. I felt comfortable merging into traffic with my 4 children I knew we had power on our side. The tire pressure is constantly ( 1x a week) setting off the tpms, then there is the squeaky brakes and other rattling, vibrating noises. The other thing is the check engine light that randomly comes on for some reason then will mysteriously be gone a few miles later. We bought Nissan thinking it was still a stable reliable company that made a strong product and stood behind it. . . Well were we ever wrong! never again!!!.

I received, in the mail, a warranty notification from Nissan north America headquarters, consumer affairs department, franklin, TN. Basically, it reads: Nissan has extended your vehicle's new vehicle limited warranty as it applies to the radiator assembly to 96 months/80,000 miles (whichever comes first). . . Nissan north America wbi/10-029. When my husband, scott, contacted our local Nissan dealerships service department, he was informed that the component would have to fail before they could do anything about it. According to other NHTSA complaints from Nissan Pathfinder owners who have had the component fail, it sometimes causes transmission failure and loss of vehicle control (lack of engine power throughput to provide mobility). If the component were to fail it seems that it would create a safety issue under some conditions (on highways where it is not convenient to pull over). Some Pathfinder owners have claimed that it can cost thousands of dollars to replace the transmission, and that Nissan sometimes does not cover repairs beyond the radiator, despite that problem can leak coolant into the transmission, sometimes causing serious damage to, or failure of the transmission. Nissan should know about this problem and offer owners of possibly effected vehicles a free test to determine if their vehicle does, indeed have a defective radiator assembly. If a test is not available, then the radiator assemblies on these vehicles should be repaired of replaces as necessary to ensure that they will not fail under normal conditions and mileage. Furthermore, if a radiator assembler were to cause a transmission to need repair or replacement, Nissan should cover associated transmission correction costs. Because of this problem, we (my husband and I) no longer driver our Pathfinder on long trips, and have lost faith in our vehicle and Nissan.

Vehicle sways back and forth at speeds above 60 mph.

My front drivers side strut tower housing was completely corroded and damaged and had to be replaced. I received a recall notice in the mail and realized this was what was behind the issue.

The strut housing on the driver's side rusted completely and broke . It caused the inner fender to touch the brake master cylinder. I had to pay to have this repaired out of pocket, and then recieved a recall notice several months later. I would like to know what the next step is for reimbursement.

Hit a pothole and then started hearing a noise from the front driver side of the vehicle. I then noticed that my odometer was no longer working. Upon inspecting the vehicle I found that the driver's side front strut tower had a large rusted out area and that the spot welds of the panels were separating. This problem seems to be the same as those listed in NHTSA action number: pe11004.

Also after having the previously mentioned problem fixed, 1 week later I noticed the following: my 2000 Nissan Pathfinder seemed excessively bumpy and the steering seemed very stiff at times after hitting a pothole. I took it into my mechanic and was told that the frame has rusted through where the wheel well is attached to a strut mount. The strut is loose (causing the bumpy ride) and the strut is pressing against the steering system causing the steering to be stiff. I was told that if I continued to drive it and went over a bump, the strut could plunge through the hood. I feel that this is a safety issue that could cause a serious or fatal accident if I were to hit a pothole at on a highway at a high rate of speed. After investigating the incident further, I have come to find out that this is a structural defect issue with Pathfinders and the and the cause was that the frame rusted through.

See all problems of the 2000 Nissan Pathfinder 🔎.

2005 Nissan Pathfinder. Engine cuts off without warning while driving. Has happened twice in traffic, one time at a busy intersection. Vehicle starts about 20 minutes later. Took vehicle to dealer who advised that it's 'most likely' ipdm failure but they are unable to diagnose as it doesn't throw a code. Dealer kept car 5 days and "tried" to duplicate the failure to positively diagnose, but was unable to. The day after picking it up from the dealer the engine quit again in traffic. Now we are told that our warranty company will only cover if they can positively diagnose. My toddler was in the car the first time this occurred and our car died in the middle of an intersection between 2 6-lane roads. Couldn't remove the vehicle for 30 minutes. Just waiting for it to happen while merging on the interstate during rush hour traffic. Hopefully there are no injuries or fatalities as a result of this failure.

While driving down the street at approximately 45mph the vehicle suddenly loss forward moving power but the engine would rev to a high rpm, causing a dangerous situation with the other traffic on the road while we attempted to coast to the side of the road. Upon taking the car to the dealer, I was informed that the radiator had experienced an internal failure causing antifreeze to enter and contaminate the transmission causing that to become damaged beyond repair. Although the power train (which I imagine includes the transmission) was still under manufactures warranty up to 60,000 miles, I was told it would not qualify for a warranty repair since it was determined that the radiator was the cause of the transmission failure and the radiator was only covered under a 3 year or 36,000 mile warranty. The repair costs for both were quoted to me from the dealer to be ~$6,000. 00 for a new radiator and transmission. It is also my understanding Nissan has recently started to extend the warranty on certain Pathfinders faulty radiators (based off of VIN number) and would also reimburse anyone who already had to pay for this repair out of pocket. I have not received a letter from Nissan to-date stating my vehicle has qualified for this plan. Even though it is obvious to me (and the Nissan dealer) that my radiator was faulty therefore causing the damage beyond repair to my transmission as well. I feel I should be reimbursed for this very expensive repair since it was caused out of no fault of my own. Due to the extremely high dealer quote, I opted to have the vehicle repaired at an independent certified repair shop for ~$4,000. 00 for which they installed a newly warranted transmission and radiator package. I was told they only sell the replacement transmissions with the radiators included, confirming to me that this type of failure is known to the industry as a combined failure.

I have a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder and my transmission oil leaked into my radiator causing me to have to totally replace my radiator and I had to have my transmission flushed but it still damaged my transmission. This was a manufacture error but Nissan refused to pay because it had over 80,000 miles. I have three Nissan in our family but I will never buy another. I also am having trouble with the heating and air conditioner controls in both my 2005 and 2006 Nissan Pathfinders. The control quit working in both!!!! so disappointed with Nissan!!!!.