Power Train Driveline problems of the 2004 Nissan Titan - part 1

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 .

Rear axle seal failure.

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.

2004 Nissan Titan, both rear axle seals leaking. Oil leaks out very fast and must refill constantintly. Oil also leaks on and into the wheel and breaks.

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.

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 85436 miles.

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.

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.

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.

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 repair's 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 dol anything. Was not comfortable with that as most visit's 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 occur's 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 dealership's 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 repair's. 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.

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!.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Rear differential went out on my Nissan Titan 2004. Denied by Nissan for any assistance. Nissan denied any other complaints of rear differential problems.

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.

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.

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.

Rear end failure of dana 44 in a Nissan Titan, had to replace all for $3000. 00.

Rear differential failure on 2004 Nissan Titan. Warranty replaced by Nissan 3 times prior to this failure. Latest failure at 57,106 miles is not covered by warranty.

The rear differential of my 2004 Nissan Titan failed today while turning into traffic. I lost all acceleration and was nearly sideswiped due to this problem. I am aware of at least 75 other cases of this same failure. My dealer wants $3300 to fix it and I only have 49,000 miles on my truck. This is unacceptable and someone needs to do something about it.

The rear axle seals (both) on my 2004 started leaking at 56,000 miles. The leak occurred at 5 years and 4 months so the dealer denied any warranty responsibility. This vehicle is used for mostly for local trips with occasional trailer towing that is well within the design limits as advertised by the manufacturer. In replacing the seals it was noted that they appear to spin in the axle housing thus wearing off the outer sealing surface. It appears that the only provision to prevent this is the clamping action of the bearing retainer that sandwiches the seal between it and the bearing which is then forced against a shoulder in the axle housing. Previous designs of this axle, as used by other manufacturers, pressed the seal into the retainer and then sealed the retainer to the housing with a gasket. Leaks such as I experienced were almost non-existent. While the leak is mostly annoying, it does have the potential to contaminate the brakes thus impairing the stopping ability of the vehicle.

I own a 2004 Nissan Titan, and I noticed oil on my rear wheels, and on the floor below both of my rear brakes. The oil was leaking from the rear differential at both ends of the axle. The oil was leaking all over the brake backing plate. I took it to the dealer and they replaced both rear wheel bearings and seals. I turned this into Nissan,and they re-embersed me for the repair. I found that this problem is common on the 2004 Nissan Titan, and I feel this is a safety issue as the rear brakes do not operate well now that the oil was on the brakes. At the time, I had approximately 75000 miles on the truck, and don't tow or use for heavy use. I drive this as I would a car. Anyhow, the passenger side wheel seal has started leaking again, and I have 90,000 miles on the truck now. I feel Nissan should be forced to recall this potentially dangerous manufacturer defect.

Failure of rear differential. 2004 Titan purchased 8/04. In 8/05 while in washington state on vacation, noticed 3-4 mpg drop in gas mileage. Crawled under truck looking for gas leak and found differential fluid had shot out of front seal and fluid was low. Added fluid per owners manual and brought to a dealer. Dealer said I used wrong fluid and should have used synthetic. At this point Nissan realized they had a heat problem and switched to synthetic and installed finned differential covers (which I noticed were on the 2005 models in their lot). I told the dealer they were covering up a heat problem on the 2004 model and wanted an inspection. They refused since they didn't see a problem. Installed mag-hytech cover myself. Periodically had oil shoot out of vent on axle tube and all over tire. Dealer said that was normal. 4/17/08 at 41000 miles right axle seal failure, dealer fixed. 10/13/09 at 52589 miles left axle seal failure, convinced Nissan corporate to fix and they did. Found fix on-line for bad axle vent design, added vent hose and filter but still had fluid coming out. 3/8/10 at 55900 lots of metal on dipstick, changed fluid and pieces of spider gear came out with fluid. 3/16/10 at 55919 brought to dealer for inspection hoping to get Nissan to repair differential. Nissan refused since "too expensive and there wasn't a recall anyway", one of the dumber comments I've ever heard. 3/22/10 at 55924 had 4x4 shop repair differential. Shop showed me Nissan had installed wrong bolts in differential. Shoulder on bolts was too short and only hit one side of spider gear assembly flange, with other side riding on the threads. Bolts eventually backed out causing spider gears to self-destruct. Cost me $2100 to repair, existing ring and pinion were in good shape inspite of issues. Replaced differential assy with detroit true trac. Shop used bolts from another dana differential and cut length to fit.

Heard a clunk from the rear of the vehicle. Upon inspection I found that the electronic locker disintegrated damaging the rear end. I found out that this is a very common problem for 2004 to 2007 Titan's with the off-road package. Never used the truck for towing. It was used for daily transportation. The truck had about 90,000 miles on it when the rear end blew up. I had a local shop put in new axles, ring and pinion and an after market locker for about $2500. Nissan wanted to replace the complete rear end which would have been about $3500.

On the afternoon of Feb. 25th, 2010 my Nissan Titan rear differential made a loud boom noise. After wards, the whenever the vehicle rolled a loud whirling noise could be heard in the rear of the vehicle. I towed the vehicle to my mechanic where he said the rear differential is shot. As he was backing up from the tow truck the truck made a second loud pop noise. My vehicle has only 40k miles on it. I do not tow anything. I do not constantly lug heavy items on it. I don't push my truck to the limit at all. But this happens. And worst of all it happens when the warranty expires. This is ridiculous and unacceptable especially from Nissan. This should be a recall and should be fixed. I have three options from my mechanic. Used for a thousand dollar. Rebuild it for 1,200. 00 dollars, or over 2000 for new. And this does not guarantee if it would happen again. I am very upset at this situation.

As so many others have experienced, the rear axle seals are leaking fluid on rear brake rotors which is causing brakes to fail. This is a major safety concern and expense. Nissan should be made to fix issue. Only have 54000 miles on vehicle.

Front axle failed at 41,000 miles with attempting to switch into 4wd hi on snow and ice covered street driving approximately 10 miles per hour. Truck was taken to dealer where it was determined that the driver's side axle shaft snapped at a machined point on the shaft and had pulled out of the differential housing allowing the gear fluid to leak out. Dealer replaced the stub shaft and internal pinion gear. This was only the second time I've used the 4wd. Thankfully I purchased an extended warranty as it was not covered by factory warranty.

2004 Nissan Titan suddenly and unexpectedly broke the front differential causing a lack of 4wd in a snow storm and the vehicle did not perform as expected. Broken equipment cause 2000 dollars worth of damage to vehicle that was otherwise in perfect running condition.

Front differential axle cir clip failure.

I have a 2004 Nissan Titan that had an issue with the differential in the rear end. In my case the rear end did not lock up at highway speed but the potential for that happening is there. After my problem occurred I did some research online and determined that my case was not an isolated incident. My truck has not been abused, has a towing package which has been used to tow a trailer only a few times and had only 62,000 miles at the time of the failure. From what I could determine Nissan redesigned the rear end I n the 2008 model and the problem has been reduced but that does not rectify the problem for the 2004-2007 models on the road. Unfortunately the Nissan solution is to replace the faulty rear end with the same type which in my case I chose not to do. From the information I could gather I was better off and safer going with an aftermarket differential which I decided to do to prevent potential problems in another 3-4 years or sooner. I realize there are not large numbers of Nissan Titans on the road but this does not make the situation any less dangerous for the drivers of them.