39 problems related to transmission failure have been reported for the 2005 Nissan Xterra. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2005 Nissan Xterra based on all problems reported for the 2005 Xterra.
Coolant leak causing transmission to fail. Nissan is aware of issue and fails to take responsibilty.
Radiator coolant leaking into automatic transmission causing transmission failure. Started noticing issue around 136k at highway speed. I hear there was a class action lawsuit but the settlement is unacceptable. Nissan needs to step up and take responsibility for their design failure.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. While driving 30 mph, the vehicle failed to shift into third gear and the vehicle decelerated. The check engine light illuminated. The dealer diagnosed that the coolant was leaking into the transmission and the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.
Transmission failure (atf contamination). Odi received a petition requesting investigation of transmission damage attributed to contamination by engine coolant. The source of the contamination is a cracked atf line that runs through an engine coolant chamber in the radiator.
2005 Nissan Xterra - complete transmission failure at approx. 102,000 miles, caused by faulty radiator that leaked water into the transmission, which Nissan knew about but refused to recall. I never received any notice about the radiator issue from the manufacturer or dealer!! it would cost approx. $300 for Nissan (or the consumer) to replace the radiator, as opposed to $3800 to completely rebuild the transmission and replace the radiator upon failure; therefore, Nissan let their customers drive dangerous vehicles in which the transmission could - and did - fail at any moment. This is an extremely dangerous situation. I was in rush hour traffic, stopped at a light downtown headed to the freeway entrance ramp. When the light turned green, I accelerated and the engine roared beneath my foot. I could not even travel through the stop light. The Xterra would not go forward or backward. Had I made it to the freeway and been traveling at 50 - 60 mph in heavy traffic, and accelerated to find I had no power - no acceleration, I (and others) could have very easily been injured or killed. When my Xterra was towed to the transmission repair shop, they were very familiar with this issue and informed me that a class action had been filed and won, (and was already concluded) over this exact issue; however, the consumers in the class received a very small portion of the proceeds (approx. $800 at the high end). I am contemplating filing an action in small claims court against Nissan and the local dealer in jackson, ms, from whom I have bought 3 suvs in the past 20 years. I tell everybody I see driving a Nissan about this issue and have spread the word on social media. This is completely unacceptable, fraudulent, reckless endangerment by Nissan, and something needs to be done about it to make the consumers whole. I will never buy another Nissan.
Radiator defect causing atf fluid to contaminate the transmission, leading to transmission failure, with extensive repairs, and extreme associated costs. This commonly known defect causes transmission to fail while driving, which can be a serious safety issue, and necessitates a full recall!.
Transmission has failed at 135,000. Fuel gauge does not work. Check engine light stays illuminated, therefore I am unaware of any additional issues, and cannot pass emissions in atlanta, GA, therefore I cannot renew my tag.
Engine coolant infiltrating in to the transmission which causes both the transmission and radiator to fail. Estimated cost to replace these items is approximately $4500. This problem happens and corrodes the valves, gaskets and seals. In my case will driving the vehicle the transmission completely failed causing the vehicle to be stranded on the side of the highway for 2 hours while a tow truck was enroute.
Transmission failure due to defective valve unit. Very dangerous situation as the vehicle loose complete power. This is happening to a lot of Nissan Xterra 2005 owners.
Tl-the contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 55 mph, the vehicles speed decreased without warning. The vehicle was restarted and failed to accelerate. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the radiator failed causing the transmission to fail. As a result, the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 143,000. The VIN was unavailable. Djr.
Manufacturing defect in radiator caused transmission failure that could have been quite dangerous under some circumstances. This has been widely reported by huge numbers of Nissan owners of various year models and styles. Nissan refuses to be accountable for the failure and denies acceptable service to their customers on this issue.
Transmission failure due to a problem well known by Nissan. Coolant entered through a failed radiator and causes failure of the automatic transmission. Timing chain failure also well known by Nissan.
Internal radiator transmission cooler cracked leaking coolant into the transmission and destroying it, rendering it useless. The transmission failed on me while I was driving and the vehicle gave me absolutely no warning lights or any indication of an issue occurring with the transmission. I had no advance notice so I was unable to avoid any damage to my transmission.
A few days prior to this vehicle's shut down, I had noticed when driving at either 40 mph or 60 mph, the vehicle would start to 'vibrate'; the feel was as if driving on the highway and the tires are driving over the meridian entering the brake down lane. The alignment wasn't the issue. The day of incident, I was driving on a 50 mph main street, when approaching 40 mph, the vehicle shut down. After about 10 minutes, the vehicle started back up, enough time to drive 5 minutes back home. Once towed to the garage & after inspection I was told there was a crack in the atf line which caused coolant to mix with transmission fluid in result causing my transmission to fail. Of course I just went over my 100,000 ml warranty, my vehicle is just at 126,000 ml! I am the only owner of this vehicle & have done well maintaining it. After doing research on this issue, I am disgusted with Nissan not taking ownership to this situation! this model alone has the most complaints with this specific issue, and to only do an extended recall up to 80,000 ml is ridiculous when this issue appears to happen from 90,000 ml +!!!!!!! I bought this vehicle brand new, with the hopes to have it live for almost 300,000 ml, which I was told by the dealership prior to me buying. This company used to have a great reputation. . . . . Let's pray they try to get it back. I hope Nissan owns up to this situation & is just not sitting around until a death happens to recall it!.
I had my transmission and radiator replaced in my 05 Nissan Xterra in Dec 2010 at 69,000 miles due to defect of radiator leaking into transmission which caused me to brake down on a 2 lane highway. The Nissan service/dealer in kingston MA where we purchased the vehicle tried to tell us all that was needed was a radiator and transmission flush but we had already contacted Nissan corporate and found out we were entitled to a new transmission and radiator assembly due to a recall. They unwillingly replaced both assemblies. I have now experienced a 2nd brake down on an on ramp entering the highway and could not move my car as the transmission again failed at 153,900 miles. I had it towed to the Nissan service/dealer in kingston MA and was informed the transmission we had put in 2010 was only under warranty for 1 yr/12000 miles and I am responsible for all repair costs. I have to think that the original repair was not done properly and the same problem existed in the new assemblies that were put in as a new transmission should last longer than this. I feel my safety and the safety of other motorists was put at risk due to these problems as severe accidents could have occurred due to the fact that the my vehicle lost the ability to move at all on the highway in two different incidents. Nissan should be held responsible for not fixing the initial problem properly.
Coolant leaked into the transmission, causing transmission failure. Estimate of $5800 to repair.
Engine coolant leaked into the transmission, causing transmission failure. Replacement transmission is required.
We have learned that sometime in late 2007 Nissan motor corporation issued a warranty extension for the transmission oil cooler / radiator assembly for the subject vehicles to 8 years, 80000 miles ? up from the standard 3 year, 36000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. Nissan motor corporation, to our knowledge, has not been conducting any preventative inspections of the subject vehicles to help consumers prevent catastrophic transmission failure. Consumers report that Nissan motor corporation is denying their warranty claims and as a 'courtesy measure' will offer to replace the failed oil cooler at a discount. The additional two years or 20,000 miles with a $3000 deductible is, at most, a sad joke at the expense of consumers. Nissan has been aware of this problem since 2007 and has undertaken no preventive measures to protect consumers from failure.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that while traveling various speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost acceleration power and would not exceed 25 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the transmission had failed due to being contaminated by coolant. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 102,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the transmission failed as the vehicle shifted to neutral with the illumination of the check engine and slit warning lights. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was stated that the transmission needed to replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.
While driving across country from California to virginia noticed the Xterra begin to shake when switching to overdrive. A service shop in virginia determined that coolant from the radiator leaked into the transmission. Notified the local dealership of the problem. They were familiar with the problem and stated that the radiator and transmission needed to be replace at an approximate cost of $6500-$7000. When asked if flushing the transmission would help, they stated that they have tried that on other vehicles with the same problem, but transmission failure ultimately occurred. Contacted Nissan about extended warranty but odometer reads 102k miles which disqualifies for the 9yr/100k warranty extension.
I was driving my vehicle to work in the morning and I was about to get in the highway when suddenly I lost power of vehicle and I pulled over to the side shoulder and checked it out I didn't see anything but my car didn't move when I put it in drive so I called a tow truck he took it into the shop and the shop told me it was the transmission fail he said something about the radiator fluid has gone into my transmission and it cause to fail he told me that Nissans Xterra have this problem from year 05-10 but they haven't issue a recall or have done anything about it. Now I have a $3,860 expense that I don't have I hope someone reads this and helps we would appreciated if a investigation is done and it would help other people from this problem.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that while driving at unknown speeds, the vehicle lost power then erroneously accelerated. The contact was able to stop the vehicle by applying the emergency brake and shifting the vehicle into park. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic where the contact was informed that the transmission had failed due to coolant from the radiator mixing with the transmission fluid. The transmission was replaced. The failure and current mileages were 143,000. The VIN was not available.
Transmission failed due to leakage of coolant from radiator into the transmission. This appears to be systemic to this model and year of vehicle. Nissan has only taken action after the filing of a class action lawsuit. Nissan has clearly been aware of this isssue for at least four years and has only sent a vague letter regarding an extended warranty on the radiator, not noting the possibility of a catastrophic transmission failure, nor a campaign to fix the issue.
Having the same problem as the rest of the 2005 Nissan Xterra owners - transmission & radiator failed; coolant looks like chocolate milk. . . . Leaked into the transmission & I now have transmission failure! talked to Nissan about this, they only cover certain VIN numbers & mine was not one of them! seriously?!?!?! god willing, there will be no more Nissan's for my household!.
Nissan is well-aware of a design flaw that allows radiator fluid to cross-contaminate transmission fluid. They jokingly (at least their dealers) refer to it as a "strawberry milkshake". The antifreeze degrades transmission parts and causes transmission failure. A quick web search shows over 300 such cases.
A crack in radiator assembly causes a transmission failure.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that while driving 75, he noticed that the transmission failred and the vehicle stopped accelerating. The contact was able to successfully coast to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle fucntioned as normal upon restart. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer for a diagnosis. They stated that they needed to replace the transmission. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance. The failure and the current mileages were 112,000.
First incident occurred in April 2011 - while driving the transmission began to fail and would not shift. I had to have the vehicle towed because it would not drive faster than about 15-20 mph. The Nissan dealership diagnosed the problem as "internal fault in valve body" and replaced the valve body. This incident cost me $1568 and a week without a vehicle; went in to dealership on 4/20 and I picked it up on 4/27. Second incident occurred in June 2012 - while driving with my kids in the vehicle, on a busy street, the transmission began to fail again and would not shift. Once again, the vehicle would not drive faster than about 20 mph. This time I had the vehicle towed to a local transmission repair shop. The diagnosis was "fluid is full, but is black and burnt, dipstick for the trans is crusty looking. . . " the transmission shop rebuilt the transmission and replaced all faulty parts, including the valve body. This incident cost me $3865 and eleven days without a vehicle; went in to transmission shop on 6/15 and I picked it up on 6/26. In fourteen months, I have had transmission failure and have had to replace the valve body each time, a very expensive part. It is simply unacceptable that the manufacturer patches the vehicle, instead of fixing it, not to mention charges the owner for their defect.
Transmission failed while trying to accelerate across an intersection almost causing me to be hit by on coming cars. Nissan is aware of the problems with these cars and has not recalled. I feel this is poor business and will result in loss of life!.
Total transmission failure after engine coolant floods transmission, causing vehicle to lurch and stop. Incurred repair costs at dealership of $5,968. 89. Nissan is aware of this problem on 2005 Xterras, but failed to inform owners to replace faulty radiators which causes the transmission failure. Nissan secretly extended the power train warranty to 80,000 miles because of this problem (owners not informed), but the transmission failure associated with this issue does not occur until after 80,000 miles. One website, caromplaints. Com, as 23 pages of complaints from 2005 Xterra owners documenting this issue. . Read more...
It has come to my attention during a recent horrific event that my transmission has seized due to a failure of the radiator cracking and mixing coolant into the transmission. I had bought an extended warranty plan through my dealer when I purchased this vehicle in 2009. They had an adjustor from carefree car protection come out to look at the vehicle on Friday November 11, 2011. With that being said; they stated they do not cover the radiator issue; and since it was the faulty radiator that caused the entire transmission to fail and ultimately seized, they will also not cover that or any other of the repairs. Upon a bit of research on my own this is a known failure with this particular year/make/model of Nissan. There are hundreds if not thousands of documented cases of consumers with the very same issue. There has been no recall made on this at all. Yes, Nissan extended the radiator warranty up to 80,000 miles but not the transmission. Guess what; this happened in my vehicle at 89,000, so not only can I not fix the radiator issue but the transmission is also the same. The worst part of all this is; on Wednesday November 9th my four year old daughter and I were almost killed due to this known malfunction. We were traveling on a very busy highway in mid-day traffic when the entire transmission seized in the middle of the highway. I have to say, if it were not for my extensive training in emergency vehicle operations by the state of massachusetts , I honestly do not believe my daughter or I would be alive today. The vehicle seized right on that stretch of highway and I had to veer into a ditch avoiding other vehicles, trees, guardrails and jersey barriers. I am thankful that we did survive that horrific even. Now I am looking to Nissan to do the right thing and make this right. Updated ivoq 12/01/11.
Radiator failure causes transmission and engine coolant to mix causing catastrophic transmission failure. Nissan knows about this problem but has decided to turn their backs on their responsibilities and hope fending off class action lawsuits will be less expensive than fixing the issues they have caused. This is ignorant and arrogant on their part. Not only will this hurt those of us who are scraping by, but it will hurt Nissan in the long run, as nobody who is experiencing what I and many others are going through currently through will ever, ever but their products again. I submit that the president of Nissan USA be forced to attempt to drive my Xterra to and from work or school with his family . When he about causes a wreck or endangers his family, maybe he will see then the fatal errors of his faulty money hungry calculations. This is absolutely ridiculous that our great country hasn't forced these people to do the right thing, since they obviously cannot do it on their own.
My vehicle rumbled a little as if I was going over a rumble strip. Then after a little bit of time, I lost all gears with the exception of 4th, this became a safety issue in traffic as slowing down caused the car to almost stop completely in traffic situations. Following this, I have researched and found this to be the case for many of the same vehicles. The radiator leaks into the transmission causing transmission failure. Something needs to be done!.
Faulty radiator design allowed a crack that caused cross contamination of coolant and transmsion fluid. Caused transmission to fail.