CarComplaints.com Notes: In a very limited selection on small pickup trucks, the Frontier is one of the best options except -- and I cannot emphasize this enough -- for one problem that makes it an avoid-at-all-costs pain in you know what: the radiator ruptures and leaks coolant into the transmission, killing it. Such a buzzkill.
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Transmission failure due to radiator leaking coolant into transmission fluid.I replaced the radiator a year prior to prevent this problem from happening at the strong recommendation of the dealerships service department and still the problem occurred.
Radiator of 2005 Nissan Frontier allowed transmission fluid and engine coolant to mix. 1st I had to purchase a new radiator and now I am having to have the transmission rebuilt. There should be a recall on this type of muliple failures which cause multible problems. Paid $$$$ for radiator repair now $4300 for transmisson at my expense. I would not be interested in purchasing another Nissan.
Radiator leaking fluid into transmission. Notices slight shutter at high speed, approximately 65 mph, in the transmission. Vehicle was checked by dealer at 89,000 miles without any issue at that time. Dealer would not replace radiator due to no problem at that time. Vehicle is at 112000 and now radiator fails. Nissan would not cover due to out of extended warranty. Faulty designed system and potential safety hazard in my opinion. Vehicle at my independent mechanic for new radiator and transmission flush out to see if it will fix problem. Major expense for poor design passed onto customer. I will not spend any more money with Nissan.
- Lexington, NC, USA
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Design defect in radiator of 2005 Nissan Frontier allowed transmission fluid and engine coolant to mix. Resulted in catastrophic failure of transmission. Dealer stated since vehicle has more than 100,000 miles, the $4 - 5,000 expense is mine. Last Nissan we'll ever buy after 40 years of ownership.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Frontier. While driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle stalled when the contact attempted to slow down. The vehicle started normally after a few minutes. The failure recurred four times. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that there was an electrical short in the fuse box. The transmission and radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 75,000.
Transmission started to shudder at around 45 miles an hour. Drove the vehicle home and parked it in the driveway. Went out to start vehicle next day and it would not crank. Had vehicle towed to dealership and had it diagnosed and found out that the radiator had an internal rupture which caused antifreeze to contaminate the transmission fluid causing the tcm module to fail along with damage to internal parts. The repair is estimated at about $5300. Since the problem was diagnosed, I learned that Nissan has known about the problem for years but no notification was sent to me warning me of the problem. Despite Nissan knowledge of the problem, the company has recently refused to cover the cost of the repair.
Timing chain on 2005 Nissan Frontier. The engine makes a loud whining noise due to the chain contact. When the vehicle is stationary or motion it make the noise. When the vehicle in motion it changes gears at a higher RPM. I have sensors that were operable because of the timing chain issue.
In 2013 I received a notice of class action about a Nissan vehicles related to possible radiator fluid leak into the transmission due a defect that permits cross-contamination of engine coolant and transmission fluid. It did not include vehicles before it happens. In 2013, I went to a authorized Nissan dealer to check if my radiator can be affected but they told me that in that moment the radiator was working well without given me the option of replacing it to prevent damages. At the time I was under the warranty limits, less than 10 years and less than 100,000 miles. Now in February 13, 2016 my vehicle began to have problems to move, had a harsh shift, it slowed down and did not drive at times. I clearly saw a transmission problem. I called united Nissan service for a diagnose. They check my vehicle and told me that my radiator leaked fluid into the transmission due the radiator defect. I couldn't understand why this class action did not include vehicles that will face this damage in a future. It did not include prevention of damages. Nissan did not released a recall for the faulty radiator. I know I am now outside the warranty limits, but at the time when I visited Nissan service to prevent this no one provided my help or information that would help in prevent such damage. The price for a new transmission is 6,000 dlls. The total cost of repair all goes up 9,000 dlls. Also I received a rude customer service by the service agents of Nissan service. Now I have to cover these costs by myself. My son was driven the vehicle when this happen. The good thing is that the failure occurred while he was driven on the freeway making it so dangerous. What will happen with people like us? the legal case was closed in 2012 but Nissan still having vehicles suffering this this damage. This is a negligence that pass the financial burden to consumers.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Frontier. The contact stated that while a traffic light, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to accelerate over 5 mph. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission was flooded with coolant and needed replacement. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 91,000.
Original manufactured radiator deffect caused automatic transmission cooling line to mix with coolant causing transmission failure with no warning signs. A catastrophic failure of the transmission almost resulted in a crash do to vehicle stalling at high speeds. Not covered by warranty. The warranty denies the radiator as part of the warranty resulting in the owner having to pay for fixing damages.
Last November 6th I hit a deer, front impact. Took truck to local garage to have it serviced. The only damage they said occurred was body damage. 3wks later got my truck back with body damage repaired. About 3wks after that I started to notice a slight vibration in my truck when I got to a certain speed. I really didn't think nothing of it and thought maybe I had a tire out of balance. Well the vibration started getting worse and I started to notice a strong vibration and decrease in power when it shifted. So I took the truck back to the garage to see if they could figure anything out. I thought maybe the deer caused more damage than expected but they couldn't find anything. The didn't charge me anything because they found nothing wrong. So I drove it for another 2 weeks and it got worse. I took it to a local Nissan dealership and within 30mins they determined a transmission cooler rupture and that it basically has ruined my transmission and would need to replace it, a service charge of $6,000!!! they told me I was just out of warranty on it. I've been reading on this issue and know Nissan has an extended warranty of 10yrs or 100,000 miles. I went to the dealer on the 19th of January. 19 days out or warranty!!! when I had originally had an issue in late December and nothing was found!!! the truck is barely 10yrs old and has less than 90,000 miles on it.
Transmission starts slipping at highway speed. RPM increases without increase in speed. Intermittent but getting worse. This is my son's truck and I am worried about his safety when merging into the interstate. He almost got hit by a semi last week when merging into I-20 as the slipping was happening.
Radiator leak into the transmission fluid, causes transmission to fail and requires a rebuild. Expensive $3000 repair. Current litigation and court case does no good to most of the customers experiencing this problem. No warning from Nissan that the radiator is flawed.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Frontier. While driving, the vehicle was not able to shift gears and the gears were stuck occasionally. In addition, the vehicle accelerated independently. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the failure was undetermined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 97,668.
Soon after passing the 103,000 mile mark in October, 2015, my 2005 Frontier 's automatic transmission (with the V-6 engine) started shuttering when I pressed the accelerator while the car was going 62 to 65 mph. It was quite startling and worrisome. The problem slowly got worse with shuttering occurring at different speeds and under different loadings. Within a week or two, I took it into a national transmission repair store (amaco) who wanted to charge me $180 for 2 hours of diagnosis to find out what the problem was. I ended up paying them for only 1 hour of their time. They said I had water in my transmission and that it would need to be rebuilt to the tune of around $5,000! they said I'd need to replace an internal computer...along with the cost to rebuild the transmission. What makes me mad is that I took the car to amaco at around the 90,000 mile mark (in 2014) to get some major transmission work done that turned out to be a malfunctioning electronic/computer part in the transmission. This cost me around $1,600 to fix. At that point, there was no water in the transmission. However, they should have informed me I should replace the radiator at that point because the radiators were failing and would require the transmission be rebuilt. The repair shop could have informed me of the problem Nissan was having with the radiator...but chose not to tell me. I could have fixed the potential radiator problem for around $300, before it created the eventual transmission failure which cost $5,000. Nissan also knew, but chose not to advise me to replace the defective radiator before it failed. The dealer's failure to notify me about the radiator design flaw, which they knew about it in 2007, kept me from replacing it. I would have gladly done this to avoid spending $5,000 when the radiator failed. The estimated "date this happened" is 9/14/2015.
My radiator failed and contaminated the transmission with coolant causing the transmission to fail. The truck has 108,000 miles but the technician that replaced the transmission and radiator said that it had been mixing for a while so it is difficult to say how many miles the vehicle had at the time of the failure. It cost me $4750 to repair. This is a common problem with Nissan Frontiers.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Rices Landing, PA, USA