2005 Nissan Pathfinder transmission seized while driving up a large hill with my family hundreds of miles from home on vacation. Spent $250 to tow to the nearest Nissan dealer where the confirmed the issue stating it was a faulty radiator component causing coolant to leak into the transmission, causing it to be destroyed. The service center suggested a repair bill of $5,000 for refurbished transmission, and this did this within 30 minutes, which I thought was odd. Once I made it home I am finding this issue is running rampant, no wonder they confirmed the issue so fast! Nissan needs to issue a full recall and compensate owners for all or at least a majority of this repair.

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

Our transmission started shuttering, pulling, and lagging while driving at speeds of 40 mph or more and eventually failed. As a known factory defect and design flaw, Nissan failed to notify current owners about transmission failures due to radiator fluid leaking into the transmission. Instead of sending a letter out to all Nissan owners about this issue, they decided to offer an extended warranty up to 2013 or 80,000 miles. Since most of the cars will have problems well after 80,000 miles and no owners were notified of this extended warranty, consumers were left unaware as Nissan evaded the problem. As our only family car, this issue could have caused a major injury or death if the car's transmission failed while driving on the highway. I have tried to get answers from Nissan North America, but they said they are not willing to help me because I am past the 80,000 mile mark and that I am not a loyal enough customer. I have owned three Nissan and I don't know how I could possibly be more loyal, especially since I had major issues with my Nissan titan a couple of years ago which Nissan denied to fix even while it was still under the factory warranty. This should have been resolved with a factory recall long before I had this issue. Now I am facing a repair bill from Nissan for $5,380. Leaving consumers with this kind of burden and hazard makes me wonder if Nissan is waiting for someone to be seriously injured or die from this very common and inevitable outcome for most Nissan SUVS and their owners. This problem still exists, it will not go away on its own, and there are hundreds of people like me with the exact same complaint. Something needs to be done to hold Nissan accountable regarding this matter.

- Mount Pleasant, SC, USA

Within a week had check engine light for catalytic converter failure and transmission starting skipping. Found fluid to be strawberry colored in transmission. Stopped at a transmission shop and they advised that the radiator had failed and leaked coolant into the transmission. This has caused permanent damage to the transmission. Basically having to buy the car all over again or cut my losses and send it to the scrap yard. I will never buy another Nissan product. They know of this problem and refuse to correct their mistakes.

- Black Mountain, NC, USA

While driving the "service engine soon" light came on the car stopped shifting up or down. The nearest diagnostic center obviously pointed to the transmission and they said to take the car back to the dealer. I did this on 29 February 2012. Their analysis was that the transmission fluid and coolant had intermixed due to a leak in the system and the transmission and radiator system had to be replaced, their estimate is $5000. They are awaiting delivery of a rebuilt transmission. I have contacted Nissan and been given a file number, 7392063, with no further follow up as of today, 4 March 2012. Approximately 1.5 years ago, my son had the same issue with an identical Pathfinder. He drives more than I do and reached the 90000 mileage sooner. He replaced his transmission for a similar cost. Based on similar complaints I have been researching, Nissan is aware of this design flaw but has not satisfactorily addressed it. In virtually every complaint I have examined, the transmission failure due to this leakage occurs after 90000 miles.

- Hellertown, PA, USA

The transmission is starting to slip. Sometimes when I'm coming to a stop I'll jump forward. The dealer said the radiator and transmission needs to be replaced. Why would do radiator affect a transmission. Nissan know there is a problem with the transmission and a radiator leak inside transmission. They should recall and fix this problem. The estimate I got to repair is $5200 dollars.

- Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA

I took in my Pathfinder this week after weeks of hearing a deep noise coming from the engine when I tried to accelerate around 2000 RPM. Turns out the radiator wall cracked and came apart allowing the coolant and transmission fluid to mix together. Apparently this has been a problem in Pathfinders, especially the 2005 model. I had the radiator replaced (total cost $1,671.61) but was told this is probably a band-aid fix because there's no way to tell how much damage has been done to the transmission.

- Orange, CA, USA

Internal components of the radiator fail allowing coolant to leak into the transmission via the tranny cooler. This ruins the internals of the transmission and cause irreparable damage.

- Conyers, GA, USA

I took my vehicle into Sierra Nissan, birmingham Alabama on 11-11-2011 for service due to experiencing problems. I was told that the cooler from the radiator had leaked into the transmission and the transmission fluid leaked into the radiator and both needed to be replaced. I was not told by anyone in the service dept of the radiator assembly issue with Nissan 2005-2010 frontier, Pathfinder, and xterra. I found this information by surfing Nissan website. I did this because I was being told by every repair shop in the surrounding area of birmingham that Nissan is well aware of this issue and should do a recall on it. I called Nissan Consumer Affairs on 1-10-2011 about the information that I discovered. I was told that I needed to take my vehicle back to the Nissan dealership to access the repairs a because it had been over 30 days since I took my vehicle into a Nissan dealership for service. Then, my request would be reviewed by Consumer Affairs to see if Nissan would pay for the repairs. I explained to the representative that I did not have another $100 to have the service dept to tell me the same thing again. I got an email 2 weeks ago from Nissan for a survey and never heard anything back. When I purchased this vehicle in 2008 I also purchased the extended warranty with Nissan, which now is expired. I could not afford to pay $5,695 for repairs so I went out and found a license transmission shop that could do it at a lesser amount. The transmission shop told me that they are having a difficult time with Nissan and ordering parts for the transmission because Nissan can not produce the parts fast enough due to the high demand for repairs for this issue. Even though, I have 114,700 miles on my vehicle I am asking Nissan to do the honorable thing and stand behind their company vision "enriching people lives", by paying for the repairs of this vehicle.

- Birmingham, AL, USA

Automatic transmission started to slip and would not go into gears. After parking the car, found that the car would not go into reverse either and all it would do is rev. Car has been on regular maintenance schedule. Very disappointed to see that this problem occurred with under 100K miles.

- Fremont, CA, USA

On 2/1/12, I had one incident when my car was stopped and when I accelerated and it gave me a push/pull slow to move. On 2/2/12 the same thing occurred multiple times. My check engine light eventually came on and then my car eventually would not accelerate after being stopped. I towed it to midas, who said they were unable to fix it. I brought it to lee miles transmission and they told me the radiator fluid mixed with antifreeze fluid causing corrosion and contamination within the transmission. I picked it up on 2/6/12 and it was fine driving home. While on my work on 2/7/12, the same problem occurred in which I was not able to accelerate. I had it towed back to lee miles and it's possibly the torque converter that was replaced with the transmission.

- Verona, NJ, USA

2005 Nissan Pathfinder transmission problems took my 2005 Nissan Pathfinder to the dealer for transmission repair. The Nissan advisor and I noticed transmission fluid in multiple places. Coolant container was muddy with transmission fluid. Vehicle had just enough miles below the 80,000 miles. Hopefully the Nissan company will cover the repairs. Technician said the 80,000 miles warranty will be good until sometime in the year 2013. I was in the freeway driving and the transmission started to slip. This is very dangerous because I could of been in an accident if I was making a left turn in the highway and the opposite driver could of hit the truck in the passenger side. The Nissan advisor told me this problem is happening to many vehicles from the years of 2005 to 2007. Just today he registered 5 vehicles for repairs. The majority had 83,000 to 91,000, so the warranty will not cover. Be very careful with these type of vehicles. Transmission repair for a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder runs from $4,000 to $6,000 plus other parts. Nissan should extend the warranty to at least 100,000 miles and repair the radiator problem. The Nissan advisor informed me that the radiator gets damaged and antifreeze mixes inside transmission, "this damages the transmission and many other parts due to the excessive leaking and splashing of the transmission fluid."

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that radiator fluid leaked into the transmission, causing the transmission to fail. A local mechanic repaired the radiator but the transmission also needed to be repaired. The dealer flushed the radiator after it was replaced by the local mechanic. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but denied any assistance with repairs to the vehicle. The transmission was not repaired. The approximate failure and the current mileage was 96,000.

- Memphis, TN, USA

8-9-2010 I began having difficulty getting my car to shift into reverse. Within 2 weeks, while driving down a crowded highway, my car wouldn't shift from 3rd to 4th, and I could smell something burning. When I finally found a spot to pull over and park, a large puddle of fluid leaked all over the ground. I was alone, in an area I didn't know, and nearly got rear-ended several times when it wouldn't shift gears. I took it to several shops, and the transmissions was ruined. It would have to be rebuilt or replaced, both totaling thousands of $ I don't have. I borrowed money to have it rebuilt. Within 2 weeks, I started having the same issues. When I took it back to the shop, the technician said radiator coolant had leaked into the transmission and it would have to be rebuilt or replaced again. After looking online, I see hundreds of complaints for the exact same issue. For the fuel system, approximately 5/2010, the fuel gauge will drop to empty, even though there will still be fuel in the tank. Sometimes it will stick to mid-full when there is no fuel. Adaptive equipment, when I start the vehicle and try to warm it up, it will only blow cold air, never warm no matter how long it runs.

- Yelm, WA, USA

A cracked radiator caused coolant to leak into the transmission and mix with the transmission fluid. Once the coolant (antifreeze) entered the transmission it killed the valves, seals and torque converter and rendered the entire transmission useless.

- West Dundee, IL, USA

Know issues by Nissan not being addressed... radiator/oil leak - warranty extended but does not cover our vehicle. Timing chain failure in Nissan vehichles - no warrant extension covered. More info available upon request. Letter sent to Nissan on 1/15/2012 detailing all of the issues.

- Centennial, CO, USA

The radiator failed causing coolant to leak into the automatic transmission. Bother were ruined and had to be replaced. The repairs cost $5000+ this issue is well documented on top shelf internet websites including edmuands.com and others. Many folks are under power when the engine stalls, at any speed.. Nissan is not offering recall. A class action lawsuit is underway. This is a dangerous design defect (cooling the transmission via the radiator) and people may be injured or worse. Maybe it has already happened to some?

- Watkinsville, GA, USA

Vibration from rear wheel begins at 40 mph and increases with vehicle speed. Tires and U joints have been replaced - problem persists. Identical to transmission/radiator issues described in several consumer forums. I am reluctant to drive this vehicle, especially on the highway.

- Bowling Green, KY, USA

Radiator coolant leaking into transmission fluid, causing transmission to fail. Safety issue is it causes delay in forward propulsion. This is a common problem and has been well noted on Nissan Pathfinders but Nissan is not willing to accept responsibility for the problem.

- New Bern, NC, USA

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!

- Brighton, MI, USA

While attempting to enter a freeway on ramp the transmission failed causing the vehicle to lose power and stop in traffic. After causing a major traffic jam at the intersection, traffic light, and on ramp we were able to get the vehicle off the road. I had just had out patient surgery and my wife was driving, it was a horrible experience. We find out later that this is a known defect from Nissan and they won't do a recall. What would have happened if we had been a few hundred yards farther down the on ramp and trying to merge into freeway traffic when this failed?

- Silverdale, WA, USA