CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2005-2007 Pathfinder appears to have a widespread defect where coolant leaks into the transmission, causing transmission failure around 90,000 miles. Repair costs are typically upwards of $3,500.
According to the New York Times & a class action lawsuit, the defect actually extends through 2010 model year. More info here.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
103,399 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the transmission was defective and caused the vehicle to jerk and lose acceleration while driving. The engine light also illuminated while the failure occurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the radiator fluid leaked into the transmission, which caused the transmission to fail. The transmission was not replaced. The manufacturer advised that the extended warranty would not cover the entire cost of the transmission replacement. The failure mileage was 95,000.
After hearing a lot of about this problem I decided to make a complaint because it is not fair for anyone to go through this. My 2007 Pathfinder suddenly lost complete power and it wouldn't start at all after having a mechanic check it he gave me a diagnose that it was the transmission which I didn't believe I said what does the transmission has to do with power but it has a lot to do after I did some research it comes to this. The coolant on the vehicle gets inside the transmission and mixes with the oil causing the tcm (transmission control module) to fail and not to sent signal so the vehicle will start. So now I have to repair the transmission and the radiator cost will be more than 3000 dollars. I been the only owner of this car and have take good care of it as much as I can I just pay off this car 2 years ago and I don't think is fair for us that had has this problems to paid for it I think Nissan America should do a recall on this and help us the consumers.
1) about 2 years ago the cruse control stopped working. Have not repaired this problem. 2) in July 2015 the air bag warning light on the instrument panel started flashing. Have not repaired this problem. 3) on Dec 21, 2005 after pulling out of my drive way the transmission would not advance to the next higher gear. Stopped and put it into reverse but the SUV would not go backwards. Slowly drove it around the block back home. Transmission shop reported that coolant leaked into the PCM compartment causing this problem. Repairs have been made, cost was 3645 us dollars.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the vehicle was being serviced for an oil change, when it was diagnosed that the radiator fluid was leaking into the transmission. The dealer stated that the radiator and 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 124,789. The VIN was not available.
Transmission control module fried due to contamination from the radiator fluid. Nissan was aware of contamination in transmission through the radiator and this contamination causes the control module in the transmission to short. Every time I want to start my vehicle I have to replace a 10amp fuse under the hood that will always blow every time I start it. Repair cost for a new control module are exceeding $4000 every place I go. Nissan should be responsible for repairs of their faulty design. Due to this defect my family was stranded, I had to leave my work and pick them up in below 30 degree temperatures.
- Boerne, TX, USA
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At first, the car wouldn't start occasionally. I replaced the battery and fuses. This helped temporarily. Now, the car won't start unless I place a new ECU fuse each time I attempt to start it. Changing the fuse will start the car, but it lacks power and is quick to stall out. When I took it to the mechanic, he discovered coolant in my transmission. After reading information from several websites, I realized this is an ongoing issue with this make/model of car.
Coolant leaked into transmission causing damage to transmission. Vehicle is in shop with estimate of $5000 for repairs. Mechanic stated it is difficult to find rebuilds and that this is one of the most expensive transmissions he has priced. He did some research and found that this is a common problem and makes is more difficult to get rebuilt transmissions. I initially had the coolant leak fixed and replaced the radiator. The transmission would shift rough and in three months time from coolant leak repairs, started to not shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. Car in not safe to drive and was taken to mechanic.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving at 15 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated. In addition, the contact attempted to reverse and shifted the gear shifter into reverse but the vehicle failed to move backwards. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who stated that there was automatic transmission contamination due to anti freeze from the radiator. The technician also diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,000.
Radiator failure allowed coolant to leak into the transmission both the transmission and radiator now need to be replaced. Nissan has known about this problem for a long time and has failed to issue a recall. Our vehicle dropped into 1st gear while driving and nearly resulted in us getting rear ended.
When driving home on the freeway doing about 60 mph our vehicle suddenly slowed down when I was about 3 or 4 miles from home around 8:40 pm. I stopped on the side of the freeway. The engine sounded ok but the car did not want to go very fast. Since I had no phone and I am handicapped and unable to walk very far and had a lot of perishable food to carry and my wife and 9 year old daughter. I tried to drive home since we don't have another vehicle. I barely made it to the driveway where the car sits until I can get a loan to fix or buy another car. I only have 145,000 miles on the car, I usually get 300 to 400 thousand miles before I get rid of them.. I was never notified of a recall and I bought the vehicle new from a dealership. I am pretty sure it's the transmission but until I get funds I cannot put it in the shop or replace it.this is Friday the day after the breakdown.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the vehicle violently jerked forward without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission fluid and anti freeze mixed together and the transmission and radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 97,000.
My Pathfinder broke down due to the transmission failing while driving. I was just pulling into my housing development and had to kill and restart the truck to get it to make it into the driveway. Apparently this is a known issue by Nissan, where there's a crack that allows the radiator coolant and transmission fluid to mix, causing the transmission to fail. This is extremely wrong that a consumer must pay out of pocket for a known and acknowledged flaw in the manufacturer's design.
My wife was taking the kids to school and while driving in the drop off line heard a loud "thunk". we had to get it towed to the nearest dealership and pay the $99 diagnostic fee to find out that the radiator leaked coolant into the transmission, which caused transmission failure. Apparently this is a common problem that Nissan is not addressing.
I bought this vehicle new in 2007 as our 2nd new Nissan.our first was a 2005 frontier with no problems and now this. I have been experiencing transmission problems. It slips when accellerating and somtimes wont down shift properly. So due to the problem I did a web search and found this cracked transmission line allowing coolant leak in to the transmission, so I checked the resevour and radiator and both had atf contamination. I then called the Nissan dealer and they claimed to have no idea what I could be talking about. The class action lawsuit filed in late 2012 stated that all dealers were notified. I was never notified and now have over 100,000 miles on my Pathfinder which opts me out of anything. This is rediculous and Nissan needs to be held accountable! they never even admited there was a problem just offered some extended warrenty coverage absolutely absurd! now im stuck with a vehicle I cant even drive.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving approximately 50 mph, the rpms increased rapidly and the engine warning indicator illuminated. In addition, the transmission slipped and failed to shift into the reverse position properly. The failure recurred two times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was awaiting diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 144,000.
I was driving my 2007 Pathfinder with my 3 children in the back when the tires suddenly seemed to be slipping. I wasn't sure what was going on until I was on a big hill and car suddenly wouldn't go into gear. The transmission had blown on me, almost instantaneoulsy with little to no warning signs. The car started rolling backwards on the hill and luckily nobody was behind us. I hit the breaks and stopped the car. It had to be towed and I was stunned when my mechanic said the transmission was dead and it would cost around 3K to fix! "there was only 85K miles on the car and the transmission just blows like that, " I asked him? he told me that this was a problem very common with some Nissan cars. I immediately went online and found out that this is known problem with Nissan Pathfinders and xterras, due to fault manufacturing and a lawsuit was brought up against them (a few years before this happened to me). I feel it's outrageous that these cars can still be sold by the dealer (we bought it used with 60K miles on it) without some sort of warning label on it. Thank god my kids didn't get hurt somehow, because it was quite a hazardous situation when the transmission fails suddenly at the top of a big, long hill! if my kids had gotten hurt, I probably could have sued them for a billion dollars, but since I acted quickly, nobody was hurt, and thus, nobody at Nissan seemed to care when I complained. They should be held accountable for fault manufacturing! no car's transmissions suddenly break down for no apparent reason with less than 90K miles on it!
Radiator leaked anti-freeze into the transmission which destroyed the transmission and the entire coolant system. Nissan has known about this but never issued a recall.
As I was about to enter the highway my vehicle lost power, I was fortunate to be able to get off the on ramp and back to the frontage road before my car came to a complete stop. Took to a repair station where it was found the radiator failed and allowed fluid to mix with the transmission fluid. Transmission is a complete loss, although the cost of repair ($5200) is troubling, the fact that moments later my family and I could have been injured or caused someone else to be injured is the bigger issue. I have seen numerous complaints about this defect and feel the NHTSA should take a better look into making this a safety issue. At some point someone is going to die from this. Nissan has made a very un-reasonable attempt to address this issue.
Found out that my radiator had a failure and a transmission hose cracked inside the radiator and the transmission fluid all mixed up to invaded both the motor cooling system and the transmission.. dont want to go in gear when turning and it make this rumbling nose when you driving
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Winter Park, FL, USA