Had the faulty radiator/ATF contamination problem at 94000-miles but know the problem existed earlier. After reading all the reports on the internet, I discovered this milky, oily sludge, in the radiator and overflow reservoir that I'd been noticing was actually due to ATF contamination into the coolant. Now that I knew what the problem was, I elected to have the vehicle towed rather than driven to the mechanic as a preventative measure of saving the transmission. Had the radiator replaced with an aftermarket unit as I did not have confidence in the OEM replacement. Had the cooling system and transmission flushed twice to assure everything was thoroughly cleaned. I was able to catch this problem before it trashed the transmission. Vehicle appears OK. NOTE: If you have this contamination issue, I recommend you check the radiator hoses too as ATF will degrade those rubber hoses. I had to replace the upper and lower hoses as part of the radiator replacement.

It's one thing to have this problem but quite another on how I found out about it. I bought the vehicle from a Nissan dealer. It's registered with Nissan and they know who owns it. However, such a known problem that is serious enough to extend warranties was never shared with me by the manufacturer. This is wrong. If it wasn't for my attention to detail, I wouldn't eventually ruined the transmission had I kept driving with this problem. I got no warning nor help from Nissan. This is my first Nissan vehicle and most likely my last. There's nothing special about them that I can't get from another brand. After-sale customer handling is what makes the difference.

After reading all of the complaints, including the Nissan extended warranty, I decided to replace the radiator with the Value Advantage radiator offered through Nissan BEFORE any problems showed up. $650 or a bit less, parts and labor (the standard Nissan part is a lot more money at $600 for the radiator alone).

I estimate that if a failure occurred, the total bill would likely be $9500 to clean the cooling system and replace the radiator and transmission. So, why wouldn't Nissan just step up and either pay for the work or split the difference on ANY Pathfnder with less than 100,000 miles?

I had sent in a complaint to Nissan and all of a sudden my dealer began stocking the Value Advantage radiator which is about $231.

Note, the AC system needs to be drawn down, evacuated and then re-charged to replace the radiator, so plan any appointment or your own work accordingly.