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:
103,465 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.

2007 Nissan Pathfinder drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2007 Nissan Pathfinder Owner Comments (Page 1 of 17)

problem #327

Apr 272023

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 125,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact noticed that there was unknown fluid leaking underneath the vehicle onto the ground. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact checked the radiator and noticed that the coolant was leaking from the radiator. An independent mechanic was contacted and stated that it sounded as if the transmission might have cracked; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 125,000. 02/09/2023 - NHTSA #23E-012 Recall #PC948 PTH FTR XTR AB EMB NTB-23-08 Status: Remedy Not Yet Available

- Manville, NJ, USA

problem #326

Nov 262021

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • miles
Defective radiator cross contaminated coolant and transmission fluid lines causing transmission failure and engine damage.

- Cleburne , TX, USA

problem #325

Feb 082016

Pathfinder

  • miles
Transmission has been replace twice.

- Holly Hill, SC, USA

problem #324

Feb 102020

Pathfinder

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Transmission problems, water on transmission fluid

- Midland, TX, USA

problem #323

Jul 012020

Pathfinder

  • 147,000 miles
The transmission began to slip. Slow moving. Then vehicle would not start. Engine code U1000. Had the vehicle towed to a repair shop. They replaced the started. I paid them $400. I got in the vehicle it would not start. The mechanic replaced a 20A fuse in the fuse box for the ECU. Drove vehicle home, then would not start again. Researched online stumbled onto article about defective Nissan transmission being a ticking time bomb. Check transmission fluid, strawberry milk shake. Radiator fluid dark. Thanks Nissan, I bought this vehicle used, found out the engine was bad, spent $8000 replacing the engine and now the transmission and radiator are bad. I will never purchase another Nissan. Why wasn't there a recall for the radiator "?"

- Smithfield, NC, USA

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problem #322

Jul 172020

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 88,000 miles
Transmission cooler busted causing transmission fluid to mix with coolant

- Cankton, LA, USA

problem #321

Oct 102017

Pathfinder

  • 25 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Vehicle shakes after reaching 40mph or higher.

- West Windsor, NJ, USA

problem #320

Sep 012019

Pathfinder

  • 109,780 miles
While driving today the rpms went crazy and I almost wrecked. The car would spudder and then rev up. Also, at a stop light when trying to go the car seems to barely move and acts like it's going to die. Now we have transmission problems and have had to replace radiator, hoses, and all fluids in transmission and radiator.

- Clover, SC, USA

problem #319

Feb 122019

Pathfinder

  • miles
I had just bought this vehicle off of ebay from individuals in new braunfels, Texas drove it back to amarillo, Texas. I went to drop a load of items off at amarillo's giving closet for people in need. It ran perfect on the way over there. I turned the ignition off while I was unloading everything. When I went to start my vehicle it would not start although the lights and things would come on. The vehicle was later towed to a shop and I was told that it was being caused by the vehicle control. Now the transmission is messed up acts if there is no 1st or 2nd gear taking off in 3rd gear automatic transmission. Since then my husband was pinned under a seminar trailer he was working on and lost his leg. I can not afford to pay for another vehicle. Please help me. I was just informed of a problem with Nissan and this.

- Amarillo, TX, USA

problem #318

Jun 032019

Pathfinder

  • 163,000 miles
Our transmission started shuttering in 2018. Transmission completely stopped working. There was no milky fluid so we simply replaced transmission with a used tranny. 6 months later 2nd tranny failed with only 1st & 2nd working. We took both transmissions to a specialist. He explained that the current antifreeze does not leave milky fluid and both transmissions were contaminated. This means that the radiator was leaking into the transmission causing the failure of both. He told us this is a known issue with the Pathfinder.

- Amherst, WI, USA

problem #317

Feb 132019

Pathfinder

  • 70,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Something wrong with the transmission.

- Prattville, AL, USA

problem #316

Mar 152019

Pathfinder

  • 240,000 miles
Radiator was defective (original) and leaked coolant into transmission causing breakdown of transmission, neutral/park sensor, computer. Need to replace radiator, rebuild transmission and replace senor. $5K job. Never was notified of defective radiator problem and thus did not know that this would be an issue. Nissan won't do anything about it.

- Davidson, NC, USA

problem #315

Mar 022019

Pathfinder

  • 112,000 miles
2007 Nissan Pathfinder with 112,000 miles was driven to fred anderson Nissan in asheville for service regarding issues with the transmission shifting improperly. After waiting 4 hours, I was delivered a quote for over $7,000 regarding replacement of my radiator, transmission, thermostat, and airbag system. I purchased this vehicle 6 months ago with an extended warranty from flow Honda of winston-salem.

- Cullowhee, NC, USA

problem #314

Oct 062018

Pathfinder

  • 128,000 miles
The transmission started shifting rough. At 65 mph on I25 the tranny clanked, and dropped to first gear. I had to pull over, restart. It did it again, but had a burning smell. It threw the code P1774. A single dealership care for all maintenance work, on time for 10 years, did all recall type work. Fix quotes are coming back between $3500-$4500, which after buying a house and a surprise pregnancy I can't afford putting my livelihood at risk

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

problem #313

May 142018

Pathfinder

  • 111,000 miles
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle shut down without warning. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The contact called bill cole auto mall ashland at 606-29-2288 (2701 winchester ave, ashland, ky 41101) and was informed that the vehicle was not under warranty. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.

- Olive Hill, KY, USA

problem #312

May 022018

Pathfinder

  • 120,000 miles
The vehicle started vibrating very roughly and loudly during acceleration, then suddenly the transmission completely failed while my daughter was driving it on a very busy frontage road to the highway. She was able to steer it onto the shoulder before it stopped coasting; and several people stopped to help her push it into safety in a nearby parking lot. After having it towed to a repair shop, the mechanic informed us that the radiator fluid had leaked through cracks into the transmission fluid, causing irreversible damage to the transmission. Upon researching the problem, we discovered this was a known and acknowedged problem with 2005-2010 Nissan Pathfinders, but neither a recall nor a warning was ever issued. We are now beyond the warranty coverage in time and in mileage, so Nissan will not cover any of the expenses to repair.

- Boerne, TX, USA

problem #311

Feb 012017

Pathfinder

  • 125,000 miles
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the transmission failed and the vehicle shifted gears with force. The vehicle was taken to howell motors Buick, GMC, Nissan (1158 highway 51-98 summit, ms 39666, (phone) 601-276-7711) where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed due to a radiator leak. The contact stated that the radiator was replaced by the same dealer in 2015; however, the radiator replacement did not correct the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000.

- Summit, MS, USA

problem #310

Jan 252018

Pathfinder

  • 115,000 miles
Coolant and transmission fluid are mixed causing the car to not shift properly. I was not told of this issue when I purchased the car in 2010 from the Nissan dealer - even though it was a known condition. This is the 2nd time the transmission is failing, so it'll be my 3rd transmission. The first time it happened, the car had 70K miles. Now it has 115,000. So the 2nd transmission lasted about 45K miles. Nissan wants me to pay $3000 of the $5,850 estimate. If I knew this car was going to be this much trouble, I wouldn't have purchased it. I really think Nissan should be doing a better job owning up to this issue and covering the expenses for their poor quality.

- New Canaan, CT, USA

problem #309

Jul 112017

Pathfinder

  • 120,000 miles
Takata recall. We were on our way back home with our children and a the Pathfinder made it made a loud noise so we pulled over off the highway and the Pathfinder wouldn't start. We had to call a tow truck to tow us home. We waited on the side of the road for 3 hours with a 10 year old and a 3 month old. We are very disappointed and after doing some research I found that the 2007 Pathfinder appears to have a widespread defect where coolant leaks into the transmission, causing transmission failure around 100,000 miles. Repair costs are typically upwards of $4,500.

- Santa Fe, TX, USA

problem #308

Dec 192017

Pathfinder

  • 107,000 miles
I bought my 07 Pathfinder in July and the dealership had done repair on the radiator at their expense, and replaced the coolant and tranny fluids and stated there was no cross contamination. However, the vehicle stopped shifting properly and we couldn't tell if it was the tranny, ABS, or 4WD getting caught. As of yesterday the tranny wouldn't change gears. Restarting the car helped. But since there was no recall there is no history of any other work. All maintenance was kept up with the same dealership for the majority of the vehicles life. After the vehicle has been at a stop, and moved to accelerate it wouldn't go into gear/drive then all of a sudden would "catch" and would launch.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

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