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.
1.7
hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
99,293 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.
Transmission cooler inside the radiator cracked and got coolant in the transmission, causing the transmission to die. We went to turn the car on and it wouldn't start, from there we towed it to a mechanic who told us what had happened.
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.
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.
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.
Radiator cracked and water went into the oil and it mixed....per rep and mechanic at Nissan dealer. Problem caused by radiatior not being built properly at fabric. This problem caused vehicle to shake violently while driving. Very unsafe.
- San Diego, CA, USA
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The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the fuel gauge was fractured and the check engine light illuminated. The contact mentioned that when the vehicle was refueled, the fuel warning light remained illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle overheated and the anti-freeze had mixed with the transmission fluid causing it to leak onto the ground. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving at approximately 30-35 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed and there was an abnormal noise as the vehicle moved up and down. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the brakes and rotors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000. The VIN was not available.
The transmission on my 2007 Nissan Pathfinder started slipping so I had it looked at and found out the coolant leaked into the transmission. I have 118,000 miles on it and unfortunately it looks like I am out of luck. I an very disappointed in Nissan since they know the failure does not occur until about 90,000 miles.
Car had begun shuttering and engine would rev real fast. On particular day car actually quit working for good, husband had pulled into parking space because check engine light came on and from that point forward the car will not crank. When car first started shuttering and revving, car was taken to transmission business and there were several cars of the same make and model (not certain that all were of same year) waiting to have transmissions replaced because coolant had leaked into the transmission and gradually killed them. Worker at transmission shop knew exactly what was going on when husband explained what the car was doing, and said there were many people who had had the same complaint.
On July 31, 2015 my car jerked and check engine light came on. By the time I got it to the shop (about 45 min later) it was having trouble accelerating from a stop. When I turned the engine off we could not get it restarted. The shop said the transmission was not communicating with the computer. I had it towed to a transmission shop and my car had the same issue as other Nissan. The coolant leaked into the transmission resulting in the computer shorting out. I now have to pay $4,200 to have the radiator replaced, the transmission rebuilt and the engine flushed. If Nissan is aware of the issue then they should have had a recall for this. From what I am reading online there are thousands of vehicles with this issue.
My SUV was diagnosed with a defective radiator and now has issues with the transmission cooler pipes splitting causing cross contamination between the radiator coolant & transmission fluid. Which resulted in a failure to the automatic transmission. The cross contamination had to have a new transmission, transmission cooler hoses & radiator replaced. Reading multiple sites it appears Nissan know about the defect and didn't warn is customers, even when I took my car to get serviced at the Nissan dealers. This is bad business and customers should not be financially responsible. I hope the person reading this has the courage to do something about it. It appears that corporations have the power. Thank you.
As I was driving the vehicle on the highway it started to shudder and shake and then finally completely turned off on the highway. Once I got it started again it would only go about 20mph I was able to move over to the shoulder and exit the highway. Once we took the car to the dealer, they told us that the radiator had leaked into the transmission and also that I needed to replace two catalyctic converters. The total repairs and replacements would cost me $8000 as I would also need to replace the transmission and radiator. We replaced the radiator but of course that is only half the problem. I still owe about $13K on the vehicle, have only had it for 8 months and am now stuck because I dont have the money to replace the transmission and I cant get rid of the truck knowing this problem.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that there was transmission fluid leaking into the radiator. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that it was motor oil leaking into the radiator. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 103,000. The VIN was not available.
Beginning in November 2014, the heater would not blow out warm or hot air if the car was not traveling on the interstate. At speeds below 50mpg, only cool or cold air would blow out of the heater vents and at an idle, only cold air would be emitted. The radiator was flushed three times in an effort to remedy this problem. Our mechanic thought there could be a blockage in the line due to the age of the vehicle. Once flushed, the heat would work for about 45 days. There were months of my driving to work without any real heat in the winter of 2014. After fluid changes and radiator flushes, the 2007 Nissan Pathfinder now has 111,000 miles on it. The air conditioning is working this summer, but towards the end of May 2015, the transmission started "jumping". this usually occurs around 40-45 mph. The engine will rev at a high RPM while traveling down an incline or a hill. The transmission feels as though it is "going out" and upon reading reviews on your site, this seems to be a common problem with this make and model of vehicle. There are times when you can hear the transmission "clunk" into gear when starting or stopping the engine.
The dealer I work for had checked my vehicle since it has been leaking pink fluid from my engine turns out they found on my 20007 Nissan Pathfinder a coolant in transmission meaning there is an internal transmission cross contamination cooler failure. Bottom line they told me I needed a new transmission and fixed me hoses for the power steering fluid costing me over $5300 with a huge dealership. I just bought this vehicle in February 16, 2015 from a private dealer and now I am stuck with a huge bill to fix something that should have been made a aware of nationally. This vehicle's carfax is awesome and no engine issues which I made it my business to make sure everything is okay with this vehicle. Please take care of this...why do I have suffer being without a car again as a single mother of three this is not right.
Possible transmission failure. Brought vehicle to be inspected and could get a clear answer which one of the observations was perform at a Nissan dealer. The fluids seems to be mixed, transmission with radiator fluid. Seems as this has been and on going problem with Nissan. Dealer tells me the cant find the recall.
I bought the vehicle a year ago at 79,000 miles. In January of 2015, I hit the 100,000 mile mark and almost immediately started having transmission problems. Loud and jerky shifting and smelling foul in the air conditioner. Nissan dealership said that there was an issue and since I was out of warranty, (100,000 miles) that they weren't liable. He said I could drive it because it shouldn't break down for another few thousand miles. So I just parked it. I would only drive it if I absolutely had no other choice. Friday, May 15 2015 I was coming home from a doctors appointment and the vehicle completely broke down. The transmission went out and I was in the middle of a busy road with my 4 year old in the car with me. At 40 mph, the RPM was at almost 5,000. I pulled over to call my husband and when we put it in reverse to back out of the parking space, it wouldn't go into reverse. I had to tow it home and it's completely broken down. I don't have 4,000 to spend on a transmission and radiator.
My 2007 nisson Pathfinder began having problems and when I brought it to the mechanic, he stated the coolant fluid went into the tranmission and caused major problems and now the radiator and transmission need replacement to the tune of $4900 (approximate price given by lee myles). I actually brought the car to a Nissan dealer and their quote was $5800 and then they statated other isses needed to be repaired and they stated the total cost would be $10,000! book value of the car through kelly blue book is $9,600 in excellent condition! I saw this is an ongoing problem with Pathfinders and I wanted to tell my story. I hope there is something that can be done against Nissan!
Engine noise coming from the secondary timing chain and tensioners. The first time I took it to Nissan dealer they told me they couldn't find anything wrong. When I brought it back months later they told me I had low oil in engine and combined with I was past the 60,000 warranty now (67,861) that I would not be covered under warranty. They knew this was a problem and claimed that I had no record of it being a problem since they couldn't "find" anything when I brought it in the first time. Two dealerships told me that it was just a noise when in fact Nissan has known about the timing chain issue this whole time. I was told to pay for the repair myself which was above $1,500.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Columbia, SC, USA