CarComplaints.com Notes: There are no warning signs of the same "radiator leaked and killed my transmission" complaints that have plagued previous model years.

For earlier Pathfinder model years (2005-2008), a defect in the radiator allows engine coolant to leak into the transmission. However this defect doesn't appear to affect Pathfinders from 2009 & later. Nissan did include the 2010 model when they extended their radiator warranty on 2005-2010 Pathfinders to 8 years/80,000 miles in response to the transmission defect.

10.0

really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$5,150
Average Mileage:
137,000 miles
Total Complaints:
2 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. replace transmission and radiator (2 reports)
2010 Nissan Pathfinder transmission problems

transmission problem

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2010 Nissan Pathfinder Owner Comments

problem #2

Mar 082022

Pathfinder S 4.0L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 126,000 miles

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

Well, not all the 2010s are immune from the Strawberry Milkshake of Death. The transmission was clunking hard into and out of 4th so I took it to a shop... sure enough coolant had gotten into the transmission, the classic Nissan act of seppuku. Total replacement will be over $5,000 since Nissan's useless recall has not helped anyone.

- sprucegoose, Middletown, US

problem #1

Feb 132019

Pathfinder SE 4WD V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 148,000 miles

Defective factory radiator (widely common among 2005-2015 various models of Nissan vehicles) causes the transmission fluid to leak and mix with coolant. Transmission fluid leaks into radiator, and coolant fluid leaks into transmission. Thus, causing transmission failures, loss of power, engine stalling while driving, delayed gear shifting, short in control module leading to a myriad of electrical problems. Nissann will not acknowledge the problem if vehicle is over 100,000 miles. Investigation performed by the NHTSA on this very issue, but quickly closed due to "insufficient evidence of safety threat".

In that regard, I believe this issue was paid off and swept under the rug as the known vehicle defect causes the vehicle to lose power and shut down while driving at any speed. I have had my 2010 vehicle shut down while driving on the highway at 50mph! I had to, literally, put vehicle into neutral at this speed and turn ignition repeatedly so I could regain control while moving with traffic. How is this not a safety issue? I had no idea that my transmission was having problems. This came on without warning!

Nissan should be held accountable for the bad parts they have used for these vehicles. There are no recalls, or even warnings! The only way to find out about this problem is to search for it specifically. By this time, you're already in for thousands of dollars of repairs. It is despicable that this global company is let to get away with this as they make billions in profits off of uninformed consumers, then millions more in profits for replacement parts and repairs. There should be a recall. If NHTSA has closed the investigation on this matter, then someone needs to investigate them, and Nissan again with a more objective standpoint!

- Tanya T., Wilkes Barre, US

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