I started having problems with a noise at about 40-45 miles an hour. It would make a loud vibrating sound. I took it to the dealer and they told me they could not hear it so I was asked to come back down and drive it with one of the techs. It started making the sound again and right off he told me it was the transmission. I paid $85.00 dollars for him to ride with me two miles and tell me what I already knew. I was told it would cost me over 4,000 dollars to fix. I now find out that it's a problem everyone is having. I contacted Nissan head office and they told me to file a complaint, but it looks like I'm stuck with this lemon. If they don't stand by there vehicle, it will be the last Nissan I will buy.

We have properly maintained this vehicle. We drove it from Ontario to Florida and back during March break and the transmission was really acting up. I took it in for a look and was told I needed a new transmission, new radiator, and new catalytic converter. The cost is CDN$9500!!! I had been contemplating trading this in on a new car and hadn't expected to get more than $10k for it. Now, I have just seen $10k of capital equity vaporize. What is worse, I now see on this site and others that it is a widely known condition on this model and nothing was done to prevent it. It seems I have little option but to donate the vehicle to a charity and hope for a small tax receipt. Nissan will NEVER again get my business and I will make sure I pass this info on to all my friends and contacts.

Just want to add to list of defective product that NISSAN has put out. My car is still on the road at 68k and we have experienced all the symptoms of all the complaints regarding this defect. The director of maintenance actually told me about this problem, but he ruled this out due to no MILKY SUBSTANCE found in my transmission, added that this is not a covered repair. After several test drives with service reps and Certified NISSAN mechanics, they sent me off on my way.

NISSAN needs to own up to this problem and repair all the 2005 Pathfinders that have this defective radiator. Their reputation is severely diminished by my family and friends. Needless to say this topic will be brought up to anyone that asks me about my experience with NISSAN cars.

We will be taking this issue to anyone that will listen to us and help us make NISSAN held accountable for necessary repairs. I urge everyone to talk to their local news stations. Anyone interested in holding picket signs that live around the Sacramento area?

I want to add my voice to this transmission/radiator issues on the 2005 Nissan Pathfinders. Nissan Tech inspected and found Trans Cooler cracked internally inside radiator. This caused anti freeze to cycle through the transmission completely damaging trans. Repair involves complete new cooling system and a new transmission. After taxes - $5500. I have filed a case with Nissan Consumer Affairs. Clearly this is an on-going issue and Nissan, if they want to hold on to their name MUST step up and protect it's customers.

On 24 May 2010, I had my Nissan Pathfinder towed to the repair shop due to a problem with the transmission. The problem began as an intermittent problem of the vehicle sounding like it was running over highway strips. The problem gradually became so frequent and irritating that I Googled it on the internet and found that I was another one of Nissans many Pathfinder-Radiator victims. I took my vehicle to an ‘independent’ shop, due to the less than satisfactory experiences I have had at my local Nissan dealership.

After leaving my vehicle at the shop, the mechanic began his inspection and found a mix of coolant and transmission fluid in the radiator. He then began inspection of the transmission and found this transmission fluid/coolant cocktail had also made its way into the transmission, causing contamination of the transmission. My mechanic stated that the radiator was defective and (probably by way of corrosion) had allowed coolant and transmission fluid to mix together when the transmission fluid was being cooled via the radiator. My mechanic rebuilt the transmission and replaced the radiator at a cost of $3257.43.

It is obvious to me, and the rest of the Nissan Pathfinder owners (victims) that have dealth with this problem, that these vehicles are leaving the factory with defective radiators. Nissan needs to step up to the plate on this one.

Update from Mar 20, 2011: Well to my surprise, 6 months later on 29 Dec 2010, the transmission failed again. The vehicle was now limited to forward movement in 3rd gear (I believe this is called ‘limp mode’) only. I returned the vehicle to my mechanic on 30 Dec 2010. Since then, 2 new valve bodies, ordered from Nissan with a considerable back-order time (take a guess as to why these parts are on back-order), have been installed in the transmission to no avail. After installing 'each' valve body, the vehicle was still limited to 3rd gear only. The vehicle was then taken to Carolina Nissan in Burlington, NC (at MY expense) for evaluation. The technician at Carolina Nissan went on a test drive in the vehicle and witnessed first hand how the vehicle may run normal when it is started up, but within a couple miles of driving reverts to using 3rd gear only. The technician claimed to have no insight to what the problem might be (really....a Nissan qualified technician has no idea?). Nissan support was then called to find a solution to the problem, but Nissan Support also gave no insight to what the problem might be (Come on Nissan, at some point the rubber has got to meet the road. Throw in the towel and admit you installed defective radiators) To this day (20 March 2011) my vehicle is still in the shop (it's been almost 3 months!) and is still not repaired. It appears that once the coolant mixes with the transmission fluid in the transmission, the transmission is subject to serious, possibly chronic, problematic failures (possibly some of the components are prone to failure due to the coolant mixture). Be ware, if you do have your transmission rebuilt, that may not be the end of your problems. I had two previous Nissans (B210 and Maxima) that were solid products that I drove into the ground, but through this experience I have lost all confidence in any Nissan/Infinity product.

Problem with crack in Radiator and possible transmission replacement.

I too had the Bad Radiator cracking and all the same symptoms between 40-60 mph, one mechanic said it was my tires another could not figure it out now of course I know the problem and can't afford to fix it.

Has anyone had luck with just replacing the Radiator and flushing the transmission fluid? My Mechanic says since I don't drive my car much that my transmission might be okay for a while. I can't afford to replace the Transmission and my car is over the "Extended Radiator Warranty" I have 90,000 miles. Also, has ANYONE had luck with Nissan covering the replacement/repairs with mileage over 80,000 miles?

My 2005 Nissan Pathfinder at 60K, just would stop, and then I would have to turn it off start it up and then it would go, if I stopped I would not be able to drive, i would have to turn it off and turn it on again. I took it to the dealer who told me the coolant from the radiator leaked into my transmission. They had to replace the transmission which was covered under warranty but said the radiator was not, and that all the fluids had to be flushed and new fluids added. The total cost of this was $900 dollars. Being a single mom with no car, financially that was a struggle for me. I can say that the dealer did give me a rental car for that time and had it back to me in 2 days, however I think the whole event should have been covered.

I seem to have fallen victim to the same deal as everyone else, where the radiator fails and leaks fluid into the transmission, essentially ruining both, along with the thermostat.

I do not have the extended warranty and was scared I would be crushed with the repair bill. To my surprise, the mechanic acknowledged the problem and indicated that Nissan had extended the warranty on the radiator to 80,000 miles. After inspection, he said the repairs would be covered because of this extension, but he would have to get approval from superiors, due to the level of expense exceeding $5000, for a new transmission, radiator and thermostat. I continue to pray the story remains the same, when the superiors are presented with the approval. I'll keep you posted! BTW< I feel extremely fortunate to have encountered this problem within the extended warranty period.

I'm sick to my stomach about this. We bought the first Pathfinder available in the mountain states back in 2004 - I was so excited to have it! Dealer was HORRIBLE (will NEVER deal with Tim Dahle Nissan in Utah ever again) but love Nissan cars and have owned several so we overlooked that. Have loved the car and haven't had any problems with it until now. I'm heartsick to learn that my dream car is not only extremely expensive to fix but that fixing it won't even be a permanent solution. We can't afford the repair, let alone a new car right now. I am dreading heading back to the dealership Monday to see what can be done. I'm going to have to trade in the car on a new one, knowing that we won't get out of it what its worth to us which is EVERYTHING right now. The car is paid for and we expected to get many more years with it. Now, we have to take out another loan that we can't afford. SHAME ON NISSAN. Once a loyal Nissan owner, I will never purchase another Nissan as long as I live and will tell all of our friends and family not to either. Disgusting. Will be joining the class action law suit and calling the media. What a mess.

The pathfinder had this problem occur, ruining the radiator, transmission and thermostat, while simultaneously the check engine light comes on. I'm thinking, surely this light has to do with the multiple system failures of the cooling system, draining into my transmission, mixing oil and fluid resulting in complete catastrophic damage. However, after having the vehicle towed and checked, they confirmed my fears about the transmission/ radiator failure, but also notified me that the catalytic converter also went bad at 79,914 and cost over $1600 to replace. This is unbelievable!!!!

i drive nothing but Nissan .i have a Maxima and a pathfinder.never had any problem with my Maxima but had all kind of problems with the 2005 pathfinder.first it was the fuel sending unit that almost killed my wife and my 3 young kids cause the car stopped in the middle of the hwy when there was a tractor trailer right behind her.you can never tell how much gas you have in the tank.

recently the coolant leaked in the transmission and ruined it.i don't know why Nissan do not want to own up to this .it is clear that its a manufacturer defect .they extended the warranty to 80k miles and stated that the cracked radiator causing the leak usually occur in higher mileage car.under normal driving condition a 7 years old car will have at least 84k miles (12k a year). they need to recall it.i buy Nissan for their reliability and i feel betrayed.don't have no problem with my 2005 Maxima but the pathfinder needs to be recalled

Looks like I'm the newest member of the Pathfinder Lemon Club. Same as everyone. Radiator leaked into the tran and Nissan said too bad for you, because I have 115Kmiles. Just happened the other day with no warning. I don't know what to do next. I was not getting the rumple like most. I just had the clutch fan replaced 3 weeks ago and no problems were detected then. And of course, they said nothing about this problem. some here have said that once the liquid gets in the transmission, it is too late. Is that true? I was hoping to just replace the radiator and flush all the fluids. Like most here, I still owe 2 years on this crap. One thing is certain, this car SUCKS and I will never buy another Nissan, nor will any of my family or friends. I chose Nissan for reliability, and I paid alot for it. Might as well have bought a KIA for a third the cost. Also, I will NOT have Nissan do my repairs. Why should these crooks get more of our money. Lastly, I will be joining the class action law suit. NISSAN>> YOU STINK!!!

well after reading all the complaints I feel even worse.. iam having the same problem as everyone else. it started with no warning when early December that I was driving and kept feeling this rattle like i was going over a rumble strip, I thought it was my Imagination so I kept putting it out of my mind. I drive10 miles to work and have been driving that route for years so I realized I needed to turn down the radio and see what was going on. To my surprise I started to figure out within a weeks time that between the miles of 40-60 my truck seemed to not want to go into the next gear. I came to find that if I took it out of overdrive it doesn't make that noise. so it's 4th gear(overdrive). So I made an appointment at the nissan dealer to have them look at it. I took the mechanic for a drive, he heard the noise and said it sounds as if its the transmission. we went back to the shop and took another mechanic for a drive(without me in the car) with him to hear the noise, he wasn't able to get it to make the noise for him..??? ( It never skips a beat between 40-60) the service manager came to me and said that it's already takin an 1 1/2 of there time so if I wanted to continue to have them diagnose the problem it would be another $95. Well I declined because if it's not under warranty then I'am not going to keep waiting my money for them to be smart enough to figure out it's the transmission. I took it to our local transmission shop and they were able to tell me within an hours time that it was the transmission an I would need a new one ($4000) its the tork conversion. They were able to stop the noise by putting fluid in and are gonna repeat in 1 month. In the mean time they won't be able to tell me how long it will hold off before I need a new one.(1 mouth-1 year??). I spoke to Nissan headquarter an the same as the rest of you no help!! Nissan will not take any responsibility for anything!!If thats not bad enough while I was driving there my light came on in my truck and it's the catalytic converter and thats another $3000.. so my GRAND TOTAL will be $8000..how do you justify that at 5 years old??

My vehicle starting jerking while driving on the freeway. Then the transmission started slipping. I have always kept up on maintenance and believed that was the key to keeping a vehicle running for a long time - I had the transmission fluid changed around 55k miles so I did not expect to have a transmission problem. I took my vehicle to Nissan and discovered that there is a known defect (known by Nissan and customers now) inside the radiator that eventually fails and causes coolant to enter the transmission. This coolant contaminates and ruins the transmission in a very short period of time. There is no warning to customers and unfortunately like me, we only find out when it's too late!! Nissan told me that I would have to pay $6,500 out of my own pocket to have the defective radiator replaced and the ruined transmission replaced. I was also told that there is no way for them to know if my replacement radiator would fail and leak into the new transmission and could very well end up having to repeat this replacement again in the future. I asked if they had an external transmission cooler that could be used instead of the defective Nissan radiators and was told that there is not a external transmission cooler for my vehicle.

At this point I am steaming over this especially to discover how wide-spread of an issue this is and Nissan not doing anything about it. I have not fixed my vehcile because of the extreme cost to repair my vehicle and no reassurance that this failure will not happen again. Obviously I will not buy another Nissan due to there failure to publicly acknowledge this issue and fix the problem on their dime. I've also decided to no longer buy new vehicles because of this. In the past I have always bought new vehicles.

My 2005 Pathfinder ran hot and when I had water checked, I was told that I needed my radiator flushed because of a milky, glue substance was in the radiator. So, I had that done. Then like a day or two later it started shuddering around 30/40 mph. I had it looked at again. The milky, glue substance was back in radiator. Then told is was a defective radiator. I didn't really understand, so I called a few more mechanics and was told the 2005 Pathfinder was a LEMON. They confirmed that the radiator leaked coolant into the transmission.

This is my 3rd Pathfinder. One was a 1987 and the other was a 1997. I have always believed in keeping regularly scheduled maintence. I never had any kind of problems, beside the regular maintence (oil,air filter, fluids,ect) I never put a dime in them. My 1997 had over 300,000 miles (tach. quite working) when I got rid of it and it was still running and was ALWAYS a dependable vehicle. I was up to 250,000 miles on the 1987 and again never had one ounce of trouble.

I am disable, draw disablity and are a single parent (woman, at that). I have put roughly $200 in it so far and it is not fixed yet. I have been without transportation going on 3 1/2 weeks now. They are saying now I need a radiator, another coolant and either a new transmission or rebuild the one I have. I am really devastated. I don't know for sure what I am gonna do. I do not have the money right now to get it fixed and I have to have some kind of transportation.

After finding this sight and reading other's same problems I am not sure if it is even worth fixing. I still am making $260 dollar a month payment on this piece of crap. I would of never believed anyone if they would of told me 2005 Pathfinder's are a lemon. Because I promise I was a dye-hard pathfinder FAN !!!!!

I will update you as soon as I find out what I'm gonna do and how much it cost. This site needs to come up first in the search engine for 2005 Nissan Pathfinders so people would be informed IT'S A LEMON !!!!!!!!! I can't believe nissan will not back their name.

COOLANT LEAKING INTO THE TRANSMISSION!!! SHAME ON NISSAN THAT RECALLED A PART THAT GOES OUT BECAUSE COOLANT FRIES THE ECM, THAT'S WHAT WENT FIRST ON OUR CAR. NISSAN FIXED 6MONTHS AGO FOR 600.00 DOLLARS, NEVER TOLD ME IT WAS BECAUSE COOLANT LEAKAGE EITHER. THEY'RE TOO STUPID OR REALLY SMART AND FIGURED WE ARE OUT OF WARRANTY. THEY'LL BE BACK WITH A BIGGER PROBLEM NEXT. SURE ENOUGH AFTER WE ALMOST GOT KILLED BECAUSE OF THESE PILES OF JUNK, 4 MONTHS LATER THEY TELL US NOW THE TCM IS SHORTED OUT NOW ,DUE TO A COOLANT LEAK AND ALSO YOUR RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION NEED TO BE REPLACED. SO NISSAN JUST GO AHEAD AND GO HOME TO YOUR 1.2 MILLION DOLLAR HOME AND PUT YOUR FEET UP AND JUST RELAX BECAUSE I'M SURE YOUR CAR IS FINE WELL US AMERICANS WORK REALLY HARD FOR THE THINGS IN LIFE THAT WE NEED. I HAVE SIX CHILDREN AND I DON'T LIVE IN A MILLION DOLLAR HOME AND NOW THE CAR I THOUGHT WAS GOING TO BE A GOOD FAMILY CAR TO GET MY KIDS AROUND TO SCHOOL AND THE STORE FOR THINGS WE NEED IS SITTING IN THE DRIVEWAY AND WE HAVE TO ASK SOMEONE FOR A RIDE BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE 7,000 DOLLARS TO FIX THE CAR WE SAVE UP AND PAYED 15,000 DOLLARS ONE YEAR AGO HEY NISSAN HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT! KNOWING YOU SCREWED ALL THESE FAMILIES. I CAN SLEEP BECAUSE I'M TYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET THIS JUNK FIX SO MY FAMILY HAS A WAY TO GET AROUND. FOR THOSE OUT THERE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM CONTACT LEIFF CABRASER A LAW FIRM THAT HAS A CLASS ACTION SUIT IN THE MAKING 212-355-9500 LET MAKE NISSAN PAY FOR THERE DEFECT AND STOP LETTING THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS WE PAID ENOUGH FOR THERE CAR IT SHOULD LAST LONGER THAN 95,000

Update from Nov 10, 2010: ALSO MAKE SURE YOU MAKE A COMPLAINT TO THE NTHSA THATS VERY IMPORTANT I BELIEVE THE REASON THEY RECALLED THE ECM ON OCT,28 HAPPENED RIGHT AFTER I CALLED THATS ONE PART THAT GOES OUT FIRST IF YOU LOOK INTO IT THEY SAID ITS PART OF THE COOLANT LEAKAGE THAT SHORTS THAT PART OUT NISSAN IS JUST TRYING TO GET AROUND THIS THINK THAT WILL MAKE THE NTHSA HAPPY WELL ITS NOT ENOUGH THEY NEED TO FIX THESE PILES OF CRAP THEY SOLD US, I PERSONALLY AM GOING TO GIVE THEM HELL UNTIL THEY STAND UP FOR THERE MISTAKES . I CAN'T GO ANYWHERE ANYWAY SO WHY NOT!!!

One day driving on the highway with my husband and 12 month old daughter in rush hour traffic and road construction our car started to make a grinding noise. The fist time our car ever started acting funny. Suddenly without warring the 4th gear goes out and we are at a stand still. Fortunately we didn't get rear ended by incoming traffic, instead I shifted it into 3rd gear and drove it to the nearest Nissan Dealership with a garage. They took it apart to find the radiator coolant was leaking into the transmission. They said the radiator is faulty, but luckily Nissan acknowledged this problem and don't put it in the new Pathfinders. Unfortunately they don't recognize that this is there problem. So the Transmission is shot and we had to replace the radiator and transmission. Our extended warranty wouldn't cover it, they said this was a preexisting problem. So we had to pay out of our pockets, $5,000, which is a lot to 2 full time college students with a baby. I understand that things break and wear out, but if a company says that you should buy their vehicle because they will stand behind it, and that they believe that they have a quality product that you can count on, then they should do as they say and stand behind there Nissan. Nissan have lost all credibility with me and my family and friends. I don't recommended a Nissan to anyone.