In Jan. 2010, I knew there was a problem with my Xterra. Shuddering noise, and feeling like it was being kicked from behind. Took it to my Nissan dealer and they diagnosed the problem: Cracked radiator causing coolant to leak into my tranny causing damage. I didn't have the money to fix such a pricey problem, so I borrowed 704.00 to have my radiator replaced and my transmission flushed, and continued to drive it. Had tranny flushed again a few months later, then received the extended warranty that same week. I was over the warranty mileage by 8,000 miles, but because it was documented with my Nissan dealer that this occurred at 72, 000 miles...Nissan reimbursed me for the radiator and flushes, but are refusing to FIX my transmission, because I didn't have it replaced at the same time my radiator was replaced! Are you kidding me??? It's not MY responsibility to have my damaged tranny replaced due to a defective part that was placed in my vehicle during manufacturing! I have PROOF that the radiator coolant leaking damaged my tranny, and I have PROOF that it occurred BEFORE the extended warranty expired. I spoke to someone in the Consumer Affairs Department at Nissan, had it out over the phone with a few choice words, ending my conversation with "I'll see you in court!" I will NEVER EVER purchase another Nissan as long as I live. I've had nothing but problems with this PIECE OF CRAP since I purchased it! Timing chain, ECM unit, fuel sensor, Now radiator and transmission?! I've tapped out my savings trying to pay for this tin can! Is there anything we can do????? Has anyone out there spoken to an attorney or gotten any advice???

I started to have the same issues with my transmission. At about 40-60mph the transmission would shudder just like going over rumble strips. When the car was sitting and running the heat would not warm up. So I searched Xterra Transmission and found this site and others where owners were describing the same issues. After reading the posts I was worried. Who can afford $3-$6k worth of repairs for a tranny? I only had 3 more payments left.

I called the Nissan dealership and described the symptoms to the service tech on the phone. He stated that yes they would be happy to look at it but, if there was no guarantee that Nissan would pay for the repairs. In other words, Nissan is going to look for any reason not to pay for the repairs. It seemed that at least two times a year, I was getting recall notices in the mail. I decided that I had enough of Nissan.

Thanks to this web site and others who reported the symptoms, I was able to dump that pos off and trade it in. When we were looking for a replacement vehicle, the salesman showed me several Nissan's...not a chance. That was the last Nissan I will buy. They way they handled all of the other issues and after reading the stories on this post I am done. I love my new Honda! Good luck to everyone that is still stuck in their Xterra. Make sure that if you are going to replace the transmission, run a bypass otherwise you will be right back in the same position.

The short story: I'm waiting on Nissan customer service to reimburse the money it cost me to fix a problem their faulty design and/or parts in my Xterra caused. They have a chance to keep a customer, to keep a customer who can still say to others that he would buy from their company again.

The longer story: 2005 Xterra's radiator, like apparently many others in not just Xterra's, cracked and leaked coolant into the transmission. This occurred at 67K miles. The service department's invoice stated: "Inspected vehicle and found radiator cracked internally allowing fluids to mix-replace radiator assembly and flushed fluids as needed. (Flushed transmission 2 times due to water in fluid)"

"I should not have any more problems." I still remember hearing those words from the Nissan mechanic.

A year later the vehicle was shuddering, exactly as had happened after the radiator had spilled into the transmission. This time, and apparently my mistake, I took it to a nationally recognized transmission repair shop, not Nissan service (the same guys who had no qualms with sending me back on the road with a vehicle that could leave me who knows where). I was told there it would have to be rebuilt, and that there was even a technical service bulletin out that said the if the computer inside the transmission is exposed to water, it must be replaced. They even showed me the rust-covered computer. The cost for the rebuild was $3700.

Six months later I receive the letter about reimbursing for the radiator and for other parts affected by the cracked radiator. To date, I have been reimbursed for the radiator and for the two flushes that were supposed to fix the problem.

The more expensive issue, the transmission, was denied for reimbursement because A) it was done by an independent mechanic and B) I had it rebuilt outside the special extended warranty of 80K miles.

At this time, a regional specialist and regional manager are reviewing the documents for possible reimbursement. I was asked by the regional specialist as to whether or not I took the vehicle to Nissan before I took it to the transmission specialist to have it rebuilt. I did not. Nor did I know that when the issue was outside of the warranty, that I must take it to Nissan to have all mechanical issues taken care of since should there be a reimbursement program as there now exists, that would be a requirement to have them give me my money back.

I understand they are a company concerned about profits. But long-term thinking, say beyond next quarter's earnings, might be in order here.

NEVER will I purchase a nissan again. Nissans are the only cars my husband and I have ever owned...and then we made the decision to purchase the 2005 Xterra. In jan 2010 at a little under 90,000 miles a rumbling noise started occurring when I would reach about 40-60 mph that felt like I was driving over the rumble strips on the side of the highway, not knowing a lot about cars I asked my friend who is a mechanic what the problem might be and he thought it might be the bearings, but took it for a test drive. After driving it he no longer thought the problem was the bearings and called his friend who works for nissan who told him what the problem was- NISSAN WAS EVERY BIT AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM. yet when i called the dealership and told them one of their employees told me this the mechanic I spoke to claimed he had never heard of it in his shop. LIAR. We replace the radiator and flushed the transmission thinking our problem went away. A year later we are back at square one, only to have received a letter from nissan telling us that there may be a problem and our warranty has been extended...yet we are already over that extension. Now I'm told by nissan i didn't have a proper work order so I can't be reimbursed for the repairs and I'm stuck with a crappy car and can't afford to replace the transmission or the car!

I am going to start out with saying that I really liked my 2005 X-terra and that it was the perfect vehicle for me.This last year has really broken my love affair with Nissan.

At over 83 thousand miles, a vehicle should not be having radiator and transmission problems at the tune of over $3,000. This is my story. After taking a vacation to New Orleans, I backed my X out to drive to work when after I went to drive out of the driveway I heard a strange noise and had a no go with the vehicle. I had a hunch as to the problem because it had been making a shuddering noise for awhile and I had already been told what might happen. I took the vehicle to my mechanic who in turn sent it to their transmission expert. When he dropped the pan on the tranny, he informed me that it had antifreeze in the fluid and that a rebuild was required.The X is presently on the rack being worked on and when I get the total bill I will update.

In my searching of the internet, I know that Nissan does not care about the high rate of radiator failures and not issuing a recall for this and other product failures. This is the beginning of the bad press unless they fess up and say that they know they have a problem and they would like to make up with their customers. I have friends who work for the company, but I am sorry I will not buy another Nissan until they apologize to their customers and fix the problem.

The honeymoon with Nissan is over and I now am thinking of a divorce. This is not the only problem that has shown up in the last year and it is going to cost me even more to repair the other things. I am not a happy camper right now.

Update from Mar 11, 2011: After 4 weeks in the shop, I have my Xterra back in it's own bed now. Rebuilt the transmission and replaced the radiator at a cost of $3,000 and some change. All in all I feel like I came out on the less expensive side of this repair; I am still of the opinion that this repair should not have occurred at such a fairly low mileage because of the faulty radiator leaking into the tranny cooler.

We own a 2005 Xterra and it is my wifes car she explained that the transmission felt like it had shifted funny. the next day I took it for a short drive I noticed a hart shift condition between 1st and 2nd gear I checked the fluid levels and found dark fluid in the coolant recovery bottle I removed the bolt for the transmission dipstick and found the fluid to be about half a quart low. Not a good sign at this point I called the local Nissan dealer to see if they have had any related type issues and of course they said no what a bunch of liars the best thing to do is go on the internet and research things for your self. I've been a mechanic for 32 years and it's amazing what people will tell you when they think you are just Joe Blow customer so after no help from the dealer I replaced the radiator and flushed the cooling system and the recovery bottle I had to replace the radiator cap also the trans fluid ruined the rubber on the cap. Then I drained the transmission and of course filled it with Nissan fluid. I then took my car to Nissan to have the transmission system flushed to the tune of 220.00$ it seemed like that may have done the trick but about two weeks later I was driving home and the transmission shifted like a rock it hit so hard I thought I hit a pot hole but it did it 4 more times before we got home. I had already researched the trans problem and found a good transmission shop to have the trans done I was informed the tcm and related solenoids are one unit which added a 1000.00 to the rebuild you have got to love that. after having the transmission done we recieved the extended warranty for 80,000 miles funny that it's 96 month and only 80,000 mi I have filed a complaint with consumer affairs Nissan North America we will see what they will do. Total cost around 3800.00 dollars loss of a customer priceless word of mouth from unhappy customer well------------- you know.

Late December 2010 while my Xterra (91,000 Miles) was idling, I noticed that the heater was not working properly. I also noticed that the temp gauge was climbing slowly. As I was slammed at work, and it seemed to be a short term livable situation, I worked out a date later in January when I could take it in to Nissan and have the water pump replaced.

Silly me, thinking it was only the water pump....

The Advisor at Nissan agreed that it was probably the water pump, and said he would call me after they investigated. He came back with a quote of $6,000.00. You have got to be kidding me. $6,000.00? Apparently my radiator cracked and was leaking coolant into my transmission, which in turn was pumping transmission fluid through my radiator (doesn't conduct heat, that explained the heater problem).

Nissan's belief was "Cause of failure is corrosion on the cooler inside radiator from lack of coolant replacement". Lie No. 1. I keep up on my maintenance and had the fluid replaced at its 60K mark.

Their "minimum" recommended solution was to replace the radiator and transmission. Again, I say $6,000.00. Me, "Have you ever seen this happen before?" Advisor, "No, I have never seen this before". Liars they are.

I am a hard working mother of 2 toddlers. I still owe 10K on this vehicle, that now needs 6K in repairs. Is it worth saving?

I bailed the Xterra out of Nissan ($160.00) and took it to an independent mechanic for a second opinion on the recommended repairs. He decided that we would try to save the transmission, as I caught the problem fairly early. He replaced the radiator, and then flushed the transmission out with 22 qts of fluid ($1,100.00).

About a week after getting my Xterra out of the shop, I received the letter from Nissan stating they were extending the warranty to 80K miles because of this issue. I am so mad at this point I could spit nails. "Never seen this before" they lied to me. I found this website and lo and behold, it seems to be a common problem with this year Xterra, Pathfinder and Frontier.

Yesterday I went back to have it flushed again as it was not shifting quite right ($250.00).

Nissan was aware of the problem. They are aware that it happens at higher miles, yet they put limits on the warranty. Most people will be well outside of the terms before the radiator cracks and destroys your transmission. If it was simply an issue of a bad radiator, whatever, no big deal, it happens. This "issue" caused/causes major mechanical failures in your transmission.

Three months ago I had nothing but good things to say about my Xterra. That is being too simple, I LOVED the Xterra. Now I am looking to get rid of it as fast as possible. I simply cannot afford to put that kind of money into it.

Nissan should be sued.

the problems all started off when i noticed a vibration when driving between 35-50mph when my foot was on the gas pedal just enough to maintain speed i would feel a strong vibration coming from underneath the vehicle. i took it to my mechanic and he had said the u-joints needed to be replaced and that should take care of my vibration issue. WRONG!!! after the u-joints were replaced the vibration was still there, so i took it back to my mechanic. after a few hours of inspection the mechanic had noticed that the transmission fluid had mixed with the radiator fluid causing transmission failure. once i had found that out i had tried to get a hold of Nissan to see if there was any warranty coverage with this specific problem with the vehicle. the extended warranty they issued was valid up to 2013/80000/mi. i had called the 1800nissan1 number and had talked to a few Nissan reps about this, Nissan told me they "may be able to help with goodwill coverage with the problem," since my vehicle was out of warranty. nissan advised me i had to take it to my local nissan dealership to have my vehicle inspected so they could confirm the problem. $70 later the dealership had confirmed what i already knew. so i called 1800nissan1 to file a claim with them, after a week of waiting around for someone to call me back, i finally received the call that nissan would not help me with this repair. so now i am out an extra $70 on top of the repair costs. i promise i will never let my friends family or even my worst enemy purchase a nissan as long as i live. this specific problem with the transmission and radiator is strictly a manufacturing/engineering defect and nissan refuses to man up and handle the situation. if you are a person out there shopping for a new vehicle whatever you do, do not go with nissan.

Hi, I'm very recently a former owner of a 2005 Nissan Xterra. I Had the vehicle for nearly 5 years, until a week ago when I discovered the reason for the horrible noises I was hearing while driving it. First of all, I'd like to thank this site, and all of the people who described the exact same symptoms I was having, tipping me off to the problem early enough to do something about it before having to endure costly repairs.

Aside from the years of multiple issues I had to deal with, sometime in December I began hearing an awful rumbling noise (like driving over rumble strips) while driving 30 mph and over, along with a shaking sensation in pretty much the entire vehicle. the rumbling lasted anywhere from a couple seconds to 15 seconds long, then would stop and resume periodically with no consistency. It worsened very quickly over the next few weeks, so I had it checked out by a mechanic who said I had a bad Universal joint (which would explain the wretched metallic clinking in the wheel while turning). I had that replaced, but the rumbling noise showed no sign of stopping. my next option was to have it looked over to ensure the bearings were good.. did that, and they appeared to be all fine, along with everything else that was easily accessible underneath the vehicle.

Another symptom I was having was a severe lack of heat when first starting the vehicle to let it warm up.. it would sit running for up to 20 minutes and blow nothing but cold air, along with an awful smell as if something died in my car. However, as soon as I'd start driving, it would immediately start blowing warm air, and the smell would go away.

Upon finding nothing visibly wrong, my wife and I began searching on the internet for solutions, and found this site. As stated above, many seemed to be describing the same problems I was having, so I spoke with Nissan service the next day to confirm the extended Warranty on the radiator. Although they did confirm Nissan had indeed extended the warranty to 80,000 miles to cover a defective radiator, the management of the service dept. seemed less than concerned about spending the time necessary to find and confirm the problem so it could be fixed, making weak statements such as "well are you going to pay my mechanic for the time it takes to drive the vehicle until he hears the noise you're describing?" I made an appointment for the next day to drop it off, yet I left with another feeling of disgust, as I had so many times before for so many reasons. All in all, I'm extremely unimpressed with not only The service department of Nissan, but Nissan overall.

With this being said, I then decided "enough is enough", and chose to take my business elsewhere. I took the Xterra to another Dealership (American made this time), and much to my fortune, during the test drive there were no warning lights currently on, and the test drive wasn't long or fast enough to instigate the rumbling noises. Therefore the vehicle seemed to be in great condition and I was offered just above blue book value for it on a trade in. After all was said and done, I left in a brand new 2011 SUV of another make and model, and was very happy to be free of the Immense burden Nissan had potentially laid upon me. My purpose in writing all of this was not to bore you, but to describe what I'd experienced, so anyone with a situation similar to mine has something to compare notes with.

Again, i'd like to say thank you to all of you who posted regarding this issue, and I'm truly sorry you had to go through this nightmare.. I can't even begin to think of what I'd have done if the transmission / radiator completely failed on me, I certainly am in no position to come up with the money necessary to replace these parts, and to be honest I wouldn't wanna keep the vehicle afterwards even if I had. My advice to any Nissan owners out there, regardless of whether you're having issues similar to this... get out of it before it's too late!! And Nissan.. you're in business because people buy your vehicles.. I'd suggest doing the right thing and announce a recall for this. Fix these problems or you're gonna lose many more customers. (Does Toyota in the past few years ring any bells)?

Sorry for this being so long, thanks and good luck!

On 12/18/2010 my 2005 Xterra with 90k miles started vibrating badly when accelerating over 50mph. It felt like I was driving over rumble strips. Took it to the dealer on 12/20/2010 and was told my radiator had failed, leaked into the transmission and totally destroyed it. My only option was a $4600 replacement of the radiator and transmission. The service guy then told me that Nissan knew about the problem, but instead of issuing a recall, they simply extended the warranty from 60k to 72k miles (this was an error on his part, because the extension was actually to 80k miles). Regardless, it didn't apply to me because I was at 90k miles.

I called my usual shop to ask for a second opinion and was told that they recently replaced a tranny and radiator on a 2005 Frontier. Same problem. Googling the issue turned up this site as well as many others. The problem is widespread and affects apparently all 2005 mid-sized trucks and SUVs Nissan built. Nissan never made any effort to warn me about this potential problem and are burying their heads now that it's ruining hundreds of their customers' vehicles. Even the statement the released with the warranty extension excludes any language that would imply major damage may be looming for '05 owners. I read that several people caught the problem early and replaced or bypassed their transmission intercoolers. Wish someone would have told me!

2005 Nissan Xterra, 69,000 miles. Car had defective radiator from the beginning. The radiator failed and filled the transmission full of engine coolant (antifreeze) which fried the transmission. I took it to the local repair shop (non-Nissan dealer) and they said it's the transmission. I couldn't believe it so I called a transmission shop and they said Nissan has a problem with this and it's common. I called another transmission shop and they said the same thing. I took it to the Nissan dealer and they verified the failure as described. ALL the local independent shops are immediately aware of this problem but the folks at Nissan are saying it's not common. I think not. The cost of repairing this problem is about $5,200. I was expecting to replace the transmission at 200,000 miles, not 69,000.

There is no TSB (technical service bulletin) on this problem because Nissan is trying to keep it quiet for fear of having to do a recall which should have been done in the first place. They didn't even have the sense to reach out and inform the Xterra / Pathfinder owners that they may have a problem with their radiator.

I'm extremely annoyed with Nissan at the moment...I was driving to work when all of the sudden my 2005 Nissan Xterra would not accelerate. I took it to get looked at when they told me that the scanner found a problem in the transmission(part number was P1764) and that I would need a complete overhaul. So before I jumped the gun I also took it to 2 other locations where I found out that I had a crack in the radiator which was now leaking fluid into my transmission. Therefore this was going to cost me upwards of $3000. So I decided to take my truck to the Nissan Dealership since all the other places said this was happening a lot in Nissan's. When I arrived I refused to pay any more money to get it looked at so the guys were nice and quickly determined that indeed the radiator was cracked and leaking. So I asked the guys if this was an ongoing problem with this truck and of course they said yes. I found out that Nissan extended the warranty to 80,000 to cover this repair but didn't inform any owner. Now they are wanting me to pay for the repair because my truck is at 85,000 miles. I'm refusing, since if they notified the owners this could have been prevented! I called Nissan and had the same reaction as other people. The gentleman told me that a regional would have to call me back. I'm waiting to hear from them as I type but I am refusing to make another payment on this damn truck if they do not rectify the situation! It is completely unacceptable to me that Nissan knew of a problem and didn't inform the owners!!

I have also had a problem with the fuel sensor sending unit and had to pay out $500 in repair cost for that as well!

2005 Nissan Xterra, 69,000 miles. My Xterra had defective radiator from the beginning. The radiator failed and filled the transmission full of engine coolant (antifreeze) which fried the transmission. I took it to the local repair shop (non-Nissan dealer) and they said it's the transmission. I couldn't believe it so I called a transmission shop and they said Nissan has a problem with this and it's common. I called another transmission shop and they said the same thing. I took it to the Nissan dealer and they verified the failure as described. ALL the local independent shops are immediately aware of this problem but the folks at Nissan are saying it's not common. I think not. The cost of repairing this problem is about $5,200. I was expecting to replace the transmission at 200,000 miles, not 69,000.

There is no TSB (technical service bulletin) on this problem because Nissan is trying to keep it quiet for fear of having to do a recall which should have been done in the first place. They didn't even have the sense to reach out and inform the Xterra / Pathfinder owners that they may have a problem with their radiator. Nice.

I'm looking on-line and seeing so many people with the same symptoms. Mine was going down the road at 40-70 and I felt brief a noise and vibration - it sounded like it was coming from the rear end. Actually it sounded like a bad stretch of road for just a second or two.

In all fairness Nissan agreed to pay for the transmission (9,000 miles out of warranty) but that still left me with a $1,500 repair bill - total bill was $5,200.

When I went to pick the car up I asked how long I had before I had to sell the car, 69,000 more miles, I asked? They said no it should last much longer. I asked why if there wasn't a defect in the radiator to begin with. They said if there was an issue with the radiators they would have fixed it by now. I asked if there was a part number change on the radiator and they said they didn't know. That's crap too. I'm sure they have some "internal only documents" on this problem. I would go so far to say they probably have a Xterra radiator / transmission department. I would love to see the number of transmissions that they've "sold / used" due to this defect...

I plan to contact Nissan Monday to ask them some difficult questions. I'm prepared to contact the BBB, local news stations, place ads on Craigslist, create a website so people with these cars (not just 2005's BTW) can get their radiators fixed before this happens to them. If Nissan won't reach out, I will.

If you have an Xterra / Pathfinder get informed. If you are looking to buy an Xterra......get informed. What about Murano? Same crap?

Xterra transmission goes into safe mode at first stop after starting. Took ride to dealer dealer says radiator anti freeze has leaked into transmission and transmission is or will be toast soon. The dealer quoted me $5300 to fix. I have bought 5 nissans from this dealer. Never had issues with nissan rides untill now. The front clip was damaged about 4 months prior so Radiator ,tran lines etc. are new. I take excellent care of my rides because of occupation and always have service done. This month wifes Honda transmission went , got pink slip from job and now bam this happens. Need full body rain gear with rubber boots.

Update from Jan 15, 2011: I just received a extended warranty letter from Nissan about the radiator failure. .The letter says that Nissan is committed to providing the highest level of product quality and customer satisfaction. Which is a total smoke up my bum. I took my Xterra to the dealership for another part that Nissan had a recall on (ECM) I brought the letter with me and showed it to the service Manager ,provided Nissan with a couple of years worth of maintenance records including transmission service intervals. I provided proof that I maintain the ride. The dealership was supportive of my problem and gave me a new Rouge to drive Which I thought that if my Xterra was fixed I was going to buy the rouge for my wife. On the ride home I received a call from Corp. Nissan Stating that they will not do anything to fix their poor workmanship. I told the shallow Nissan Rep that I was in a Nissan taking it home and possibly purchasing it for my wife and that I had purchase 5 New Nissans off the lot. Did not get even a thank you or a offer to pay for half or anything. With that I said kiss my _ss and you will in court. No more Nissans.... ever!!!!.

2005 NISSAN XTERRA Transmission A.T., (4.0L, 6 cyl, 5 spd), 4x4 .This vehicle was brought to a repair shop, when my wife went to depress the accelerator at a red light the car took off like it was stuck in 3rd gear. When diagnosed, the radiator line had a hair line crack in it causing coolant to leak into the transmission turning the transmission fluid into a strawberry milk shake color. The radiator had to be replaced and all the fluids were flushed. A week later the fluids had to be replaced because the transmission was doing the same thing. A week later the transmission was flushed again and was running fine for two month then the same thing started again, now it's sitting at the repair shop and was told it's stuck in 3rd gear and needs a transmission.

I have called many transmission places and no one but AAMCO will touch this. Nissan has a rebuilt for $3100 and will only warranty it for 12 Mo 12,000 Mil. AAMCO can rebuild it for $3800 with a bypass for the coolant so the issue does not happen again. When I asked AAMCO if they see a lot of these cars they said yes and it's for the same issue. I asked the Ken why they can notify Nissan "the consumer's needs to complain they can't because of legalities" I did some research and found that It's a widespread issue with all the 2005 Nissan vehicles, from carcomplaints.com. 2005 Pathfinder 48 complaints 2005 XTerra 11 complaints "Houston We Have a Problem" Because the radiator is part of the transmission and can fail this should be covered, if this was true it would have been covered under the 60,000 mile warranty this is what the dealer told me from Nissan. Thanks for nothing, No thanks for the $7058 its going to cost me to get it fixed with a 3 yr or 100,000 mil warranty. According to the NADA my car is worth $9,975 with this issue without the issue its 15,050 "that's wonderful."

Driving on the Highway when the engine light, 4WD lights suddenly came on. When I finally slowed down and began to apply the gas I wasn't going anywhere. Just smelled burning. Very odd for someone who has serviced the vehicle regularly, replaced catalytic converters, brakes, & more ($6,000 in repairs between 2009-10). This could be the end of a great relationship with Nissan. I loved this car and took good care of it. How could the transmission just go like that on me?? It's at Aamco undergoing a diagnostic report now:(