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2006 Pathfinder radiator/transmission cooler failure

96K views 128 replies 31 participants last post by  smj999smj 
#1 ·
Would installing a new radiator prevent the radiator/transmission cooler failure that occurs in 2005 to 2009 Pathfinders? I am getting close to the end of the extended warranty coverage that Nissan offers and would like to forestall a very expensive problem. Does anyone know which radiators, if any, would not have the cooler failures that the OEM radiators have?

Thanks,

Yeterp
 
#67 ·
Couple of things you could do. First, I would have the dealer give you a Carfax report on the vehicle, which would show if there was any radiator replacement or transmission work done to the vehicle in the past. Look at the top tank of the radiator. On Nissan radiators, the word "Nissan" is molded into the top tank and there should be a Calsonic sticker on the driver's side of the top tank, near the radiator cap. If you have a part number of 21400-EA215, -EA265, or -EA200, you have the original, factory radiator that is prone to failure. The good news is that if the ATF is not showing signs of contamination, which would be streaks of white in the red ATF or, in worse case scenario, a strawberry custard, chances are the radiator has not failed, but you do know you should have the radiator replaced or bypassed to prevent the possibility of cross-contamination due to cooler failure. If you have 21400-9CA2E, the radiator has been replaced, however, there have been a few failures reported with the early versions of these radiators, as well. If the radiator was replaced in 2010 or later with this part number, it should be okay. No cooler failures have been reported that I am aware of with the aftermarket replacements.
To check the dipstick, you'll need to removed the 10MM head screw that holds the dipstick, which is on the passenger side of the engine and has a black, rubber top.
As far as driving symptoms, the usual thing people have reported is a high speed "shudder" while driving. It's often the shift solenoids that get affected first, but the solenoids can't be replaced without purchasing the expensive TCM/valve body assembly. There have been a few that caught the problem early and despite a little cross-contamination, were able to save the transmission with several flushings of the fluid, but those tend to be the minority. If you do service the ATF, remember to not use regular Dexron III/Mercon. Nissan Type "J" or "S" ATF is specified by Nissan, which is the same as Castrol Transmax Multi-import ATF. Most aftermarket synthetics work just find and are less expensive, but make sure they state they are recommended for Nissan Type "J" and "S" applications. Personally, I use Valvoline Maxlife ATF in a 1-gallon jug, which works out perfectly for a drain and fill. The drain plug gasket is Nissan 11026-01M02.
 
#71 ·
hi! smj999smj, just to confirm. In reference to xrayboy1 question. Rads with batch the number 92100 EA500, are they good? Thanks.
"92100-EA500" is not a radiator batch number; it is the part number of the air conditioner compressor located directly in front of the radiator. Radiator part numbers start with "21460-XXXXX." Any radiator that has an "EA-" part number, i.e. "21460-EA215," would be suspect as a potential for failure. Nissan later counter-measured the part number to "21460-9CA2E."
 
#69 ·
So what is the 'extended warranty' - that is, what are the limits? I have a 2008 Frontier. I purchased it new in July of 2008. I have 40K miles on it. Am I still under the extended warranty?

I don't recall getting any notification - email or snail mail from Nissan. The only thing I get from them is junk mail selling services.

If I'm under the warranty I'm gonna continue to drive it as is. If it croaks, Nissan can fix it. If I'm not under warranty, or if I'll be out of warranty soon, I'll have to fix it myself.
 
#70 · (Edited)
Radiator extended warranty applies to failure of radiator and subsequent damage and is as follows:


-Up to 8 years/80,000 miles, whichever comes first, extended warranty coverage applies with no customer co-pay.
-After 8 years/80,000 miles, whichever comes first, up to 9 years/90,000 miles, whichever comes first, extended warranty coverage applies with customer out of pocket expense limited to $2,500.
-After 9 years/90,000 miles, whichever comes first, up to 10 years/100,000 miles, whichever comes first, extended warranty coverage applies with customer out of pocket expense limit in the amount of $3,000.

If it were me, once you get to July of 2016, I would replace the radiator with an aftermarket unit or do the cooler bypass. $2500 is still a lot of money to pay and a lot more than the cost of replacing the radiator as "preventative maintenance."
 
#74 ·
I talked to the dealer (St Paul) that I bought my Frontier from - 2008 Nismo - new 7/08 - 40K miles. He said it would be $1150 to replace the radiator. I have retired since I bought the truck. I now live closer to Duluth MN. The Duluth dealer said $575. The difference must be the new model radiator that Nissan came up with.

I'll wait until my warranty is just about up and then spend the $575. I hate to have to do it. Nissan thinks they are helping with their extended warranty. But it really isn't much (help).

I didn't rag on either service manager - it is what it is. I know this kind of thing can happen to any manufacturer. But it's what they (manufacturer) do that separates the men from the boys. I'm going back to Toyota. If anybody asks, I'll tell them Nissan is a third rate company pretending to run with the big dogs. They have now shown their hand - they lose.
 
#76 ·
Happy Thanksgiving to all you Nissan drivers...

I live 30 miles from town. I don't have a relationship with any shop. My Toyotas have never required any work - just maintenance. I do have a local guy who's pretty good - Gulf War Vet with some physical issues. I try to give him business. He does light work - brakes, fluid maint, small stuff - your hood won'd close, etc. He could do this - don't know if he would. But if there's a problem he doesn't have the means to stand behind it. Nissan will probably give me a warranty on the work.

This week I got an Nissan Parts Ad in my email box. They had some pretty good sale prices. But no Frontier radiators available. Go figure. We have to buy one so why give us a break?
 
#77 ·
Happy Thanksgiving to all you Nissan drivers...

I live 30 miles from town. I don't have a relationship with any shop. My Toyotas have never required any work - just maintenance. I do have a local guy who's pretty good - Gulf War Vet with some physical issues. I try to give him business. He does light work - brakes, fluid maint, small stuff - your hood won'd close, etc. He could do this - don't know if he would. But if there's a problem he doesn't have the means to stand behind it. Nissan will probably give me a warranty on the work.

This week I got an Nissan Parts Ad in my email box. They had some pretty good sale prices. But no Frontier radiators available. Go figure. We have to buy one so why give us a break?
why do you have to buy one?
 
#78 ·
2006 Auto Frontier Question

Hi,

I just bought a 2006 auto 2wd Frontier.. I needed a truck rather quickly and this was in my range and the deal worked out... I went to check it out with little research other then a brief look and saw good reviews (they were obviously lower miles before hitting this problem)

Luckily about a week into owning this I discovered this problem and my fluids are green and normal..

I live in NJ and am looking for the best thing to do.. Bypass? Get a new radiator? if so what is the general consensus on the best radiator to get and avoid the trans failure?

Thanks fora any help... Could not sleep last night as I can't afford a major problem.. This truck was a transition to hopefully use a couple years without major problems until I can move into something newer...
 
#79 ·
first post

First of all, I'd like to say this is the most comprehensive source on the subject I've found. I've read snippets here and there in reviews and even the official complaint site isn't as thorough.

smj999smj, you are a stud!

I've been in the market for an R51 for a couple weeks now. I accidentally stumbled on this model while searching for a family car and fell in love.

Out of the 4 I physically looked at, at least 1 had the problem, one never got back to be regarding the inspection report and the other looked fine but was too dinged up. I settled on an 113k '06 LE which looked immaculate except a broken cup holder and console latch.

I was going to take it home today pending an inspection. Some bad news but overall good considering it had not yet experienced the catastrophic leak. A bad tie rod was the most worrisome issue besides...the 4wd being inop. I googled and obscurely found some posts where that has happened when the battery dies. Which was exactly what happened at the dealership lot before the inspection. Oddly the mechanics found the battery to be in working order? Like the post said it mysteriously returned to working order by the time the inspection was over. Hope there's not an underlying issue.

Anyways, I plan to take it in to a shop and have the radiator replaced ASAP when I finally have it in possession. I already put an offer in on the CSF.
 
#80 · (Edited)
First of all, I'd like to say this is the most comprehensive source on the subject I've found. I've read snippets here and there in reviews and even the official complaint site isn't as thorough.

smj999smj, you are a stud!

I've been in the market for an R51 for a couple weeks now. I accidentally stumbled on this model while searching for a family car and fell in love.

Out of the 4 I physically looked at, at least 1 had the problem, one never got back to be regarding the inspection report and the other looked fine but was too dinged up. I settled on an 113k '06 LE which looked immaculate except a broken cup holder and console latch.

I was going to take it home today pending an inspection. Some bad news but overall good considering it had not yet experienced the catastrophic leak. A bad tie rod was the most worrisome issue besides...the 4wd being inop. I googled and obscurely found some posts where that has happened when the battery dies. Which was exactly what happened at the dealership lot before the inspection. Oddly the mechanics found the battery to be in working order? Like the post said it mysteriously returned to working order by the time the inspection was over. Hope there's not an underlying issue.

Anyways, I plan to take it in to a shop and have the radiator replaced ASAP when I finally have it in possession. I already put an offer in on the CSF.
There are service bulletins on both the broken latch and the cup holder. The latch is available separately in several colors, so you'll need your trim code to get the right one.
The cup holder at the back of the console is also available separately, but the TSB will show where to check to see if one needs just the cup holder assembly or if the console, itself, is in need of replacement. You can find both of these TSB's in the "knowledge base" at NissanHelp.com.
As far as the 4WD problem, check for stored trouble codes. If you have codes for the transfer case pressure sensors, try this: locate the transfer relay near the brake booster. Remove the relay from the harness connector and tighten the pins of the harness connector using a pin or similar tool. Take a small piece of Scotch pad or some light sandpaper and clean up the pins of the transfer relay. Reinstall the relay and erase the trouble codes. This is an issue on models with the "AUTO" mode transfer case. The pins spread slightly and create a poor connection, which prevents the transfer pump motor from operating on the transfer case. The transfer pump is a secondary pump used to supply lubrication to the wet clutch in speeds below 35 MPH, while in reverse or at idle. Above 35 MPH, the mechanical pump provides the lubrication and the transfer pump is turned off.
As far as the CSF radiators, I know of one person that had some leak issues with the one they got from Stillen. It was one of the first ones, so hopefully they have corrected whatever the problem was.
 
#83 ·
Hi all just bought a used 2006 frontier. Bypassed the radiator transmission cooler, but I'm wondering if my radiator was actually replaced by the previous owner. The sticker that would denote the part number on the top of the radiator is not present on mine, so I have no way to tell which part number I have.

My question is there anywhere else on the radiator the part number would be listed? I've spent a good amount of time looking but can't seem to find it anywhere.
 
#84 ·
It would be only on the top tank. Genuine Nissan radiators also have "Nissan" molded into the top tank. Most aftermarket replacements have no sticker on the top tank and do not have "Nissan" molded into the top tank, so, if you don't have those, you would likely have an aftermarket replacement rad.
 
#87 ·
Been a while since I've been on this forum since I had sold off my PF. However, I just repurchased a used 2005 PF, the same as what i used to have. I was lucky before and didn't run into any radiator/tranny issues but not so lucky this time. The new PF I got has got tranny fluid in the rad, having the stall issues and rough running tranny.

My mechanic took a look and said there doesn't seem to be any radiator fluid in the transmission fluid and the coloring of the transmission is the proper color. If I do a complete replace of the rad with an aftermarket one, should I be ok without having to replace the tranny?
 
#88 ·
if the tranny is acting up because of a contamination issue, a new radiator is not likely to help
tranny fluid in the radiator will not cause the tranny to act up, but coolant in the tranny fluid definitely will cause it to malfunction
i think it's almost unheard of that the contamination will only go one way and not the other
is it possible that when you bought the truck, that the prior owner changed the tranny fluid prior to the sale, to cover up the contamination issue?
 
#115 ·
regarding the sensors, if you are sure they need replacement, I'd recommend that you stick with OEM replacements as some of the aftermarket replacements can be "dodgy"
regarding the transmission, coolant, radiator, fluids, etc, if it were mine, i would by-pass the radiator and do a thorough fluid exchange for the transmission and cooling system, using only the recommended fluids or equivalent
this may not repair a damaged trans as such, but may be a valuable diagnostic step in determining (symptomatically) what will eventually need to be done
Ok. So an update. Replaced the OEM rad with the Spectra Premium aftermarket one. Drained the tranny fluid and it was definitely contaminated. Drained it and flushed it 4 times. Test drove it and seemed smooth. Limited slip light came back on so wound up replacing the CAM sensors and test drove it again. No sensor light problems this time. Also was definitely smoother with the replacement CAMs.

Test drove it for an hour yesterday and it seemed to be smooth. Maybe a bit of back and forth shifting at the upper end (in and out of overdrive) but could be me just being hypersensitive and thinking something there that isn't. I also drive a standard as my daily driver and don't drive an automatic much. Stomped on the gas a number of times and it shifted up and down super smooth.

My concern now, like everyone else's is "did I catch it in time?" It does have 265K kms on it. If I didn't, what would be the indicators that the tranny is done? It won't just stall on me like it did before, right? Rough shifting?
 
#93 · (Edited)
Unfortunately, yes.

I'll either get a "hiccup" if accelerating and the gear jerks for a split second and the slip and VDC lights go on. Or it'll stall while driving and the same lights go on. I pop it into neutral to pull over and then have to restart it but you have to crank it for a bit.

Pretty sure tranny has issues but was really hoping it wasn't
 
#94 ·
regarding the sensors, if you are sure they need replacement, I'd recommend that you stick with OEM replacements as some of the aftermarket replacements can be "dodgy"
regarding the transmission, coolant, radiator, fluids, etc, if it were mine, i would by-pass the radiator and do a thorough fluid exchange for the transmission and cooling system, using only the recommended fluids or equivalent
this may not repair a damaged trans as such, but may be a valuable diagnostic step in determining (symptomatically) what will eventually need to be done
 
#95 ·
Yeterp - thanks for reminding me. I have a 2008 Frontier (40K miles) that has about 1 month of transmission/radiator warranty left (for free replacement if failure occurs). I intend to call them and get a price. Last winter they said (not a real quote) $500+. For that I'll have the dealer fix the problem. But I don't really trust that price. I'm not sure it was a service manager - more of a salesman type. The conversation was made over the phone.

I intend to keep the truck - I have a snow plow on it. But if I ever want to sell it I think a dealer fix will be more useful than my local mechanic installing new trans cooler.

I wish there were a way to get a sample of the trans fluid before the fix. I fear a trans failure AFTER the fix - with me on the hook. I would like to get a trans fluid sample and send it in for testing. But the trans system is sealed - no dipstick. There must be a drain plug right?

Maybe I should fix it and then sell it...

I have nothing against the truck - but Nissan should fix this for free. Toyota would have (fixed it for free). Again, the truck seems to work well - but I'm done as a Nissan customer because of lack of support. I'm not really mad, just intend to go with a manufacturer that offers better support.
 
#96 ·
Yeterp - thanks for reminding me. I have a 2008 Frontier (40K miles) that has about 1 month of transmission/radiator warranty left (for free replacement if failure occurs). I intend to call them and get a price. Last winter they said (not a real quote) $500+. For that I'll have the dealer fix the problem. But I don't really trust that price. I'm not sure it was a service manager - more of a salesman type. The conversation was made over the phone.

I intend to keep the truck - I have a snow plow on it. But if I ever want to sell it I think a dealer fix will be more useful than my local mechanic installing new trans cooler.

I wish there were a way to get a sample of the trans fluid before the fix. I fear a trans failure AFTER the fix - with me on the hook. I would like to get a trans fluid sample and send it in for testing. But the trans system is sealed - no dipstick. There must be a drain plug right?

Maybe I should fix it and then sell it...

I have nothing against the truck - but Nissan should fix this for free. Toyota would have (fixed it for free). Again, the truck seems to work well - but I'm done as a Nissan customer because of lack of support. I'm not really mad, just intend to go with a manufacturer that offers better support.
...........there is a dipstick, and there is a drain plug
 
#98 ·
I have not found a dipstick for the transmission. I'm sure there's a drain plug.

If there's a dipstick it's hidden. I have had the oil changed at the dealer until it was out of warranty. The last two changes have been at a Valvoline fast-lube. Both times they crawled all over the engine bay looking for the dipstick.

Also, there is nothing in my owner's manual about checking the auto transmission fluid. Nothing under 'auto', 'automatic' and nothing under 'transmission'. I think it's a sealed system.

I have to call the dealer on Monday - I'll try to remember to ask them. I'll post what I find.
hardly hidden, maybe unrecognizable to you
it's a few inches inboard of the engine compartment fuse box & relay box, bolted to a coolant pipe that runs from front to rear
see pgs MA-22 to MA-24 in the service manual for proper use:2006 Nissan Pathfinder Service Manual - Loose Sections - Free with Registration - Nissanhelp.com
 
#109 ·
hardly hidden, maybe unrecognizable to you
it's a few inches inboard of the engine compartment fuse box & relay box, bolted to a coolant pipe that runs from front to rear
see pgs MA-22 to MA-24 in the service manual for proper use:2006 Nissan Pathfinder Service Manual - Loose Sections - Free with Registration - Nissanhelp.com
It's on the right side of the engine compartment. It has a black rubber knob on top of it and there is a 10MM head bolt that secures it to the dipstick. It's there; you just have to look. A fluid sample can be obtained via the 19mm drain plug on the bottom of the pan or by disconnecting a cooler hose and pouring some into a container. Drain plug would be the easiest.


It WAS hidden to me. The electrical cables for my snowplow cover it. Thanks for the pictures smj.

I got the cheap radiator installed, by Nissan, today. I didn't see any reason to spend another $500 for the more expensive radiator. Both are designed and made by Nissan - the odds that the good one is as bad as the cheap one and that either is as bad as the original are about the same.

$560 out the door. I know that I could do it cheaper with an after market trans cooler. But I wanted original Nissan parts installed by a Nissan dealer - in the event I trade or sell the truck.

FWIW - the snowplow works great on this rig (NISMO with locker).
 
#99 ·
It's on the right side of the engine compartment. It has a black rubber knob on top of it and there is a 10MM head bolt that secures it to the dipstick. It's there; you just have to look. A fluid sample can be obtained via the 19mm drain plug on the bottom of the pan or by disconnecting a cooler hose and pouring some into a container. Drain plug would be the easiest.

 
#102 ·
I just bought a 2005 pathfinder with 93,000 miles on it and found this forum. In looking at the radiator I am seeing the name calsonic and numbers 92100 EA500 A7 A0702002 not seeing this number. Can anyone shed any light on this for me? I was just starting to do a bypass but thought I would check it out first.
Thanks!
 
#105 ·
Well I guess I keep asking a question and finding the answer later. My apologies.
I did find that number is from a company called APDI from Parts Geek. My question now would be is this a decent radiator and does it do the trick?
Is there anything else I should do?
I am planning on doing a tranny flush and replace.
 
#106 ·
You should be good with that radiator. I have not heard of any problems with the aftermarket replacements in regards to the cooler, so far, and I moderate at TheNissanPath.com, which is a Pathfinder specific forum with a lot of R51 traffic. There shouldn't be any need to flush the transmission, either, as the factory-fill is synthetic. A simple drain and fill should be sufficient. I also wouldn't waste $9/quart on Nissan-matic "J" or "S" ATF; it is the same as Castrol Transmax Import Multi-vehicle ATF, but just in a genuine Nissan labeled container and a bumped-up price. Personally, I use Valvoline Maxlife ATF which I get from Walmart in a one gallon jug for $17.50. I have two Pathfinders and have been using it for five years and it works fine. One thing I like about it is that after a couple of services, the fluid drains out in a cherry red color and looks like regular ATF on the dipstick. The Nissan ATF looks almost clear on the dipstick and looks brown when you drain it. FYI, the drain plug gasket is the same as the oil pan drain plug gasket: Nissan 11026-01M02. I buy them by the bag on Ebay.
 
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