Car stuff - what do you think?

[Lee]

I got a letter the other day from (?) advising me of a class action lawsuit against Nissan. It is real. Seems that some Pathfinders, Xtera and Frontier trucks have an issue with the radiator that allows coolent into the trans. It happens at about 100k miles. Nissan "settled" and agreed to extend the trans warranty to 80k miles (short of the expected failure), and will reimburse repair costs beyond $2500-3000, depending on mileage. WTF? How much does a tranny or radiator cost?  I've only got 30k on my Frontier, and I'm very happy with it. I'm not all that concerned about the issue itself, but I am concerned that if I do trade or sell it, I'll lose at least that
Much. I called the Nissan dealer to ask about the issue, and to see if I could take any preventative steps as I get closer to 100k miles, to avoid the possible defect. They first person i talked to would not talk about it, and told me they would call me back. They didnt.  Is it unrealistic to expect a trouble free 100k miles? I'm old enough to remember when everything failed at 100k. Should I just drive it and hope for the best, or sell it in the next couple of years and buy something else?  Typically I'm a drive it till it dies, then drive it some more kinda guy. At this point, I just want to know the likelihood of failure, and to see if I can take preventative steps. Evidently the lawyers have told them to keep mum about it. That's what really pisses me off. What would you do?

[Boomhauer]

Just go buy a new radiator. It will cost a lot less than a *expletive deleted*ed up transmission when the trans cooler/radiator fails. Another option which I actually prefer to install a couple of auxillary trans coolers and cut out the factory cooler completely

[Lee]

That was my first thought... Which is why I called Nissan. The no rely is what concerns me. I'm thinking it involves something more than just a radiator swap. Although, maybe they are just tired of fielding calls about it.

[Boomhauer]

That was my first thought... Which is why I called Nissan. The no rely is what concerns me. I'm thinking it involves something more than just a radiator swap. Although, maybe they are just tired of fielding calls about it.

Per the original concern of transfluid and coolant mixing, since the only point where the transmission and coolant interact is the transmission cooler attached to the radiator that could be avoided completely by either replacing the radiator (provided the new one doesn't share the same faulty design) or cutting the factory trans cooler out of the loop completely.

A lot damn cheaper than a trans rebuild...

[Lee]

Thanks.

[lupinus]

What Avenger said.

The stock transmission cooler just takes up a section of the radiator. The failure is probably some internal seal or something that has a tendency to break down around 100k. Cutting that out of the mix cuts out the problem. Stand alone transmission coolers shouldn't be to terribly expensive, and (never played with the models listed, so speaking in general) not to hard to install. Should be plenty of guidance on the net for installing on a particular model.

As an added bonus, a decent stand alone cooler should yield better performance than the stock cooler.

[Tallpine]

Just make sure that if you install a separate transmission cooler, and IF you have a cross-flow radiator, that they don't attach it to the front of the radiator with those little plastic pin thingies that go between the radiator ducts (can't remember the correct name ).

We used to have a Chevy pickup with that setup.  It might have been all right if you always drove on pavement.  But it was a 4wd for goddess sake!  After some number of years, the plastic pins resting on the tiny radiator water channels wore pinholes and we had to replace the radiator (after it started overheating in the middle of the night in Texas and we had to keep adding water all the way back to Colorado).   


Otherwise, I second (3rd,4th, etc) the idea of just disconnecting the factory oil cooler and installing an aftermarket unit.  Probably won't cost but $100 or $200 or maybe even less if you do it yourself.  That protects your expensive transmission and then you can run the factory radiator until it fails in some other fashion, or not. 

It would cost you a lot more in lost time and frustration if the factory radiator fails and ruins the transmission, even IF Nissan paid the entire bill, which they probably never will.

[Lee]

Thanks. Good ideas that I'll explore.  
I was reading some pretty freakish posts on one of the related forums. Who knows if they are true, but there were some weird experiences posted there...none of them making Nissan look very good.  I have to say that the two Nissan service depts. I've dealt with we're less than stellar. Nissan always follows up with an Email to ask about my experience. I always reply with a question for them- which always goes unanswered
The trans warranty prior to the lawsuit was 36k miles- so they basically told those folks who's transmissions got toasted "tough *expletive deleted* ...normal wear and tear".
There were several young moms on there who had no transportation, several more years of car payments, and a $5k repair estimate. Some tough stories to read. Gotta love the auto industry.

Edited- I got off my smart phone so I could actually see what I was typing.  This is the problem >

http://wot.motortrend.com/2005-10-nissan-truck-suv-owners-plagued-by-transmission-failures-111579.html#axzz2IT0DOfST
"Fast forward to today, and many Nissan truck and SUV owners are reporting that the radiator issues have affected the vehicles transmissions, causing premature failure. Lance Wiggins, Technical Director of the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association told The New York Times that what’s happening is the radiator cooler tanks are rupturing, forcing coolant into the five-speed automatic through the transmission cooler lines. The result of this is transmission failure.

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/2005-10-nissan-truck-suv-owners-plagued-by-transmission-failures-111579.html#ixzz2IT1v4nOQ
Follow us: @MotorTrend on Twitter | MotortrendMag on Facebook

[Tallpine]

There were several young moms on there who had no transportation, several more years of car payments, and a $5k repair estimate. Some tough stories to read. Gotta love the auto industry.

Datsun of a bitch! 

[Lee]

Our local Datsun dealer was named Dotson. He didn't change his name. He ran a lot of commercials after that, saying that it was still Dotson Nissan.

[Hawkmoon]

I'll cast another vote for just taking the radiator out of the loop and running a quality aftermarket transmission cooler. Perma-Kool (or Perma-Cool?) is one. There's a second big name in that business, but I can't think of it at the moment. Most will mount as Tallpine described, but it's not difficult to make a bracket that bolts or screws to the lower radiator cross member.

[Tallpine]

I'll cast another vote for just taking the radiator out of the loop and running a quality aftermarket transmission cooler. Perma-Kool (or Perma-Cool?) is one. There's a second big name in that business, but I can't think of it at the moment. Most will mount as Tallpine described, but it's not difficult to make a bracket that bolts or screws to the lower radiator cross member.

If it's a vertical flow radiator, I suppose it wouldn't matter much as the mounting pins would rest on the fins instead of the little "water ducts" (there has to be a proper term but it escapes me now).

The pickup that we had problems with was about 20 years old and the trans-cooler was put on shortly after it was new, for trailer pulling.  And then we got it and drove mostly on forest circus roads for six or seven years.

I don't know how many other manufacturers use cross flow radiators.