There are 40 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2008 Nissan Frontierin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Frontier. The contact stated that while driving at speeds over 40 MPH, the vehicle would shake and vibrate. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the radiator fluid had leaked into the transmission causing severe damage to the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission and radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 86,000.
The transmission cooler integrated into the radiator failed damaging the transmission by cross contamination of fluids. Loss of power on a narrow country mountain road was not safe. I learned that this problem is very common. I feel that Nissan should have replaced the radiator before thousands in transmission damage occurred.
Transmission fluid cooler integrated in the radiator that allowed engine coolant to mix with and contaminate the automatic transmission fluid causing damage to the transmission. Radiator had to be replaced along with flushing out of the trans fluid at a service station costing a few thousand of dollars. Months later the check engine light went on and found out that the transmission is slipping caused by the fluid contamination.
TRANSMISSION FAILURE DUE TO COOLANT IN TRANS OIL CONTAMINATING TRANS COMPONENTS. TOTAL TRANS REBUILD/REPLACE RADIATOR AND TRANS COOLER. 130K MILES ON VEHICLE - LOW MILES FOR A 2008 FRONTIER. THE VEHICLE SHUDDERED, HESITATED, WOULD NOT PICK UP SPEED AS IT SHOULD, WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY SHIFTING THRU GEARS AS IT TRANSITIONED FROM STOP TO MOVING, TYPICALLY AROUND 30-40 MPH UNDER LOAD (ACCELERATING). WE HAVE SINCE FOUND OUT THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM. EXPENSIVE REPAIR!
FIRST LONG TRIP SINCE I BOUGHT THE USED TRUCK, A TRIP TO OAKRIDGE, 90 MILE ROUND TRIP FROM HOME. THE TRUCK MADE IT BACK TO OUR DRIVEWAY, THEN WHEN I PUT ON THE BREAK FOR MY HUSBAND TO GET OUT, IT WOULD NOT MOVE AND ALL THE DASH LIGHTS CAME ON. I COULDN'T BUDGE THE TRUCK. IT WAS LOCKED UP. COULDN'T MOVE THE STICK. THE ENGINE QUIT. FORCED IT INTO PARK AND TRIED TO RESTART, BUT NOT A SOUND. THE NEIGHBOR CAME OVER WITH HIS CODE READER. IT SAID P1000. BATTERY CHECKED GOOD, GOT A NEW ONE ANYWAY BECAUSE ITS AGE. GROUNDS WERE GOOD, BUT CLEANED ANYWAY. HAD IT TOWED TO DEALER. THEY PUT A NEW TRANSMISSION IN.
NOTICED SHAKING IN PASSENGER SIDE FRONT TIRE. TOOK TO TRANSMISSION SHOP AFTER DOING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF WORKED TO THE FRONT END. TO FIND OUT THAT THE RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION WERE MIXING FLUID. SHOP TOLD ME TRANSMISSION IT IS DONE AND MUST BE REBUILT AND RADIATOR MUST BE REBUILT. BEEN TOLD THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE FRONTIER.
MY COOLANT MIXED WITH TRANSMISSION FLUID. CAUSING IT NOT TO ACCELERATE. NISSAN MECHANIC SAYS IT'LL COST 6000 DOLLARS TO COMPLETELY FIX. ABSURD!!!!!! 120,000 MILE VEHICLE.
RADIATOR THAT CONTROLS THE TRANSMISSION COOLANT LET GO CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION COOLANT TO MIX WITH THE ENGINE COOLANT. I HAD THE TRANSMISSION REPAIRED AT NEW RIVER NISSAN BACK IN 2018. BEFORE I HAD NISSAN REPAIR IT I HAD TAKEN IT TO A TRANSMISSION SHOP WHERE IT WAS FLUSHED OUT AND A SMALL RADIATOR ADDED TO THE TRUCK BECAUSE OF THE RADIATOR GOING BAD . THE TRUCK HAD LESS THAN 80,000 MILES ON IT AND LESS THAN A 9 YEARS. AS THE RECALL WAS ADDED TO THAT AFTER ALL THE PROBLEMS FROM THE RADIATOR. I FILL LIKE I SHOULD BE REIMBURSED FOR EVERYTHING THAT I PAID OUT WHICH WAS ABOUT 3500.00 TOTAL. BUT NOW IT'S STILL MIXING COOLANT AFTER BEING SERVICED BY A NISSAN DEALER.
TRANSMISSION LOCKED DURING DRIVING COULD HAVE CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. TRANSMISSION FLUID MIXING WITH COOLANT CAUSING TRANSMISSION FAILURES
STARTING HAVING PROBLEMS WITH TRANSMISSION IT STARTED POPPING AS I WOULD BACK UP , SO I THOUGHT IT WAS THE DRIVE SHAFT. I TOOK IT TO A GARAGE AND THEY FOUND THAT THE RADIATOR COOLING SYSTEM HAD LET GO LETTING THE COOLING AND TRANSMISSION MIX. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THERE WASN'T A RECALL ON THIS IF NISSAN NEW ABOUT IT. IT STARTED TO SLIP A COUPLE OF TIMES AS I WENT TO PULL OUT AND THAT'S WHEN I TOOK IT TO GARAGE.
ENGINE COOLANT HAS LEAKED FROM THE RADIATOR INTO THE TRANSMISSION FLUID COOLING SECTION OF THE RADIATOR, THEN INTO THE TRANSMISSION RESULTING IN OVER $5200 IN A TRANSMISSION REBUILD. HAVING CHECKED VARIOUS WEB SITES I NOTICE THAT THIS HAS BEEN A RECURRING PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL. MY QUESTION IS: IF NISSAN HAS KNOWN ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, WHY HAS A RECALL NOT BEEN ISSUED? ALSO, WHY SHOULD OWNERS BE RESPONSIBLE FOR FOOTING THE BILL FOR REBUILDING THE TRANSMISSION? DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS, I WILL BE CONTACTING THE FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION AGENCY THAT PROVIDES OVERSIGHT OF VEHICLE SAFETY AND RECALLS. IT IS UNSATISFACTORY THAT NISSAN DOES NOT OWN UP TO IT'S RESPONSIBILITIES!
PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE IN JAN OF 2017 AS A USED TRUCK. HAD LESS THAN 2 MOS. THE TRANSMISSION HAS FAILED. AS WE TOOK IT TO OUR MECHANIC FOR REPAIR, WE DISCOVERED NISSAN HAS HAD THIS ISSUE ON SEVERAL OF THEIR MODELS. THE RADIATOR FLUID HAD LEAKED INTO THE TRANSMISSION AND RUINED THE TRANSMISSION.
DRIVERS SIDE REAR AXLE SEAL LEAK. DIFFERENTIAL VENT LEAK. BOTH STARTED ABOUT 100,000 MILES.
THIS IS IN REGARDS TO AN ITEM ALREADY UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE NHTSA. I AM ANOTHER VICTIM OF NISSAN'S LEAKING TRANSMISSION COOLER LEADING TO A CATASTROPHIC TRANSMISSOIN FAILURE. MY TRANSMISSION LOCKED IN SECOND GEAR UPON ACCELERATING FROM A STOP SIGN. FORTUNATELY I WAS 1/2 MILE FROM MY HOME ON A SIDE STREET AND NOT ON THE INTERSTATE WHERE SUCH A PROBLEM COULD LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT. CONSUMERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. THE FIX IS RELATIVELY CHEAP BEFORE THE TRANSMISSION COOLER BEGINS TO LEAK. UNFORTUNATELY CONSUMERS ARE UNAWARE OF THE ISSUE UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE, AND THE REPAIR REQUIRES A NEW TRANSMISSION AND RADIATOR COSTING $5000 TO $6000. ALTHOUGH NO WRECK WAS INVOLVED IN MY INCIDENT, THE POTENTIAL FOR AN ACCIDENT IS DEFINATELY PRESENT IF SUCH A FAILURE WHERE TO HAPPEN ON A CONGESTED INTERSTATE.
TRANSMISSION COMPLETALLY CONTAMINATED WITH COOLANT AND CAR DID NOT MOVE ANYMORE. START SLPPING IN OVERDRIVE. ONES I STARTED AND IT HAS A WEIRD SOUND AND WENT HOME BUT IN THE WAY THE CAR STOPS COMPLETALLY.
RADIATOR COOLANT LEAKING INTO TRANSMISSION. RESULTING IN A FAILED TRANSMISSION WHILE DRIVING. VERY DANGEROUS STARTED SLIPPING GEARS. ONLY 52000 MILES ON TRUCK.
TRANSMISSION COOLER IN RADIATOR LEAKED CAUSING ENGINE COOLANT TO MIX WITH TRANSMISSION FLUID CAUSING TRANSMISSION TO BREAK DOWN
RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION FAILURE DUE TO CROSS CONTAMINATION OF RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION FLUID CAUSED BY CRACKED ATF LINE RUNNING THROUGH ENGINE COOLANT CHAMBER IN RADIATOR.
AFTER THE ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON ON MY FRONTIER, I TOOK IT TO THE MECHANIC. MECHANIC STATES THAT I HAVE A FAULTY COOLANT. ITS A KNOWN ISSUE BY NISSAN FRONTIERS. BASICLY THE COOLANT WILL LEAK INTO MY RADIATOR WHICH THEN WILL MESS UP THE TRANSMISSION. THIS WILL COST ME ABOUT $4000.00.
THE WELL KNOWN ISSUE OF RADIATOR FLUID LEAKING INTO THE TRANSMISSION WHICH DESTROYS THE TRANSMISSION RENDERING IT USELESS. MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE WITH THESE VEHICLES. MY TRUCK IS DEAD AND THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN WELL DOCUMENTED, A CLASS ACTION SUIT WAS FILED, NISSAN SHOULD BE LIABLE TO REPAIR THESE FAULTY TRANSMISSIONS. MY PROBLEM BEGAN AT LOW MILES, I'VE SPENT $2000 AT NISSAN TO REPLACE THE FAULTY RADIATOR AND FLUSH THE TRANSMISSION 2X TO TRY AND SAVE IT. THIS IS A WELL KNOWN ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.
Showing 1–20 of 40 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026