The Nissan Path

My wife's 2010 pathfinder overheats sometimes. Driving it over 60 miles an hour will make it overheat every time. Sometimes it overheats while sitting in traffic but only in the summertime. When it's cold outside ( I live in east central Florida ) the heater doesn't work at all. We have had the fan clutch replaced and that seemed to make the truck a lot louder, especially at startup, but he overheating issues continue. We replaced the thermostat but that didn't solve the issue either.
Does anyone have any ideas about what could be going on here ?

It sounds like the radiator is clogged or perhaps the coolant is low? The cooling system on my PF is terrific. I've sat over four hours before idling with AC cranked in 100°+ temps before with no problem.

ive been reading a lot about the "R-51" radiator trading fluids with the transmission and causing people very expensive problems. Is this possibly happening in my vehicle, or is my 2010 pf too new for that ?

I don't believe the radiator was updated until 2011, so you could have that happen at some point. Time seems to be the factor for that since it's a corrosion issue. But that's not likely what is happening here. The transmission will be damaged/fail pretty quickly once contamination occurs.

Unfortunately I don't drive it very often. It's the wife's daily driver. She does complain about "transmission problems". I drove it one time and tried to go from 45mph up to interstate speed real fast and the damn thing slipped into neutral and reved way up. Being that it was a long way home I babied it the rest of the way, no more acceleration testing. I've driven it a few times since then, around town and had no issues. I punched it a couple of times on a backroad at about 25 mph and stayed on the gas till maybe 50 mph with no slipping.
This vehicle has 56,000 miles on it. Is the transmission thing something that goes real bad real fast or does it take a while ? Would I be having transmission problems or overheating problems as my first symptom of this bad radiator issue. The wife drives this thing 5 miles to work and 5 miles home. Trips to the grocery store are even closer to home. On occasion we have to take a trip and the pathfinder gets hot as soon as we get up to 60 mph.

I've never heard of anyone having trouble with overheating on these, but usually the contamination issue hits the transmission first. The easiest thing is to inspect the coolant and transmission fluids.

Who did the clutch fan and thermostat work? They should have noticed contamination at that time. You're within the warranty on the radiator so if you do have contamination I'd wait for the transmission to consistently slip and then take it in and get a new radiator and transmission. You're probably still within the power train warranty even so I would have the dealer inspect it. It's possible to have a blown head gasket.

I would check:

1. Coolant flow (clogged radiator, as Skinny suggested)
2. Water pump
3. Head gasket

First off let me thank both of y'all for replying to my post. Dumb as it makes me sound, I really don't know anything about any warranty. Is it a factory warranty ? Of course it must be. What kinds of things does it cover ?

If it's less than 5-years since the sale date of the vehicle and it has under 60,000 miles on it, you would likely be best off having a dealer look at it because the engine mechanics and transmission are covered under the powertrain warranty and the radiator is covered under the radiator warranty extension.

I very much appreciate that information. I am calling the nissan dealer in the morning. I will report my findings here.

I'm taking it in tomorrow morning. I went to the dealer today and had them run the vin#. They told me that there was a warranty extension to 2018 or 80,000 miles because of a known problem with the vehicle. My fingers are crossed.
Overhearing me describe the problem, one of the technicians said he thinks I have more issues than just the radiator tranny cross contamination one, if I even have that issue.
Wish me luck. I should know something by tomorrow and I will tell it all on this forum. Thanks again for the advise.

Sometimes the system can get air locked, especially if you've drained the coolant recently. A quick check is to pull the front of your car up on an incline to see if it lets the air bubble out. My xterra was overheating after a coolant drain/flush/change and this worked for me.

Worth a shot~

So I took the car to the dealer and they told me I have an obstruction in the radiator. Not covered by warranty of coarse. Also they say the transmission has the wrong kind of fluid in it. Green fluid instead of red. Another non warranty issue. This vehicle has less than 60,000 miles on it and now it apparently needs a new radiator. This is my first Nissan, and so far it is a huge disappointment. I am trying not to hate this car but it made my wife cry all night when she heard the dealer wants 1100 dollars to stop it from overheating.

Igotahotnissan wrote:So I took the car to the dealer and they told me I have an obstruction in the radiator. Not covered by warranty of coarse. Also they say the transmission has the wrong kind of fluid in it. Green fluid instead of red. Another non warranty issue. This vehicle has less than 60,000 miles on it and now it apparently needs a new radiator. This is my first Nissan, and so far it is a huge disappointment. I am trying not to hate this car but it made my wife cry all night when she heard the dealer wants 1100 dollars to stop it from overheating.

I'd take it to a radiator shop who can check the flow of the radiator (a second opinion).
If it does need a new radiator, you can have them install an aftermarket replacement for far less than a dealer will gouge you for an OEM radiator and the dealerships' labor rate.
As far as the trans fluid, was it changed last while you owned the truck, or did you buy it that way?
And tell your wife that we're working on some possible alternatives for you.

I agree with eieio...since it's not under warranty find a cheaper option. A good independent should be half that for a new radiator and fluid flush. Never mind they may be able to fix the blockage.

Do you know who changed the trans fluid last? They apparently flushed the system completely because the OEM fluid is red as are all the S/J Matic compatible fluids I know of.

Don't get too disappointed yet.