NHTSA Investigation PE13029

Transmission cooler hose separation

On March 25, 2014, Nissan North America (Nissan) submitted a Defect Information Report to NHTSA describing a defect of inadequate hose clamping force that may result in the internal transmission oil cooler (ITOC) hose detaching from the cooler.According to Nissan, transmission fluid leakage from a detached ITOC hose results in a progressive series of symptoms beginning with malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) illumination, followed by noise and vibration and culminating in loss of power due to transmission failure.Many of the incident vehicle drivers interviewed by ODI indicated that the loss of power occurred soon after the first symptoms were observed.The recall covers approximately 3,065 Pathfinder vehicles built from the start of MY 2013 production on April 18, 2012, through October 3, 2012, when Nissan implemented several production improvements to address concerns with ITOC hose detachment.Infiniti JX vehicles investigated in PE13-029 are not included in the recall as they are equipped with a different CVT transmission with a lower operating pressure.Owners of all potentially affected vehicles will be notified within 60 days to take their vehicles to a Nissan dealer.The dealer will install an oil hose repair kit at no charge to owners.ODI's analysis of failure data for the 3,065 Pathfinder vehicles that are included in Nissan's recall identified 12 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs), 134 Nissan complaints and field reports and 259 warranty claims.This equates to a complaint/field report rate of 47.6 incidents per thousand vehicles (IPTV) and a warranty claim rate of 8.5 percent.The failure rates for the 120,474 subject vehicles that are not included in the recall are much lower, with complaint rates of 0.4 and 0.8 IPTV and warranty claim rates of 0.1 and 0.2 percent for the remaining MY 2013 Pathfinder and JX vehicles, respectively.This investigation is closed.The VOQ numbers associated with this closing are: 10558389, 10556011, 10546402, 10545032, , 10531793, 10509314, 10507077, 10503884, 10500834, 10499362, 10497685, 10496606, 10494583, 10493759, 10493701, 10490959.

An investigation is a separate record from a recall and from a manufacturer communication. A manufacturer campaign to repair a safety defect or a failure to meet a federal safety standard.