Vehicle
Nissan Xterra
The body-on-frame off-roader built on the Frontier and Navara's platform, which is where its information lives — frame, axles, transfer case and engines are all shared, and far more has been written under those names. The second generation's VQ40DE is the engine to know about, and specifically the radiator: on cars with the automatic, the transmission cooler sits inside the radiator, and when the internal barrier fails coolant enters the transmission. The symptom is a milky fluid and a failing gearbox rather than anything the engine reports, and by the time it is obvious the transmission is usually finished. Check the radiator before condemning the gearbox.
Generations
-
WD22 1999–2004
The first, on the Frontier's frame with the KA24DE and VG33E.
- Body styles
- SUV
- Platform
- Nissan D22
- Engines
-
- 2.4 four-cylinder — KA24DE · petrol · 107 kW (143 hp) · 201–217 Nm (148–160 lb-ft)
- 3.3 V6 — VG33E · petrol · 266–274 Nm (196–202 lb-ft)
- 2.8 turbo — diesel
- Transmissions
- 5-speed manual · 4-speed automatic
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive · Four-wheel drive
-
N50 2005–2015
The VQ40DE, and the radiator whose internal cooler failure destroys the automatic.
- Body styles
- SUV
- Platform
- Nissan F-Alpha
- Engines
-
- 4.0 V6 — VQ40DE · petrol · 195 kW (261 hp) · 381 Nm (281 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 6-speed manual · 5-speed automatic
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive · Four-wheel drive
Service information
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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