My cooling hose burst on my 2005 Nissan Titan 4X4. There may be damage to the transmission, but first the mechanic is going to replace the hose and add tranny fluid to see if the problem is fixed. They are telling me the hoses and "Nissan transmission fluid" is very expensive. I see from other posts on here the Nissan OEM hoses suck. SHould I tell them to get different/cheaper hoses? If so, what kind?
Also, do I have to use the "expensive Nissan tranny fluid?" Or can I use a generic fluid?
Mechanic just called and said there is a 50/50 chance replacing the hoses and filling with fluid will fix the problem. No way of knowing until the hoses are replaced and it's tried out.
Here are the mechanics prices:
$129-12 qt. of ATF at $10.82 a quart
$228-2.5 hrs labor
Mechanic said there are four hoses needed....here is the price for each hose.
$99
$86
$14
$33
TOTAL
$620
So basically I am paying $620 to have a 50% chance of fixing the problem. If it's NOT fixed, then I need to rebuild and I am already $620 in the hole of a EXPENSIVE rebuild.
They are smoking crack for hoses costing that much. I just did a fluid change on my truck and told the dealer I could get a case of oil shipped to my house for $120. He dropped his price to 8.79Qt and I bought it there.
For hoses, just go to your local parts store and purchase some oil/transmission hose and replace it yourself. It will be about 10 bucks + the fluid.
Update for you guys and any advice/support is appreciated.....
Replacing the cooler hose and new ATF made things OK for one month. When it was replaced, mechanic said I was lucky.....THEN....
Trasmission completely went out yesterday. Towed it to same mechanic. Looked at it and said all brand new ATF is burnt up and 3rd gear is slipping. The fix before was JUST A BANDAID....
Now I need a complete tranny rebuild for $3200. Does this sound right?
My Lord I have already replaced my rear end for $2500...now this. Am I the unluckiest guy in the world? Do I have a claim with Nissan?
2005 Nissan Titan 4X4 with locking differential. 106K miles. No towing.
I would start with Nissan and then maybe talk to an attorney. If you search on this forum, this is a common problem known to kill transmissions. Nissan issued a TSB early on about the tranny cooler lines leaking.
I replaced the 2 big cooler hoses on my truck after seeing all the problem others had. Good thing as the 1 that seems to fail the most was leaking for a while now. Replaced those and did a drain and fill with 2 new nissan cooler hoses and soem Max-life fluid. Trans shifts much better now.
But check eBay and local salvage yards for a low milage trans. Our trans seems to be decnet as long as it has fluid. Find one with less than 60k or so and replace filter and seals and install. Easy trans to replace from what I have seen. 4x4 will add a little more time to it though. Now sure but the Armada trans may work as well. Not sure if they were differant or 100% the same.
EDIT
Just looked at ebay there are plenty for less than 1k shipped, even 4x4.