NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE13-029: Transmission cooler hose separation
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE13-029 on August 29, 2013 and closed it on March 31, 2014. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Infiniti JX and Nissan Pathfinder for it and links recall 14V-142 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE13-029 (also written PE13029)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed March 31, 2014
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Nissan North America, Inc.
- Components
- Power Train — Automatic Transmission; Power Train — Automatic Transmission — Cooling Unit and Lines
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 14V-142: CVT Oil Cooler Hose may Detach and Leak, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- Infiniti JX and Nissan Pathfinder
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE13-029.
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.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE13-029. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Infiniti
Infiniti JX
Nissan
Nissan Pathfinder
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE13-029
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.