My daughter's 2005 Nissan Xterra was overheating. There was nothing but a while milky foam substance in the radiator so I filled it with water and we scheduled a radiator flush. However, before we could get the car into the garage, the transmission started seriously slipping and my daughter pulled the car off to the side of the road and called me. We were about a block away from Emory Transmission but it was late afternoon and they were closed. They had done some work for me over the years and saved me some serious money on at least two occasions.
I was able to drive the car onto their lot and put the hood up. Not being a mechanic, I suspected the radiator and transmission problems were related somehow but was puzzled how. All of a sudden, a mechanic from the garage, who was heading home for the day, showed up to help!! No sooner than I told him the symptoms, he diagnosed the problem! Turns out, the Nissan Xterra's had a design flaw in their radiators. A transmission cooler cycling transmission fluid was actually inside the radiator, surrounded by anti-freeze! Over time, the anti-freeze corroded the transmission cooler causing the coolant to mix with the transmission fluid!!! There was no water in the radiator because it was all inside the transmission! I would have never guessed in a million years!! The mechanic spent a good 20-30 minutes of his time, off duty, helping us and suggesting various options. With all the info he provided, I went home that evening and Googled the problem as he explained it. I discovered that Nissan extended the warranty on the radiator to 80K miles because of this defect. We had the car towed to a Nissan dealership the next day and they confirmed everything the Emory Transmission mechanic told us. Nissan agreed to replace the defective radiator and damaged transmission.
I can't say enough about the guys, including the owner, at Emory Transmission. I've always known them to be honest & trustworthy but they went above & beyond on this one! My daughter could no way afford $5000 for a new transmission & radiator. Thanks to their employee who, even though off duty and heading home, took 1/2 hr out of his personal time to offer his expertise & help us out of a tight spot. We love, love, love Emory Transmission and, besides our regular mechanic, are the only ones we trust to work on our cars!!!
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