SMOD usually shows up as milkshake in the radiator. If I were you... I would assume that so far the vehicle has been lucky and it probably would be a good idea to swap out the radiator. Somewhere on the site is a list of defective radiator part numbers, so if you can find that, and check it against the part number of your radiator you would have a better idea of what is going on.

PS... dip stick is the green cap on the left side of the engine. Undo the 10mm bolt, pull out the dipstick and turn 180 degrees, reinsert and get the fluid reading.

 

Hello and welcome to the forum!

If it still has original radiator (most likely) I would strongly recommend replace it once you get the truck. It's not that hard to do and it's not expensive ether vs fixing transmission later.
Also, when you get to see the truck again open radiator cap look inside check what color is the cooling inside, (green / blue) is good. if it's mixed with white, no good.
Also, there are lots of videos on youtube how to change radiator.

 

Todays radiators should not be considered an item which lasts the lifetime of a vehicle. In my opinion, I would recommend replacing your radiator every 100,000 miles regardless of the brand of vehicle.

SMOD don't have a timeline in which it may develop.
I've read stories where SMOD has occurred in less than a years ownership of a new vehicle, and after 200K miles.

Here is something to consider, if SMOD was to occur do you have an extra $4000-$6500 in which to repair the damage it will cause?

Would you rather spend $250-$350 on a new radiator and not be worried with having an issue with your transmission? There is a chance the radiator in the xterra your looking at has already been replaced, but if its OEM I would liken it to a ticking bomb.

 

^ what they said.

Also, there have been a number of people show up on this site who purchased a X with no problems, only to find remnants of Smod a couple thousand miles down the road because the previous owner had smod, flushed the transmission, and quickly sold. There is no way to truly know. If the radiator is brand new, and the ATF is clean as a whistle, those are red flags. If it looks like it hasn't been touched for a while then your likely OK. Of course my 2008 has a fairly new radiator and the ATF is always as clean as a whistle, and it doesn't have smod, so you never really know.

There great rigs. Don't overpay, and then if you do end up needing to fix some things it will still be worth it.

 

Thanks for all of the responses everyone. The inside, as well as the engine bay of the vehicle were very clean. either the owner really cares about his truck or he’s trying to hide something. (like i said, this is my first time buying a vehicle so i’m not exactly sure how to be sure i’m not being scammed). The truck has a small amount of rust on the paint near the wheel-well and the front of the car. He explained that he had the rust professionally treated (they drill a hole in, say, the door, and spray from the inside and then seal the hole with a rubber plug. To me, that sounds expensive, and so if he went that far to treat the minor rust with an expensive rust treatment, hopefully he knew enough to replace the radiator when he bought it, or hopefully the owner before him did something about it already. When i see him again on Tuesday i’m going to ask him what his maintenance schedule was and ask him if he’s ever heard of smod and if he ever took action.

 

yeah its hard to know sometimes, but look, reality is your buying a 15 y/o truck with over 200k, lol its going to have issues, as would any vehicle of that..vintage.. ( i have an 06 with 175k so im not talking down to you!) as long as the rust isnt extensive, and the frame looks decent, and its been maintained well, its probably still worth buying.

I would plan on replacing the radiator regardless of SMOD or not. its a critical component and you dont want it to fail on you at the worst time possible, which is what will happen!

see if you can get any repair records from the seller/ po.

I recommend doing what i did when i bought mine and take it to a nissan dealer. I paid them like $100 to look it over, 70 some odd point inspection, they identified several issues that allowed me to negotiate the price down a little, and i felt more confident about know what i was buying.

 

It wouldn't hurt to get a CARFAX report on the vehicle. They can sometimes give info as to how the vehicle was serviced or if it had any major repairs in it's history (or accidents).

 

Hey guys I came back here to say that i have officially purchased the xterra! I checked the tranny fluid today and it was good. it still drives great! It appears that it still has the original radiator.. Now the only thing i’m wondering is if it’s one of the defective radiators. I checked the list of defective radiator part numbers, and it appears that mine is not in that list. Could you guys just double check this for me? And should i still replace the radiator as soon as possible, even if it’s not on the list? Thanks so much!

 

2006 OEM radiator is absolutely on the SMOD list unless it was replaced at some point after 2010.
If it was mine I would replace it no matter what just to be safe.

 

Post your radiator part number.

 

So.. i forgot to post the part number lol (facepalm). the part number is “92100 EA500”

 

View attachment 145519
So.. i forgot to post the part number lol (facepalm). the part number is “92100 EA500”

Honestly man, you're clearly worried about it, as you should be, then just replace it and forget about it. A Koyo can be bought for around $140, another $20 or so for coolant, $40 for hoses, $50 for a new OEM thermostat (they fail fairly commonly, now is BY FAR the easiest time to replace it), and you'll have a perfectly safe, dependable cooling system that you'll likely never have to even think about again.

 

I believe you posted the AC condensor part number, not the rad. Its possible your rad was already changed? The sticker is on top of the rad on the left side - left of the rad cap (on your right if your looking back).

Changing the rad at that age is never a bad idea - the plastic parts get brittle. I am on rad #3. I have never had smod - first changed at 80K to prevent smod, then a year or so ago because the first replacement broke due to age.