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Jacklalanne

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About Jacklalanne

  • Birthday 11/04/1949

Previous Fields

  • Your Pathfinder Info
    93 Pathfinder SE-V6 Automatic Transmission
  • Mechanical Skill Level
    Standalone Tool Chest Mechanic
  • Your Age
    45+
  • What do you consider yourself?
    Weekend Warrior
  • Model
    SE
  • Year
    1993

Contact Methods

  • Yahoo
    1Jacklalanne@gmail.com

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    SW Montana
  • Country
    United States

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  1. I have posted on this previously, but thought I would repost since I have done more since then in the way of diagnostics/research and am thinking it might help to get some fresh eyes on the subject as I can't imagine I am the only one here that has ever had to deal with this issue. I have a 1994 Nissan Pathfinder that, according to what I can find in the AT FSM (and my owner's manual) is stuck in Fail-Safe (Limp home mode). I tried removing and replacing the positive battery cable. I also tried performing the on board diagnostics, but after the last step of the process I get no series of code flashes from the "Power" light as I should, indicating the issue. The symptoms, as described in the diagnostics that I have been able to find so far: 3rd gear in all positions except "1" (with 2nd gear in that position) seem to point to that specific problem, that is : Limp-home mode. I have also checked all pin voltages on the TCM with all coming up normal except pins 15 and 16 which are the pins for the "revolution sensor". At those pins I should have 1 volt or less, gradually rising as you gain speed. I get a flat zero volts. I have tried it three different times with my wife driving as I check the pins with the same result all three times. As I said all other pins read within normal tolerances. I have been told by some ppl that if the RS is the problem I would still have reverse, and by others that since I don't have 1st gear (only 2nd gear in the first gear position and 3rd in all other positions except "Park") that I shouldn't necessarily expect to have reverse since 1st and reverse gears are run off of the same component (gear?) in the transmission. I wanted to check the resistance on the connections at the other end of the wire coming from the "revolution sensor" for proper resistance: 550-600 ohms between pin one and two and ∞ between pins 1 and 3 and also 2 and 3, but when I visually follow the wire along the top of the transmission, I can see where it goes out of sight sort of alongside the tranny dipstick and up the engine compartment side of the firewall, but for the life of me when I get up on top (I have literally crawled on top of the engine with a flashlight) I cannot pick it up visually to trace it to where its connector terminates. I would assume it ends up at the little tree of electrical connections on the right wheel well, but can't see any wires there that match the gauge or color of the wires when they leave the sensor. I would just replace the sensor, but in the first place as I said I can't even find where it terminates, and also the engineers in their wisdom placed it right on top of the transmission just in front of the transfer case in the 94-96 models (maybe others as well) and you have to drop down the transmission to access it. Additionally, it is almost a $200 part and if it turns out not to be the problem I am out a couple hundred bucks and a lot of wasted effort. Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Regards, Russ
  2. Hi Adamzan, Did you have a chance to check that out? Thanks again...Russ
  3. Also, on the trans support bars, can the two studs in the center that had the nuts on them come out completely? I was thinking if I ran one (or two) of the nuts partway on them I might be able to pop them out with a hammer if they are just pressed in, but if they're spot welded I don't want to be trying to force something out that isn't intended to come out. If I could remove them, I think I may be able to work the supports out of there and lower the trans enough to get the sensor out.
  4. Thanks...I was thinking it must be one of those, but none of them have the correct wire colors (white and red). One has a red, black and white but they are larger gauge wires than the ones leaving the revolution sensor. Though the sensor itself only has two wires coming off of it, the connector is supposed to have 3-wires to test the resistance on, but I can't find any info designating the colors I should look for. Also, I dropped the tranny pan yesterday (had to sawzall the exhaust crossover to get it off) and changed the filter. When I did that, I tried to remove the transmission support member so I can lower the tranny enough to get at the sensor. With the support loose but still in place, I can barely reach up in and get a couple of fingers on the sensor, but there is no way I can remove it without lowering the A/T another inch or two. If I could actually remove the trans support I'm sure I could get it, but the torsion bars prevent me from working it out of there. Do you know if I have to remove one of them to get it out, or am I missing something? I was under the understanding that torsion bars are under quite a bit of tension/pressure and am wondering if there are any special precautions to take when removing one. Thanks again, Russ
  5. I have a 93 Pathfinder 4WD SE-V6 that is stuck in fail-safe (limp home) mode. I have done all the self-diagnostics outlined in the AT factory service manual. At the end of the process the "Power" light is supposed to blink out a series of codes. I get nothing. Utilizing the rest of the troubleshooting processes in the FSM I have narrowed the issue down to the "revolution sensor". I tested for revolution sensor pin voltage on the TCM while driving down the road and get 0V at the pins (pins 15-16...16 is ground), rather than the 1V at 19 mph that then rises gradually with an increase in speed (I checked rest of the voltages on the TCM and all other 34 pins are reading correct voltages). Before I buy a new sensor though I want to make sure it is bad and that I don't just have a bad/broken electrical connection between the sensor and the underhood connection at the other end. The FSM provides an ohm reading (500-650 ohms between terminals 1 and 2) that should be obtained at the under-hood end of the sensor connector if the sensor is good. I have physically traced the wire from the sensor itself to where it disappears up the inside of the firewall next to the A/T dipstick, but for the life of me I can't pick it back up again when looking from under the hood (and believe me, I have spent enough time physically crawling up under the hood trying to find it). Does anyone know where I can find a diagram that would show the physical location of the connector on the other end of the sensor wire (under the hood) so that I can check it for proper tolerances and then replace it if necessary? I'm really stuck (and frustrated) on this one. Thanks in advance for any advice and help you can provide. Regards, Russ
  6. I forgot to mention that it did come with an extra tranny and transfer case out of a wrecked PF. I am just hoping that I can get this one working, as the shop wants $800 to swap them out, which would include a new complete case drain and fill (the torque converter from the extra is already drained) plus filter and front and rear seals (if these trannys are configured that way as with other A/Ts I've dealt with). The eight hundred bucks sounds OK...it's just that I don't know anything about the condition or mileage of the extra one, and I'd hate for that to turn out to be a big flop. I also wanted to say this is the first one I have owned and am impressed with how heavy-duty everything I've noticed about them seems to be. The tranny/transfer case weighs a ton if that indicates anything...it does to me. And the sheet metal on these rigs (the heft of the doors and hood for example) has really impressed me. I realize that with weight comes less mileage, but I'll make that trade-off any day...
  7. @adamzan...Thank you for your response and willingness to help. I have been told by a tech, (as well as it being one possible indicator of "limp-home" in a diagnostic on ALLDATA.com) that since 1st gear isn't working in that mode that it would make sense that reverse may not as well since they apparently share a component (I don't recall exactly...a gear maybe?) in common. So today I have a new issue...as I said in my previous post it was getting dark as well as time for me to get some sleep before going to work...I have the "schedule from hell" (night shift rotating monthly with afternoon shift) Anyway, this afternoon when I woke up I started the PF and after doing my simple drain and fill yesterday afternoon/evening I started it up and have no gears whatsoever. The drain and fill is all I did. When I drained it, since as I think I mentioned before, going by the dipstick, it seemed to be way overfilled before I started, I decided to measure out exactly how much fluid I drained. I poured part of what I drained into a jug that was a measured 3qts exactly, but instead of dumping the jug to refill and dump again, like a dumb ass, I dumped the rest of the pan instead! I was so pissed at myself! When I filled the jug the first time, I was pretty sure there was still enough in the pan to at least fill the jug again, which would have been six qts or more. After putting in the 4qts that I'd been told to expect, as I said: No gears. Since I did get well over 4qts when I drained it, even though my dipstick reads overfull, though not nearly as much overfull as it read before I did the drain and fill (and when I still had what seemed by all symptoms to be "limp mode") I'm wondering if I should gradually add more fluid till I get to where it was when it was running fine...admittedly with only one gear. Unlikely as it seems, I am wondering if it has the wrong dipstick, or if the cap that stops the stick from going in any further got shoved up the shaft at some time, and it was reading over when I started all this due to that. I really wish I hadn't dumped the pan instead of the jug so I would have known exactly how much too replace, but that is water under the bridge now. I just know that regardless of the reading on the dipstick now, it was well over (probably 2 to 3 qts) what I have replaced so far. I'm thinking if I add more I can always drain some. Hopefully I can get this resolved and can move on with the linkage turnbuckle inspection and adjustment and then on to checking line pressure and revolution sensor etc as needed and indicated by the diagnostics. Again thank you so much. Russ
  8. The bad: I bought my PF knowing it had a tranny problem. The good: I paid $450 for it and the engine runs nice and strong. Once I started to try and diagnose the problem, the first thing I found was that the A/T seemed to be quite a bit overfilled assuming I am checking it correctly for this vehicle: Engine running, Tranny hot, in Park, on level ground. From what I can find in my Owners Manual as well as some online research, my Pathfinder is in limp-home (fail-safe) mode. The sypmtoms listed for this mode in my Owners Manual (and on AllDATA): "No Reverse and stays in 3rd regardless whether the shifter is in D, 2 or 1." I drove it twenty miles or so and other than the lack of shifting it seemed to run out real smooth and quiet, with all the power I could ask for once it was up to the normal RPM range for 3rd gear. I have done the initial "Self-diagnosis mode" steps to try and get it out of "limp-home" when and if there are no component failures involved, but that didn't work.Then, I also noticed yesterday that it is in 3rd even when the shifter is in N and I began to suspect the shift linkage may have had a component failure or be out of adjustment so tomorrow I was planning go through the steps of visual inspection and going through the steps of adjusting the shift linkage turnbuckle to see if that might help. My newest problem: Today I decided to start out by doing a simple drain and fill on the tranny since the fluid was pretty dirty. From what I have found through googling etc, the consensus seems to be that the drain and fill should only take 4qts of Dexron III. When I drained it though, I got out over 6 quarts. Then when I added the new fluid and it took 4qts to get it to the normal cold range (this was prior to running the engine at all though). It was getting dark so I just had time to start and run it for 30sec or so and put the shifter through each position, but now to my extreme frustration, the rig wouldn't even try to move (BTW, no drop in RPMs on the tach either when shifting out of Park and into any gear) so I just shut it down. Finally, I did a quick initial re-check on the fluid level (but without the engine idling though, dang it) and it was minimally (about 1/4") over the cold line. Though I really hated to quit at that point was really starting to get dark out, so I decided to pick up my tools and wrap things up for the day. Now what keeps running through my mind is the fact that it was running fine, though admittedly only in 3rd gear regardless of the shifter position (except for Park and Reverse) before I dumped the old fluid, and now I have nothing. Since I did dump about 6qts and only replaced 4 (supposedly what it should take), and also since I last checked the fluid level with the engine off, I am wondering now if I warm it up in the morning and check it warmed up and running at an idle, if it would possibly read low and need more added once the fluid starts circulating through the tranny. Now, I know to some this may all seem like TMI, but I had a tech tell me years ago that he hated it when ppl would bring him a rig and tell him 'it's broke' instead of giving him some detail on what it was and wasn't doing when their problems began. Anyone with personal experience with these issues and willing to help would sure be appreciated.Thanks in advance. Kind Regards, Russ
  9. Hi, My name is Russ, but my User/Screen name is Jacklalanne (he was a personal hero of mine). I am new to the forum. I have never owned a Nissan in the past, but just bought a 93 SE-V6 4X4 Pathfinder with 226K/mi that I would like to clean up and drive. I think I am going to really like owning it if I can get it running right. It is an SE-V6 with an automatic and floor shifter. I am impressed how clean the engine is (top and bottom) and how well it runs. Though I don't know if it is the original drive-train, I am assuming it is. I guess this is the place for introductions, so rather than post my issues here I will snoop around a bit to see if I can find where to post questions in regard to Automatic Transmission issues. Thank for your consideration in accepting my request to join your forum. Regards, Russ Tallmadge
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