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Auto tranny problems


bobber
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I am new to the forum but I just bought a 90 pathfinder for almost nothing because of the tranny problems. The guy said it didn't have reverse but it is much more than that. I used to work at a dealer and personally rebuilt about 20 of these trannys and the only thing that I would see was no reverse and this was always caused by a blown seal on the low and reverse brake. This tranny is nothing like that at all. It seems to always start in second and go to third but that is all. There is no neutral, it just acts like drive, and park also loads up. If it is rolling and you put it into reverse it just stops dead. You can't even roll it backward even when the truck is shut off. You have to put the transfercase in neutral just to roll it backward. Has anyone seen this. I am going to pull it but I would like to see if anyone has seen this before.

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I don't know much about transmissions, but that is most definitly some messed up stuff!

 

Good luck with the fix. Maybe just swap a known good used unit in? Or a 5 speed.

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I am new to the forum but I just bought a 90 pathfinder for almost nothing because of the tranny problems. The guy said it didn't have reverse but it is much more than that. I used to work at a dealer and personally rebuilt about 20 of these trannys and the only thing that I would see was no reverse and this was always caused by a blown seal on the low and reverse brake. This tranny is nothing like that at all. It seems to always start in second and go to third but that is all. There is no neutral, it just acts like drive, and park also loads up. If it is rolling and you put it into reverse it just stops dead. You can't even roll it backward even when the truck is shut off. You have to put the transfercase in neutral just to roll it backward. Has anyone seen this. I am going to pull it but I would like to see if anyone has seen this before.

It sounds to me like the torque converter is locked, acting much like a clutch that you can't disengage. Had it happen to me on a G.M. product once.

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just a guess but may be something to think about... if it's an auto (which it is), could the ATCM be bad or perhaps have bad shift solenoids? dunno :shrug:

Edited by k9sar
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Thanks for the replys guys. I don't think it is the convertor because it would die in park and it still free wheels. As for the shift solonoids if there is no power and no pressure it should disenguage and be able to roll backward. The shift linkage is fine as well but thanks for the input. Has anyone else seen this? Guess I am going tot have to bite the bullet and take it out.

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I don't know the workings of the auto tranny, but in the years I've been here, I do not recall anyone describing a failure quite like you are. Yeah, you had better pull it. The good news is that you know how to work on it... :shrug:

 

B

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well I finally got around to pulling it out and ripping it apart. I found out it had a rebuilt tranny in it and it is hard to tell how long ago. When I pulled it apart I had to pry it apart. It when I got it apart I found the front planetary carrier planet gears to be seized. This reacted just like the forward clutch being stuck. It was a lack of lube to it. When I took it out I found someone installed a cheep tranny cooler without a low temp bypass. Without the bypass the fluid in the cooler gels and the tranny lacks lube and overheats the tranny at extreme cold temps. My question to anyone is does anyone know were a person can get used tranny hard parts without having to buy a whole used tranny? All I need is a planetary carrier, sun gear and holder. When I find that all I need is seal kit and I'm back in business.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well I got it running and back on the trail. Come to find out the reason it mess up was because the aftermarket cooler line was pinched between the bumper and the cross member at the front. This is why it melted. The lube goes from the cooler to the output shaft and runs up the shaft and lubes along the way. The last thing in line is the melted planetary set. I hope this can help someone else.

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So with the pinched cooler tube, the tranny failed as if the stock radiator cooler had plugged. Sounds like someone did a crappy job with the cooler install.

 

Thanks for the update and glad you got it back running fairly easily.

 

Where did you buy your parts from, BTW??

 

B

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