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TRANMISSION fluid DRY! Can off-roading do this?


joehurdler
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Crap! So this morning I walk out to my drive out and noticed a puddle of fluid. Put my finger on it and found out that it was Transmission fluid! My vehicle was parked at another location 10 feet away at the time, so I decided to move my vehicle back from where it was and see if there was any fluid underneath. No fluid, so I thought "Phew, not me. Probalby the water delivery truck or something."

 

I start my pathy and let it run...Checked the fluid, BONE dry! Haven't noticed any shifting problems or anything recently. Now I did do some light off-roading 2 days ago. Wasn't anything serious and didn't really bottom out. Could Off-roading have caused it?

 

I still got 30k left on the Drive Train warranty. So hopefully it's a "warranty issue" and not a "OFF-roading" issue.

 

Any ideas?

 

Joe

 

By the way, it's a 2003 Pathy LE. Always had hard shifting from 1st to 2nd, but the dealer said nothing was wrong 2 years ago.

Edited by joehurdler
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Ok, so I ended up adding almost 2 quarts of transmission fluid to bring the level back to normal. I also want to add that I sometimes drive her pretty hard, especially when I take her off-road. So I don't know, maybe burning a bit of transmission fluid would be the cause? She's got 32k miles right now and is due for her 30k mile major maintainence or so the Nissan Dealer says to take my money.

 

I'll monitor the level for the next few days.

Edited by joehurdler
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man thats crazy, i did some "light off roading" and my tranny cooler lines popped off and i didnt notice until it was too late, got stuck in about 1.5 feet of snow. had to get about 4 quarts of fluid and go back the next day. it was a 5 minute fix. so check all that or have nissan deal with it.

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In re-reading this, it sounded harsher than I meant.... so I am going to edit it. If you read it before I did, please forgive me.

 

Do keep an eye on it and get to the root problem asap. Transmission damage caused by driving it while low on trans fluid would not be covered under warranty - unless a seal has failed, a line has split, or something similar. Warranties cover damage caused by defects in materials or workmanship, not operator negligence or abuse.

 

Running it too hard will cause trans fluid to overheat. Not only does this break down the fluid leading to transmission failure, but it can also cause the fluid to expand and "burp" out of the filler or vents. Older Fords, when abused, used to burp oil out the dipstick and all over the exhaust manifold, causing fires. So if you don't find a leak, consider that possibility.

 

Advice: Pull the dipstick and sniff the fluid. It should smell relatively mild - and quite similar to fresh fluid in the jug.

If it has any kind of a "burnt" smell (like an oven after a cooking whoopsie), you have overheated the oil. You have used the truck in ways beyond what it was intended for. You need to change the fluid ASAP, add some extra coolers to allow it to handle the heat, and keep your fingers crossed the tranny isn't damaged.

Edited by mws
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I'm assuming you're talking about an automatic? Two quarts low in a stick would be exceptional...

 

By the way, auto trannies hold a lot of fluid - like gallons. So while your dipstick may be dry, there is likely still a lot of fluid in it. If it wasn't "slipping" (ie, engine racing more than usual when accelerating), there was enough fluid to keep the torque converter full and the pump pumping, so likely no damage was done. Except the low fluid would lead to less optimal cooling and the risk for longer term damage.

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I'm assuming you're talking about an automatic? Two quarts low in a stick would be exceptional...

 

By the way, auto trannies hold a lot of fluid - like gallons. So while your dipstick may be dry, there is likely still a lot of fluid in it. If it wasn't "slipping" (ie, engine racing more than usual when accelerating), there was enough fluid to keep the torque converter full and the pump pumping, so likely no damage was done. Except the low fluid would lead to less optimal cooling and the risk for longer term damage.

Well actually, my Pathy has been plagued with Hard shifting from 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd since the first year. They replaced some part in the transmission almost 2 years, can't think of the name of it right now, but it didn't really help the problem. So for the last 3 years, depending how hard I'm pushing the gas and when it decides to shift; I usually feel like a slight jerk between 1st to 2nd(Feels like someone kicked my seat), and a hesitation between 2nd and 3rd. Has been doing this for 3 years but has not gotten worse. Again, the dealer thinks it's operating normally.

Got another 30k left on the warranty, so hopefully if it goes bad, it goes bad soon :)

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I would tend to agree with 88... the problems you are experiencieng sound like classic 'low fluid" levels. forgive me if i'm stating what might be obivous to some, but make sure you are checking the level with the engine running, and be sure to either take it for a short drive or run through each gear level for 5-10 seconds a couple of times with your foot on the break to cycle and warm up the fluid and then recheck while in park. once you are satisfied that the level is correct, keep an eye on it for a while...and if you seem to be losing fluid, definatly take it in while under warranty and insist that someone take a closer look at the system.

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