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That's a very helpful explanation! Honestly, I've never heard of a pull-type clutch like that. And very typical of Nissan to make this truck an absolute bastard in one more way (we already know this is the case with the R50...it shares practically NOTHING with any other VQ35DE model, except the exhaust manifold gaskets basically). Looking at pictures on RA for 02 R50s, I see what you mean. "Diaphragm style". Wild. I never knew. But yeah, that makes a lot more sense now. And that clutch literally only cross-refs to 01-02 R50. How stupid... Lastly, welcome to NPORA! Great info for an early post. As far as image hosting goes...there is none. If you want to post pictures here, you'll need to use a 3rd party image host and then link to it in the post (pasting a URL in the text field should auto load the image, similar to how I posted the RockAuto pic above).

Thank you for the tips. I had seen a couple others with similar leak state it's the sensor on top of tranny. Plug closest to front of car seems to have the drip. I saw one guy hole saw a spot under dash to get to thst sensor to replace. Seems like that could be a bit of an easier if not messier route to address it. I'm thinking of going that route to save the headache of dropping transmission. Leak isn't super bad currently so kinda holding off for now but I know it's inevitable. Tranny slips into 3rd gear when cold and have the rear main seal leak so the trifecta is nearly complete lol.

I know this is an old thread and OP has probably resolved the issue, but I wanted to share that I get where they're coming from in the FSM. The Pathfinder unlike other VQ35DE cars has a pull clutch, so the release/throwout bearing 'clicks and locks' into place when you install the transmission. When using the clutch, it pulls the release bearing/pressure plate fingers away from the engine to release, instead of a regular push clutch/pressure plate which obviously push the fingers towards the engine. Apparently this provides more clutch force with less clutch pedal effort but it's a more complicated system. This is also why the Pathfinder has a unique flywheel that no other VQ35DE uses. Can't use a 350Z flywheel - I tried, the surface is a few inches too 'high'. So reading the FSM it looked weird and complicated to me. But when I did it it makes sense, all you're doing is letting the withdrawal lever/fork assembly all fall out and off of the release bearing, so the trans can be removed without being stuck on the release bearing. The release bearing stays locked in the pressure plate, and you remove it once the trans is off by lifting the collar and it comes out. It seems to be designed for multiple reinstalls. The fork hole is pretty small, but you can get at the pin with small pliers and then it all falls apart easily. But having installed it 3x because I bought the wrong flywheel twice, you can also just push the collar at the base of the release bearing/pressure plate in towards the engine with a long flathead screwdriver, and the release bearing is 'unlocked' and pops out still held in place by the release lever/fork too. I don't know how to post quality pictures here yet but they'd describe it a lot better.