DoctorBill

Wife out shopping. 30° temp. Transmission snapped (wife described sound) with a big rubber band snap sound as she pulled out from a stop light - and that was all she wrote. Pushed it into a side street and had it towed to a Transmission Repair Shop. Friday night - ALWAYS bad things happen on a Friday Night. Question - what is the "common" cause of this type of thing ? I would imagine there is one common part that snaps in these Pathfinder Automatics. Has 173,000 miles on it. Previous owner had Transmission Replaced too ! Are they crapy transmissions ? I want to be ready for the Transmission Shop's diagnosis to see if they try to BS me. I installed a Transmission Cooler and Changed the Timing Belt on this forum just over a year ago. DoctorBill

Amazing. Different Strokes for Different folks. Whatever Floats Your Boat. March to a Different Drummer. Toe-mayto : Toe-mahto Whatever Creams Your Twinkie. Whatever Humps Your Camel. Whatever Butters Your Biscuit. Do It Your Own Way. Six of One / Half a Dozen of the Other. DoctorBill

"Search is your friend also." RJSquirrel Not really. It just gives upteen gozillion links that you have to wade thru for hours. Anyway - I was wondering about a Temperature Gauge for the AT. When I put my cooler radiator on my '95 Pathfinder XE- V6 back 10 months ago, I remember those metal pipes going up to the Radiator to which I clamped some rubber hoses. I fully agree with the comment by TUNGSTEN, "If anything I would not do a T-fitting to tap into the transmission for the temperature. It just creates another point of failure." So here is what I came up with...most temperature probes that come with the temperature gauges are long finger shaped items (or whatever else you might imagine) that go into an engine or whatever device. How's about wiring the probe to the METAL output tube coming out of the AT and then wrapping that connection with a good deal of insulating material so that the heated tube transfers heat to the "Probe" and the Insulation keeps the probe from cooling off due to air flow. That ought to work - it may be a bit slower to respond and a couple of degrees lower than a probe INSIDE of the AT - but it would be one butt load simpler to install ! ...and it would give all of us some idea of what is going on in our Automatic Transmissions ! KISS.... DoctorBill

To summarize this: I can determine the AT Temperature by reading the Voltage between Connector 12 (Terminal Cord Assembly Connector in Engine Compartment) and ground. The FSM says to disconnect that terminal to read the voltage. Would THAT be a requirement!? If one tapped into the wire to set up a voltmeter on the Dashboard, would one screw up the ECU (Computer?) ? Cold (68° F) should give 1.56 volt reading down to Hot (176° F) of 0.45 volt. I suppose one could find some electrical meter and diddle with it to make a full scale reading of 0 to 2 volts, perhaps. Any electrical/electronic types out there who know how to do this ? Here is my really, really BIG question - ....WHY does the ECU read the AT Temperature ? ....For what reason ? ....WHAT is the point of the ECU reading it ? Does the ECU do anything about aberrant high temperatures ? Has anyone had an alarm go off or a light come on when their AT overheated ? Just had a thought - Do the big 18 wheeler trucks have transmission temp gauges ? If they do, maybe we could get some info from that direction ! DoctorBill

My point is - just because there is a "Temperature Sensor" wire coming out of the Transmission does not mean that one knows anything about the signal. Without specifications as to the signal (volt or resistance output) type and specs, what do you use to read it ? If this signal goes to the ECU, adding any wires would probably alter the resistance, capacitance or inductance of the circuit and confuse or screw up the ECU. As to the link you gave us, where would it go ? Sounds like it requires a hole drilled and that coupling welded onto the transmission body somewhere. All in all, this sounds like a 'not so simple' endeavor. Now...of course...someone will have done it and come back and chide me for being a pecker head for doubting that it can be easily done...so go ahead, make my day... DoctorBill

Alrightie then....."You can tap into one of the wires on the ECU or TCU and it will give you trans temp. I don't know which pin it is but tungsten knows. No need for anything complicated." So there is, somewhere, a lead to the computer "that will give you trans temp." I found that wire and held onto it while the engine was running and it didn't give me anything ! I must presume that I am doing some thing incorrectly - no ? How do you get a wire coming out of the Transmission to inform you of the temperature ? Do I hook it up to my Computer thru the USB port ? Maybe to my AM Radio when Rush Limbaugh is on.....except I don't want to interrupt him. So how does one convert these electrical signals to a temperature reading ? Is there any enlightenment available? DoctorBill

It has been almost 10 months since I replaced the Timing Belt and put in the Transmission Cooler. Been waiting for the "Big Bang" to happen - something to come loose or break, but nothing bad has happened. Knock on wood..... I have towed a 1.5 ton utility trailer to the Dump twice now and no problems. I only wish I had put a Transmission Temperature Gauge in the Automatic Transmission somehow or somewhere so's I'd know if it is running hot - or not ! Can anyone tell me about installing a Transmission Temperature Gauge ? Where ? How ? Any threads with photos available ? Would appreciate it. DoctorBill

I have the FSM, looked in it and did not find any diagram of the lock mechanism. If you know where such a thing is in there, please clue me in ! DoctorBill

The driver's side Door Lock was broken when I bought my Pathfinder used. The rod coming up from the bottom attaches to a lever that rotates on the lock mechanism. I can't figure it out. Has anyone seen or have photos or a decent diagram of the door lock mechanism ? The broken part was hanging down and blocking the window from going down all the way. Today I removed the broken part, tucked the rod back in the corner and reassembled the door panel. I can lock the door with the remote, but want to fix the bugger, of course ! The Chilton Manual, as per usual, is completely useless.... DoctorBill PS - Why can't I post alkaspace.com pictures now !?

OH...OK..."Fuel Sender" means Fuel Level Sensor for the gas Gauge. I must be somewhat slow these days. I thought you meant something more sophisticated than the gas gauge sensor. DoctorBill

OK, so where is "...my fuel sender gasket...." ? I don't smell the gasoline odors anymore - since I tightened up the cross-rail hose clamps. 'By the time you read this, you probably already read it.' Also - "Wherever you go...there you are!" DoctorBill

I got fed up with my insane and completely bonkers '95 XEV6 4x4 Pathfinder's Tachometer ! So I bought a nice looking and inexpensive EQUUS "6088" Tachometer at Shucks (O'Reilly) for $30. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/EQU0/6088.oap?keyword=6088 Looks nice and it is made in Taiwan - not in Mainland CHINA !! Ha! Here in RED is what I don't follow.... and the rest of the destructions... Now...why do you connect the sensor wire to the negative (GROUND) side of the coil ?! Wouldn't you put it on the positive side where the signal is coming into the coil ? I will "try" to mount this in front of the normal Tach and will disconnect the signal wire tot he old one - just to keep it from doing it's insane movements. Opinions - and don't tell me to throw it out and spend $100 on a better one ! Suggestions - a better place to mount it ? DoctorBill

Here is what I have tried to make my Pathy start better: Hold the gas pedal to the floor - starts up almost instantly, but races immediately. Flip the gas pedal as it is cranking - starts usually - then I have to flip the pedal to keep it running for 10 seconds. I bought a new fuel filter (FF) (FRAM - all they had - Damn !) and will install it when I have time and nice weather. For all the fuel this guzzler uses, it is putting one BUTT LOAD of fuel thru the filter, and given how I was told most gasoline is full of crap, it is probably getting plugged up. Bought the vehicle used last year with 165,000 on it - only God knows when the previous owner changed the FF. More to come.... DoctorBill

That's great - up front and easy to get at. I should have changed it immediately that I bought the Vehicle ! $10 to $15 at Shuck's. My Jeep's FF is $35 ! I'll do it this coming week. Partially plugged fuel filters can play hell with running the engine. Some days fine - other days problems. Been there, done that. DoctorBill

OK...maybe my Fuel Filter (FF) is getting plugged up - Starting Issues. Cannot find my Chilton Manual, so I'll ask here - where is the FF ? If it is beside the Fuel Tank, screw that... On my '93 Geo Metro, the FF was beside the Tank and a real mother to get at. So I removed it, bypassed it with some HP Fuel line and spliced the FF into the HP Fuel line in the Engine Compartment... Works fine and I can quite easily change it now. DoctorBill

The Pathfinder is doing it again.... I'm finding, by experimenting around, that pressing the gas pedal to the floor as it cranks gets it going quickly ! DoctorBill Edited in 2-22-2010 Latest method that works well: Press gas pedal to floor and release (like older Carb cars used to have to do) Turn key to on (but not to crank the engine) Let set for 20 seconds (fuel pump runs & builds up line pressure) Crank the engine - starts right away. Flip gas pedal lightly if it acts like going to die. Let run and warm up. This seems to work.

Want to ask a couple of questions about my '95 V6-XE 4x4 Automatic. First - I have a sputtering Open Door light on the Dashboard. How the Heck can I find out which door switch is going south ? Second - I understand that one is not supposed to press the gas pedal to help start these creatures up. But mine will start and then die after 5 seconds. Today I pressed the gas pedal to keep it going and it died anyway. After that the bugger flooded and I almost didn't get to work on time... I cranked it over for a minute or two before it finally caught ! How can I start this creature so it keeps running ? How do you start it if it floods ? Otherwise - running fine after my Timing Belt Change and adding a automatic transmission Cooler this summer (on the forum with photos). I'm going to add a cheap Harbor Freight Tachometer since mine is INSANE. DoctorBill

Yup - you betcha ! Started 'er up this morning, popped the hood and sure enough, the hose between the injector rails on the passenger side close to the front had fuel all over it. I tightened the two hose clamps on the 3-4 inch hose and they were quite loose ! I should check ALL the hose clamps now... DoctorBill

My used '95 Pathfinder XE-V6 has a heavy gasoline smell inside the cab when I first start it up in the morning ! Doesn't do that later in the day. Where could this be coming from and how can I fix it ? Everything else has been working fine after my Timing Belt Change with the addition of a Transmission Cooler that I posted hereabouts. (Knock on wood!) DoctorBill

So....the Tachometer signal comes from the Computer.... Do you know which wire feeds the coil signal to the computer - i.e. the pin number of the computer? My Tach works for a while, then freaks out, then just slowly moves up and pegs, then drops to zero, doesn't respond, then freaks out, then....on and on. One should be able to trace out where the problem is occurring. Now that I find the computer is involved, one more variable is added. This HAS to be solvable ! DoctorBill

I downloaded the FSM as many pdf files. Thanks for that lead...I tried looking in the Index under Tachometer and Speedometer - nothing. Not Tachometer or Speedometer or Instrument Cluster....."Combination Meter"...Amazing. Now....which wire goes to the Coil - Number 33 (White) or Number 42 (Blue) ? Number 17 is +12v (white/Blue)....got that. Goes thru the SMJ - SUPER MULTIPLE JUNCTION....on the foldout pdf file....CONFUSED. How does the SMJ diagram work ? What do the numbers on the bottom black line refer to ? DoctorBill

That's why I asked if one could pull a NEW tube thru the vehicle using the old tube taped to the new tube... Or glued to the old tube with Instant glue and a peg insert between the new and old tube...then pull it forward or toward the back - either way. They sell tubing in Pet Stores (for aquarium air bubblers) or in Tubing & Hose Supply Houses for high pressure lines and for Refrigerator Ice Machines, etc. There are all kinds, but you have to know what to ask for because the clerks haven't a clue what you need. DoctorBill

Does anyone have one or know where I can find the WIRING DIAGRAM for the '95 XE-V6 TACHOMETER ? I would like to see if it goes thru the Computer or if I could find the wire behind the Instrument Console, cut it and replace the wire to the Coil. I'd like to know if it need more than just the one wire to the Coil, a good ground and a good positive power source. Maybe I could bypass the problem area instead of having to find it in all that damned wiring harness. DoctorBill

Thanks folks. It is 20° outside so I'd like to ask - where do I look for those two small electrical washer pumps. Right side - Left side | Front - back ? If that long tube gets a break in it, does the washer fluid then go all into the overhead cloth on the roof of the cab ? Where does the tube go thru ? The roof section or underneath the cab ? Could one buy new tubing, tape the new to the old and pull the new one thru to the back or front - kinda like you can do with electrical wire sometimes? DoctorBill

This winter, I need to use the back wiper quite often and I tried the squirter - no fluid. I assumed a tube ran the length of the Pathfinder from the front reservoir to the back. Does the tube get hard and break ? Does fluid ever get into the roof space? Or does that back have a separate reservoir - if so I can't find it. '95 XE-V6 DoctorBill