oaky8

Thanks for the replies! I got the whole junkyard tranny and transfer case home in my dads sedan. Im a small dude and manhandling the transmission+transfercase by myself really took me out. I had a long nap once i got home. I think the transmission cooked itself because I didn't take care of it then towed. The pathy wasn't driven regularly for about 6 months in 2014, my dad would take it for a spin every once in a while for me. Once I got back home and began driving it daily again I noticed the hard shift from 1 to 2nd gear. I should've flushed the fluid then, but i didnt. lator on coming into 2015 i towed a utility trailer with about 700lbs of stuff about 750 miles (LA to FL), during the drive i felt a lot of heat coming from e-brake handle area. Didn't really cross my mind that it was overheating. I think the dash has an A/T overheat idiot light, it never came on. The transmission drove fine and never slipped until what i described in first post "trannys dropped 4th then re-engaged 4th. So quickly that it almost felt like a bump in the highway". So cause of failure being old fluid that was past due for a flush, probably full of metal and not very good at handling heat anymore. I haven't had a chance to drop current transmission. But i'm thinking i will take both torque converters to a shop and have them tested. I think the one way stator is making the noise during idle. If Its just the torque converter i will use the current transmission because im sure its lower millage. I will then have the transmission gone through and made sure its clean and free of debris. Also it seems like the salvage transfer case leaked/s fluid. So i will likely take back the transmission and transfer case but use the torque converter. I will definitely clean out the radiator and fluid lines. I'm also thinking to relocate the breather hoses higher up, they are way too low and pointed down. The few times i've been through some mud puddles or in a small creek i got mud and water on everything in the engine bay.

And we are back to just a automatic swap. I couldn't source all components needed for manual swap. Would be more expensive for the manual swap. With the prospect of doing some off roading and overlanding in the next year i think it will be easier to highway travel and off road with an auto box. Torque converter holding all the power makes wheeling a lot easier. I got an auto tranny from a u-pull-it place. i suspect 200K + miles on it compared to my r50 with 151K miles. since odometer is electric and batteries aren't left in cars i couldn't tell. I learned a lot by dropping that transmission first. Will make removal of my cars transmission easier and quicker. Since the replacement torque converter is probably old and maybe worn i want to make sure its even good. In the FSM i saw a tool for testing. I dont have that tool. Do transmission shops generally have equipment to test the usefulness of a transmission? Would hate to install entire transmission to find it slips as well. At this point i feel that the replacement tranny might be a crap shoot. some tricks i learned 1) remove transfer case floor transfer case shifter handle BEFORE dropping tranny 2) the top two transmission/engine bolts are a pain to reach. Drop the transmission crossmember and the entire engine/trans will tilt back giving you more room to work. Bolts can be reached through interior tranny tunnel hole, or from underneath. Make sure to have a universal joint and 2+ feet of extensions. 3) its almost impossible to reach the 4 14mm bolts that hold torque converter to flexplate. A flat combination wrench or crows foot socket would be useful. Could not use a standard socket. Not sure how i will bolt these on for re-insall much less to spec torque While im down here I will replace the rear main seal. Dont think its leaking since i notice no fluid level change during oil changes. But posterity I guess. Are there any other seals i should replace? Some oil does leak then burn on header out of the valve cover, that seems to be very common. I smell a hot oil burn smell often when idling after a drive. I assume this is the source of that smell. yep, I checked it the next morning. Its part of the original post, second paragraph. I pulled the drain plug on tranny fluid last night and it looked pretty black. Wasn't a lot of light out so i couldn't see through stream, but i didn't see any red to it. However on the dipstick the fluid was very red and looked completely normal.

Of course if i could find the ecm and tranny and everything in one car i would get it. But i worry that i will have to source parts from a few different vehicles. I have the floor mounted 4wd select. None of the electric switch stuff. 250lbs is a lot. Dont think i can fit that in the rx7. I read that the gears are shorter on the manual. I would really like for the pathfinder to be able to cruise at 80mph without having to be at 3K rpm. Is there any other gear set i can swap in or should i just look at doing a rear end final drive swap? I hardly use the 4wd or go off road so i don't especially need short/low gears. I would rather highspeed highway cruising.

.... now i think this will become an automatic to manual swap thread. I will be following this god send walk through. Since the automagic gave out and i need to replace it anyway I will attempt to swap in a manual. I have found the 5 speed at a bunch of local salvage yards. But these places aren't really that cheap. So I will first look for a u-pull it type of deal. That way I can get all parts i need in one parts run. (my second car is an 80's rx7. so im not sure how ill drag a tranny home). If i can't find a self service parts yard manual pathfinder i will make calls to the salvage yards and sweet talk them into cutting me a deal for buying a bunch of parts. Questions for you pros; Will the car run without the manual ECM? I read that it just turns off the service light, but thats on from a cracked header anyhow. Will my current automatic transfer case fit a manual transfer case? are they all the same tx-10? Can i pull the manual wiring harness? Seems like the walkthrough wants me to splice wires but I'd feel better just putting in a proper nissan oem wire section. What does tranny + transfer case weigh?

Haven't had much problem with water getting on interior. A few tiny droplets on side of dash and on Door jambs, but no fabric/carpet/footwell got wet to the touch. Even when blowing water up from the bottom drain hole the mud and leaves generally just lift up and swirl around in the same space then flow out the bottom when i remove the water hose Yeah top side holes are small, can be plugged with pinky finger easily. Air is probably easier, but I haven't had a compressor. Never felt like the wire even got stuck on the rubber hose. You get a little resistance if theres crud in there, and then you feel it just hits a solid dead end.

I Just use a regular garden hose sprayer on a "jet" setting. Get in there through the open door and also from underneath there's a small drain hole that a water stream will fit in. Usually i do have to reach in and grab a few big whole leaves before it really cleans out. So maybe vac is better. Remember to clean your sunroof drain lines too. I usually accomplish this with a length of bailing wire. It only goes in about 2 feet before hitting a block. That always works for me.

My tranmission sh*t the bed yesterday. Maybe you all can help me figure out what i need to replaced. 98' 4wd 3.3 pathfinder LE with 4spd auto Last night i was on my way home from a 1400+ mile round trip. FL to LA and back to FL. Half way through the drive back it seems that the trannys dropped 4th then re-engaged 4th. So quickly that it almost felt like a bump in the highway. I continue on cautiously (never stopped) nothing else weird happens until... I have to stop and crawl in mobile traffic through downtown mobile. It then starts making noise. 1-2 shift point moves up in rpm range from 2k to 3k. Once across tunnel i hear a constant noise that sounded as if it was coming from rear differential. It went away after a while maintaining a constant speed. Also when accelerating the transmission made noise but when off throttle it would subside (this was only for a short time did not happen again). A while later I stop for gas. As i slow down to stop and then later pull out to get back on road the transmission starts making a noise, feels laboured, and like its slipping. The noise from transmission sounds like something is spinning and rubbing on something else. On another car I once had a bent splash/heat shield rubbing on a drive shaft and it sounded a lot like that. Its not VERY loud but the radio would have to be pretty high to drown it out. I checked under and nothing is leaking. Temps are fine. So i decided to baby it home (another 300 miles). 1st sounds bad, slammed into second (high rpm and way harder than usual) 3rd sounds bad, and then slams and shutters into 4th. I hit the overdrive button and it drops to 3rd where the noise is almost gone, i drive like this for a few miles then press the button again. It goes into 4th without a slam and doesn't start making noise. I continue fighting it the entire way home, every time getting scared that it will not move after slowing down or stopping. The noise and problem was only present when not moving in 3rd or 4th gear. If the noise did start it would go away after driving for a few miles. But then i got off the highway one last time and on that very exit ramp the tranny completely died after stopping for the signal light. I had selected neutral when slowing down on the exit ramp this might of broken its final leg. Luckily i was only a few blocks from home and i got towed. This morning i started the car, put it in drive and it made the noise but would move. I didn't drive it anywhere just rolled forward and back a few feet. So my question is where do i look first? I suspect the first hit i felt was a slip of the torque converter which caused strain on the rest of the system. I also suspect something broke off somewhere because of the noise. I know of a 2wd pathfinder where i can source parts but i'm not sure if 2wd and 4wd have the same transmission. The shift from 1-2 has been a light hit for a few months, but everything else has been normal. Checked ATF today its full and red without any flakes on dipstick. Maybe a slight burn smell but I have never smelled good vs bad atf before so im not sure. There was a film of atf on the lower bell housing on starter and on fluid cooler lines. But it was not a fast leak so i couldn't trace it. I assume torque converter and entire tranny will have to be swapped.

Figured out the generic bypass hose a bit after posting lol. Thanks though adamzan. I did have to cut a little bit kingman Well its now all back together. Of course i left the idle pulley loose so it was making some noise. Got it tightened and everything was back to perfect! Steering fixed, and no noise even on the left and right extremes. Must have been a loose belt and water causing it to slip combo that caused the notchy steering. So thanks for the welcomes guys, I think i've made enough of a fool of myself in this first thead. But thank y'all so much for the help. Glad to be part of the community, maybe i'll come up with a cool mod as a way to give back to the group

LOL so i put it all back together. And i hadn't checked the return hose. So of course it leaked. The good thing is that im much faster at taking it apart now. Where do i get a new hose? I see nothing for it on the autozone site.

@ Slartibarfast Notchy steering i hope was just water on the belt making the pulleys slick to where they couldn't transmit the power from the crank, kind slip and grabbing because of the water. At least im hoping its that! @ Devonianwalk I wish I had air or a manual @ Kingman 250$ worth of parts last night, and i still didn't get the T belt, everyone saying i should do it anyway is convincing me to run back to the parts store. I got the crank bolt with the starter trick, not sure how to re tighten in however. How do i get to the flywheel? Haven't really looked at removing the starter, but it looks hard to get to. I used the alternator belt yesterday as a make shift strap wrench lol. Didnt work too well, but kinda did its job. I will take a look at the bypass hose, thanks. Is there an air bleed valve somewhere? @ Precise1 yeah thinking about going back to get the belt. Although at 146k miles and with a non-original in there i'm far from that 105K miles interval. Feels good to be part of NPORA! thanks OH! TDC, is just the two cam gears lined up nipple to dimple right? I don't worry about what the crank gear is pointing too?

Haha thanks bud. any ideas on the notchy steering at low speeds? Yeah i hadn't realized that i needed to break that damn crank pulley to do the water pump. Replacing the timing belt tensioner probably isnt a bad idea anyway. What pring or did you mean like i need another 9 bucks for the socket? I will get the xbox huge socket from harbour freight along with the breaker bar. Why does this engine have so many belts. Just one ACC belt would be nice. I haven't taken off the p/s belt but it looks like a pain. And i'm really not looking forward to messing with the timing belt. How i get it TDC? I can't possibly line it all up just by hitting the starter a few times. It seems like you need to TDC before taking the T belt off? How do i know when i've hit the 130lbs when tightening the crank pulley? Taking the starter out and jamming something into the flywheel does not sit well with me, i'm not going to do that. Can i leave the timing belt alone and just change the tensioner? I like that plan much more, if i have to open it back up and change the belt in a year so be it. I dont want to put my FB rx7 to DD duties, so i was hoping to get this done today. Also i have a trail ride next saturday and im not getting the feeling my pathy wants to go out there.

Finally got under the timing belt shroud. The belt has been replaced before since the belt in there now says napa. It looks fine to me. Not shiny like a glazed brake pad, but it is a little shiny none the less. No cracks or any sign of wear really. I'm sure its not a timing issue, and i've never done a timing belt before so im going to leave it be. Also i don't have the massive socket to take the nut off, but i might need to get that socket to take the pump off ;( The thermostat does look a little worn so that will be replaced along with the water pump. I'm going to forget about the electric fans and oil cooler for now, getting the rad out wasn't bad at all actually. I've really enjoyed working on this engine, not cramped like my old chevy monte carlo z34. AC line was only real annoyance. The front skid/steering rack protector thing was kind of rotten so i had to rip it off. One stripped bolt with a nasty rusty piece of metal it still there. The front inner bumper is pretty rusty to (NJ road salt) is it replaceable? I would like to put on a more heavy duty bumper, winch, and skid plate one day; but if i had to attach all that to the rusty crossmember its all going to be useless.

Well i'm tearing down today. Taking the radiator out and the water pump. SInce i'm going to be in there anyhow should I get a tranny cooler? So i never have to worry about the coolant in tranny oil problem. Or does that problem only apply to the r51's? Im also thinking about an electric fan instead of the belt driven, simply for power gain reasons, also if i have to drive through some deep water i would like to be able to turn off the fans. Im still not sure what to do about the power steering. The belt is a little loose, but its not that bad, like i wouldn't be surprised if the tension it does have is within normal specifications.

Hi, first post here. Kind of in a bind so im skipping the welcome forum post for now. I took my pathy out for a drive tonight it was a bad time. It overheated a few times and the steering has gained a very notchy feel when taking turns at very low speed <10mph. I lightly smelled coolant while on a big bridge, but didn't think much of it. About 5 minutes later i slow down to take a U turn. this is when the problems become noticeable. FIrst the steering got this strange notch feel, like it was vibrating while i was turning the wheel to do the U turn. Then once I was giving the engine gas to complete the turn it hesitated then launched a little hard; but nothing wild. It felt as if the front axles were binding like when in 4wd. Although i was in 2wd. I drive about 100 yards and look down to see its overheated. I make a right turn and still feel the weird steering. Pull over and vapor is coming from the hood. After letting it sit about 15 minutes i open the radiator cap. Luckily there was a ditch near by and i filled it from completely empty with nasty ditch water. I then drove the car back on the highway for another 8 miles and it did fine. Once off the highway it overheated again and had to steal water from a doctors office. Got back across town and put another liter in before getting home. Its now parked, but the water is leaking out as i type. I think the water pump blew a seal? The steam was coming from the belt area, couldn't really see from where exactly but it wasn't the radiator. Also now once i start the car i get a high pitched squeal for a few seconds. The steering had me thinking it was a belt, but they all seem fine. I have not had a problem with the steering pump before. it has squealed a little at the left and right extremes, but never through out a turn. Now it vibrates like if i was turning a big notched wheel. Never had an overheating problem either. Seems to get hotter quicker at low speeds. Water leaks pretty fast. Put in about 2 gallons in an hour span. Both problems came at the same time, the squeal too. Love my pathfinder. Need to get this sorted.