Stranded on a Corner in Winslow Arizona - Tranny Q

[Guest cfilanosky]

Hi, all! Long time reader, first time poster! My (sorry it's long) story:

 

I bought a 1992 4x4 SE Pathfinder several months ago primarily to tow a Uhaul trailer from Sunnyvale, California to Boston, Massachusetts. It needed a little work, a new brake master cylinder, tires, giant transmission oil cooler, but she ran strong and had a lot of nice features like rear discs, limited slip differential, etc. Drove it for about 2500 miles, just to make sure everything was ok. Even took her off roading once to Oceano Dunes state park, where if you haven't been, what are you waiting for! That place was a blast!

 

ANYWAY - she ran pretty ok until Flagstaff, Arizona, where it started slipping a little, and when my wife (who was driving) pulled over for me to check it out, once it was placed back into Drive, it wouldn't move forward. I later found out she was towing using cruise control! (this is true, I'm not just blaming my wife to cover me, I bought the AT specifically because she can't get the hang of a stick! [come on, now, no jokes about that!!])

 

The Pathy still starts and runs, but when placed into any forward gear, or even reverse, no movement. Shifted to 4wd, makes no difference. Looking under the truck, everything appears intact, no oil leaks. The shift linkage moves, so it doesn't seem to be anything external. It's almost as if the truck were permanently in neutral. It does idle just a little, barely perceptable, lower when in drive, and sometimes it makes a little bit of a "metal" noise. Sorry it's hard to describe. Shifting to Drive does something, but not enough to make it roll.

 

Put the truck on the back of a trailer, and hauled it back East with all of my other worldly posessions.

 

Advice needed! I'm a fairly good amateur mechanic, I have swapped an engine out of a car before, and I do all of my own routine maintenance. I'm comfortable with a wrench and don't mind getting my hands dirty. I'd be worried about overhauling a transmission, but I feel confident that I could replace one. My really bad and basic Hanes manual says swapping the tranny isn't the worst thing in the world.

 

1) I've never owned a car with an automatic before. I know basically that the torque converter is roughly the equivalent of the clutch, could that be the problem instead of the transmission? How could I tell if it was one or the other? I am imagining that if it's only the torque converter, I could save a little cash, but like I said, this is my first time dealing with an AT.

 

2) Does anyone know of a place that sells used or rebuilt automatics for my truck? I'd prefer to go the cheapest route possible, but I would like at least a minimal warranty. Is there a compatible transmission from another platform? (for example, the manual tranny in my BMW 325ic is the same as that in an Isuzu truck!) I'm ow located in the metro Boston area, if someone knows of a place that is local or regional.

 

3) Anyone ever perform this procedure before? Have any suggestions or advice for things to avoid or be extra careful about? You know, those things that you spent an hour trying to figure out and then realized how simple it was and couldn't believe you overlooked it?

 

 

 

Anyway, thanks in advance for any ideas, help, or suggestions that you might have! I do appreciate it!

 

 

 

Chuck Filanosky

[jj big shoe]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

 

I just had a used trans put into my '87 5-speed. I bought it from a place that imports used Japanese engines and transmissions straight from Japan. I bought it for $600 and they installed it for another $400 with a three month guarantee. They can't tell you the mileage of the part, but the "Sha-Ken" law in Japan makes low mileage parts pretty abundant. Check this link for info on the Sha-ken law:

Sha-ken law

 

 

A friend of mine had the dealer put a new automatic trans in his '95 Pathfinder to the tune of $3000. I would definately check around for a used one.

[MatterHorn]

I had a toque converter go out in a Ford 250 a few years back and it did exactly as you are describing ... we had to replace the converter out in the middle of freakin' no where, and like you said, everything appeared intact, but it wasn't moving ...

 

auto's can be finicky though, so before settling on that as the problem, I feel it would be best if you at least took it out, so you can check for obvious things, and if worse comes to worse, then you already have the tranny out to put a new one in ...

[lgranch]

You have a problem in diagnoising your tranny problem. There are obvious things, like leaks and the color and smell of the tranny fluid. As for trailering with the cruise control on hurting the tranny, BULL. Heat hurts the tranny and long uphill grades generate heat. The only potential difficulty is if the cruise control fails to drop down a gear when it should. The reason why you should not trailer using cruise is for vehicle control in turns and varying road conditions.

 

Now for tranny diagnosis. You would need to check fluid pressures at variuos points. It is very unlikely that even a excellent amateur mechanic has the tolls necessary to do this. So your problem is that if you take it to a tranny shop for them to check it out, even if they fix the one you have you leave about $1200 poorer with only a 12,000 mile guarentee at most. Most of these tranny shops are basically clowns who do not do the best for you. (There are exceptions but you have to know someone who can verify the shop's performance)

 

I agree that in general the best bet for a 92 is to replace the tranny with a used one. If you are a good amatuer then you should be able to change it yourself. A warning though it is not as easy as a Ford or Chevy. Nissan has really put this thing in with many cross braces and lots of anchor points and wires. Oh by the way the $600 for a used tranny does not include a torque converter (or the ones I have purchased for that price do not) A torque converter is the one thing I would not put back in the truck used, esspecially the one that came out of your truck.

 

Good luck and keep the forum posted on your adventure.

[Mr. Pickles]

They can't tell you the mileage of the part, but the "Sha-Ken" law in Japan makes low mileage parts pretty abundant. Check this link for info on the Sha-ken law:

Sha-ken law

Wow. I hadn't heard of that law, and wondered how we kept ending up with these low mile Japanese motor and tranny's around. Had one put in my Honda a few years ago, so that explains things. Its more comforting than grabbing a mystery part from a junkyard and crossing your fingers. Good luck on your tranny!