HELP

[Coneross_Bogger]

I am new to the Nissan off-road community, always had fords. This is my first Nissan. The other day I jumped in and started to leave work, and stopped at the red light and and when I went to go thru the intersection, and it wouldn't move forward or reverse. Try 4 hi and still wouldn't move. It just made. It just made a whining noise, Idk if its the pump that failed or the valvebody is stopped up. I don't know jack bout trannys.

[Towncivilian]

Since you can't move it'll be difficult to verify the fluid level of the transmission properly. Just pull the dipstick and examine the fluid's color and smell and check for metal particles floating around. The fluid should be pink/reddish and not smell burnt/oxidized. Have you maintained your transmission with drains & fills or flushes? If not, your stock cooler probably clogged (it's a common thing with neglected auto trannies on WD21s) and your transmission is done.

[adamzan]

The last few times I have heard of this happening it has been the torque converter.

[Coneross_Bogger]

I had thought of that too, but wasn't really sure, how would I check that.

[Towncivilian]

Do WD21s with the RE4R01A trans have a drain plug on the torque converter? If not, where does the cooler inlet line get its fluid from? Then again, wouldn't the fluid in the torque converter not matter much as it does get circulated - in other words, it doesn't matter where you get fluid from to check condition? I think you should just check the transmission fluid condition with the dipstick to start with. If it looks bad, do a pan drop & filter change and see if that does anything. Bypass the factory cooler maybe if that gets somewhere.

[Coneross_Bogger]

The fluid is still looks good and smells ok. I am gonna drop the pan and see what I find then. Is it a good idea to go ahead and buy a aftermarket intercooler and scrap the old?

[Towncivilian]

The stock one is integrated into the radiator, all you can do is cap it off. Be sure to buy a new filter and gasket - rockauto.com has them for cheap. I use a Beck/Arnley filter/gasket in my R50's trans without issue, just make sure you removed the old filter's O-ring and ensure there's an O-ring on the new one. The filter is more of a screen, it doesn't do any fine filtration and should be measured in something like mashed bananas instead of microns, but you may as well replace it while you've got the pan off. OEM parts are stupidly expensive - see this thread for approximate prices. Just the filter ("strainer" as Nissan calls it) would be $30 on Courtesy Parts. Use brake cleaner to clean out all the stuff in the pan and the magnet in the pan (remove it to clean it well). The pan bolts are suggested to be replaced by the FSM since they are self-sealing and come with some sort of threadlocker or anti-seize from the factory, but as long as you install the gasket properly you can simply clean and reuse them. Torque spec for filter bolts is 61 - 78 in. lb, and pan bolts are also 61 - 78 in. lb (this is from the 2001.5 FSM but it should be identical - I'll check vs. a '94 FSM). EDIT: Torque spec is 61.2 - 78 in. lb, basically identical. Drain plug torque is 22 - 29 ft lbs (I use 25) and you will need a new crush washer.

 

 

If a pan drop is successful in getting your trans to work again, do a cooler line flush using synthetic ATF, add the biggest trans cooler you can afford and fit, and add either an in-line filter or a spin-on filter mount.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Towncivilian

[Coneross_Bogger]

Thanks for the input I will let ya know what I find and how it goes