andsyd Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I have 1996 Pathy. 2wd automatic about 120k miles. I got it about a month ago. It drove fine all that time except for a late shift into second gear sometimes after the first start of the day. It would rev to 3k rpm before shifting. Would only do it once, rest of the was fine. The other day I was driving and had to accelerate very hard. It seemed to shift through the gears ok, I let off the gas and coasted 100 yards before making a left hand turn. Upon stepping on the accelerator the transmission started slipping badly and finally would not go anywhere. Turning it off and restarting would engage reverse and forward gears and I was able to limp it home. During the limp home it would shift from gear to gear ok for 30 seconds and slip out of gear. So I would shut it off and restart and keep going. Now when I start it up, if I immediately put it in gear (reverse or any forward gear) it engages smoothly and strong with no hesitation. But if I let idle for a minute or two and then shift the transmission, no gears can be engaged without a 10 to 15 second delay. If it idles even longer the delay is longer and sometimes it won't engage at all. Reving the engine has no effect. The only code I have is P0325 (knock sensor) which refuses to erase. Fluid is full and bright pink and still smells like it is in the bottle. I know it is a shot in the dark, but before I bend over at the dealership, I thought I would run it by you guys and see what you think. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathfounder Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 The reason that the fluid is so nice is because the last owner had a problem and tried to get by on new fluid to sell it. Forget the dealer, you can get another transmission for like 500 bucks from a wrecking yard and be on your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wo0denSp0on Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I paid 900 for one with 30k miles on it. still shifts hard into second as my first one did. Its a pain to pull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismothunder Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Pink? Like Pepto? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Pink? Like Pepto? Yeah, if it's crazy bright pink then that indicates water or coolant entry, which is BAD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 If it looks like cherry syrup, it's good. If it looks like strawberry milkshake... that's not good. I've heard that some newer Nissans (like my dad's 06 or 07 Frontier) have a design flaw that allows the radiator to separate inside and mix coolant and ATF. I haven't heard of it happening with an R50, though, so unless something is horribly awry... My only thought is that the knock code might be confusing something. My (limited and WD21 specific) understanding is that the computer goes into a limp mode when the knock sensor goes off, and that it communicates with the transmission computer. The symptoms sound more like a computer issue than buggered mechanicals to me, whether or not the knock sensor's setting it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsyd Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Fellas, Thank you for the input. I gotta tell you, when I looked at and smelled the tranny fluid on the dipstick, it didn't seem that bad, other than being a liitle light. Draining it however, revealed the strawberry milkshake of what the tranny fluid had become. Great call. I flushed it all out last night following the instructions, using the return line, 2 quarts at a time and let idle for 10 minutes and was able to engage all gears. I will drive it around the neighborhood today just to make sure everything is alright, but i am sure it will be. Looks like I will be getting a new radiator today. There is no other way coolant can make its way into the tranny, correct? Again thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheelinintheR50 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 i blew up my transmission.. i have never heard of the fluids mixing.. its was lack of maintance by trhe orignal owner. i payed $400 bucks for a rebuilt transmission with 100,000 miles and changed it in my driveway. i also added a 12,000GVW transmission cooler.. truck goes great. also i have the knock sensor code and that wouldn't cause transmission problems. hell my selenoid for overdrive went and im still running it. gotta love nissan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clkindred Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Fellas, Thank you for the input. I gotta tell you, when I looked at and smelled the tranny fluid on the dipstick, it didn't seem that bad, other than being a liitle light. Draining it however, revealed the strawberry milkshake of what the tranny fluid had become. Great call. I flushed it all out last night following the instructions, using the return line, 2 quarts at a time and let idle for 10 minutes and was able to engage all gears. I will drive it around the neighborhood today just to make sure everything is alright, but i am sure it will be. Looks like I will be getting a new radiator today. There is no other way coolant can make its way into the tranny, correct? Again thank you. Humm, you could also install an aftermarket tranny fluid cooler and just bypass the radiator, seems to be what a lot of members do anywas as an upgrade of sorts, might be cheaper if the radiator still holds water fine. You are not leaking coolant too are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathfounder Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 It will leak coolant out if it was mixing in the transmission cooler portion once the cooling lines are removed. I would replace the rad and run the transmission lines back to it, or get a separate cooler if you are worried about it happening again. Also, there is probably transmission fluid in the cooling system now too. I'd flush it real well and put new fluid in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsyd Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Thanks guys, I went ahead and put a new radiator in it. It already had a seperate cooler for the tranny fluid mounted in front of the condensor. The lines go into the radiator and then the cooler. To test it before I bought the radiator, I just used the cooler, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough by itself, so I bought the new radiator. Anyways it is running like a champ now and hopefully will continue to do so. Now if I can get the turn signals to work life will be good. I'm beatin my head against the wall with that one. Fuses good-tried new hazard switch, multi function switch and new flasher. Hazards work great, no burnt bulbs. Real head scratcher for me. It has factory trailer wiring and I read somewhere there could be a problem there, but don't know what to check or how. Anywho I can drive down the road now so life ain't that bad. Thanks again for help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Good thing you caught it early. Maybe try removing the trailer harness? Couldn't hurt to trace the wiring in the FSM, at least it would show which connections etc to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clkindred Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 It will leak coolant out if it was mixing in the transmission cooler portion once the cooling lines are removed. I would replace the rad and run the transmission lines back to it, or get a separate cooler if you are worried about it happening again. Also, there is probably transmission fluid in the cooling system now too. I'd flush it real well and put new fluid in. Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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