SkiMachine Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Thanks guys! I can't find much info on the swap elsewhere. I'm amazed how hard its been to find this exact unit. I've walked over a dozen junk yards looking. This one has just under 100k miles & they are asking 600 pulled. That's a good deal considering the effort involved in pulling these beasts. I spent a bit of time trying to find a doner tranny here to no success thus I'm rebuilding mine (after shelving the project over the winter). FWIW, in my case reverse failing was due to hard parts damage leading to a compelete reverse drum to stator seal failure, not a stuck valve. Though reverse simply went and never came back on my transmission. If the problem is intermittant it could indeed be a stuck valve. I mention this since the VB can apparently be worked on on-vehicle which saves a ton of missery (pulling the whole tranny is pure hell). See my thread here for a bit more detail re the potential hard parts failure. If the tranny does need to be pulled, then the Xterra HD option is the way to go. I'd take a real good look at the magnet, fluid color, millage, etc on the donor tranny before lifting it into the truck though. If anything seems off, find another or have it rebuilt. This is not something you want to have to lift in/out twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) Yep ^. The fluid looked clean on the xterra tranny I bought, they told me it had 140,000km. When I pulled the pan I found the factory nissan filter in there, absolutely nothing on the magnet either! FWIW this is the third transmission put into my truck. The previous owner changed it with a used pathy one and it lasted about 70k km... Edited May 20, 2014 by adamzan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiMachine Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Yeah that seems to be the consensus. If my rebuild doesn't work out then an Xterra tranny will be my next move. Good on ya for finding a good unit. In case you've missed the other threads on the subject, don't use the stock cooler and flush those cooler lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebayfish Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 That transmission fell through, the guy started d**king me on the price. I have found a few others, from 2000, 2001 & 2002 that I will have to drive for. I see the interchange parts are the same, all things equal, are they the same transmission & transfer case or is one year more desirable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverton Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 any of those will be exactly the same. But if you do happen to find one from a supercharged truck, you will need the flex plate as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebayfish Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 I've got a transmission on order 2000 model, 9/99 with very low miles. Transfer case was not included. Can I mate my old one to it or should I get an Xtrerra one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 You should be able to mate your old one to it no problem. I simply used the xterra case because it came with mine and I'm lazy. It's the same case though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebayfish Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 Xterra tranny is about to go in. Of course I'll be flushing my lines, but what's the most recommend ATF? Valvoline Max Life Dex 3 synthetic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 I used some house brand dex 3 as no one had maxlife in stock at the the time. But that is what I would use. Or castrol import multi vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebayfish Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 Thanks Adam! I'll let you know how the swap goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverton Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 The only thing I can recommend is to NOT use Amsoil. I keep meaning to drain mine to refill with conventional, but I just can't justify throwing $100 worth of fluid away. But I guess that's cheaper than buying another transmission... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebayfish Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Xterra Tranny is in with original case & Max Life ATF...What a difference! Shifts better & much smoother. Also it must be geared a little higher, taching a little less on the interstate. Thanks for all the help & advise! Hopefully I will never have to do this again, I have easily 30 hours labor in it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 The 3rd and 4th gear ratios are the same. 1st and 2nd are different, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Congrats on a successful swap! Maybe the lockup clutch in the old trans was shot? (Also, just curious, what's wrong with Amsoil?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 It makes the shifts slip. Silverton and I both had this problem. When I swapped in the xterra auto, I used regular dex3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverton Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 (edited) Only first gear is different. FTFY. Edit: And yes, I do believe that the Asmoil synthetic ATF is just a bit TOO viscous for these transmission. Edited June 8, 2014 by silverton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverton Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 And Adam corrected my correction outside of the forum. Xterra's and two wheel drive Pathfinders share the same gear ratios 2-OD. WD22: 1st 2.785 2nd 1.545 3rd 1.00 OD 0.694 4WD WD21: 1st 3.027 2nd 1.619 3rd 1.00 OD 0.694 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebayfish Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 I think the pump wasn't building enough pressure to engage reverse, or maybe a clutch/bushing was deteriating and released a bunch of crap into the system & clogged it. Between draining &replacing the atf, then driving it maybe 80 miles the new fluid smelt horrendous with tons of brass sparkles. I'm running great now, only problem is that I tweeked the sleeve that the rear driveshaft slides in & couldn't get it perfect. Now I got the metal squeak sound of it rubbing at low speeds. I'm gonna see if thicker oil than wd40 helps(maybe some sticky Lucas), otherwise I guess I'll wait till it reseats a groove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiMachine Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) The brass debris is telling - The reverse clutch drum bushing that mates up with the pump stator is a brass (friction side) / steal combo. This bushing is indeed known to fail - it is what happened to my transmission, and almost happened to the used reverse drum I bought to replace it. Someone else posted on here last year detailing the same issue with their tranny as well. Once this bushing wears to its steal backing it's all over. The wear becomes exponential at that point, with shards of steel breaking off and traveling through the transmission, in turn doing more damage. The mating surface of the stator and reverse drum took quite the beating in my case, but then I drove it for months after reverse failed The excess play will also lead to the stator to drum reverse circuit seals failing - usually quite suddenly hence all of the no warning loss of reverse cases one reads about. A chunk of one seal was missing in my case. All of the other bushings are aluminum and seem to hold up much better - I have no idea why Nissan made just one out of brass/steel but it is a weak link for sure. Edited June 20, 2014 by SkiMachine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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