RE4R01A Transmission Rebuild

[Gscottyengineering]

Hey ya'll! Starting this thread to document my latest project which is DIY rebuilding a junkyard RE4R01A transmission from an '01 VQ35DE pathfinder to revive my recent project R50 purchase with a known bad high clutch pack.

 

I want my R50 to be a Colorado mountain adventure vehicle I can trust to drive far from home and have peace of mind towing a small camper redlining up high altitude inclines without worrying about having a high mileage black box for a transmission.

I've never done this before but here are the main resources I'm using for information:

1) Nissan FSM off NicoClub, AT section for diagrams and basic procedures
2) Curmudgeon Transmission's excellent 1 hour and 37 minute video going over the entire rebuild process in detail, with gotchas.

Parts list:
- Junkyard transmission, high mileage - $150
- PA Cargo / Transtec overhaul kit - $130

- Borg Warner band, - $15 (even though original looked totally fine, it's old so replacing it)
- Raybestos high energy frictions - $80

- PA Cargo bushing kit - $25
- Brand new Transtar front planet assembly (one planet has more play than the rest after dissassembly)... I bought the last one in stock anywhere...! - $70
- TransGo valve body shift kit upgrade - $50

Yesterday I pulled most of the transmission apart into component assemblies before deciding to stop and get a better pair of snap ring pliers. My plan is to attack each complex component assembly containing seals, frictions, springs, etc individually to avoid having a giant pile of similar looking parts that could potentially get mixed up.  I'll bounce back and forth between Curmudgeon's disassembly and rebuild videos for each major component, doing one at a time until I've got a pile of assemblies ready to go back into the case.

 

Images from 1 hour into the disassembly - Note wear found on the reverse drum bushing, steel is showing through the copper. Incidentally there was a normal amount of copper colored glitter in the pan (no chunks), hoping it's just that and the front planet washers which are known to wear: https://imgur.com/a/2YQFQA7

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Gscottyengineering
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[98dreamer]

Hey, bro. I'm in the middle of mine, as we speak. Some thing I'm curious about, how the eff do I find out how many tooth/lugs does mine have? I've seen things with 42 tooth and 12 lug and no idea where to count what...

 

Ps. I grenaded my planetaries 

[deltaR50]

listing the part numbers for each would nice also