Are R50 and R51 low range shift actuators interchangeable?

[jarvi123]

Hi guys

A few years ago my front drive shaft U-joint exploded on the highway and smash the low range shift actuator. It worked good for another year or so, but eventually it would no longer shift onto lo4. I removed it and found a small stone had jammed into one of the position sensors, but this was months ago. I could cover the hole in it and re fit it, but I honestly don't know the orientation of everything inside. I feel like I'll go to all the effort of doing the wiring and fitting it just for it to not work. But the problem is, I can only find an r51 actuator, it actually looks almost identical, just a small differnce. So I was thinking I could just buy the R51 actuator and fit it. These no circuitry inside just five input/ output wires same as the one from my car. So seems like there is a good chance it will fit, the nissan dealership has no clue, which was expected. I can't add pictures to this post, so I'll add a link to the actuator online https://www.wholesalecarparts.com.au/NISSAN-PATHFINDER-4WD-R51-SHIFT-ACTUATOR-298810, unfortunately the sticker with the part number on my one has faded so I can find the part number.

[Slartibartfast]

Nissanpartsdeal lists 33251-2W510 for an '03 R50 with the ATX14A (which their diagrams call the XN3) auto transfer case, and 33274-7S110 for an '06 R51. The pictures look reasonably similar between them, but they've only got a line drawing for the R50 actuator.

 

I suspect you'd be better off tracking down the right part from a wrecker vs trying to make the R51 actuator work.