So who has put a new tranny in their Pathy?

[red-finder]

I found out today it looks like I am going to have to get the tranny rebuilt in my Pathfinder. Has anybody had this done in theirs?

 

I wanted to know what kind of life I can expect out of a rebuild? It looks like it is going to cost me $2,000. Is this reasonable?

 

This and my son pulled a table over on his foot and had to go to the emergency room! What a @#%^! Monday!

[jj big shoe]

Check the prices from those places that import used Japanese engines and transmissions straight from Japan. I got a used 5 speed for my '87 for $550 including the t'case and another $400 to put it in. They are generally low mileage parts because of the Sha-ken law in Japan that forces older vehicles to undergo a rigorous inspection at certain intervals. It's usually cheaper for them to trade the vehicle in for a new one than foot the bill for costly repairs.

[jjeffri]

I had my transmission replaced in my 1996 Pathfinder, Automatic. It had about 130K on it. Reverse broke, while my wife was driving it (Pathy seems to break when she drives it) and we took it into the shop. It had a plethora of metal shavings in the pan. I had it rebuilt, as a new tranny would run about $4,500, probably more than the value of the car. The rebuilt tranny cost me about $2,700, and I had it done about a year ago. It has been going strong since then, but the warranty was only one year, in fact I think I paid an extra $300 to extend the warranty to one year instead of 6 months. I ended up getting it done at Aamco transmissions, they were nice and didn't try to hamstring me. It has been suggested to avoid used automatic transmissions, but I have no first-hand experience with this. If you are replacing an auto for $2K, that seems pretty good.

 

Strangely, I also had a Nissan Altima-manual transmission-that had to have its transmission replaced around 120K. Cost me about $1,500 I think for a used one, so if you are replacing a manual for $2K that might be a little pricey.

 

Hope it helps

-J

[Guest packman5280]

make sure to put an aux cooler in line. keeping the fluid cool will make a big difference in how long the trans lasts.

[wheel366]

make sure to put an aux cooler in line. keeping the fluid cool will make a big difference in how long the trans lasts.

 

Does that go for Manuals as well?

[lgranch]

From a guy who has been knee deep in auto trannys and pathy trannys for quite some time. Get the biggest aftermarket cooler that you can and put it in. Also a remote filter is a good idea.

 

Now for rebulding a pathy tranny. Generally the soft parts in the tranny cost about $250 and the hard parts another $250. Normally this is not the cause of reverse failure. Most of the time (there are always exceptions) reverse failure is caused by a bad solenoid or dirt. This repair is cheap.

 

Why do I dislike most auto tranny shops...because they replace parts and do not diagnosis the problem prior to teardown and replace. Also they reuse the hard parts many times. Again if you find a good guy then stick with him.

 

There is a comprehensive tranny diagnositic procedure list here in the forum. Use it or give to the tranny guy and ask them to actually use it before they quote.

 

How about used. You already have been given prices for a used Japanese takeout. A used US tranny should cost about $500 or you can buy a whole pathy in the northeast for that price. (rotted frame of course)

 

Ther reall cost in tranny work on a pathy is the labor to take it out and put it back. Nissan did not make this easy and you can expect 4 to 6 hours labor on this alone. If you can not do this by yourself then an acceptable price for a reverse fix is under $1000. Ask around and don't take the first thing offered. Unfortunently if you are a west coast person then just start shelling out the cash, because everything from Seattle to San Diego is 2X the cost of the east coast and 2.5X the cost of the midwest.

[red-finder]

Thanks for the info.

 

I took it to the shop today. I live in Tennessee, so there are a lot of shops around here that are pretty shady. I found one that said they would do it for $1700 plus tax and the fluid. I got some references from others that said these people were good so we will see. They are going to rebuild mine and put it back on.

 

The bad thing about all this is I do have a big aftermarket cooler and external filter kit already. So they will stay on and I hope they will help this rebuild last longer.

[fc105]

My 95XE has the "intermittent - no reverse" problem. shrug.. have lived with it for about a year now cuz it really only happens once every 6 - 8 weeks or so. Not very often and usually just moving the shifter from P to D to R to D to R etc... gets it back to working.

 

Finally, after a couple changes to the appointment, I had it in to what I was told was a reputable shop for a diagnostic. They called me back and said that definitely this was a mechanical problem, and that they suspected low line pressure. ??? no duh,..I think I mentioned that to the guy when I dropped it off. Anyways, they wouldn't say anything else.

 

They basically claim that they can't tell me anything else unless they remove the transmission and open her up. Labor for removal and reinstall was quoted at about $1200 Canadian (12+ hrs?) so they're warning me that a low cost repair will be around 2K and high end around 3K for repair.

 

I'm OK with a wrench, but I don't want to be pulling a transmission off in my driveway. Thoughts...??? I had the fluid flushed and refilled about a year ago. Should I just go and install an external cooler and flush and fill? Will that keep it together for a few more years???? :help:

[Ale]

My 95XE has the "intermittent - no reverse" problem. shrug.. have lived with it for about a year now cuz it really only happens once every 6 - 8 weeks or so. Not very often and usually just moving the shifter from P to D to R to D to R etc... gets it back to working.

 

Finally, after a couple changes to the appointment, I had it in to what I was told was a reputable shop for a diagnostic. They called me back and said that definitely this was a mechanical problem, and that they suspected low line pressure. ??? no duh,..I think I mentioned that to the guy when I dropped it off. Anyways, they wouldn't say anything else.

 

They basically claim that they can't tell me anything else unless they remove the transmission and open her up. Labor for removal and reinstall was quoted at about $1200 Canadian (12+ hrs?) so they're warning me that a low cost repair will be around 2K and high end around 3K for repair.

 

I'm OK with a wrench, but I don't want to be pulling a transmission off in my driveway. Thoughts...??? I had the fluid flushed and refilled about a year ago. Should I just go and install an external cooler and flush and fill? Will that keep it together for a few more years???? :help:

My transmission died a couple of weeks ago. I got it rebuilt and am just in the process of putting it back in. Should be finished by tomorrow evening. I found an excellent rebuilder in the lower mainland. I don't know where you live so let me know if you want the details.

 

Cost for labour was about $1000 and the rebuild (which included hardened splines, and a replacement of all hard and soft parts, and an aftermarket cooler) was $1800 ($2800 total). I decided to save the $1000 and remove and reinstall it myself. It turned out to be a b*tch to do and in hindsight I might have been better to let the shop handle it.

 

If your tranny is damaged, flushing it isn't going to make it get better, but it might get some of the metal shavings out and buy you some time. The thing you have to worry about is having it go suddenly when you're off-road and in the middle of nowhere. When mine went it just went 'clunk' and I had no gears. If I was in the bush, I would have been hiking out, and if the road was too nasty for a tow, airlifting it out would have been the only option.

 

If you're just driving in the city and within easy reach of a tow truck or BCAA, you can choose to wait till it goes, but I would be nervous about doing any off-roading with a tranny that could die at any moment.

-AL

[red-finder]

That's the way mine went out. I was in a Walmart parking lot and went to back out and no reverse! I'm glad no one was parked in front of me and I wasn't out in the boonies somewhere.

 

Sounds like to me if you have low line pressure I would definitely put an external cooler and bypass the stock one immediately! It might buy you some time.

[Guest md80man]

A new cooler is a must but it has to be right, there are generally 3 sizes,

light, medium and heavy duty. In my opinion medium duty is perfect unless you are towing heavy loads. The medium duty cooler is $49 at Uhaul and it gives the best cooling without blocking the engine-radiator too much, I have been told the heavy coolers restrict the airflow so much it could overheat the engine. This ofcourse may or may not be true. I am on a rebuilt tranny now and after a hard days drive there is no burndt smell from the dipstick. the last tranny had a distingt burndt smell to it for months until I found out it was the tranny making the smell in the driveway.

Good luck