4WD not working

[POONFINDER]

went into a mud pit after hyping my pathy up to my friends, had to be towed out By a Ford FKN Ranger because my 4wd wont engage. 

symptoms: no workie

Concerns: 4wd Light comes on shifter feels fine, stuck in mud my friends said my fronts weren't spinning. even when I was mobile. So I test on dry pavement, shift through 2wd and 4wd and nothing feel wise, changes. you know how you can feel 4wd? yeah no. I cant. 

anybody got any ideas?

[Slartibartfast]

 

Sounds like the hubs weren't locked. The stock hubs on these are supposed to lock automatically, but they're not known for their reliability. Manual hubs are a huge upgrade and an easy mod.

[POONFINDER]

thanks for the quick reply, thats what I was lead too from what research ive done. Is it just a remove and replace or is there more that goes into it?

im looking to buy manual hubs but im not trying to spend very much. all im finding i some cheap ebay junk and super expensive oreilly junk 

[Slartibartfast]

Pretty much just R&R. The Allen bolts may fight you, mine were stuck pretty good. The service manual wants you to select new snap rings of the correct thickness to set the end-float on the CV axles (and the tension on the seals at the back of the hub), but I don't think anyone actually does that.

 

Hawairish started a thread comparing different brands of hubs. Even the cheap-looking ones he looked at seemed pretty decent inside. The OE manual hubs are supposed to be the strongest, but good luck finding a set of those. Warns are popular. I'm running Mile Markers on mine, and apart from the chrome plating being crap, they've been great. I also posted a video in that thread (second page) from when I replaced mine, showing what's involved.

[POONFINDER]

22 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

Pretty much just R&R. The Allen bolts may fight you, mine were stuck pretty good. The service manual wants you to select new snap rings of the correct thickness to set the end-float on the CV axles (and the tension on the seals at the back of the hub), but I don't think anyone actually does that.

 

Hawairish started a thread comparing different brands of hubs. Even the cheap-looking ones he looked at seemed pretty decent inside. The OE manual hubs are supposed to be the strongest, but good luck finding a set of those. Warns are popular. I'm running Mile Markers on mine, and apart from the chrome plating being crap, they've been great. I also posted a video in that thread (second page) from when I replaced mine, showing what's involved.

okay sounds good. Ill do some research. currently working out a fuel issue as well. My fuel gauge reads empty only when its cold outside but when its warm in the air it works fine. tryna unfskcerate it. also my pathfinder spins the front driveshaft, but my cv's dont spin. is that still a issue with my hubs you think?

[Slartibartfast]

If neither CV spins when the driveshaft spins, something is very wrong with the front diff. That said, it's an open diff, so if one hub is locked, it'll spin up the CV on the other side rather than doing anything useful. The diffs are also hell for stout on these, and surrounded by weaker components, so, unlikely failure.

 

The fuel gauge knowing about the outside temperature is weird. Not sure which way to send you on that one. I'd probably check under the access plate in the back first (under the rear carpet), see if there's a bunch of mud around the wiring connections that's shorting them out when it's wet or something.

[POONFINDER]

On 5/7/2024 at 6:05 AM, Slartibartfast said:

If neither CV spins when the driveshaft spins, something is very wrong with the front diff. That said, it's an open diff, so if one hub is locked, it'll spin up the CV on the other side rather than doing anything useful. The diffs are also hell for stout on these, and surrounded by weaker components, so, unlikely failure.

 

The fuel gauge knowing about the outside temperature is weird. Not sure which way to send you on that one. I'd probably check under the access plate in the back first (under the rear carpet), see if there's a bunch of mud around the wiring connections that's shorting them out when it's wet or something.

 sorry for the late reply, I forgot I existed.

So, First off figured out my fuel issue, there was a pin connector i just took in and blew it out and everything works fine.

As for my 4wd, you think its my diff? i had suspicion it was my vacuum line from motor to diff. Would that line by chance control the attachment of the diff to the cv? or do you think I have glitter soup in my diff?

[Slartibartfast]

That's not a vacuum line, just a breather. There's no center axle disconnect on these. If the input spins, the outputs should spin too. Again, it's an open diff, so it may only spin one side depending on which hub is locked/which side has more drag on it.

 

I would be very surprised if the diff was bad. My money's still on the hubs, or maybe a CV axle. Should be easy enough to check, though. With the truck parked in 2H, slide underneath and turn the front driveshaft by hand, while watching the flanges that the CVs bolt to. If one or both outputs do turn, then it's not the diff. If neither flange turns, and the driveshaft just sorta freewheels, then, yeah, that's gotta be the diff.

 

To check the transfer case, put the shifter in 4x and try turning the driveshaft again. If the transfer case is working, the driveshaft won't turn.

 

If they both check out, I'd take a closer look at the CVs and hubs.

 

4 hours ago, POONFINDER said:

I forgot I existed.

 

Sounds like you party a lot harder than I do!

[hawairish]

On 5/1/2024 at 2:18 PM, POONFINDER said:

also my pathfinder spins the front driveshaft, but my cv's dont spin. is that still a issue with my hubs you think?

 

Yeah, as Slart mentioned, this is bad.  Recall any noise?

Can also lift a wheel and try turning the CV flange coming off the diff, or turning the driveshaft.  Something else should turn.

[POONFINDER]

On 10/1/2004 at 12:37 PM, madkiwi said:

Everyone who has a 1986.5 to 1995 4wd Truck or 1987-1995 4wd Pathfinder should be aware that the FS5R30A manual transmission up until 1995 does not provide adequate lubrication to the main and counter drive gears.

If you are experiencing transmission whine in every gear except for 4th, you have a problem. You should park your truck now and have the transmission rebuilt, the alternative is that the transmission will eventually grenade, and a $500 rebuild quickly becomes a $3000 replacement.

The tsb's show a diagram with the "fixed" transmission case, the only difference being that the fill hole was moved up 0.97 inches! That increased the oil capacity by 1.5 liters from 3.6l to 5.1l

Here are the TSBs, I'll leave them up until someone sues me.

TSB97-009 *Link Broken*
TSB97-009A

If you have one of the covered transmissions, but you don't have the symptoms, you should still add the extra 1.5 liters of gear oil to your tranny. I decided the simplest way was to go in through the top, through the gear shifter. (Some people have tried parking on a slope so the fill hole is higher, others have tried squeezing in the extra with a bottle then quickly getting the plug in before it drains out. )

How to add gear oil through the shifter hole

Pull up the carpet from the passenger side to free the gear shift, and remove the shifter boot.

Cut off the zip-tie holding the gearshift dustboot, and pull it up from the shifter assembly. You will then see a snap-ring underneath, remove it (you do have snap-ring pliers, right?) and then remove the gearshift lever. Pour 1.5 liters (1.6 US quarts) of new gear oil into the transmission.

Replace shifter, snap-ring, dustboot, shifter boot and carpet. You are done!

Note, shifter should be in neutral, and be careful when removing and inserting it as there is a plastic swivel thing on the end. (It only goes back in correctly one way, so if you are not sure it's right, make sure) You need a long replacement zip-tie for the dustboot, I think an 8" works.

Final note, do not use any gear oil rated GL-5 in the Nissan manual transmission. It says in our manual to use GL-4, and there is a difference. GL-5 oils have additives that destroy the soft bronze synchros in our transmissions. I use Red Line MT90, and it works very well.

madkiwi

 

On 5/20/2024 at 5:03 PM, Slartibartfast said:

That's not a vacuum line, just a breather. There's no center axle disconnect on these. If the input spins, the outputs should spin too. Again, it's an open diff, so it may only spin one side depending on which hub is locked/which side has more drag on it.

 

I would be very surprised if the diff was bad. My money's still on the hubs, or maybe a CV axle. Should be easy enough to check, though. With the truck parked in 2H, slide underneath and turn the front driveshaft by hand, while watching the flanges that the CVs bolt to. If one or both outputs do turn, then it's not the diff. If neither flange turns, and the driveshaft just sorta freewheels, then, yeah, that's gotta be the diff.

 

To check the transfer case, put the shifter in 4x and try turning the driveshaft again. If the transfer case is working, the driveshaft won't turn.

 

If they both check out, I'd take a closer look at the CVs and hubs.

 

 

Sounds like you party a lot harder than I do!

Haha, I wish it was because I was partying. I'm in a technical school learning to do this kinda stuff.

 

but, i put it up on a lift and put it in gear and had my buddy verify that neither of the cv's where spinning however the driveshaft was moving.

 

I appreciate the help this far lol

 

 

[POONFINDER]

On 5/20/2024 at 11:30 PM, hawairish said:

 

Yeah, as Slart mentioned, this is bad.  Recall any noise?

Can also lift a wheel and try turning the CV flange coming off the diff, or turning the driveshaft.  Something else should turn.

 nope, no noise. I put the car on a lift and verified, my front driveshaft spins, my CVs do not.

currently in school to be a technician, so I do have access to sources like shopkey and alldata but they are both rather usless when it comes to any information on my pathy. 

 

cheers to surviving a wyoming winter without 4wd.  

[hawairish]

The Nissan FSMs are the best technical resources on our trucks, and are freely available at NICO.

 

Ring gear is probably toast and toothless if the driveshaft spins and nothing else.