IndianRider Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 (edited) hi all, just took a 800 mile trip to st. louis in my friends 99 Pathy SE, 4X4 (3.3 VG 33) with 217 K miles .. I am so shocked to find out that the transmission behaves totally different than my 96 pathy SE 4X4 with 113 K miles.. for example, if im in cruise control at 70 mph where the grades are pretty steep going uphill, the 99 pathy shifted down to 4th gear from lock up mode and pulled like a freight train to keep the speed at 70 mph before going back into lock up mode.. but my 96 pathy, shifts into 4th for like 2-3 seconds, then suddenly shiftsdown to 3rd gear taking the revs to over 3500 rpm to keep up the speed going up hill till it goes back into 4th and then lock up mode after the road is straight again ..actually, ive never seen my pathy pull hard even in minor uphill in 4th gear, it almost always drops down directly in 3rd gear ... ive done than trip on the same route over 50 times and i know my pathy has to shift down to 3rd to keep the speed upto 70 mph and the motor is working hard .. i couldnt beleive his 99 with 217k miles NEVER even shifted into 3rd to keep up to 70 mph .. and we are talking about me never hauling more than 1 passenger on mine and i was hauling 1 person on some stuff in his 99 pathy .. checked gas meilage, got 17.2-17.5 mpg exactly the same range as mine.. we are also talking about my frinds pathy that have never been maintained.. just occaisonal oil changes..i had to do his timing belt and water pump when he has around 200k miles in his.. also did his tranny oil and filter change, plugs , rotor and distriboutor at 200k .. cant freaking beleive it still runs like a champ .. is the tranny shift point programming different than the 96 SE and the 99 LE ?? man his 99 felt so much better ans the motor wasnt even shreiking in 3rd..couldnt beleive even in the steepest grade his pathy pulled so strong in 4th gear.. how does ur alls pathy behave in uphills ?? are certain tranny models programmed differently ? Edited November 22, 2005 by IndianRider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 i dunno man, is your air filter new and clean? not sure if the auto trannys have a shift solenoid but if yes, that could also be a culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRider Posted November 22, 2005 Author Share Posted November 22, 2005 (edited) yeah, new air filter .. always replace it regularly .. my pathy is extra well taken care of .. regularly replace the following ..plugs, oil, air and oil filter, tranny oil, clean TPS, clean throttle body, diff. oils etc.. tranny is buttery smooth too .. am just confused ..and maybe jealous.. coz my buddys 99 LE which pulls so strong in 4th without dropping in 3rd on steep inclines is unbeleivable to me .. it was never taken care of either until he met me when it had 200K miles.. so i had to convince him about maintenance and did his timing belt/water pump/ tranny oil/filter change, new rotor, dist. cap, new air filter ( old one was BLACK) .. put new plugs and wires, cleaned the TB which was bad.. but even before all that it ran great .. makes me think he broke it in the perfect way when new and mostly highway miles so its still running great.. Edited November 22, 2005 by IndianRider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRider Posted November 22, 2005 Author Share Posted November 22, 2005 really makes me wonder if the tranny was changed or programmed differently.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 It's not so much a difference between LE and SE, it's more likely a difference in the engine computer and trany computer programming between 96 and 99 model years. I don't recall exactly, but I think the 99, 99.5, and 00 had marginally more power than 96-98. Other differences in the truck behavior could be due to tire characteristics or extra vehicle weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRider Posted November 23, 2005 Author Share Posted November 23, 2005 i know his is not a 99.5 pathy coz when we were ordering parts i rememebr it was the pre. 99.5 pathy .. .. but it has the newer pathy updated looks like diff. head lights, digital heat, a/c and radio controls .. etc.. etc.. but i didnt know the 99, 99.5 and later had a slight power increase or different computers .. so the later pathys were infact programmed differently ?? well, guys if thats true, try driving an older R50 and an updated pathy 99 ( stil lthe same 3.3 VG 33) and u WILL DEFINITELY see a difference .. and ull LOVE the 99 and later pathy tranny .. and if its true, can u program the 96 pathy to the 99 pathy ECU specs.. ?? but im still waiting for more comments from the pathy brain childs on this before jumping to conclusions.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 99 = 168hp 99.5 & 2000 = 170hp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OR99.5Speed Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 i know his is not a 99.5 pathy coz when we were ordering parts i rememebr it was the pre. 99.5 pathy .. .. but it has the newer pathy updated looks like diff. head lights, digital heat, a/c and radio controls .. etc.. etc.. but i didnt know the 99, 99.5 and later had a slight power increase or different computers .. so the later pathys were infact programmed differently ?? well, guys if thats true, try driving an older R50 and an updated pathy 99 ( stil lthe same 3.3 VG 33) and u WILL DEFINITELY see a difference .. and ull LOVE the 99 and later pathy tranny .. and if its true, can u program the 96 pathy to the 99 pathy ECU specs.. ?? but im still waiting for more comments from the pathy brain childs on this before jumping to conclusions.. No, his is a 1999.5 Pathfinder, being that it has the new front end, etc. along with the marginally more powerful engine (and 200 more lbs.). It was never mentioned but I would not be surprised if there were some changes to software in the model year change. But then again, I have a 5-speed so I make those decisions Mine was built 1/13/99, and mine was one of the first ones off the assembly line for the 1999.5 year. Chech the door jamb on his for the production date. P.S.- When ordering parts, I always tell them mine is a 2000 instead of a 1999, as there were no mechanical changes from 1999.5 to 2000 as opposed to 1999 to 1999.5. Just a tip... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Would the tranny cooler being clogged on the older one have anything to do with it? I put an additional tranny cooler on mine and i would have to say that my truck (1998) behave more closely to your firends. it does drop into 3rd, but it will make an effort in 4th first. The only other thing that i could point at would be the vacuum line to the cruise control...this is what is holding the truck at that speed so maybe you have a leaky line to the throttle body?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRider Posted December 8, 2005 Author Share Posted December 8, 2005 (edited) vaccum leak /cruise control/ throttle body .. hmm, i dont think so ..coz even when im not in cruise, i kinda have to stab at the pedal in 4th, but it cant take it like my friends and kicks down into 3rd.. as for the clogged tranny cooler, i dont know if mines clogged.. i changed the tranny oil 3 times in 5000 miles so the new oil would slowly replace all old oil..never cleaned tranny cooler.. i know for sure, his doesnt have a tranny cooler, his pathy is the model that came without a tranny cooler, where the single radiator cools both antifreeze and tranny oil passing through it .. im even more pissed now .. the other day i got to drive my buddys pathy again with a trailer that weighs 800lbs ..drove it to cincinnati, same usual hilly road i always take and am very familiar with the pathy tranny behavior on that stretch..that son of a gun pulled the freaking trailer without ever going into 3rd gear..strong as ever in 4th even on uphills, cruise or no cruise , with the damn trailer .. my pathy drops down into 3rd atleast 5-6 times the same 50 mile stretch and that too without a trailer .. that route is hilly, and ive driven a 2004 ford taurus with a V6, and a 2000 honda accord with a V6 that down shifted 2-3 times same stretch .. so how can his pathy pull so hard in 4th without downshifting to 3rd when the pathy is known to downshift in hilly regions coz its "relatively" underpowered motor ( hp/toprque) in its calss .. thats why i cant freaking beleive the diff. in tranny behavior..its got to be software if u ask me .. coz my pathy is sliky as new with good gas meilage and runs like a champ ..what amazes me me hes got 220K with neglected maintenance, and mines got 113,XXX k now with great maintenance.. wish i had his tranny though .. i need to drive a 3rd R 50 pathy with 3.3 L on the same stretch to be convinced that both pathys had diff. tranny management computers.. Edited December 8, 2005 by IndianRider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRider Posted December 8, 2005 Author Share Posted December 8, 2005 Would the tranny cooler being clogged on the older one have anything to do with it? I put an additional tranny cooler on mine and i would have to say that my truck (1998) behave more closely to your firends. it does drop into 3rd, but it will make an effort in 4th first. The only other thing that i could point at would be the vacuum line to the cruise control...this is what is holding the truck at that speed so maybe you have a leaky line to the throttle body?? what do u mean additional tranny cooler ? did u replace stock cooler with aftermarket one ? or did u put another 2nd cooler to supplement the stock one ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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