Pathfinder_Rookie Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 1997 Pathfinder SE I remember reading about a transfer case lock for pathfinders, but I don’t remember where I read it or if it was for the R50. Does anyone have this or has heard about one. The reason im asking is that this weekend I was climbing snow hill in parking lots and my four wheel drive wasn’t working properly. If I was to stop at the base of the hill and slowly try to drive up it in 4x4, my driver’s front tire would spin while the others just sat there. But in reverse I had not problem. This continued with diagonal wheels spinning together while the other two did not. Once again in reverse I had no problems. Is this something common to Pathys or is something going on? Oh and apparently if you do this in Ontario you can get charged for destruction of property. Thanks Pathfinder Rookie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filthy Luker Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 This is normal behaviour for trucks with open diffs. Nothing to worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 I don't think there's anything wrong with your transfer case. I think the problem is that you have open diffs both front and rear. One tire on each axle will spin, while the other sits idle if that's the case. It's normal. With that said, you need either an LSD or locker for the rear. That'll give you at least 3 wheels spinning in 4wd. I don't know if there's anything out there to lock/LSD the front diff in an R50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainman Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 As noted by those much more knowledgeable then my humble self :bow: , from what you have said it appears that your Tcase is acting as it should, as long as 1 rear and 1 front wheel are spinning. If only a front wheel (or only a rear wheel while in 4wd) is spinning, then there may be a problem with the tcase. The Pathy tcase's are a locked type in 4wd h or l. The only exception is the AllMode tcase that adds an AWD mode to the regular 2wd, 4wd h and 4wd l. I do not know of any way to improve the tcase, just add a rear locker/lsd (and stay away from the police!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 As others have said, the transfer case is working properly. All it does is apply equal engine power to the front and rear axle. A "4WD" isn't really a four-wheel-drive, it's really a two-axle-drive. As stated above, with open differentials on both axles, power is transferred to the wheel with the least traction. The only way to get a true FOUR-wheel-drive is to install a locking differential on both axles. The only locking differential that can be installed in your Pathfinder is an ARB air-locker, which not only costs over $600, it also requires installation of an on-board air compressor. The second alternative to improving traction is to install limited-slip differentials. I believe you can get limited slip differentials for the front and rear from Automotive Customers (4x4parts.com). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 btw: the reason its working in reverse is cause the weight of the engine and driveline over the front wheels is causing the front wheels to grip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Or, if by "in reverse" he meant downhill in reverse then what's important here is downhill not the transmission gear. However, if he meant "uphill in reverse" then you might have a point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder_Rookie Posted December 22, 2005 Author Share Posted December 22, 2005 Ya its up hill in reverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissandoms47 Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 yeah i have the same problem but i dont have revese anymore. but if i buy an lsd then all my tires will spin? instead on 1 on each axle? or will only a locker do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmorgan4 Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 An LSD will help, although its not completely locked like the lockers. If you have one tire on dry pavement and one on slick ice, you'll still usually get the tire on ice spinning with no movement out of the tire with traction. In most cases though an LSD will allow both tires to spin when the traction is not even. If only lockrite would come out with a $250 locker..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainman Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 yeah i have the same problem but i dont have revese anymore. but if i buy an lsd then all my tires will spin? instead on 1 on each axle? or will only a locker do that? You would have to have a locker on both axles to get ALL tires to spin. The locker only works on the axle it is on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90seven Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 (edited) This might be a little different situation... I don't what happend 3 days ago with me. I was taking a short trip to the mountains to see if there was snow and found out there was none so I decided to take everyone for a ride off the side of the road. We found a trail and further into it, there was a pretty steep drop. I put the truck into the Nuetral and shifted the transfer case into 4LO by pushing down and pulling back, then I proceeded down the hill. When I got to the bottom I wanted to take it out of 4LO so I did the same, Nuetral and moved the transfer case into Nuetral. but when I tried to push it up to 4HI to get to 2WD it sounded like it was grinding so I stopped pushing. Tried to see if it would go back into 4LO but it made that same sound and same feel. I was completely stopped so I don't know what was going on. A few seconds later I tried again and it went into 4HI. Is it normal that I have to wait a few seconds? Edited December 23, 2005 by 90seven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmorgan4 Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 From what I've heard it's normal for it to grind randomly, you shouldn't need to wait at all. As long as the transmissions in neutral I don't think theres anything else you can do. I've gotten to the point where I just ignore the sound since nothing can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainman Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 (edited) This might be a little different situation... I don't what happend 3 days ago with me. I was taking a short trip to the mountains to see if there was snow and found out there was none so I decided to take everyone for a ride off the side of the road. We found a trail and further into it, there was a pretty steep drop. I put the truck into the Nuetral and shifted the transfer case into 4LO by pushing down and pulling back, then I proceeded down the hill. When I got to the bottom I wanted to take it out of 4LO so I did the same, Nuetral and moved the transfer case into Nuetral. but when I tried to push it up to 4HI to get to 2WD it sounded like it was grinding so I stopped pushing. Tried to see if it would go back into 4LO but it made that same sound and same feel. I was completely stopped so I don't know what was going on. A few seconds later I tried again and it went into 4HI. Is it normal that I have to wait a few seconds? That is pretty normal for a manual shift transfer case coming in or out of 4 low (all my Ford and GM P/U's did it as well). As you noted, if you wait a bit it will not happen. Also make sure you are not moving at all, as that will cause it to grind. As the ratio is so different between low and high range, it can take awhile for all the gears to spin down to have a quite shift. Edited December 23, 2005 by Trainman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 The reason you heard the grinding is because you paused the t-case in "N" while shifting between 4HI and 4LO. Shifting between 4HI and 4LO needs to be done quickly, firmly, and fluidly. Pretty much I've learned that there aren't any really normal circumstances that call for placing the t-case in Neutral. I'm not sure what kind of damage might be done when you hear the grinding, but when this has happened to me in the past, I usually shut the truck off, then shift into 4HI or 2HI before restarting the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRider Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 As others have said, the transfer case is working properly. All it does is apply equal engine power to the front and rear axle. A "4WD" isn't really a four-wheel-drive, it's really a two-axle-drive. As stated above, with open differentials on both axles, power is transferred to the wheel with the least traction. The only way to get a true FOUR-wheel-drive is to install a locking differential on both axles. The only locking differential that can be installed in your Pathfinder is an ARB air-locker, which not only costs over $600, it also requires installation of an on-board air compressor. The second alternative to improving traction is to install limited-slip differentials. I believe you can get limited slip differentials for the front and rear from Automotive Customers (4x4parts.com). i thought my 96 SE 4X4 has a rear LSD from the factory .. is this not true ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmorgan4 Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Some models included them, some didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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