Just a little heads up to anyone who is doing the transmission cooler bypass. Anyone who is using or plans to use a similar bypass setup as mine, AVOID USING SHARP TURNS IN YOUR HOSE!!! One would think that a rubber hose would have no problem flexing but mine formed a hole and split on me last night, leaving me stranded on the side of the highway at midnight. Needless to say my heart skipped a beat when the transmission stopped pulling all of a sudden. Had it towed home and took it apart this morning. Luckily an easy fix. And since I try to look at the positive side of life, all that dirt and grime you see in the first picture (which looks like the whole underside of my truck) is no longer there. I will have a squeaky clean underside once I degrease it thanks to the detergents in the trans fluid.

After about two hours, I got it fixed. I think everything is alright with the transmission. I put 4 quarts fluid in and thought it was full, drove down the road and it quit pulling again! I was like CRAP! Sat there for a few and started it back up and drove back home for another quart of fluid. It lost about 5 quarts total. Thats a pain in the butt to sit there and figure it out half a quart at a time....not as easy as knowing how much you drained out. It still had some shifting issues for a while. Not sure if it had air in the system that had to purge or what. I disconnected the battery for a while and let all the electronics reset just in case. All in all, it seems fine now. Maybe some of the techs on here can explain what may have happened there.

Plus side is I did another flush on the transmission! lol

Budrbean wrote:After about two hours, I got it fixed. I think everything is alright with the transmission. I put 4 quarts fluid in and thought it was full, drove down the road and it quit pulling again! I was like CRAP! Sat there for a few and started it back up and drove back home for another quart of fluid. It lost about 5 quarts total. Thats a pain in the butt to sit there and figure it out half a quart at a time....not as easy as knowing how much you drained out. It still had some shifting issues for a while. Not sure if it had air in the system that had to purge or what. I disconnected the battery for a while and let all the electronics reset just in case. All in all, it seems fine now. Maybe some of the techs on here can explain what may have happened there.

Plus side is I did another flush on the transmission! lol

Hey Budr,

I'm gonna be doing the gauge over the next couple weeks as well.

If you had used the direct method of bypass (hose from trans direct to cooler, hose #2 looped from inlet to outlet of radiator cooler) would you have had the issue your having?

Or did you use the direct method? (Now that I look, you may have...)

I am thinking about leaving a 2-3" section of hose at the trans outlet, then splicing in the fitting/sender unit for the gauge I bought, and letting the hose run from there.

Gauge was on clearance at Princess Auto (canadian surplus/hardware store, god i love that store) for $15. Went to Home Depot and got the 3/8" tee, bushing and barb fittings for $10. I'll scam some wire from work. Also plan on finding a 5-wire plug (male and female) to make the install cleaner.

I plan to use some adhesive velcro on the gauge so I can remove/install when I need it (towing) or when I want it. The wife won't appreciate it cluttering up the dashboard. I don't have the luxury of putting it at the 4wd dial, as I have 4wd.

For now, at the behest of your experience, I will fore-go the fan install. I think I will rely on an additional cooler if required (probably a nissan factory air/oil cooler) like they show in clubtitan. They just put it in series with the factory cooler and it covers a larger portion of the rad.

To ground the sending unit, can I just do that anywhere local to the temperature sensor? Or should I run 2 wires back to the gauge? Don't have a tonne of experience with electrical. I'll probably bug some of the electron heads at work tomorrow to see what they think.

Budrbean wrote: It lost about 5 quarts total.

ouch! losing nearly 50% of your transmission oil can't be too good

disallow wrote:

Budrbean wrote:After about two hours, I got it fixed. I think everything is alright with the transmission. I put 4 quarts fluid in and thought it was full, drove down the road and it quit pulling again! I was like CRAP! Sat there for a few and started it back up and drove back home for another quart of fluid. It lost about 5 quarts total. Thats a pain in the butt to sit there and figure it out half a quart at a time....not as easy as knowing how much you drained out. It still had some shifting issues for a while. Not sure if it had air in the system that had to purge or what. I disconnected the battery for a while and let all the electronics reset just in case. All in all, it seems fine now. Maybe some of the techs on here can explain what may have happened there.

Plus side is I did another flush on the transmission! lol

Hey Budr,

I'm gonna be doing the gauge over the next couple weeks as well.

If you had used the direct method of bypass (hose from trans direct to cooler, hose #2 looped from inlet to outlet of radiator cooler) would you have had the issue your having?

Or did you use the direct method? (Now that I look, you may have...)

I am thinking about leaving a 2-3" section of hose at the trans outlet, then splicing in the fitting/sender unit for the gauge I bought, and letting the hose run from there.

Gauge was on clearance at Princess Auto (canadian surplus/hardware store, god i love that store) for $15. Went to Home Depot and got the 3/8" tee, bushing and barb fittings for $10. I'll scam some wire from work. Also plan on finding a 5-wire plug (male and female) to make the install cleaner.

I plan to use some adhesive velcro on the gauge so I can remove/install when I need it (towing) or when I want it. The wife won't appreciate it cluttering up the dashboard. I don't have the luxury of putting it at the 4wd dial, as I have 4wd.

For now, at the behest of your experience, I will fore-go the fan install. I think I will rely on an additional cooler if required (probably a nissan factory air/oil cooler) like they show in clubtitan. They just put it in series with the factory cooler and it covers a larger portion of the rad.

To ground the sending unit, can I just do that anywhere local to the temperature sensor? Or should I run 2 wires back to the gauge? Don't have a tonne of experience with electrical. I'll probably bug some of the electron heads at work tomorrow to see what they think.

Not sure which method its called, but basically I just unhooked both hoses and spliced them together with the brass tee fitting. It would be like joining two hoses into one. I think I cut off too much hose when I did it causing the sharp bend.

You can ground the sending unit at the nearest possible place. No need to run another wire back. That goes for grounding anything. A ground is a ground is a ground.

eieio wrote:

Budrbean wrote: It lost about 5 quarts total.

ouch! losing nearly 50% of your transmission oil can't be too good

Thats what Im afraid of. I drove it maybe 3/4 mile with it jumping and jerking just to get to a safer place off the road. Im afraid that may have done some damage. Based on my limited knowledge of transmissions, I dont think it should though. If it loses fluid, it just loses its hydraulic capabilities and quits engaging. The temp never went hot on my gauge.

It does shift different now. But I think its cause I unhooked my battery for a while so its having to re-learn.

Well I think the worst is happening.....its starting to slip in 4th gear. GRRRRRRR!

I have an extended warranty I bought through the used car dealer, but I doubt they will cover this. Just aggravated!

Budrbean wrote:Well I think the worst is happening.....its starting to slip in 4th gear. GRRRRRRR!

I have an extended warranty I bought through the used car dealer, but I doubt they will cover this. Just aggravated!

Re-check your fluid level. If you have to take it in for a warranty repair then put the trans cooler back to the stock position on the radiator prior to taking it in. Don't tell them what happened, just tell them the trans seems to be slipping.

Fluid level is fine. It has quite a bit of clutch material in it. $25 in brand new fluid right down the drain! GRRRRRR

Lost 4th gear completely now. Had to drive home in 3rd. My warranty is accepted by any shop that is ASE certified, so gonna take it somewhere besides a dealer. At least they arent experts in getting out of warranty work like a dealer is.

After spraying 5 qts of fluid under the truck, there is no way to hide what happened. I took it to a car wash, jacked it up and degreased it best I could but you can still tell there was some sort of fluid leak. Just gonna take it in and hope for the best.

An independent shop should work with you without any problems.

pawjr74 wrote:An independent shop should work with you without any problems.

Yep no doubt. They are gonna try and get the warranty to pay for a remanufactured transmission and explain how its cheaper than rebuilding the old one. Ive learned a lesson here. When buying an extended warranty, this is the way to go. Never buy extended warranties where you have to take it to the dealer.

Budrbean wrote: Just gonna take it in and hope for the best.

it sucks when something you do with the best of intentions to improve a situation turns the whole thing into a disaster
this morning i had a dream (nightmare) that the same thing happened to me
please let us know how its going with your repairs

Hi eieio. Yes I must agree with you. But when I am dreaming with a good thing it suddenly wake me up and I wish that my dreams will happen again. I want to know how is it repair too.

Checked in with the shop this morning. They are still waiting to hear back from the warranty folks. They said if it needs a full new transmission, then Nissan doesnt offer a remanufactured one. So for a brand new one it will be about $4K. If that happens and warranty doesnt cover it, I really have no idea what I will do.

He told me this truck should have had a 60,000 mile powertrain warranty from the factory. As luck would have it, it has 64,000 miles on it

Just an update. The Pathfinder has been sitting idle since Wednesday. They are STILL waiting to hear back from the warranty company. I called them today and they claim to be waiting to hear back from the shop. Either way, I told them both its more than time to get the ball rolling. My shop already told me to expect a hassle from this warranty company, so Im ready.

Im just having withdrawals without my Pathfinder. I LOVE MY NISSAN!!! I cant drive this little Kia rental car much longer.