89,132 miles...answer me a couple questions.

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BlueTJMCRT
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89,132 miles...answer me a couple questions.

Postby BlueTJMCRT » Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:03 pm

I've got a 2008 Pathfinder with 89,132 miles on it. Over the past couple of months I started to think it was shifting different. It does not have the bypass done (bought it about 6 months ago and just learned of this) and I thought for sure I was starting to see the dreaded radiator issue.

Took it in to mechanic today and he looked at all of the fluids and also flushed my tranny fluid for me. He told me he saw zero contamination, although the tranny fluid looked like it was the original fluid and needed replaced.

I'm going to do the bypass tonight. Is there anything else I can look for to make sure that I didn't have the contamination issue before I bypass the radiator? I trust the mechanic, but I've also read some posts on here about people not seeing contamination in the fluid but still having transmission failures down the road...

If I just buy a new radiator (spectra premium) do I need to still do the bypass?


skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:03 pm

Did you confirm your radiator has never been replaced (updated part #'s being the first clue). There's always the possibility it failed for the previous owner and they flushed the fluids enough to make it seem like all was good. But that could have caused damage to the transmission that is just now showing up. Although "shifting different" doesn't really tell us much and you didn't mention if it's shifting worse over time. I don't think I would panic just yet. If you upgrade the radiator then a bypass wouldn't be necessary. It's a specific problem found in specific OEM tanks. Supposedly fixed....

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BlueTJMCRT
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Postby BlueTJMCRT » Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:30 pm

skinny2 wrote:Did you confirm your radiator has never been replaced (updated part #'s being the first clue). There's always the possibility it failed for the previous owner and they flushed the fluids enough to make it seem like all was good. But that could have caused damage to the transmission that is just now showing up. Although "shifting different" doesn't really tell us much and you didn't mention if it's shifting worse over time. I don't think I would panic just yet. If you upgrade the radiator then a bypass wouldn't be necessary. It's a specific problem found in specific OEM tanks. Supposedly fixed....
It's the original I believe

PA66 EA215 on top of radiator.

The Pathfinder just seemed to be shifting different to me. I bought it about 6-7 months ago and my wife was driving it at this time. The few times I drove it I thought it drove great. She put about 10,000 miles on it.

Now she has a new car and I'm driving the Pathfinder daily. There were a couple times that I thought the transmission was shifting a little sloppy. No hard shifts or clunks or noises, but it just seemed to be shifting "different" from what I could recall. It didn't slip in terms of the RPM's raising before accelerating, it just seemed like it was taking longer to shift when getting onto the highway and sometimes at slower speeds as well.

Then I started to have no heat when stopped, it would just blow out cold air. I got on the forums and quickly learned of the radiator/tranny issue. I went to check the fluid and noticed my radiator was low so I stopped there and took it in this morning.

Shop told me he didn't see any contamination but that the tranny fluid looked very old, possibly the original fluid. He also drained my coolant and didn't see any issues. Now that it's done the heat is back to normal.

I am going to purchase a new radiator. I've got an aftermarket warranty that covers the transmission but not the radiator, so I'm hoping that if I replace the radiator and don't have contamination issues, that any transmission issues in the future will be covered......hoping.

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:53 pm

BlueTJMCRT wrote: It's the original I believe

PA66 EA215 on top of radiator.
EA215 is one of the old part numbers. The newer ones are 9CA0E or 9CA25.

The transmissions do learn your driving style and will adjust shifting accordingly. So it's possible it's shifting different. I don't think I would sweat it. These do feel a little "different" at times but they seem to be very solid units if you can keep the coolant out of transmission fluid! I'm over 125k and so far nothing missed a beat. A couple around the forum with 200k.

DanJetta
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Postby DanJetta » Fri Jan 09, 2015 3:17 am

To answer your question, you should not need to do the bypass if you update your radiator. I'm not a fan of the bypass because having the trams fluid run through the radiator also warms the fluid on cold days.

The change in shifting could be due to temperature changes. On cold days my pathfinder shifts differently than on warm days.

Lebesd
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Postby Lebesd » Wed Feb 11, 2015 2:26 pm

I have a similar issues with no heat. Pathfinders have a secondary coolant pump to help push the coolant up into the heater block at lower RPMs thus why you have no heat at lower speeds. If you push it over 4k, Im betting you have heat again. It also tends to break.

The pump is located on the top right, rear corner under the hood. Just follow your coolant lines. Dealer quote is $200 for the part. Easy fix.

Mine does the same thing with shifting. I believe it depends on the outside temp. (Also a 2008 with 70k on it.)

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Thu Feb 12, 2015 7:16 am

Lebesd wrote:I have a similar issues with no heat. Pathfinders have a secondary coolant pump to help push the coolant up into the heater block at lower RPMs thus why you have no heat at lower speeds. If you push it over 4k, Im betting you have heat again. It also tends to break.
Make sure you check the coolant level. It will lose heat at idle if it's not full to the brim. I have to top mine off once a year for some reason and it never takes much but heat comes right back online when I do.


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