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.