Tranny is acting up at certain gear

[nismopath]

I had purchased my used pathfinder a little bit ago and immediately had to do the bypass, I had water in the transmission and white junk in the coolant. I had shifting problems before I had done the bypass, every gear would shift very hard and now that is all gone. I had also had the transmission opened up, cleaned completely out, and even flushed it about 4 times to make sure it was clean again.
My new issues is that when I am on the highway around 55-60mph my tranny starts to shake, like it is about to rattle itself off the car. This only happens when I am keeping steady at 55-60mph, not while accelerating to get to 70mph or higher. If I am trying to maintain the 60mph and go to press the gas it gets worse, I have to press down on the gas hard enough to drop a gear and then it will shift up once it hit a round 65 and I will have to maintain at 65mph. I cant ever really cruise at 60mph or it gets this issue.
What is it, why am I having this and what do I do to fix it !

[eieio]

I had purchased my used pathfinder a little bit ago and immediately had to do the bypass, I had water in the transmission and white junk in the coolant. I had shifting problems before I had done the bypass, every gear would shift very hard and now that is all gone.
My new issues is that when I am on the highway around 55-60mph my tranny starts to shake, like it is about to rattle itself off the car. This only happens when I am keeping steady at 55-60mph, not while accelerating to get to 70mph or higher. If I am trying to maintain the 60mph and go to press the gas it gets worse, I have to press down on the gas hard enough to drop a gear and then it will shift up once it hit a round 65 and I will have to maintain at 65mph. I cant ever really cruise at 60mph or it gets this issue.
What is it, why am I having this and what do I do to fix it !

you'll probably need a replacement transmission
maybe someone can chime in with better news for you, but it seems that once a transmission has been contaminated, it's toast, sooner or later
the valve body in the trans is probably damaged, but there may be other corrosion and lack of lubrication issues as well

[docwatson]

I currently have the same issue, what I believe is torque converter shudder. I agree that the transmission will eventually need replaced.

The radiator was replaced by the previous owner and while I was hoping it was preventative, I think it was reactionary.

My long term plan is to rebuild the transmission. It doesn't actually seem that complicated based on the youtube videos....

In the meantime, I have put some Dr. Tranny Instant Shudder Fixx and Lucas Transmission Stop Slip in the transmission. Both have helped, but it isn't entirely gone, but they make it drivable until I get my rebuild kit and a long weekend.

[nismopath]

Thanks for the replies. I know you can't say without seeing my transmission. But what is entailed in the "rebuild"? Is it replacing with a new gear or more than that? If I can't do myself what am I probably looking at price-wise for the rebuild? I can drive it fine right now all gears are decent, maybe I just never put the cruise control on 60mph and I should be fine! Ha. My radiator install was the same thing, not preventative bit more reactive to the issue. Now a pain for me

[docwatson]

RockAuto sells master rebuild kits

Tons of info in this thread from club frontier.org
http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f11/ ... 05a-55754/

The Titan, Z cars and Infiniti G's all have this transmission as well so I am sure there is some more information in their forums as well.

Disassembly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCDY_rvxfDA
Assembly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfUPFsb91bQ

[nismopath]

So based on the limited amount of info I've given, does it seem I need t of rebuild the transmission or a rebuild kit? I thought a rebuild kit was just seals and gaskets? I have an issue with the gears I believe not shifting into gear or sticking, etc.

[smj999smj]

Rebuild kits can come as a seal kit, but master kits will contain new clutch frictions and possible steels for the clutches. You need a special tool to disassemble the clutches. The other issue is that the contamination usually damages the shift solenoids. There are seven solenoids and they are hard, and expensive, to find individually. Usually, you have to end up purchasing an expensive TCM/valve body assembly. Also, it's hard to get contaminants out of the torque converter and there is potential for damage inside of it, so a replacement torque converter is often included with a rebuild. Hard part damage will add even more to the cost, if any. If you do it yourself and mess up, you will have to pull the transmission down again, possibly, and tear it down, again, depending on what you mess up. It's not something I would recommend for the typical DIY'er. If you purchase a rebuild or remanufactured trans, it should come with a warranty, which offers some protection.

[docwatson]

Smj, have you ever rebuilt one of these? I have the rebuild manual (25 from Oregon performance transmissions) and it only mentions a universal spring compressor.

The TCM/valve body is probably outside my abilities but the clutches and seals seem pretty straightforward. I figure with 3-4 days of work and this rebuild kit ( http://www.oregonperformancetransmissio ... RE5R05A-RB ) I should be able to knock this out.

[smj999smj]

I've rebuilt a few Nissan automatics, but it was a long time ago (I left Nissan in October, 2003) and never the 5-spd. AT. At the time when I left, Nissan had a reman program for auto trannys, so doing anything more than replacing the entire trans or replacing a solenoid pack was rare. I would imagine the process is the same, though. Use Vaseline on the seals for lubrication. You'll need a spring compressor to compress the plates in the drums to remove the retaining spring. Work in a clean environment!