looks great. I'm thinking of getting those tires for mine. how bad is the rub on stock suspension ? Mine is a 2008 V8. thanks.

akley88 wrote: haha if i am careful and use the bully dog driver coach i can manage 21mpg

JEALOUS!

V8Pathy wrote:looks great. I'm thinking of getting those tires for mine. how bad is the rub on stock suspension ? Mine is a 2008 V8. thanks.

No rub at all now. I took the front mudflats off, but thinking of putting them back on and doing some trimming and heat gun bending. The mud that gets kicked up gets caked on front of running board and flys into open windows.

BigEz wrote:

V8Pathy wrote:looks great. I'm thinking of getting those tires for mine. how bad is the rub on stock suspension ? Mine is a 2008 V8. thanks.

No rub at all now. I took the front mudflats off, but thinking of putting them back on and doing some trimming and heat gun bending. The mud that gets kicked up gets caked on front of running board and flys into open windows.

thats part of the fun

.
Well I did my Trasmission Cooler Bypass & Swaybar Busshings today. It was a simple job, and I used "doctahjones" photos and post (http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic. ... 0400#60400) as a guide.. thanks Doc.

I planned on doing it in my garage this morning. But after climbing under it, and looking at all the bolts I needed to access to remove the skid plate, I quickly decided it would go much quicker to have it on a lift. So I slipped a local Muffler shop $30 to use their lift, and I arrived with all the tools and parts I needed... about $20 in parts.

The job is very easy to do... especially on a lift. Frankly the hardest part is removing the 6 to 8 bolts that hold the skid plate. Once it was removed the actual bypass took less that 15min to do. I also went ahead and changed the sway bar bushings I have been carrying around for two months, while I had it up on the lift and had easy access to the bushings. That too took less that 20min to do.

I can finally sleep well, as the bypass has been on my mind since first reading about it. I was confused if the 4x4, V8 had the same transmission cooler issues as the v6, since most post of FAILS are on V6 models. Reading Nissan's service advisory didn't help as they just listed the Pathfinder, and didn't distinguish engine size. BUT they did distinguish the cost of repairs based on age & mileage, and with 102,000miles, I clearly fell outside any discounted repair. So better safe than sorry.

One side effect I found was, my Trans temp is now running about -12deg. less than before the bypass. For the last month I have watched both the coolant & Trans temp under normal driving. My coolant runs at 190deg and Trans was running 157deg. After the bypass I drove about 150miles and my trans temp never went above 145deg. This kinda makes sense, as the trans cooler is built into the radiator.. and thus surrounded with 190deg. coolant.

Anyway, here are a few images (not as good as "doctahjones" photos) My recommendation... do the bypass and sleep better

BigEz wrote: One side effect I found was, my Trans temp is now running about -12deg. less than before the bypass. For the last month I have watched both the coolant & Trans temp under normal driving. My coolant runs at 190deg and Trans was running 157deg. After the bypass I drove about 150miles and my trans temp never went above 145deg. This kinda makes sense, as the trans cooler is built into the radiator.. and thus surrounded with 190deg. coolant.

same with me, somewhat. before for general driving coolant is a constant 190F, and trans was almost always at 150F (sometimes would creep to ~155-160F when going up into the mountains) according to bully dog.

now trans generally sits at 140F and creeps to 150F when going up into the mountains. dunno about you, but i like having a cooler trans

doctahjones wrote:same with me, somewhat. before for general driving coolant is a constant 190F, and trans was almost always at 150F (sometimes would creep to ~155-160F when going up into the mountains) according to bully dog.

now trans generally sits at 140F and creeps to 150F when going up into the mountains. dunno about you, but i like having a cooler trans

The more I read the more I think the radiator coil it to warm the tranny, not to cool it. The only problems I have read with the bypass is people saying it sometimes shifts hard until it is warmed up. For me I'm happy I did it.

what about applying a warmer to the tranny?

http://www.amazon.ca/Moroso-23996-Adhes ... rds=heater

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DiBo wrote:what about applying a warmer to the tranny?

http://www.amazon.ca/Moroso-23996-Adhes ... rds=heater

Those work great if you need it. The Iceland Supertrucks use them all over the place. Tranny, Engine, Started... But in North America I don't see most people needing it. Plus I wouldn't want to plug & unplug every night unless I was in sub-zero all the time. If I did need to warm the Pathy up, I would look into a remote started. I think a few of the aftermarket alarms offer that??

In any case.. not a problem south of the Mason Dixion line.

NmexMAX wrote: Very nice pics, Pathy is coming right along.

Thanks
Thread Update: Added an Easy on/off Roof rack & Lightbar
http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic.php?t=9855

yeah, I'm in central Alberta. friggin cold here. been -25C all week and we got like 3-4 feet of snow so far. i was thinking about the tranny/rad bypass and i will be doing it in the spring and getting a heater pad for the winter for the tranny. I have to plug in the block heater anyway, so I will just connect them to an extension cord with a few plugs on it and i only have to unplug one cord.

I also have a lifted 2000 Xterra. It has a battery maintainer, battery warmer, block heater, and oil pan heating pad. all goes to one plug and the cord goes around a cleat on the front bumper. starts like its 20C outside when its -30. She's old so she gets special treatment

DiBo wrote:yeah, I'm in central Alberta. friggin cold here. been -25C all week and we got like 3-4 feet of snow so far.

Wow.. That is too cold for me. I'm in Dallas this weekend and the temp is dropping to 0°C tonight with light sleet, it's all over the news.. Top story. Yes if I was in your climate I would be using those heating pads everywhere. Including my shoes!

I head out tomorrow on an impromptu road trip with a 19' travel trailer. First time towing with it. Will be see how it goes.

I've always wondered about towing with the bypass. Is there not a danger of overheating the transmission with no cooler?

there is a secondary stand alone cooler in front of the rad, it should do the job just fine

I am getting ready to do my Trans Bypass. warranty expires end of the year and i am at 88,00 miles.
I will be replacing external cooler with larger cooler, and will be using TRANSMISSION COOLER THERMAL/ BYPASS VALVE.
I think everyone with cold winters should use the valve.
It bypasses the external cooler until the temperature of the oil gets warmer
I will also install the valves to bypass the thermal valve in warmer months.

DanJetta wrote:I've always wondered about towing with the bypass. Is there not a danger of overheating the transmission with no cooler?

Well I just returned from my first towing trip...a 5 day trip pulling a 19' Crossover travel trailer at about 4000lbs GW and with another 600lbs of gear and 2 people in the Pathy, from Houston (sea level) to Hill country outside Broken Bow, Ok. (2700ft Elevation).

I towed at 65-70mph, when the speed limit allowed and ran as high as 80mpg a few times. My transmission temp never climbed above 165deg, but stayed near 150deg most of the time. I would say most of the trip (70%) was in 4th gear (about 2200-2400rpm), with the rest (level & downhill) being in overdrive. I was very impressed with the performance, and it had plenty more power than needed. The damn trailer was shaped like a box, so it felt like I was pulling a parachute, but the weight was not a problem. I got about 8mpg.

Unless I see a dramatic change in Trans temp in the summer, I have no worries about towing with the bypass. In fact I believe it helps more than hurts, as the more I read and observe, the more I am convinced the inter-cooler inside the radiator, is a trans fluid warmer ... not a cooler. So the bypass helps keep temps down.

forgottenzone wrote:I am getting ready to do my Trans Bypass. warranty expires end of the year and i am at 88,00 miles.
I will be replacing external cooler with larger cooler, and will be using TRANSMISSION COOLER THERMAL/ BYPASS VALVE.
I think everyone with cold winters should use the valve.
It bypasses the external cooler until the temperature of the oil gets warmer
I will also install the valves to bypass the thermal valve in warmer months.

On this this last trip, the mornings were about 22F deg and the trans temp was also 22F deg on first start. Even with the bypass, the trans temp jumped to 50-60degs with less than 3 mins of warmup. And I had no slip or shifting issues even at 50deg trans temp.