pathy-logical wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:38 am
Hi,
I tow a 26' Jayco with a GVWR of 5500 lbs. Spatula is correct, don't overload your Pathfinder or trailer. You're vehicle's payload is on the tire size/inflation sticker. It varies depending on how each vehicle is equipped. Payload includes passengers, cargo, trailer hitch (a load leveling hitch insert assembly can weigh 50lbs) and trailer tongue weight (usually 10% to 15% of the actual trailer weight).
Don't fall for the Pathfinder 6000lb GVWR, 6000lb tow capability hype - that equals 12,000lbs. It's really more of an either/or situation because in the towing section of the owners manual it says the Gross Combined Weight of a V6 Pathfinder and trailer is 11,135lbs.
My PF is RWD so I'm totally unfamiliar with the 4wd driveline but assuming the trans is the same I'd like to offer the following. I tried several different methods of cooling the trans fluid while monitoring the engine temperature with a real time OBDII scanner. Unfortunately there is no means available that I've been able to find of monitoring the trans temp with a code reader/scanner.
The PF has a trans fluid cooler built into the radiator and an auxillary cooler mounted in front of the radiator on the drivers side. I tried a 10" fan in front of the auxillary cooler with no reduction in coolant temp.
Next - added a small Hayden cooler located on the passenger side between the auxillary cooler and the transmission - a small decrease in coolant temp
Better - deleted the radiator trans cooler from the flow - greater decrease in coolant temp
Best - with the radiator cooler deleted added a second small Hayden cooler located in the center behind the grill - significant decrease in coolant temp. So my current configuration is:
trans out--> center Hayden cooler--> factory auxillary cooler, drivers side--> passenger side Hayden cooler--> trans in
My reasoning behind all of this:
With a trans cooler in the coolant radiator there must be some undesirable heat exchange between the two.
The factory auxillary cooler is intended to work in conjunction with the radiator mounted cooler and probably can't cool sufficiently by itself under extreme loads.
Using two additional small coolers is less restrictive to overall airflow in my opinion.
A tissue test (very scientific) tells me I have really good airflow through all three coolers at idle.
If anyone's interested it appears to me a second factory auxillary cooler could be mounted on the passenger side framework. At some point in time the auxillary cooler was mounted there and the mounting points are still built into the framework (threaded hole up top, standoffs on the bottom).
Fifth gear is infact overdrive. On my gear selector handle there is a button to turn it off/on. I put it in that order because the normal mode is on after start up. However it is not in 5th (overdrive) until after 4th is engaged and the torque converter is locked. The torque converter locks in 4th gear but only after trans fluid temp is 140°F and speed exceeds 40mph. I suppose that could be a problem in really cold weather but one could always cover the small trans coolers.
My experience towing with the PF is that even on flat ground the transmission shifts a lot more than I like. I wish I could manually lock/unlock the torque converter. That alone would give an extra 500rpm or so in fourth when needed.
Sorry for the lengthy post.