The Nissan Path

ok, first post for me. i just bought a 2006 pathfinder S and i'm now discovering this transmission/coolant issue. now if i do the bypass method does that mean the transmission no longer has a means for cooling? would i be better off adding an aftermarket transmission cooler?

forgive me if this issue has been beaten to death.

thanks for your input

outback wrote:ok, first post for me. i just bought a 2006 pathfinder S and i'm now discovering this transmission/coolant issue. now if i do the bypass method does that mean the transmission no longer has a means for cooling? would i be better off adding an aftermarket transmission cooler?

forgive me if this issue has been beaten to death.

thanks for your input

Short answer - NO! Just read the tons of posts about that on this forum. Your PF ALREADY HAS an external cooler. The one in the radiator is problematic, and most likely ineffective.

SilverGhost wrote:

outback wrote:ok, first post for me. i just bought a 2006 pathfinder S and i'm now discovering this transmission/coolant issue. now if i do the bypass method does that mean the transmission no longer has a means for cooling? would i be better off adding an aftermarket transmission cooler?

forgive me if this issue has been beaten to death.

thanks for your input

Short answer - NO! Just read the tons of posts about that on this forum. Your PF ALREADY HAS an external cooler. The one in the radiator is problematic, and most likely ineffective.

SilverGhost, have you done any moderate/heavy towing with the by-pass having been done, and no additional transmission cooling provision?

As far as towing with out the in radiator cooler, I tow a 19' boat that weighs 4200 #. I did the by pass 2 years ago & so far no problems. The trans fluid is still clean & has no burnt smell.

Just wanted to point out that the internal atf cooler in the radiator is actually quite effective at cooling the atf fluid according to this guy's data. For those that tow and off road heavy with the bypass, should install another atf cooler.

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30287

4x2 wrote:Just wanted to point out that the internal atf cooler in the radiator is actually quite effective at cooling the atf fluid according to this guy's data. For those that tow and off road heavy with the bypass, should install another atf cooler.

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30287

Geez, this has me thinking I should 'un-bypass' my rad...

disallow wrote:

4x2 wrote:Just wanted to point out that the internal atf cooler in the radiator is actually quite effective at cooling the atf fluid according to this guy's data. For those that tow and off road heavy with the bypass, should install another atf cooler.

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30287

Geez, this has me thinking I should 'un-bypass' my rad...

That's some impressive data, but I will never have trans fluid running thru my rad again. I would add another external cooler or a cooling fan, or both. I have not done any towing yet and don't have a reason to very much, but I don't want to overheat the trans if I do. I do a fair amount of off-roading, so a fan would be the best thing for me.

Another solution is to replace the radiator with a high quality aftermarket one. The possibility of contamination will be much less than using nissan's defective radiator, while still retain stock cooling capacity.

disallow wrote: Geez, this has me thinking I should 'un-bypass' my rad...

Yeah, good luck with that.

Whereas no one has reported overheating problems after doing the bypass, there are more than enough reports of problems with the faulty cooler for those who did NOT bypass.

Go ahead and weigh out what you think is the best option... Especially since you have an '05 which is probably the most problematic year for the rad/ trans leak.

BMXPath wrote:

disallow wrote: Geez, this has me thinking I should 'un-bypass' my rad...

Yeah, good luck with that.

Whereas no one has reported overheating problems after doing the bypass, there are more than enough reports of problems with the faulty cooler for those who did NOT bypass.

Go ahead and weigh out what you think is the best option... Especially since you have an '05 which is probably the most problematic year for the rad/ trans leak.

Now that the cooler has been sitting empty for some time, I probably won't just hook it back up.

But I may go the route of pre-emptive replacement of the rad with a Spectra Premium.

t

NVRDONE wrote:As far as towing with out the in radiator cooler, I tow a 19' boat that weighs 4200 #. I did the by pass 2 years ago & so far no problems. The trans fluid is still clean & has no burnt smell.

thanks NVRDONE
i'd be interested in hearing from others who have done the by-pass (as i have), and their towing experiences without any further trans cooling mods.

disallow wrote:

BMXPath wrote:

disallow wrote: Geez, this has me thinking I should 'un-bypass' my rad...

Yeah, good luck with that.

Whereas no one has reported overheating problems after doing the bypass, there are more than enough reports of problems with the faulty cooler for those who did NOT bypass.

Go ahead and weigh out what you think is the best option... Especially since you have an '05 which is probably the most problematic year for the rad/ trans leak.

Now that the cooler has been sitting empty for some time, I probably won't just hook it back up.

But I may go the route of pre-emptive replacement of the rad with a Spectra Premium.

t

Yea simply doing the bypass is just swapping a problem for another. You even mention that your transmission fluid had a burnt smell to it. Excessive heat degrades transmission overtime, so problems may not show up for a while, but by then its too late.

disallow wrote:After letting my drained trans fluid settle for a few days, I can see that its pretty dark, and it also has a bit of a burnt smell to it. Probably from towing my gargantuan trailer in high winds when the TC wouldn't lock up. I'm also by-passed, with no additional cooler other than the factory air/oil cooler.

Guys just some food for thought,,temperatures in our region can vary from 43-50+ Celcius..thats 110F -122F temperatures,,ambient temperatures the car is reading..With almost 50% humidity minimum..so in reality its more..

With offorading or stop and go traffic,,you can imagine the temperatures the tranny and the rest of the parts get into.. But ive never seen any nissan budge over the quarter mark on the temp gauge..We might be getting a differnet cooling system compared to you guys but for those who tow heavy stuff,,might wanna add a fan at least..

Just when we thought it was safe...............

I have been waiting for Koyo or someone to come out with a good full aluminum performance radiator for the Pathfinders ... I doubt it will be soon , probably should do the bypass soon ... But I have also been debating on adding another external cooler , or just running the existing cooler ... or just one larger cooler ...