The Nissan Path

I am still getting used to my 2008 pathy (4.0). I love it so far!

It feels kinda of rough to me when I switch from P (Parking) to either D (Drive) or R (reverse).. A strong bang usually occurs. Is that ok?

Also, not sure if that is how it is supposed to be or not but when I click on my remote to lock the car it just flicker the lights but doesn't make a beep (like my old car). Is that the way it is or is it broken? I'd like to have the beep which tells me I locked the car without needing to look at it.

Glad you like it!

Alarm chirp: This feature can be activated and deactivated by holding the lock and unlock buttons on your key fob down at the same time for 3 seconds.

As for your rough transmission engagement, there are a few reasons this could be happening:
1) You parked on an incline and the transmission is holding the weight of your truck. To avoid, apply the parking brake before putting the truck into park.
2) Engaging during engine warm up. When you start your cold car in the morning, the idle is elevated during an engine warm up period. You're supposed to wait until the idle returns to normal (around 1000 RPMs) before engaging the transmission (usually about 60 seconds or so). My wife starts her car and slams it into reverse pretty much at the same time and it hurts my heart.
3) High RPMs because of an engine issue -- such as a vacuum leak.
4) Old or low transmission fluid. It's easy to check via the dipstick in the engine compartment (you need a 10mm wrench) and the fluid should be nice and red.
5) Faulty or loose shift linkage.
6) Worn transmission valve body. This doesn't necessarily mean it's broken, just that it's seen better days and it's going to engage roughly.

Hope this helps!

cabinpath wrote: It feels kinda of rough to me when I switch from P (Parking) to either D (Drive) or R (reverse).. A strong bang usually occurs. Is that ok?

Dan mentioned some good points concerning the transmission shift. We had a thread about this same thing before if you feel lucky with your search prowess. The gist of it was that pretty much all of them "clunk" from P to D. I think it just takes time getting used to it, getting the feel for the vehicle, etc. I can easily make mine clunk, but I've also learned how to shift extremely smoothly-even if the rpms are high. Don't ask me to explain because I can't. It's just a "feel" one gets after doing the same thing over and over in the same vehicle for so long, or something like that.

Excellent info! Thank you so much Dan!

I will first try to let the car worm up and then put it in as well as use the break when in incline. I will also check the level of transmission fluid.

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this truck. Only thing I don't like... fuel economy. I would have been happy with a smaller engine than the 4.0 but I knew what I was going into.

The 'holding both buttons' worked! Thanks Dan!

Another thing, when I first start the car it has this noise for a few minutes. I think it is the chain but not sure. I made an audio of it. I started next to the driver side tire and then moved to the passenger side tire.

http://www.megafileupload.com/en/file/4 ... 1-m4a.html

Thoughts?

Glad it worked!

That sounds more like belt chirp than a timing chain. The timing chain sounds more like a rattle and makes your engine sound like it's a diesel.

You have one serpentine belt that runs all of the accessories. Belt chirp can be caused by a number of things:
- A failing tensioner (easy to replace)
- Misaligned accessory pulleys
- A bad belt (easy to replace)
- An accessory starting to fail

The Pathfinder is a great truck but I've found that they go through a sort of mid-life crisis where they become like needy girlfriends. Nothing major, just a bunch of nickel-and-dime things. The best investments I've made for my '08 are a mechanic's stethoscope ($10 at Pep Boys), a good metric tool set ($100 from Sears) and a box of Advil ($12 at CVS).

I agree on the belt chirping. I had a very mild version of this on cold starts. I swapped out the drive belt and tensioner around 90k and all has been quiet since.