OMG, Tranny Failed! Why????!!! 2005 (Oil + Coolant)

[eieio]

what radiator did you wind up choosing?

I don’t see any name on it. Invoice says “BKB Radiator”.

As for doing a bypass, all I would like to mention is my first experience in towing my 3K#, 20’ lightweight (?) camper with this PF thru some PA interstate grades this past weekend: Had to use 3rd gear at 40-45 MPH on some long grades and the temp DID rise until crested the hill. I’m sure the torq converter (TC) was unlocked and caused a buildup of heat.

was this with the by-pass or the new radiator?

Even in 4th (OD Off) the TC was not fully locked on level road. My point is, surely the radiator dissipates some heat from the trans before it continues its travel to the external trans cooler for final cooling. How much of the temp rise is due to the trans? I say the majority. Therefore is the bypass such a good idea? I did use prem fuel in hopes that the TC was more likely to lock up.

if post-by-pass and pre-new radiator, had you previously driven the same stretch of road under the same general conditions (tow weight, weather conditions, speed, etc.) before the by-pass, as a means to be able to compare the difference in temperature?

[CPLTECH]

No modifications made, just had the orig radiator replaced for preventative reason only.

Had this 06 PF less than 1 yr & first time towing this camper w/PF. Had camper more than 10 yr. No problem w/98 Tahoe 5.7L, but it was a struggle w/93 S10 Blazer 4.3L (200HP?)

[UncleRico]

Just bought an 06 LE in perfect condition 1 week ago and had not even gotten over the excitement of it before I found out about this potential disasterous problem. I'll be doing the cooler bypass this weekend and will think about adding an additional cooler later on for towing purposes. I've been reading a lengthy post on the Xterra site about this subject and a couple guys mentioned a 'low pressure drop cooler' as a possibility to replace the OEM trans cooler. Has anyone tried one of these? I'm trying to figure out a way to gain the heating and cooling functionality of the inner radiator cooler after bypassing it.

Thanks in advance.....

[ralphwiggums]

Did the transmission bypass last night. Was sooo easy.

Easy Easy steps.
1. go to parts store and get a couple of rubber hose terminations and hose clamps (don't really need the clamps though).
2. crawl under truck
3. remove skid plate (if you have one) and a plastic trim piece
4. using pliers, work the springy clamps back a bit on the hoses
5. pull off the hose that goes from oil filter housing to the rad cooler (driver side)
6. pull off the hose that goes from rad cooler (passenger side) up to the front external cooler and relocate it to the oil filter housing
7. put the hose terminations on the (now unused) rad cooler (you will now have one hose extra and 2 springy clamps). You can either use the springy clamps to hold the hose terminations or new hose clamps.
8. start truck and check for leaks...and reassure yourself you've prevented the radiator from screwing up the transmission.

It took me longer to get the skid plate off and get under the truck than it did to swap and hook up the hoses. The hoses are flexible and you can easily hook the hose from external cooler to the oil filter housing (I even managed to clip it back into the plastic hose clip on the side of the rad.

[webmastir]

great to hear it was so easy, ralphwiggums. makes me want to do this more & more to my wifes 06 path se

[65Fastback]

Fudge me... one more project to do... just been reading all these threads, looks like a big issue. I just bitched Nissanout for the failed sending unit and they fixed it for free out of warranty. ( '06 w/ 53K, LE w/ tow)

Alright, Here's what I need to know:

Replace Radiator? Will the new radiator just be as of big a piece of crap as the existing one where I will need to replace it again or no? How do I know I'm not installing the same pos?

Do I need to add an additional radiator for doing the bypass?

Are there pictures on how to do this anywhere? I have searched many different forums and no pictures anywhere.

Has Nissan come up with a solution to this where they would do the install or bypass? Or atleast have a recommended method to fix per their own instructions?

[webmastir]

@65FastBack

http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic.php?t=2139

the 1st page has a few links in one of the replies which shows images you're wanting

[65Fastback]

Found this helpful link with pics,

Anyone have any pics on how they added an extra cooler for the trans fluid?

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f23/ ... ass-42555/

[65Fastback]

I'm waiting on my wife to get home with the car. We have an '06 LE with rear hitch, I assume this means it came with the factory "tow package". Part of the tow package would be that it comes with an external trans cooler? I will be checking if it did or not come with a seperate cooler, but not sure if it should have if anybody knows out there.

[65Fastback]

I spoke to my local Nissan dealership. My contact there is a real honest guy. I asked him about this problem, he says, "yeeaaaaah I've seen this... the correct Nissan protocol is to swap out the radiator for an abscene amount of money and flush the trans a few times and hope that it works but by then you've already got coolant in the trans.... or my advice, being just a guy on the other end of the line, is to call up AAMCO and ask them to put on an external trans radiator for towing and close off the bottom inlet/outlets."

With that being said, I called up my AAMCO and to install a Heavy Duty external trans radiator will cost $229, which includes the labor.
The other option is a Normal trans radiator for 189... I'll go with the 229.

So... I am just waiting for the wife to get home and look over a few things and bring it there next week so long as I am not too late.

My other question I have for all of you is... isn't there a temp sensor located somewhere for the trans? Is this in the trans or in the factory radiator? I assume the liquid is a 100% constant flow through the radiator with out a temp valve to allow the radiator to flow only when at certain temperatures. If this is the case, and the temp sensor is in the trans, then there should be no worry for the computer diagnostics running incorrectly and that if the trans overheats for what ever reason, even after the mod, the car would tell me there's a problem.

[eieio]

I'm waiting on my wife to get home with the car. We have an '06 LE with rear hitch, I assume this means it came with the factory "tow package". Part of the tow package would be that it comes with an external trans cooler? I will be checking if it did or not come with a seperate cooler, but not sure if it should have if anybody knows out there.

all US models came with a hitch and an external trans cooler, in circuit & functioning when sold
on the early models ('05-07' i'm pretty sure), the cooler is in front of the radiator on the passenger side
on the later models ('08 & up, again, i'm pretty sure), they moved it over to the other (drivers) side

[UncleRico]

65Fastback,

You should read this thread http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25955 , in fact everyone should. It's very lengthy but very in depth. [/b]

[webmastir]

65Fastback,

You should read this thread http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25955 , in fact everyone should. It's very lengthy but very in depth. [/b]

aw very nice, thanks UncleRico. summarizes this entire thread into that 1 post basically. has good explanation & good pics/DIY for the msot part.

i'm assuming this is basically identical in that DIY above to our paths like it is the xterra's?

[webmastir]

so i think im confused about one last thing. where in the hell is our transmission dipstick? is the only freaking way to check it to drain some fluid?

(i may have asked this before, but i can't remember the answer, if any, i received)

[eieio]

so i think im confused about one last thing. where in the hell is our transmission dipstick? is the only freaking way to check it to drain some fluid?

(i may have asked this before, but i can't remember the answer, if any, i received)

you had:

Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 6:52 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

webmastir wrote:
ya. i just had my trans rebuilt on my other vehicle last year (don't want that expense again!). so you HAVE to drain some to find the appearance eh? i was looking all around for a transmission dipstick to at least check the level. how hard is it to drain just a little of the trans oil to inspect it?
& ya..noob question... if easy, how/where is it b/c there's not a lick of info in the owners manual


when you do the by-pass, some transmission oil will drain out of the bottom of the radiator, and the hoses when you disconnect them
that is when you can get a sample to inspect
by-pass instructions here:
click on link & scroll to bottom of page
http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic. ... &start=165
you can also drain some from the transmission drain plug but quarts will come out instead of maybe a half pint
you can look at it on the dipstick, but the film of oil on the dipstick may be too thin to see what you are looking for
the owners manual has no info on checking the level or draining the trans oil, but it's all in the service manual (3rd "sticky" @ top of forum):
http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic.php?t=2
_________________
05 SE OFF-ROAD 4WD
& 05 SE

"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"

Fish Rocks, Mojave Desert

Last edited by eieio on Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:03 am; edited 1 time in total