I by-passed my in radiator tranny cooler

[bellwilliam]

just did the bypass. easier done than describing it. but I did not use any additional parts. no coupler, no hose clamp (reuse original), no zip tie.

you have 2 hoses -
hose A - from external transmission cooler to radiator (passenger side)
hose B - from radiator (driver side) to engine block.


take hose A off radiator (passenger side) and plug into engine block
take hose B off engine block and plug into radiator (passenger side), forming a loop within.

reuse all the old hose and clamp. length is perfect.

Before


After

[mcxstar01]

One thing I noticed since I did this mod (and I'm a little worried about) is that the shifter can be extremely tough at times to shift between D, N, P, etc. But once I shift through them once it loosen's up. Any ideas on what's causing this?

I checked my tranny fluid level and it's fine. When I did the mod I verified there were no kinks (I'm going to check again after work today). I'm clueless as to what else could be causing this.

Thanks fellas

[disallow]

One thing I noticed since I did this mod (and I'm a little worried about) is that the shifter can be extremely tough at times to shift between D, N, P, etc. But once I shift through them once it loosen's up. Any ideas on what's causing this?

I checked my tranny fluid level and it's fine. When I did the mod I verified there were no kinks (I'm going to check again after work today). I'm clueless as to what else could be causing this.

Thanks fellas

Nope this symptom is not apparent on my truck at all.

The by-pass shouldn't have any effect on this functionality, as the pressure for transfluid is generated at the torque converter.

I guess the only real way to rule it out is to reattach your cooler to the circuit and see if the symptom goes away.

Have you checked your fluid level after the bypass?

[kramer]

No adverse effects here either, it shifts fine. Your problem is unrelated to the mod.

[mcxstar01]

No adverse effects here either, it shifts fine. Your problem is unrelated to the mod.

I think it is safe to say I agree. Checked the fluid levels- fine, checked the hoses- fine.

We had a ton of snow fall on us yesterday, real heavy stuff. When I climbed under there today there was a ton of snow/ice packed up in and around the tranny. Most of it had turned to ice because the temperature has been fluctuating so much. I think that was the cause. Everything has been thawing out today and it shifts fine.

[coom1986]

Hmm...ok so most of the rad leaks are in 05-early 06 models. Tech have you found any failures on 08 models??reason im askin is cos mines an 08SE, if nt then without giving out too much info(in case you get screwed at work) is it possible that nissan had quietly fixed the issue?? Bcos i live in the middle east and have no idea if i need to do this mod or nt till i first go and talk to the guys at nissan over here to see if there had been any failures so far. And by the looks of it there havent been any..so just wondering..

[BMXPath]

Before


After

Did mine last night, it was easy. I did mine the way bellwilliam illustrated.

I have to say that I was happy to see my tranny fluid still looks good! Especially with 105,000 miles on my Pfinder, and I only had the transmission serviced once at 56K.

[SilverGhost]

I've searched this enitre board and can't find a conclusive answer. My '06 PF has a build date of May 2006. Is it possible that I don't need to be concerned about the internal tranny cooler cracking and leaking? I can certainly do the bypass if needed, but would prefer to leave well enough alone if I'm not at risk.

[slavabon]

SilverGhost, I don't think there is a way to determine if you are at risk or not, unless you can figure out at what point Nissan stopped using these faulty radiators. There has bee a number of 06 models with this issue, but not as many as 05 model year trucks. Personally I think it has more to do with age than model year. By the time 05s started popping up with this problem, there was a huge number of 06 truks on the road with the same radiators. I'd say its safer to just bypass it and not worry about it. Even if you have extended warranty, etc., warranty replacement of the tranny due to failed rad is a "grey area" according to the dealership. Some cover it, some don't. Failing part is rad, so they will definitely replace it. Tranny fails due to rad and its up to them to make the call to fix it for you. There have been some people that have been denied a free fix whil having powertain warranty. I have 06 Path with extened warranty and have done this, just to be safe. Even if it was to go and replace at no charge, I don't feel good about replacement tranny, etc. I think its best to keep things as they were installed at the factory. Just my opinion.

[BMXPath]

Has the radiator just been updated for the newer models? Looks like 05 to 09 use the same part number.

http://www.factorynissanparts.com/partl ... atalogid=1

[kramer]

I wouldn't count on any year being excluded from having this problem. Most of the trucks that have this issue are '05 models, but that's most likely just because they're the oldest now. Wait another year and the 06s will start popping up in shops too, guaranteed.

Fix it!!! It takes 25 minutes and $3 worth of parts. There's no excuse.

[08Datsun]

There's a thread over on thenewX.org on their radiator problems. Some members have newer models that have been affected. One of the members reports that a Nissan tech said it was the fault of the Matic J fluid and that's why the changed to Matic S. Whether I believe that or not, I don't know.

I haven't done this mod yet. I'm thinking of adding a cooler without restricting more airflow when I do.

[BMXPath]

Fix it!!! It takes 25 minutes and $3 worth of parts. There's no excuse.

If you do it like bellwilliam did, it is Free!

[dshontell]

I did the '06 Pathfinder and my '05 Frontier in about one hour. Feel better getting it finished up and out of the way. I just swapped lines and only lost drops of trans fluid. Soaked it up in my hair to keep the driveway clean!

[Brokentoy1]

Should I do this mod on a 2010 that is under factory warranty? I would hate to lose my warranty over something preventative if that makes any sense.