[schmidtmike76]

my transmission is on its way out after the cooler hose incident. Our last tow home fighting a head wind I had to pop her into 3rd to make it. When it was in 4th it was hunting for gears up and down and the tranny gauge went up to the hot line so I was left with no choice. I guess my choices are to send it away and get it rebuilt or do you buy new out of the box? The rear end bearing is what it is. It shifts fine in town and moving from 4th into 5th is smooth like new except with a load. Ive noticed going up hills lately the last few weeks she is surging maybe slipping Im no expert like its not sure if it wants 5th or 3rd gear. Any opinions what to do a rebuild or new in the box looks like im stuck with the truck. Its a 2wd and here in canada thats a tuff sell

 

[AZPRO4X]

I'd go trade it in and get a new T or something else before you sink a bunch of money into it. Too bad you don't have Carmax's, they buy cars on the spot for decent prices.

 

[SilverS4sAreFaster]

my transmission is on its way out after the cooler hose incident. Our last tow home fighting a head wind I had to pop her into 3rd to make it. When it was in 4th it was hunting for gears up and down and the tranny gauge went up to the hot line so I was left with no choice. I guess my choices are to send it away and get it rebuilt or do you buy new out of the box? The rear end bearing is what it is. It shifts fine in town and moving from 4th into 5th is smooth like new except with a load. Ive noticed going up hills lately the last few weeks she is surging maybe slipping Im no expert like its not sure if it wants 5th or 3rd gear. Any opinions what to do a rebuild or new in the box looks like im stuck with the truck. Its a 2wd and here in canada thats a tuff sell

Sure it was filled with the right transmission fluid? I've fixed them with blown cooler lines and they've held up fine afterwards.

 

[schmidtmike76]

it was filled with Amsoil and smells burnt. Still red but smells bad. From my last tow home fighting a head wind I had to pull her into 3rd gear to cool the tranny down. It did hit the white line in 4th in tow mode sure the wind was strong but she was hunting for gears. on flat land she shifts fine smooth as new but going up hills the rpm's shoot up and down around 200-300 rpm like shes trying to find a gear. My rear end bearings are going as well. I called Nissan in town and they said before anything get it scanned while driving maybe a valve isnt working right or the computer isnt working with the transmission.

 

[SilverS4sAreFaster]

]it was filled with Amsoil and smells burnt.[/B] Still red but smells bad. From my last tow home fighting a head wind I had to pull her into 3rd gear to cool the tranny down. It did hit the white line in 4th in tow mode sure the wind was strong but she was hunting for gears. on flat land she shifts fine smooth as new but going up hills the rpm's shoot up and down around 200-300 rpm like shes trying to find a gear. My rear end bearings are going as well. I called Nissan in town and they said before anything get it scanned while driving maybe a valve isnt working right or the computer isnt working with the transmission.

Their regular ATF? They do make a compatible fluid but it's their OE Multi Vehicle ATF not the standard one. If it's not dirty and contaminated yet and just burnt smelling then I would at least try the correct fluid but the damage may already be done. I would get the Nissan Matic J and replace all the fluid.

 

[schmidtmike76]

im taking it into Nissan on Monday. They claim they cant order parts for my rear end as its to old? I find that a bit odd not a happy camper right now. The burnt smell is only slightly and the fluid is clean.

 

[SilverS4sAreFaster]

im taking it into Nissan on Monday. They claim they cant order parts for my rear end as its to old? I find that a bit odd not a happy camper right now. The burnt smell is only slightly and the fluid is clean.

The dealer has never wanted to rebuild the diff's on these... I don't know why, it's no different from any other truck really. Bring it to a good independent to rebuild the diff as the dealer will just put a whole new assembly on it at over 2-3x the cost. Rebuilding differentials is really quite simple and not so bad of a DIY job if you have some jack stands and a short rolling chair or milk crate to sit under the truck. Learning to set the pinion is the only real trick but you can do the pinion seal and axle shaft seals at the same time.

 

[schmidtmike76]

Thanks for the advice on that.

 

[schmidtmike76]

Can a transmission grow weak in one gear? Specifically 4th where she does not like to tow in. Thats the gear that is causing me grief shifts like new until there is a load then she's constantly looking and heating up.

 

[jbawden]

I think you need to stop commanding your truck to do things its not happy doing, which is pulling a load in hilly terrain/head wind in 4th gear. I've towed in 3rd many times due to a good head wind, these trucks are not the towing beasts you might be led to believe if you spend any time in tow section here. They are capable, but its still a gas 1/2 ton. If your truck is hunting around, do it a favor and lock it down in 3rd and just slow down a bit. What is happening is your asking it to hold 4th in the wind/hills and its dropping in and out of lock up and putting an *** ton of heat in the fluid...user error.

 

[schmidtmike76]

I agree with you she doesnt like to be pushed and as for towing in 3rd when i have to, its a Nissan the rev's wont hurt this machine.

 

[HRTKD]

I've had problems the past couple of years towing in the mountains. See my thread here -> http://www.titantalk.com/forums/tit...-drivetrain/242906-overheating-dilemma-2.html

 

[jdmartin]

Can a transmission get weak in one gear? Well, I once had a GMC truck with a 700 R4 overdrive transmission that somehow blew out 3rd gear, but would drive in all other gears. I was in the military at the time, had no money, so I drove it around like that for a year and a half. If I understood automatic transmissions better I could maybe tell you what happened, but I have always been a manual guy and don't quite follow the gear packs and clutch packs that work in an automatic. All I can say is that it would start out fine, shift into 2nd fine, and then would wind way up in RPMs and then grab 4th gear. If you manual shifted with the column shifter, it would just rev in 3rd (D, not Overdrive D). Once it got 4th, you could toot on down the road at 65 MPH no problem, but if you got on a highway or somewhere and had to make a long climb, you'd just lose speed until you got down slow enough that it would grab 2nd and you'd crawl up the hill at 25-30 MPH. This would piss people off on the interstate immensely, so I tried to always take back roads, or get a boatload of speed going downhill if I saw an uphill coming up.

I have no idea if this answers your question, but if it tows in 3rd in those conditions - and strong headwinds and uphill is a pretty nasty load if you're towing - I would just run it in 3rd.

 

[schmidtmike76]

she actually shifts very smooth and from 4th-5th. you cant feel it go in just here it bog down to 1700 rpm on the highway not towing. engine doesnt miss a beat either for 180,000K but towing she dont like and if she doesnt mind the revs and the transmission is getting hot when towing in 4th drop her and quit worrying, thats my new take on it. You know for 180 there isnt one creak or vibration or cabin noise in that truck how can I really complain. Iam going to pick up a bullydog after the winter through.

 

[CVTitan05]

I just got finished last weekend towing an 8000lbs camper (or atleast thats what the owner told me it weighed), and i kept her in 4th with tow mode on, and half the time i forgot it was even back there. Looked down at the speedo a few times doing 75 mph on accident (oops) lol. I eventually set the cruise control at 60 mph, and then any hill i came to, it could not maintain speed in 4th, so i would just barely press down on the throttle, she would downshift into 3rd and hold it until it crested over the hill, still in cruise control, easy as pie.