You should be just fine.

Pull the dipstick and smell the tranny fluid.

 

Pull the dipstick

If so equipped. . . . .

 

You might want to consider the extra tranny cooler, just like RbTitan did with his. A PML trans pan will also help to lower that also, it is finned for extra cooling and also adds to the sump capacity as well. That will help lower temps also. The pan can be drilled by PML to add a temp guage there as well, which monitors the sump temp of the fluid. The Titan trans gauge monitors internal temp in the trans. Mine barely sees 125 sump temp. Haven't pulled a big load with her yet, but that will surely help temps, and the extra tranny cooler has to help also. Do a search for the tranny cooler and you will find it on one of the forums, can't remember which one.

 

Keep dropping it down into 3. These engines love to spin. Higher rpms help the tranny stay a lot cooler when you are pulling.

 

The Titan has a VERY large trans cooler.....you still need to have it in the correct gear though...

 

I have an 2008 with the tow package and it does the same thing , I haul a 24ft ATC aluminum trailer that weighs about 5000 lbs loaded it does the same thing in tow mode and when it down shifts from drive it drops the temp...I just ordered a new cover from PML ...it was $246 with shipping ...It adds about 3.5 qts more fluid and has finns on the bottom & internal baffles ..It should be on by next week ..it comes with 22 new bolts , you need to buy new gasket ( $25) & fluid from dealer( not sure how much )..

 

You should be in 4, not Drive. That's your problem. I tow an 8k+ LB TT and never had a problem. Starting in 2008, Nissan changed the guage. Now it barely moves past the middle unless actually getting hot....unlike the earlier one that was overly sensitive. You already have 2 tranny coolers so adding another one isn't necessary.

And to the OP, you don't say what year you have but on pre 08 models, that's somewhat normal. Just be sure to keep it out of "D" while towing. Some folks like to shift themselves...another practice that's not necessary. If I'd have wanted to shift myself, I'd have purchased a truck with a standard tranny. Can you?...sure...but you do not have to to keep the transmission in the proper operating temperature range. It'll shift just fine all by itself. Just use TOW MODE and keep er' in 4th.

 

Sounds normal, get a BDGT and monitor that stuff while you do it. Used on here right now for $300 unless it sold

 

it's not just the weight of the trailer, but the drag also. For example a Travel Trailer etc.. it's like pulling a parachute down the road with all the drag, so I tow my Travel Trailer in 4th, and grab 3 up a long grade and have had no problems in 30,000 miles of towing in all types of conditions and grades. So a flat trailer with a couple of ATV's might be ok in 5th, the key is does the converter stay locked and how often is the transmisson downshifting. In my case with all the drag of the TT, the gas mileage is almost the same in 4th or 5th gear,but the transmisson is really happy in 4th. 98,000 total miles on my truck now, with 30,000+ miles of that towing my TT and it drives like new.

 

Hi all I'm new to this page and I need some help. I got a 2005 nissan titan se and when I go up the mountain where I hunt at my transmission gauge goes up to the line before the hot line. But when I make it to the top and turn on the lane it goes back down to the middle where it belongs. When I drive it around normally it stays in the middle. And even when I haul a trailer in tow mode it stays in the middle so what is my problem or what can I do. My transmission fluid is all at the normal level as well.

 

Welcone to the site. When is the last time you changed the fluid? A external cooler might be in your future. Search the site, lots of information about adding a cooler.

 

That's hard to say, what does the existing fluid look like, smell like now? If there is a cooler it would be mounted in the front grill area on the passenger side. It will be hard to miss. I think you should try manually pulling down a gear when climbing said mountain?

 

Well it doesn't look bad or smell bad but I just got home from work I'm going to go out and look to see if there is a cooler on it there is something there I'll take a pic an send u.

 

Nope that's not it. It would be mounted inside the grill area like this photo in the transmission cooler thread.
Also check the fluid level when the trans is hot and running. It could be low.

 

Nope that's not it. It would be mounted inside the grill area like this photo in the transmission cooler thread.
Also check the fluid level when the trans is hot and running. It could be low.

View attachment 567110

I'll look again

 

First thing I'd do is confirm your trans fluid is properly filled. Second, check to see if your trans is still plumbed through the warming/cooling circuit in the lower radiator tank. That's the factory configuration. If it was bypassed without adding an auxiliary cooler, that could be part of the problem. If it's still plumbed as factory, you need to grab an OBDII scanner and check your engine temps while you're climbing that mountain. If the truck is overheating, it will superheat the trans pretty quickly. If your truck is heating up (higher than about 205-210deg) you need to figure out what's wrong. Could be radiator blockage, could be debris blocking airflow. Could be a blown head gasket. Could be a bad water pump. Could be a bad thermostat. The only way to figure it out is one step at a time.

 

What would u start with 1st my truck is a 2005 nissan titan se and it has 208 thousand miles on it.

 

Do you downshift into manual mode when traversing steep grades?

When we were at the Gatlinburg Meet yrs ago. We we're hauling, coming down the Newfound Gap pass and I downshifted a couple gears to help slow this big girl down on those super steep stretches. LOL

 

Do you downshift into manual mode when traversing steep grades?

When we were at the Gatlinburg Meet yrs ago. We we're hauling, coming down the Newfound Gap pass and I downshifted a couple gears to help slow this big girl down on those super steep stretches. LOL

No I actually don't downshift going up. But when going down my truck slows down by itself till I tap the breaks.

 

Yep I meant descending the mountain pass. Engine braking helps sometimes 👍🏼

 

I have had the truck now for 3 to 4 years and every year I go hunting up that mountain it does it. I travel about 40-50 mph going up.

 

Downshifting could cool it. Staying in lower roms while climbing doesn't circulate fluid as fast through the radiator or transmission cooler so it heats up more then normal since you have a greater load on the engine. Climbing does put an extra load, especially if not downshifting because you do have to give it more gas


Your exhaust probably gets very hot while climbing, too, from the extra fuel

 

So in u guys opinion wut gear would u downshift to 4th or 3rd

 

Your radiator doesn't look really good in those pics. It could just be time to replace it. It could be good for normal driving but not good enough for hill towing

 

My buddy I got my truck off of he put a new radiator in it when the new transmission was installed

 

I would try downshift one gear first, than two to see if it helps more. But still consider replacing that radiator. The fins are really smashed and are probably not working efficiently anymore

 

It looks rough now. You could try combing those fins out and cleaning the radiator but most of the time, that doesn't help a lot.

 

I wanna thank everyone for all the advice I don't know wut to try 1st but thank you everyone

 

Start by making sure the transmission is full when warmed up.

 

I really need to see about coming up to one of those Gatlinburg meets some time, if they're still happening.

 

Man it's been yrs for me... I miss them a lot, I'd be down for a Meet. I met a lot of great people at the Meets over the years. We always had a blast time no matter where we were.

 

you guys and your meets mocking us who live at the extreme edges of the continental usa. ha ha ha


i always wanted to go to some kind of car club group meet somewhere. but every time a meet is planned somewhere, its so far away that i would have to take leave to make the trip. anything in north texas is 8-10 hours from me and most meets are up north east of dallas so i can never make it.


sooooo, that means yall have to take tons of pictures

 

Next time your in Co Springs you and I are meeting up!

 

That's true. I forgot there is a few people between Colorado Springs and Denver.

It's funny, on club frontier, one of the guys actually lives here near me but I have never seen him. But one of the guys in San Antonio drove down and brought me seats to out in my frontier out of an xterra because they have more adjustability. It's almost 2.5 hours from San Antonio to my house and he just came down. Dude was super cool and had all kinds of awesome things he had done to his frontier