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Old 06-30-2014, 03:42 PM   #1
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Travel Vechicle Question...

With all of the post being about the TT.....
What things/maintenance do you do to your tow vehicle on a regular basis?
Thanks!
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Old 06-30-2014, 04:20 PM   #2
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Just regular vehicle maintenance, oil changes , Check Breaks , check tires for wear and air pressure , lube everything I can grease, check all fluids and lights. Oh and cant forget fill the Fuel tank but thats a never ending thing. Thats about all I can think of right now.
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Old 06-30-2014, 04:31 PM   #3
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I do the same maintenance and checks I do on any car. I just do them more often.
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Old 06-30-2014, 04:34 PM   #4
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Keep your TV tires properly inflated. I increase my pressure about 5# when towing.
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Old 06-30-2014, 04:44 PM   #5
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Keep you TV tires properly inflated. I increase my pressure about 5# when towing.
X2
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Old 06-30-2014, 05:06 PM   #6
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Follow the guidelines in the owners manual under "Severe Duty"
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Old 06-30-2014, 05:29 PM   #7
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Just did transmission fluid, transfer case fluid, and both final drives. Nissan recommends new AT fluid every 15K which seems ridiculous. Did mine at 50k.
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Old 06-30-2014, 08:45 PM   #8
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Just did transmission fluid, transfer case fluid, and both final drives. Nissan recommends new AT fluid every 15K which seems ridiculous. Did mine at 50k.
15k! Bet Nissan likes selling ATF. My Pathfinder was done at 46k and now has 82k it's about time. Is it difficult?

BTW have you changed your radiator? I have the same motor and there is major worries about ATF and antifreeze mixing in the crap radiator the 05-10 Nissan trucks have. It includes all 4.0L v6 and 5.6L v8 vehicles.
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Old 07-01-2014, 04:11 AM   #9
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15k! Bet Nissan likes selling ATF. My Pathfinder was done at 46k and now has 82k it's about time. Is it difficult?

BTW have you changed your radiator? I have the same motor and there is major worries about ATF and antifreeze mixing in the crap radiator the 05-10 Nissan trucks have. It includes all 4.0L v6 and 5.6L v8 vehicles.
Actually, had the local nissan dealership do the work on my 11 pathfinder. The armada in my signature is my new TV and I haven't done any work to that vehicle yet - only had it for a few weeks.

I have seen several YouTube videos on changing the fluids and it doesn't look too hard. I chose to have nissan do the service because I'm still covered by the 100k power train warrantee for CPO vehicles. I will not be going back to nissan for this particular service again ($$$).

I have heard about the radiator/transmission coolant issues on pathfinders. I researched it when I bought mine and I believe that issues was corrected for my model year. I was not aware that the same issue was happening with the Titan/armada as well. Gonna have to look into that.
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Old 07-01-2014, 06:28 PM   #10
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Actually, had the local nissan dealership do the work on my 11 pathfinder. The armada in my signature is my new TV and I haven't done any work to that vehicle yet - only had it for a few weeks.



I have seen several YouTube videos on changing the fluids and it doesn't look too hard. I chose to have nissan do the service because I'm still covered by the 100k power train warrantee for CPO vehicles. I will not be going back to nissan for this particular service again ($$$).



I have heard about the radiator/transmission coolant issues on pathfinders. I researched it when I bought mine and I believe that issues was corrected for my model year. I was not aware that the same issue was happening with the Titan/armada as well. Gonna have to look into that.

I have an XTerra, and the "strawberry milkshake of death" was a very big deal that ate up a lot of Nissan transmissions. The problem was that the engineers wanted a way to bring the transmission fluid up to operating temperature more rapidly. So in their infinite wisdom, the ran a line of transmission fluid through the bottom of the radiator using the rapidly heating coolant to warm the transmission fluid. The concept sounds great right? Except that the hose they ran through the radiator was easily and rapidly corroded by the coolant they decided to use! So after a number of miles (varied by individual, but mostly around 60-80k miles) the transmission line would break and the transmission would fill with coolant creating a frothy red mixture affectionately called the "strawberry milkshake of death"

I fixed mine by connecting the hose that went into the radiator to the barb on the other side that came from the radiator thus closing the part in the radiator out of the loop. I live in Texas, I don't need the tranny to heat up faster!

I'm not sure the affected models or years, but you can google it. I'm pretty sure it was all models that used the 4.0 for years 2005 to 08 or 09 IIRC.
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Old 07-01-2014, 07:52 PM   #11
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It is all Nissan trucks 05-10 4.0L and 5.6L. There are two radiator part numbers that are the bad ones. I thought I was absolved since I had the 2008 5.6L, rare in a Pathfinder. No such luck.

It is not the hose that's the problem. The bottom 10% of the radiator is an ATF fluid warmer/cooler. The wall in the radiator between the antifreeze and ATF was a single wall and perforates effectively mixing the two fluids. Destroys your tranny, water pump, trans ecm, and head needs to be flushed.

Bypassing the trans fluid section of the radiator is the internet fix which I'm rather scared of. Yeah it warms your ATF but also cools it once your up to operating temp. Heat kills transmissions. I installed a Spectra aftermarket radiator for $160 which had a double wall with a true separation. No more worries about the milkshake of death.
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Old 07-01-2014, 08:20 PM   #12
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Bad OEM Nissan radiators :

21460-EA265 and 21460-EA215

Good new OEM radiator :

21460-9CAOE
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Old 07-01-2014, 08:27 PM   #13
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It is all Nissan trucks 05-10 4.0L and 5.6L. There are two radiator part numbers that are the bad ones. I thought I was absolved since I had the 2008 5.6L, rare in a Pathfinder. No such luck.

It is not the hose that's the problem. The bottom 10% of the radiator is an ATF fluid warmer/cooler. The wall in the radiator between the antifreeze and ATF was a single wall and perforates effectively mixing the two fluids. Destroys your tranny, water pump, trans ecm, and head needs to be flushed.

Bypassing the trans fluid section of the radiator is the internet fix which I'm rather scared of. Yeah it warms your ATF but also cools it once your up to operating temp. Heat kills transmissions. I installed a Spectra aftermarket radiator for $160 which had a double wall with a true separation. No more worries about the milkshake of death.

I guess I must be missing something. How can a liquid that is around 210* (coolant in the rad at operating temperature) cool a liquid that should be around 160 or 170 (transmission fluid at operating temperature)? I don't see that part of the transmission fluid loop offering any help to cool down the fluid. Perhaps the radiator itself is cooling the fluid? Are there fins down therein the transmission fluid reservoir portion? Besides, that's what the transmission fluid coolers further up on the rad are for.

I had no idea the problem was so widespread, but the "internet solution" has worked for me and scores of others. IIRC, someone somewhere, (yeah I know...) said that dealers were using this bypass during the early days of the problem.
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Old 07-01-2014, 08:38 PM   #14
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The ATF is cooled just like your coolant by the radiator. The warming effect is great on cool winter mornings like here on the northeast when the truck will shift really hard until the ATF temp goes up. In Texas you don't have to worry about that [emoji2].

There was a huge class action lawsuit last year about it and Nissan extended the warranty to 100k for damage the radiators cause. I didn't want my truck to go through the problem so took action. When I asked my dealer about the bypass he said absolutely not, replacement is the only recommendation.

The second cooler in front is a supplemental ATF cooler which comes with the tow package. If you tow and don't have one that is essential. I always added a B&M cooler to any TV I had without a sup trans oil cooler. Yes it helps cool the fluid but is to be used in conjunction with the radiator.
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Old 07-01-2014, 08:43 PM   #15
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My apologies to the OP for hijacking the thread.

Supplemental trans oil cooler is one thing that every TV should have.

I also do more frequent synthetic oil changes when towing and fill with premium fuel before a trip. Might be overkill.
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