hello house. about to buy an 'o5/06 pathfinder but saw some scary reviews online. most were on the failure of the radiator at about 80k km leading to mixing of coolant with transmission fluid and destruction of the transmission. while some advocated pre-emptive replacement of radiator, others advocated for a bypass. owners of pathfinder and more knowledgeable non-owners, please what do u advice?

N.B. what are the recommended ATF and coolant for pathfinder and where can I get them?


thanks in advance

Yes you are right, it was an error from the company so thereby a recall was placed on those models for pple that bought them new from the dealers not the second hand we called Tokunbo here.
Changing the radiator n reconstructing the system is option a good option at that. The recommended ATF IS MATIC J.
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arinzest:
hello house. about to buy an 'o5/06 pathfinder but saw some scary reviews online. most were on the failure of the radiator at about 80k km leading to mixing of coolant with transmission fluid and destruction of the transmission. while some advocated pre-emptive replacement of radiator, others advocated for a bypass. owners of pathfinder and more knowledgeable non-owners, please what do u advice?

N.B. what are the recommended ATF and coolant for pathfinder and where can I get them?




thanks in advance

Simply byepass the radiator for your ATF cooling and u are good to go.

jodeci:


Simply byepass the radiator for your ATF cooling and u are good to go.

Do u know a gud place to do the bypass.

llade:

Do u know a gud place to do the bypass.

quite simple,pull out the two leads coming from the transmission box (in/out) from the downside of the radiator and link both together with a connector. QED.

jodeci:


quite simple,pull out the two leads coming from the transmission box (in/out) from the downside of the radiator and link both together with a connector. QED.

Without external cooler?

Kashif:


Without external cooler?

.

yea,the pathy already has another cooler underneath the gear box.

However,adding external cooler wont hurt but it is not necessary.

The essence of routing the atf via the radiator is more of heating it up in cold condition than cooling it down when hot.

jodeci:
.

yea,the pathy already has another cooler underneath the gear box.

However,adding external cooler wont hurt but it is not necessary.

The essence of routing the atf via the radiator is more of heating it up in cold condition than cooling it down when hot.

Never heard about the bolded. Wanna throw more light?

Kashif:


Never heard about the bolded. Wanna throw more light?

Radiator is like a heat exchanger,the water gets hot faster than the atf,so in extremely cold condition and when the car is not in motion,there is heat interchange between the water section and the atf section of the radiator thereby raising the atf temp.

jodeci:


Radiator is like a heat exchanger,the water gets hot faster than the atf,so in extremely cold condition and when the car is not in motion,there is heat interchange between the water section and the atf section of the radiator thereby raising the atf temp.

I know that radiator is a heat exchanger, but you stating that the radiator is to heat the transmission when cold, rather than cooling when hot is false. Unlike the engine that needs to operate at a particular hot temperature, the auto transmission needs to run as cold as possible. Never knew that RE5R05A comes with its cooler.

Kashif:


I know that radiator is a heat exchanger, but you stating that the radiator is to heat the transmission when cold, rather than cooling when hot is false. Unlike the engine that needs to operate at a particular hot temperature, the auto transmission needs to run as cold as possible. Never knew that RE5R05A comes with its cooler.

What happens if the atf is frozen?

It is a two way thing,the radiator cools atf when extra load like in towing generates extra heat,it also heats up the atf in case of freeze.

In Nigeria where the atf is unlikely to be frozen,the radiator cooling of atf is not necessary if u aint towing.

So in extremely cold temp,the radiator does more of heating up than cooling since the extra cooler would be enough to keep the atf at operaring temp.

jodeci:


What happens if the atf is frozen?

It is a two way thing,the radiator cools atf when extra load like in towing generates extra heat,it also heats up the atf in case of freeze.

In Nigeria where the atf is unlikely to be frozen,the radiator cooling of atf is not necessary if u aint towing.

So in extremely cold temp,the radiator does more of heating up than cooling since the extra cooler would be enough to keep the atf at operaring temp.

ATFs do not freeze. There is no point trying to heat the transmission so, your assertion that the radiator is needed to warm it up remains unfounded. Do you also remember it takes some time after a cold start for the engine coolant to start flowing to the radiator? This singularly nullifies your argument. If you can keep your transmission at room temperature, it could go a million miles if well built. Transmissions do not need heat.

Kashif:


ATFs do not freeze. There is no point trying to heat the transmission so, your assertion that the radiator is needed to warm it up remains unfounded. Do you also remember it takes some time after a cold start for the engine coolant to start flowing to the radiator? This singularly nullifies your argument. If you can keep your transmission at room temperature, it could go a million miles if well built. Transmissions do not need heat.

my assertion might be wrong,but certainly ATF does freeze.