[parscheese]

Hi All

Dear Pathfinder has had it's first breakdown!

It happened this afternoon without warning after I pressured cleaned the engine bay like I do every 10,000km oil change.

Symptoms are that it holds on to each gear for to long/high speed before changing up to the next gear.

To get it to change gears you need to drive it like it's stolen.

Also no matter what you do it won't go into 4th gear but the torque converter will lock.

I don't think it's mechanical as I get the transmission serviced once a year, fluid level is fine and is not burnt or discolored. Has only done 150,000km.

My suspicion is that it's the throttle position sensor (TPS) the work shop manual indicates that as well but the manual shows a sensor in the foot well so i suspect that is the American 3.5 engine. I'll have another look in the manual tomorrow.

Also after connecting and reconnecting the TPS with engine off it all came good until just this evening and it went back to playing up so again I turned off the engine and disconnected and reconnected the TPS but still no good.

On the way home for no apparent reason it came good back to perfectly normal then it went bad and finally came good.

Unfortunately is now an intermittent problem :x but I still suspect it's the TPS but I need to figure out what voltage to test for.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Justin

 

[Nizzbits]

Hi All

Dear Pathfinder has had it's first breakdown!

It happened this afternoon without warning after I pressured cleaned the engine bay like I do every 10,000km oil change.

Symptoms are that it holds on to each gear for to long/high speed before changing up to the next gear.

To get it to change gears you need to drive it like it's stolen.

Also no matter what you do it won't go into 4th gear but the torque converter will lock.

I don't think it's mechanical as I get the transmission serviced once a year, fluid level is fine and is not burnt or discolored. Has only done 150,000km.

My suspicion is that it's the throttle position sensor (TPS) the work shop manual indicates that as well but the manual shows a sensor in the foot well so i suspect that is the American 3.5 engine. I'll have another look in the manual tomorrow.

Also after connecting and reconnecting the TPS with engine off it all came good until just this evening and it went back to playing up so again I turned off the engine and disconnected and reconnected the TPS but still no good.

On the way home for no apparent reason it came good back to perfectly normal then it went bad and finally came good.

Unfortunately is now an intermittent problem :x but I still suspect it's the TPS but I need to figure out what voltage to test for.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Justin

Hi Justin,
There is a Pathfinder forum at www.pcoa.org.au where you might find someone in the same boat as you or that has had that experience. Sounds to me like there may be water in somewhere (maybe the TPS) after your wash and maybe it is casuing a chitty contact or something similar.

 

[heyhey]

Not having the same problems but I do have problems with the Trans on our Pathy. When cold it won't shift from P or N into gear for a few seconds (thats a long time). When going down hill it shifts down automatically even though revs are up which can be dangerous at high speed and when wet because it almost creates a compresson lock

 

[Canuck]

First off, never use a pressure washer in an engine bay. You are just asking for trouble when you hit electrical components with +1200 psi.

I suspect that you have messed up a connection or the TPS. The TPS is a sealed unit but perhaps you managed to force water in there. I presume like most Nissan auto boxes that you are getting a fault warning light on start-up. If so, you need to run the transmission self diagnostic to see where the fault lies by counting the number and length of light flashes. You will need a service manual. Once you have identified the electrical circuit related to the fault, trace down all the plugs and connections on the circuit. Open them up, dry them out and add a little dielectric grease on the connectors. Now disconnect your battery for about 10 minutes to reboot the ECU and clear the fault code(s).

If that doesn't solve your problem, maybe it is time to take it to a professional to be diagnosed.