Auto TRANS won't drive

[Sprock]

Rito boys and girls, my 3.0lt auto , backing out the driveway tonight it selected reverse and went backwards no worries , got out on the road selected drive and nothing happened, back in reverse and it moved slowly but not properly, back into drive & still nothing . Pushed it in off the road as it would not drive forward or reverse, checked the oil which was right & still clean , checked coolant level as I thought maybe it had pumped coolant into the auto and stuffed it but no, any ideas ? , about 2 weeks ago it shuddered slightly when I selected reverse, The auto fluid look fine in colour but as a precaution I changed it and the filter, has since done a full on 4WD trip up the bush and 1000 km highway travel with no problems , it's got me stuffed . The light still comes on on the little rocker switch for power/hold so I don't believe that to be the problem, selected 4WD on the transfer case lever and made no difference - the 4WD light came on the dash so any help/direction would be good 😳

[drz400y]

Worn clutch pack can allow the apply piston to over extend and pop the seal. Best bet would be a pressure test.

[Sprock]

Rito thanks , would that just go like that though ? Autos aren't my thing - I was a bit shocked when I took the pan off it the other day after I dropped the oil out and could see nothing except a plate with wires & plugs ha ha , I drive trucks for a living and have worked on them most of my life so I was unsure what I would see in the auto but expected to see more than that .

[drz400y]

Yes they can go as quick as that. Once that piston travels that little bit extra and let's the seal go, it's lost its pressure. Unfortunately I don't see an easy fix.

[Rossco]

No good sprock, all the best with it, hope it's something simple. Yeah I'm the same, wouldn't have a clue about autos. .

[Sprock]

I put Dextron 11 in it , just read on another thread on here that Dextron 11 will damage the auto and you should use the genuine Nissan oil , has anyone heard of this ?

[Sprock]

Yes they can go as quick as that. Once that piston travels that little bit extra and let's the seal go, it's lost its pressure. Unfortunately I don't see an easy fix.
Thanks mate , I'm flying blind here as I know nothing about them but I think I'm about to learn 😩

[Sprock]

No good sprock, all the best with it, hope it's something simple. Yeah I'm the same, wouldn't have a clue about autos. . yeah thanks Rossco all I can here is kaching kaching kaching 💸

[mudski]

Shite Adam! I just picked up my phone and saw your text. Bad luck hey? I have no idea with auto's. Time to tow down to wholesale automatics and get a 4.8ltr 5 speed tip tronic auto chucked in. Lol.
Hopefully its something simple though. Can you take the pan off these and have a gander? Not sure what you'll find though.

[jay see]

Sorry mate, but I think your up for a new auto.

Had the same thing happen in a little 4 cyl wagon a few years ago, reversed into a cat park and that was it.
I was told many years ago when changing filters in an automatic don't touch anything else as they quite sensitive.
As for the type of oil, I don't think that it has to be genuine Nissan, but it does have to be the right type eg dextron 2 or whatever is recommended.

Get on the phone and call a few transmission specialist see what they say.

If you can pull it out you should be able to do a change over with a reconditioned one.

Hopefully I'm wrong...
Wouldn't be the first time.

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[Sprock]

Yeah me either Mark , when I changed the auto fluid last weekend I pulled the sump / pan thingy off for a look & you can't see bugger all , there's a big plate there with lots of wires and plugs and not much else, I guess the real workings are up inside it. I didn't know what to expect but I thought I'd see more than that ha ha

[Sprock]

Yeah I'll be on the phone in the morning Jay see 😩

[mudski]

You can't get an air lock in the auto fluid can you?

[jff45]

If any of the clutch packs were worn to the point of allowing excessive piston travel, the slip in your shift changes would have been quite noticeable and there would have been a lot of debris in the pan and on the magnet - unless you recently purchased it and the fluid change was done beforehand.

As suggested, a pressure test would be a good idea but you'll find most shops will want to overhaul it.
If you're reasonably mechanically capable, doing a rebuild yourself is possible with the factory manual.

[NissanGQ4.2]

I pulled the sump / pan thingy off for a look & you can't see bugger all , there's a big plate there with lots of wires and plugs and not much else

Sorta like this Adam?

67934

Could really be anything, worn clutch packs, broken wire, damaged seal.... when my auto died in the GQ it was pretty much everything

[drz400y]

Agree with the sloppy shifts when the clutches are worn, but I guess it's something that may not be so noticeable to a lot of people as it has slowly worn over time.

[Sprock]

Sorta like this Adam?

Could really be anything, worn clutch packs, broken wire, damaged seal.... when my auto died in the GQ it was pretty much everything yeah that's what I was faced with mate ! I've had 18 Spd truck gearboxes apart before & can understand ( to a point ) how they work but there wasn't much to see in here

yeah I'm not confident it'll be a simple fix

[Sprock]

Agree with the sloppy shifts when the clutches are worn, but I guess it's something that may not be so noticeable to a lot of people as it has slowly worn over time.

I took it up the snow the weekend before & flogged the arse off it & it was fine , it was totally outa the blue . Got me fucked . I'll ring wholesale automatic transmissions on Monday when they open - they're supposed to be the gurus .

[NissanGQ4.2]

yeah I'm not confident it'll be a simple fix 😩

If your handy on the tools Adam, as John said a rebuild is possible, you just need the time, tools and space..... none of which I really had. Do you know what model gearbox is in yours?

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?5942-RE4R03A-Gearbox-Rebuild

[Sprock]

If your handy on the tools Adam, as John said a rebuild is possible, you just need the time, tools and space..... none of which I really had. Do you know what model gearbox is in yours?

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?5942-RE4R03A-Gearbox-Rebuild
Well mate I have the time now because I drive a log truck and we just finished last week due to the snow but its six of one - half a dozen of the other, I could take a week to rebuild it myself or I could go and do other work for that week and pay someone to do it , hopefully i'll know more Monday morning when I talk to the auto specialists and get some direction, rebuild cost or change over box etc to see what's better , it's like with truck diffs , you can take two days and rebuild it yourself but you lose two days of work so change over is better in the Long run, might be the same option here. Still up in the air as it wasn't part of my plan for this week ha ha

[Sprock]

Read your thread about rebuilding yours , Christ what a job ! Due to the time factor at this stage of leaning towards a change over box but I guess I'll wait and see when I get prices tomorrow .

[Sprock]

So bit of an update, I held off pulling it out today just in case I got hold of the auto gurus tomorrow and they pointed me towards something simple but it got the better of me so I dropped the oil out and it is jet black like sump oil, been in there a week & gone from red to black so there is something mechanical -not electrical like I hoped

[jff45]

It has gone black quickly because you only changed the small amount that the pan holds. The new fluid just mixed with the remaining greater amount.
When you emptied the pan, the state of the fluid should have indicated to you that it needed a complete flush at least.
I'm surprised there was no debris in the pan when you dropped it.

[Sprock]

The original fluid I drained out was still red mate & there was minimal debris on the magnet , if there was ANY signs of debris in the oil or ANY discolouration I would've got a complete flush done . I realise when I changed it last week I only dropped the fluid in the pan but it was still clean & red i wasn't to concerned - the fluid has gone from clean red to very dark brown - almost black & with little metallic flecks through it - like glitter - in a week so something has gone amiss in there .

[Bacho86]

Did you have any luck with wholesale automatic today mate?


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[Sprock]

Yeah I got quotes off them , I'm getting a 2nd hand 1 off Patrolapart, bit of a gamble but less than 3rd of the price , hope it works out .

[mudski]

Got it in yet? Or you under water?

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[Sprock]

Haha yeah i might leave it on the hoist at least it'll be dry , we've had 40ml so far - from the west , we're still waiting for the East coast low they've predicted that will bring 100 to 150mls in the next two days, that will be great - not , didn't get home till late yesterday so I just strapped it to the gearbox Jack & bolted the transfer case on , was planning on doing it the rest today but I've had to stay home with Gus cos the missus had to work . Done f#ck all all day actually ����

[jay see]

Perfect day for it.
Doing f#ck all.

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[Sprock]

Gettin there Mark , went around to my mates shed last night after my missus got home from work but spent the first hour unclogging drains trying to get the water away because it was all about to flood , I took the transmission cooler off and flushed it out half a dozen times till it looked clean but I held a white rag over the outlet and blew it out & there was still shiny little flakes on it so I did it another six or eight times and its clean now, flushed out all lines so I'll get it all back in and finished tonight hopefully , bought an inline filter to put on the return line from the cooler to the trans to catch anything else ,

[NinjaJason]

Dexron III is the recommended oil.
Basically standard ATF in most shops.

[NinjaJason]

Best to get it to a transmission shop
The ZD30 Torque Converters have a habit of collapsing.
A job best left to the professionals.

[Sprock]

Thanks mate, sorry I just saw your post . I've replaced the whole transmission 👍🏼