Need Help, 4wd Light And Gearbox Issues

[zoomzoom]

OK, heres the story so far. ive only recently had a 100,000km service (less than 1000km ago) in which they did all the usuals plus replace the transmission fluid. after that service, within a few hundred kms i experienced problems with the power when just cruising at a constant speed. the power would die and the engine revs would drop off, then jerk back up to rpm. the 4WD light would soon come on and also pressing the overdrive button wouldnt drop the gear down to 3rd.

i took it back and they replaced the transmission fluid, from the brand they put in to the genuine nissan fluid and also put 2 earthing straps on the body and engine as they beleived the 4wd was an electrical fault.

it was fine for a few days but the problem has come back with vengeance. today the power was dropping off harshly and it almost felt as though the car was almost dragging, and 4wd light on again.

this seems to happen intermittently, the rest of the time the transmission is flawless, WTF is going on?

perhaps its not the auto transmission but the transfer case?

argh i hope this doesnt drag me down into a money pit of hell

im in canberra by the way if anyone knows some specialists. ive been to autotech so far

Edited September 2, 2008 by zoomzoom

[FelixTRX]

Bleed your Altessa system. I suffered the exact symptoms you did about 2 weeks ago, bled the Altessa lines and, touch wood, had no more issues.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Greg.

[zoomzoom]

do you think that there is air in the system?

i did get them to check the fluid and top it up, i guess its possible they may have introduced air in?

[66yostagea]

How do you bleed the system????

[zoomzoom]

yeh, that was my next question...lol

is it a DIY job that can be done properly?

[chook]

find the bleed nipple on the transfer case, situated at the top near the hose connectors , connect clear hose to nipple, run engine, loosen off nipple slowly, allow flow until no more bubbles come out. tighten nipple and check resovoir whilst engine still running. Dont allow the resovoir to get too low during bleed.

[FelixTRX]

As Chook said, but I had a mate help me. Ran the resivor(??) down to almost empty, topped it up with fresh (bright red) fluid, drained it again, topped it up again. 3 times makes sure it's only fresh fluid in the system and all has been good since.

Cheers, Greg.

[zoomzoom]

another follow up question:

is the fluid used in the tranfer case and attessa system similar to the transmission fluid? is it capable of retaining water?

ive always found this problem to be heat related, as it occurs after the car has been used for a good 40 minutes or more.

is it possible that theres water which vaporises under heat and causes problems like when you get water in brake fluid and it messes with the brakes?

im thinking if i bleed the air and theres still water in there it may be a pointless exercise. just replace the whole lot im thinking

[chook]

If you have never relaced it, then its a must, probably the original factory fluid in it, same fluid as transmission.

[zoomzoom]

it was checked at the 100k service but was clean so it wasnt replaced. i would have preferred it to be changed in the first place but ill have it done this week.

the car was especially bad on the drive home today. there was a 10km stretch where the power was dying on and off about every second.

i bloody hope its a simple fix

[KiwiRS4T]

  zoomzoom said:

it was checked at the 100k service but was clean so it wasnt replaced. i would have preferred it to be changed in the first place but ill have it done this week.

the car was especially bad on the drive home today. there was a 10km stretch where the power was dying on and off about every second.

i bloody hope its a simple fix

There is nothing special about the Nissan fluid except the price. You can use the same ATF in the auto, Atessa and power steering.

[Duncan]

lol soooo true