Swapping a Pathfinder 5 speed transmission for lower gearing

[Silver dude]

I've been looking into this as a possible option.


Stock Ratio set

• 1st 3.580
• 2nd 2.077
• 3rd 1.360
• 4th 1.000
• 5th 0.811
• Reverse 3.636

Pathfinder Ratio set

• 1st 4.061
• 2nd 2.357
• 3rd 1.490
• 4th 1.000
• 5th 0.862
• Reverse 4.125

Other then the case internals I don't think the case is any different. I know I've heard of people fitting the z28 overdrive gears as well for a even deeper overdrive. I'm currently running a Pathfinder transfer case for the beefer chain.

The reverse gear greatly interests me don't know if any of you have backed up trailers before but the Xterra really moves in reverse.

The lower gears throughout the spectrum would help a bit with pushing my 33's though admittedly the change is quite small. But, with a bad transmission and both costing the same might as well shoot lower especially when it will probably cost less.

If I can find one with low miles I'll try it.

 

[granitex]

exactly what I would do in your situation.

 

[Prime]

Where'd you get your information on the ratios? Because I'm looking at your list and I don't recall seeing those higher numbers for the Pathy trans.

But otherwise, it'll bolt right up, so yeah. I'd personally try to keep the tail housing of the X transmission that has 5th gear in it. Just because that gear definitely does not need to be shorter. The Interstate revs are already ridiculous.

 

[Silver dude]

1993 Pathfinder factory service manual. Only the early vg30 V6 4wd Pathfinder and Hardbody have those ratios.

I'm sort of torn at the moment. The Pathy transmissions are near impossible to find with low miles. $400-$600 in high miles. I could buy one to rebuild mine and swap ratios. But, the parts are not super cheap if I find a bad gear or break parts. My X trans is freshly rebuilt but I might damage items on tear down. Assorted risk I guess.

I'm able to locate a Xterra transmission with 62k on it for about $700. Which would be pretty nice. 4 hour drive to pick it up. But, seems my best option so far from the stand point of physical downtime and fit. But, then I don't get the better gearing.

 

[Prime]

Fit should be identical. Aren't the both FS5R30A transmissions?

 

[Silver dude]

Definitely going to jump on this.

Yeah both are fs5r30a. Only thing that may differ is the crankshaft position sensor in the bellhousing. Older ones might not have one.

 

[Silver dude]

My dad stopped out and I got the bad trans out. The Pathfinder trans was a replica pretty much on the outside. The breather tube elbow and hoses were larger and turned down rather than towards the engine block. But, I fixed that with short piece of rubber hose.

There was no hole for the crankshaft positiion sensor. Admittedly I could of swapped the bellhousing. But, I preferred to drill and machine the bell housing myself to accept the sensor. I'm not sure on the date of this particular transmission. It had a electronic speed sensor so it had to be fairly new maybe it was a actual 95. Maybe the OBDII Hard bodies have the sensor hole. Either way it was a simple measure and drill job.

I got it mated with the engine still have yet to drive it. So far it seems like a near perfect part for part swap much like the transfer cases.

 

[Prime]

Nice!

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Hopefully in the end it has the right ratios you wanted. Were you able to check before you installed it?

 

[BEEFY]

I was just starting to look into this as I need to do a clutch this spring and i have a (I think 89 or 90) pathy with a 5 spd in the drive way for parts. Only 180k on it. So very interested on how it works for you.

 

[Silver dude]

Well I put it in and the transmission is bad. Bearing howl in all gears especially 1st. Lever is sloppy. Wish I could beat the **** out of the guy that sold me the trans for lying to my face. So much time I invested and wasted not to mention the $150

Gears do feel lower and it pulls a little better away from a light. Love the slow reverse gear but, I do miss the deeper 5th gear overdrive. The difference isn't very dramatic and given the choice I'd be just fine with going back to the stock ratios.

Not sure where to go from here. I can either take two bad transmissions and make one good with a huge amount of time and a hundred or more bucks. Or just look at financing a newer vehicle as I'm tired of the constant repeat failures this D22 platform has.

 

[Prime]

That really sucks, man.

 

[drbandkgb]

That does stick man...

 

[granitex]

can you rebuild the pathy trans with your old fifth gear to get the best of both worlds. You have so much time getting this truck into what you want it would be a shame to just send it down the road. Beside think of how you look back on the old D21, you know that you still wish that it was around, and this one has a shot at sticking around for a while longer. That and no new payments on something unproven.

 

[StupidFish]

So true. Its always so much better to keep what you got and fix it when it breaks than buy something more expensive thatll still break. Besides theres such a thing as love.

 

[Silver dude]

Yeah I'd take the 1st gear out of the Pathfinder trans and use it to rebuild the Xterra transmission as I rebuilt that transmission in entirety 2 years ago. But, to get to the 1st gear it requires every single gear and bearing to come off of both the main and counter shafts. Along with the trans in and out of truck. Also disassembling two transmissions to get to the parts.

Maybe I'll use my bore scope camera to inspect the gear for defects before I even start.

 

[Silver dude]

For what it's worth a informative post. The Pathfinder transmission comes with lower gearing at the Input shaft. This makes all of the individual gears and ratios the same. Except 5th gear overdrive which is one tooth deeper. I've seen postings in four wheeler magazine on a Frontier that someone took 1st and 2nd gears from a early Pathfinder for lower ratios. This is not a true statement as the gears are set for set the same. The initial reduction is higher which effects the ratios.


I took my Pathfinder trans with bad bearings and removed 1st gear (one I initially stripped) and 5th gear. I installed them both in my original Xterra box. The deeper overdrive is nice. It sits at 2100rpm at 65mph.

 

[Prime]

Nice! That's the one complaint I had about the 5 speed.