[Superdanman4290]

Hey Ladies and Gents,

So I have this small leak happening from my transmission, it has only been a week, and I check the level on the tranny every 2 or 3 days. so earlier today was one of them, luckily I have extra tranny fluid to put into it when needed. :frown:

Here is what I am working with:
The Frontier is a 04' Model, ::grin::
the transmission is from an 03' model year.(junkyard)
5 speed manual(Fun).::smile::

Problem area: from what I know or seen, it seems that the leaks are in two possible places.

1st leak is coming from the back of the transmission where the driveshaft is inserted to.

2nd point of leak is coming from the area which the speedometer device used to be (mine is broke at the moment)

When I can, I will take pictures of the problem areas and submit them here to get your opinions and advice. ::smile::

Thanks for looking guys/gals, I will get the pictures uploaded as soon as i get off work tomorrow. :nerd:

 

[Superdanman4290]

Here are the pictures, I can finally show you guys/gals what it is that is wrong.

 

[Frontierdud]

Sir, I had an '04 manual but never had a problem with leaks except for one instance. The second picture (looking forward) might be a tranny leak OR it could be a shifter leak. At the bottom of the shift lever and under the boot is a rubber boot seal akin to that of a CV boot. The top of the boot fits tight against the shifter while the bottom fits over the top of the tranny. It is typically zip-tied into place over the shifter opening. If, for any reason the boot comes off the top of the tranny it will leak fluid. This happened to me. The dealer was able to fix it in less than 15 minutes.

Before you go back underneath the truck try prying up the center console and check the condition of the shifter boot.

Then report back ...

 

[smj999smj]

Those shifter boots also tend to dry rot and split, causing a leak. As far as the extension housing (rear) seal, they aren't that expensive nor difficult to replace. The broken speedometer pinion might be a little harder to replace, depending how stuck it is in the case.

 

[Superdanman4290]

Hey guys, did a little investigating after work. It was a hot day, but i at least took your word for it. i'll be replacing the part tomorrow.

 

[smj999smj]

The hard part is getting the top half of the shifter to unscrew from the bottom half. The rubber insulator tends to bond to the steel and in some cases you practically destroy the top half of the shifter trying to get it off!

 

[kevinjohnson3216]

Has anyone figured out an alternative to buying the $100+ inner boot from Nissan?(one under the boot you can see in the cab without taking anything apart)

The rubber on mine is torn with age and it causes hot air to blow up through my cupholder in my upper boot

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Ed Mc]

Has anyone figured out an alternative to buying the $100+ inner boot from Nissan?(one under the boot you can see in the cab without taking anything apart)

The rubber on mine is torn with age and it causes hot air to blow up through my cupholder in my upper boot

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Wrecking yard (Pick-a-Part, etc) is probably the best place to look for an inexpensive replacement. Doggone expensive piece of rubber, eh??

 

[Superdanman4290]

Those shifter boots also tend to dry rot and split, causing a leak. As far as the extension housing (rear) seal, they aren't that expensive nor difficult to replace. The broken speedometer pinion might be a little harder to replace, depending how stuck it is in the case.

yeah, the speedometer pinion is pretty difficult to pull out. A friend of mine and I tried to drill it out once, no cigar, we even tried to just straight pull muscle it out...nothing, that has been like that since 2012. Any ideas on how to get that thing out? I still have the original speedometer in one piece with the connector attached to it.

 

[Roader]

Drain the fluid. Start a spot to turn it counterclockwise with a sharp chisel and a small sledge. Heat the case around the pinion with an oxy-acetylene torch, then try to turn it with the hammer/chisel combo.

I had a filler plug that was seized in the case that had to be chiseled out, although there was lots of "meat" on the plug to chisel on so that made things easier than that pinion. You probably don't have much surface to chisel on so getting the surrounding case nice and hot might be the only way to get it to budge.

 

[Ed Mc]

Thanks to this thread, I was able to find the leak I had spotted on the last oil change. I pulled the outer shift boot & escutcheon plate and sure enough, the tie wrap had slipped upwards and there was obvious leakage out the bottom of the boot.

I got rid of the cheap tie wrap and installed a stainless worm-drive clamp. It'll never come off, that's for sure!

Cheers........ed

 

[Superdanman4290]

Thanks to this thread, I was able to find the leak I had spotted on the last oil change. I pulled the outer shift boot & escutcheon plate and sure enough, the tie wrap had slipped upwards and there was obvious leakage out the bottom of the boot.

I got rid of the cheap tie wrap and installed a stainless worm-drive clamp. It'll never come off, that's for sure!

Cheers........ed

We are glad to help out ed. ...for anyone who has a similar problem... that is the least we can do.

 

[Superdanman4290]

I'm reporting back again y'all.

Good News on my end or "Small Improvments"....
1. My buddies and I got the speedometer/Odometer working again, just by pulling the old one out...it seems like the one that was stuck in the tranny was loosened to pull with a couple of tools. Luckily I still had my original with me, just a quick switch and now i can read speed and clock in miles again.

2. I got all 4 of my shocks replaced with KYB (Gas-A-Just) shocks...they are pretty cool, definitely a good buy from ebay. I had the originals
for about a little over 12 years...it was time.

3. I got an aftermarket radio installed (DIY) with a buddy of mine who is really good with electrical wiring and such.
It's a Pioneer head unit, I didn't swtich out the speakers or anything crazy.

How about you guys, any updates on finding/repairing/maintaining problems/solutions/additions to your frontier?

~Daniel