ridinwitha35

iTrader: (1)

I drive an '02 automatic, and the trans is most-likely still the original. 140k miles on the clock & have only owned the car 120k miles onward.

While on the expressway, the trans gradually starts slipping until pressing the gas had no effect on vehicle speed. Was able to coast to the shoulder & shut the car off. When I first noticed the trans slipping 'til the time I cut the car off was less than a minute. Engine bay was smoking, which died off about a minute after I raised the hood. No codes. Pool of trans fluid under the car.

I remember seeing a pic on this forum where a section of the trans had busted off & that's what I thought happened to me. But upon further inspection, it seems the hose that runs from the trans to the radiator had fully detached. The hose was fine, I guess the clamp had somehow come off & the hose wiggled itself off. This was odd because it's still a tight fit when reattaching the hose to the spigot on the radiator. The last time I had messed with that area was when I put my Koyo radiator in last summer, though I did reuse the (OEM-original) clamp.

Question: is the damage already done? Has this ever happened to anyone? Any hypotheses on how this happened? That smoke bothers the heck out of me. The trans is fine now-just threw a new clamp on & refilled with fluid-shifts just like it did before the incident. But did I just shave 10k, 20k, 30k, etc...miles off the trans? The trans has seen 4 drain/fills since I've owned it, and Infiniti dealership records indicate a flush was done around 50k miles.

Opinions?

Feldman

iTrader: (1)

you probably took some miles off your tranny but i doubt you did too much damage it. You did the right thing by pulling over quickly, you will just have to wait and see how it holds up in the future. Nobody on here is going to be able to give you an accurate life expectancy because there are so many variables involved

ridinwitha35

iTrader: (1)

Ok. I just hope that if it fails, it fails by giving me symptoms that it's gonna fail vs. an all-out leave-you-stranded all-of-a-sudden failure. I drive 25 miles to work one way so I need this car!

I'm just seeing if anyone had an instance where the fluid level dropped super low & the next week the trans just blows up.

beefy23b/97

The only thing you could do to ensure it doesn't break down on you is a rebuild, but that's pointless unless you know the problem and way too expensive. Probably wouldn't shift right because the torque converter was drained of fluid. Just refill it and buy a new hose clamp.

Grand_hustle17

iTrader: (22)

Question to the OP... when u you tried turning the car on, did it start back up??? Strange question but I think I'm having the same problem

ridinwitha35

iTrader: (1)

After I cut the engine off & waited for my brother to bring me a new clamp & some fluid, then refilled & cut the car on, it started right up like nothing ever happened. Was about a 45 minute wait. No funny sounds, 'AT Check' was not illuminated, nor were any SES codes present.

Guess you can say I did an unintentional drain & fill while driving, haha.

Lontar1

iTrader: (5)

Just to be safe.. do a drain & refill of the AT, follow my sig if planning on dropping the pan. Good luck

mandyfig

Looks like the AT is intact. Good luck with it.

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

Check AT light is for sensor failures, not low fluid so you shouldn't have any codes.

As long as you didn't drive car very far with it slipping you probably didn't do any major damage. No way to tell what affect long term durability you might have without taking the transmission apart. If it is shifting fine, I wouldn't worry too much but I'd keep some $$$ in reserve just in case 6 months down the road you start having issues.

spock

iTrader: (5)

I'd drain it again, (the slow way), and drop the pan to check for nasties. If you've got a lot of metal shavings in there, failure is around the corner. If not, you got lucky.

Love_00_Max

You will be fine.

Unless the AT pump can pull fluid from the pan it won't pump out to the return line. That is the nature of the beast, try it out when u do a flush, run the car till nothing comes off the return line, you won't get anything more than 4-5Q. Even with 5Q the transmission is supposed to run without failing but not for a long time since the fluid gets quite hot on the clutches w/o cooling via radiator.

Rest in peace you are fine. Did the right thing to put everything back together and refilling pan before driving it again..

ridinwitha35

iTrader: (1)

I get the feeling the trans is doomed. I held off on flooring it for a while. Tried to floor it yesterday (while in motion) and the rpms just zoomed up until it finally 'caught'. Also feels like it's harder to drive (with the same input from me, doesn't move like it used to).

Any concrete tests I can run to determine if it is in fact running on a lifeline or if I'm just imagining things?

Question I've always had: If I've got the front-end jacked up and in Park, should both wheels lock?

I'll drop the pan next week & hope for the best.

beefy23b/97

Not good. Is your fluid level still good? If so then you probably fried the torque converter.

spock

iTrader: (5)

Start the car, put it in D and put your foot on the brake as you give it gas. If the rpm's jump up without labouring the engine heavily, your in trouble.

02max245

iTrader: (2)

Does anyone know how hard it is to do a trans swap from auto to manual.

spock

iTrader: (5)

Very hard. Now Stay on topic!

ridinwitha35

iTrader: (1)

The fluid was a little lower from the last time I filled. The thing is, I can floor it but it feels like there's a short delay before it engages. Thanks for that test, will try it soon. Also found some more diagnostic procedures in the FSM (a section I've always ignored), will try those out too.

ridinwitha35

iTrader: (1)

Fast forward a couple weeks:

So the transmission seems to be back to normal. However, I notice fluid around that spigot on the radiator, even after I've cleaned up the area & even though the hose/clamp is still secure as can be. Bad/clogged (ATF cooler/)radiator? I get the impression that originally pressure may have built up and blew the hose off.

Has anyone ever had problems with specifically the ATF cooler section of their radiator?

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

You might want to consider an aftermarket transmission cooler.