eric_c

Hey guys,

Need some help here - my truck is currently in the shop right now and I am trying to diagnose what happened to my 96 Pathy.

Here's what happened. We were on the on the highway on the way to the cottage, with the cruise on and in 2HI. Tranny had dropped down a few gears to climb a hill so engine revs were at about 4000 rpm. I happened to look in the rear-view mirror and saw white smoke. Didn't feel any change in the vehicle nor did I hear anything.

Thinking I was burning oil, I immediately disengaged but kept going to the next exit. The smoke stopped on its own within 30 seconds or so. The underside had been sprayed with what appeared to me to be oil, and it was dripping down fairly slowly. I wiped the oil off the underside of the truck where I could - it appeared that whatever had leaked stopped on its own. Check the engine oil level and the tranny fluid level - both fine.

We were already half-way to the cottage so we decided to keep going for a bit and see. Truck drove fine there and back. Parked it all weekend at the cottage and there was no oil/fluid under the truck, and the engine/tranny levels were still fine.

However, on Sunday I think the 4HI was no longer working. The light would come on and everything, but normally when I put it in 4Hi I feel some added vibration that stops when I go back to 2HI and I can definitely tell that 4Hi is engaged; its something the truck has always done. I wasn't feeling this vibration anymore, and I really don't think the 4Hi was working. The 4X4 light would also stay on.

Shop can't really see where and if the truck is still leaking. Area under the truck shows no sign of fluids. The transfer case was about a quart low, which they topped off, and they changed the Tranny fluid. They also changed the diff oil (per my request). They now believe that 4Hi is now working.

I can't really figure out what happened. Its as if a small amount of oil, under pressure, shot out from somewhere and then stopped; something related to engaging the 4Hi. I didn't try 4Low for fear of getting stuck there. The truck doesn't appear to be leaking anymore and drives normally in 2WD.

The stuff looked like oil, it was fairly dark and slimy - doesn't look anything like the fluid from the tranny.

88pathoffroad

That's really wierd. Your transfer case was a QUART low?!? How, if it's not leaking?? That's a lot!

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'88 Pathfinder: 6" of lift, 33x13.50 Swamper LTB's, Rancho 9000's, L&P Stage 3 steering system, K&N, Pacesetter headers and 2.5" exhaust, Lock-Right locker, 110A alty and electric fan swap, dual batteries, 700W+ worth of PIAAs, etc.

eric_c

Dunno, this is a real weird problem. Is there anything on the truck that vents or blows off oil pressure? Its like there was oil under pressure that shot out somewhere, but then just stopped.

johnnyxb9

Ive never checked my truck but does the transmission have a vent tube? It may have just puked because it was clogged. Also a drop of oil will spread like wildfire with air to blow it around.