2001 Nissan Pathfinder Transfer Case toast?

[warlam]

Does anyone know the correct part number for a 2001(2000.5) Pathfinder 4wd Manual transmission transfer case? Apparently mine s*** itself after 60K miles with no lube(thank you used car dealer and my dumbass for never checking it) and I need to find a used replacement. Truck locked up on me at 65mph for a second and then drove normally for a mile at 35mph then locked up intermittently until I made it to the next exit at 10mph. After I parked it the rear end was locked up and had to be dragged onto a flatbed I didnt notice if the front wheels were locked up as well at that time b/c I was irate. It was in 2wd while all of this happened. A mechanic has undone the drive shaft and checked the rear end which is fine the tranny had good color lube and is full but the transfer case didn't even drain a thimble full so I am assuming that is what was causing it? If anyone thinks it may be something else or has a way to test it let me know as I dont want to buy the wrong part and blow anymore $$ than necessary. Also if anyone has a transfer case for sale send me a PM with mileage/price.

Thanks

[Towncivilian]

Provide your VIN and I can find the part number. It might be quite expensive though for a new OEM transfer case. A junkyard would be a better option; all R50 transfer cases are interchangeable, just make sure you get the correct version (part time or full time).

[warlam]

Unfortunately the garage it is at is 30m away from me so all I can tell you is it is the SE with part time 4wd (can select between 2hi 4hi 4lo) manual transmission I may be able to dig up the title in the important documents graveyard and find it there I will begin the excavation. BTW thanks Towncivilian!

[Chuck Tribolet]

The FSM says the part-time and full-time transfer cases take a different amount of lubricant, so they are presumably different.


Chuck

[warlam]

So all of the R50 transfer cases are the same for MY1996-2004 the only difference is part or full time 4wd? And I am assuming the Automatic transmission one is different than the manual as well. I just noticed that the pick and pull near me may have a couple of 96-97 and hopefully one is a manual as they only want 126 for the transfer case.

[Towncivilian]

As far as I know, all 1996 - 2004 part time transfer cases are interchangeable regardless if they are manual or auto.

[warlam]

**UPDATE**

Just had a 97 5sp Transfer case swapped in and it works flawlessly labor was 300 for that and labor on a new exhaust as mine was rusted to all hell and had to be cut off (it also had numerous leaks before hand and was completely shot). It looks like some dumbass at Jiffylube(this is where the previous owner had service done) had drained it and not refilled the transfer case.

[Towncivilian]

Glad to hear you've got things up and running again. That's Iffy Lube for ya - that's why I prefer to do all my own work whenever possible. Since you're unsure of the maintenance history on that transfer case, maybe do a few changes with a short interval to gently clean out any crap that may have accumulated.

[warlam]

You think itll be ok to just flush it every 3k miles when I do oil changes? It has been flushed once before being refilled but thats it so far. BTW thanks for all the help town!

[Towncivilian]

Sure, that should be fine. Use the cheapest Dex3 ATF you can find, then switch to synthetic ATF when you feel it's been flushed enough. I suppose you'll want to operate the 4WD more often to "get things moving" while doing these short changes.

You're quite welcome!

[Chuck Tribolet]

I don't think the transfer case would have gone 60K miles with no lube.

Chuck

[warlam]

It went from 44k to 104k empty probably lasted because its a chain. If I get some free time ill rip the old one open and post some pics of the carnage.