2013 Pathfinder Transfer Case Need to be Replaced?

[pastreit]

It’s a Pathfinder SL AWD with only 44,000 miles, and recently started making a soft rumbling noise in the front, kind of like driving on a rougher road surface. It is audible from about 30 mph on up, and easy to hear above 50 mph. No warning lights, no loss of power, just the noise.

We took it to the dealer, and they called today and said the noise is from the transfer case. He said it was pretty easy to locate when they had it on the rack. They recommend it be replaced at a cost of about $4,500. They said the oil in the transfer case looked good.

This raises a few questions, and I’d appreciate any thoughts on this:

• How likely is it they misdiagnosed the problem? He seemed pretty confident that was it.

• Is there a less expensive option to repair this than paying a dealer to install a new one?

• How dangerous is it to drive with the noise?

Thank you for any advice, suggestions or opinions!

[pastreit]

Got a little more information from the dealer. The transfer case assembly is part # 33100-3KA0B. Cost is $3,059 and labor to install is $1,093. With tax, it’s just shy of $4,500. The assembly is OEM new.

He described the noise as a growl, which is probably a more accurate term than I used. He said they’ve only replaced one of these on this generation of Pathfinder, and it was a near new vehicle and done under warranty. Nissan later identified a bearing as the problem, and he thought that is likely the problem with mine as well.

[macgiver]

Next time put Mob 1 75/90 gear oil , if GL4 or GL5 is also specified along with ATF (too watery).Problems here Waaay too soon ,eh. Some fear the"dont mix ATF with gear oil " statement in manual , they mean not to add like PINTS to topoff - giving like 70/30mix here (either combo ). NOOoooo problem to drain for ten minutes , even go and dredge the bottom of gearbox with a pipe-cleaner or wire "hook" for solids . Anybody that anal about mix - ya simply put in cheap P-Boys oil , drive around the block - dump that and fill with the Moby 1 !! And that is a good " flush" right there.
The only argument , a weak one at that is " I don't want a broken seal to spill gear oil into my transmission !! ". Well proper maint. gear oil changes will keep seals intact for hundreds of thousands of miles under "normal" driving
Even curly on the three stooges knows - " nah that aint gonna happen ,yuk cluk cuk "

[Rockwood]

You can head over to car-part.com and input your info, search for transfer cases. Used ones are listed for 225 to 500, usually with 60,000 to 100,000 miles. Then find a shop that knows Nissans in your area, and take it in and have them tell you what bearing is bad.

Then decide whether to repair or swap in a used one depending on the cost for each option. Used ones usually come with a 90 day or so warranty. But total cost to fix should be about a third of that dealer quote. If you want the shop to guarantee their work, you will have to buy the used transfer case from them, which they will markup, and then they will do replacement labor for free if you happen to get a bad used one.

As far as driving it with a bad bearing, it will probably hold up just fine for a little while. Avoid freeway speeds, the faster you spin bad bearings the faster they fail. Eventually the bad bearing fails, and you will puke the transfer case out all over the road. So go ahead and get it addressed, but you have time to see what your best option is.

[pastreit]

Thank you Rockwood, that's very helpful! I'll let everyone know how this turns out.

[pastreit]

In parallel with finding a local transmission shop that was willing to either repair the transfer case or replace it with a used assembly, per Rockwood's suggestion, I called Nissan Consumer Affairs and asked for out-of-warranty assistance.

Nissan got back to me within a few days and offered to cover 90% of the cost. Needless to say, I took the offer and am thrilled with Nissan's help. The work was performed by my local dealer and everything's working well.