Automatic transmission troubles, 2002 Pathfinder, rwd

[Megaseth]

It's been a while since I've been on here, but this is the first place I'd go when I have a problem. Here's the lowdown on the situation:
I changed the transmission fluid/filter on the pathfinder this weekend, and now it's giving me some trouble. It had been about 3 years since the last service was done. After changing the fluid on saturday, I figured all was well and things drove fine. But when I went to meet up with my grandparents/parents sunday after a highway drive, my dad noticed a good amount of fluid leaking out. We checked the level and it was way too high. I thought, "great, i overfilled it and now it's dead". But my dad told me it could be the vent tube letting out a lot of the excess. So I drove home slowly, got under the car and checked all the bolts to make sure it was seated. Then, I drained some of the fluid and started the car, went through the gears, got things moving and checked the cold side since it wasn't enough to get the temp up. It was still a bit high, so I drained off a little more and did the same. We drove it around last night to make sure things were ok, and they seemed to be fine. However, this morning, after checking to see if anything was leaking, I checked the fluid level (cold, i know, which is bad) and it was still good. Started the car, drove my girlfriend to school and on the way it shuddered a little, and slipped once, then drove fine the rest of the way, but shuddered a little once again. I checked the fluid there and it was in the safe zone on the hot side. I drove to work without any problems but I'm still worried. I know too much fluid is bad, too little fluid is really bad, shuddering and slippage are bad. Basically, unless it's shifting like butter and revving up smooth, it's bad when it comes to transmission health. So, do I need to start shopping for new transmissions or is my wallet going to live to see christmas?

[Megaseth]

New updates:
It's still leaking fluid, but I can't tell where from. I'm worried that maybe the pan isn't fully secured although I made sure all bolts were tightened down. I didn't use any loctite, but now I'm wondering if I should have. I think it might still have too much fluid as well, but I can't really check that right now, it'll have to wait till I'm done with work.

[EsotericImage]

im for reply as well..

Ill be changing mine soon..

[Megaseth]

A few quick searches gave me some new info:
1) there might still be too much fluid, but I'll find out tonight if this is true.
2) new bolts are recommended by the FSM (which i dont have, and therefore didn't use) could this be a cause of a slow leak from the bolts? If I need to, I'll get new bolts and swap them out one by one.

[sultan]

they say to use new ones because they stretch so it might cause a leak. new gasket/sealant (not sure what they use) on the pan?

[Towncivilian]

I'm going to drop my transmission pan soon. Where can I obtain replacement bolts, and what size are they? Should I use blue threadlocker on the new bolts? I don't mean to threadjack but this information may be relevant to the OP too.

[Megaseth]

Matt: what's up man?? it's been what, years?? I replaced the old gasket with the new one supplied in the kit. We also cleaned the old one off, making sure to get it cleaned well.

Towncivilian: I believe any dealership with a parts department should stock them. and I think there's something like 14-16 bolts?? The new bolts will have a dab of sealant on them.

Updated, again: I drove the car to pick up my girlfriend so we could run some errands and I checked the fluid when I got to her place. The fluid didn't register on the dipstick, but The car wasn't driving horrible. I limped the car to orielly's and got some more fluid and a funnel and added a little, then let the car run and ran it through the gears, revving in each, then checked it again. It came up as fine when I pulled the stick, but barely got anything on it when i stuck it back in and checked it again. So, i'm lost. I'm going to drop it off at a shop to have them put it on a lift and see if they can find out where the leak is at and/or if there is anything wrong. I just don't have the time to spend getting under it and checking things out, so I'll let a tech do it.

[Towncivilian]

Towncivilian: I believe any dealership with a parts department should stock them. and I think there's something like 14-16 bolts?? The new bolts will have a dab of sealant on them.

From this pic it appears that there are 18 bolts. Is this correct?

[Megaseth]

Ah, yes, that is the correct pan. I was trying to count in my head from memory and didn't really pay attention to the number of bolts.

[CanuckQx4]

Running the transmission short on fluid is a quic way to cooksville... really quick!!

[PJT]

Towncivilian: I believe any dealership with a parts department should stock them. and I think there's something like 14-16 bolts?? The new bolts will have a dab of sealant on them.

From this pic it appears that there are 18 bolts. Is this correct?

First of all, Megaseth, sorry to hear of your troubles and hope things work out well.

Towncivilian, I did the gasket & fluid two weekends ago and didn't use new bolts. Other members haven't either. So far so good. I just checked for leaks the following days. Additionally, when I called the local dealer for the pan bolts they advised they don't stock as their techs usually don't replace either.

[EsotericImage]

im thinking permetex grey "gasket maker" when replacing the pan? I did this on my civic with new oil pan gasket and have 0 leaks. old bolts also...

any ace or home depot will have the bolts.. most likely metric so should be easy to source

[GRNMACHINE]

Any updates Mega? I was told the trans have seals which are fairly common to leak. Was recommended to me to try Lucas Stop Leak.

[EsotericImage]

Any updates Mega? I was told the trans have seals which are fairly common to leak. Was recommended to me to try Lucas Stop Leak.

The original design was not using stop-leak. Personally I dont trust Lucas' products. Ive seen too many things go wrong with their products. Stop leak is also a band-aid until you fix the problem.
Like I said before, use gasket maker with the gasket and you shouldnt have leaks around the pan

[Pathy415]

When I did my fluid and filter change I made sure that the gasket supplied with the filter kit was rubber not the cork type. The salesman said the rubber type made a better seal than the cork style gasket.

As for the bolts, I just cleaned them off real good with some brake cleaner and used high temp loctite. Also make sure you clean the pan real good and dont forget to clean off the magnet. It's been 6 months since I did it and I haven't had and leaks yet (knock on wood).