[joel p]

Change the transfer case oil often, our local dealer said maintenance wasn’t followed on ours at 100 k miles and no warranty and the axel was shredded and basically was whining and needed replaced also. It could have been related to just wear and failure but $5k later it’s something to do more often and document .

 

[PoManzPathy]

Change the transfer case oil often, our local dealer said maintenance wasn’t followed on ours at 100 k miles and no warranty and the axel was shredded and basically was whining and needed replaced also. It could have been related to just wear and failure but $5k later it’s something to do more often and document .

For sure on this. On these particular style of vehicles, front wheel drive with part time 4x4, the T-case is an all too neglected component. They only hold ounces of gear oil and are packed near hot exhaust components. The gears within them are working any time the vehicle is rolling as well.

I don't think I mentioned it in this thread, but last year and about 10K miles ago, I had a local shop I like do a T-case drain/fill for me while the Pathfinder was in for it's mandatory yearly state inspection. He only charged me like $45 for this service. WELL worth it. He said the drained oil didn't look awful, but it wasn't great. This would have been the 3rd drain/fill and the Pathfinder had ~74K miles on it at the time. He used 80w90 because any shop is going to use what Nissan recommends.

 

[AsylumDEG]

For sure on this. On these particular style of vehicles, front wheel drive with part time 4x4, the T-case is an all too neglected component. They only hold ounces of gear oil and are packed near hot exhaust components. The gears within them are working any time the vehicle is rolling as well.

I don't think I mentioned it in this thread, but last year and about 10K miles ago, I had a local shop I like do a T-case drain/fill for me while the Pathfinder was in for it's mandatory yearly state inspection. He only charged me like $45 for this service. WELL worth it. He said the drained oil didn't look awful, but it wasn't great. This would have been the 3rd drain/fill and the Pathfinder had ~74K miles on it at the time. He used 80w90 because any shop is going to use what Nissan recommends.

FWIW, I did transfer case at my local shop at ~54K for good measure (nothing indicated the need) and started having a horrible rattling sound start after I picked it up - seemed to happen at 40+mph and increased with speed. Turned out there was a shield underneath that was removed for the transfer and wasn't fully tightened back down when they put it all back together. Couple of wrench turns and its all snug and quiet again - whew! LOL ~65k now and going strong.

 

[joel p]

For sure on this. On these particular style of vehicles, front wheel drive with part time 4x4, the T-case is an all too neglected component. They only hold ounces of gear oil and are packed near hot exhaust components. The gears within them are working any time the vehicle is rolling as well. I don't think I mentioned it in this thread, but last year and about 10K miles ago, I had a local shop I like do a T-case drain/fill for me while the Pathfinder was in for it's mandatory yearly state inspection. He only charged me like $45 for this service. WELL worth it. He said the drained oil didn't look awful, but it wasn't great. This would have been the 3rd drain/fill and the Pathfinder had ~74K miles on it at the time. He used 80w90 because any shop is going to use what Nissan recommends.

Went through our mechanic details and it was changed about 30k ago, but something wasn’t happy and the axel went and took out the transfer case . Can’t prevent everything , and will talk to the dealership on how they said it was maintenance. Reason being the seals went out , common problem around 110k on almost all and that is a fluid replace then . Just never know

 

[PoManzPathy]

It's not uncommon for the o-ring seals to fail on the transfer case on these from what I understand. There's a later model Murano video floating around where this happened (same drivetrain as pathfinder). If you catch the oil leak soon enough, the T-case can be removed and a new seal kit installed. You'd still probably be talking a $2000 bill though.

Problem is, they hold so little oil, you have to be right on top of the repair.