I've been in the business of trying to build and rebuild my 1997 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (yes it's pretty old🙄) for the past year now.
While it may not be as expensive as fixing a more modern car, it has its own expensive parts to fix, especially considering the fact that it has had several owners.
I'd probably make another post detailing my fixes so far, but right now the transmission issues I've had recently have been of more concern to me than.
I was driving home from a trip on a Saturday, some weeks back, very late in the night, let's say 10pm. I suddenly noticed the O/D indicator on the dashboard started blinking profusely.
The O/D should ideally be off (indicator should be on), except you want the vehicle stall on lower gears before going higher
Shortly after the car began to jerk upon hitting gas. I stopped immediately to think of what happened. I couldn't figure anything out. I began moving again and the jerking started again. I put on the O/D on my gear stick and put it off. The O/D sensor went off completely.
In most cars with gear sticks, the O/D button is situated on the side of the gear stick, just under the big selector button
Now the vehicle began to stall, it hardly changed gears anymore. I dragged the car home praying fervently that the car doesn't stop.
I parked it in the house all confused of what might had gone wrong.
I called in my mechanic immediately to report the situation.
He told me to bring it in as soon as I can.
I took it to him a week later, and he called in the transmission mechanic who said it was a wiring problem. So we had to call in a "Transmission wiring guy" - I never knew that the transmission wiring had its own separate technicians. I thought all wirings and electronics in the car is fixed by the "wiring technician", usually called "rewire" in Nigeria.
So "transmission wiring guy" took a look at the car and found out that wiring connecting the transmission and the transmission ECU had melted - perhaps due to poor placement or bad insulation from the hot parts of the underside of the car. He said he'll have to change the whole wiring.
I used to think spare parts were cheap for this vehicle, considering it's not a popular choice these days. I was disappointed this time. He called a bill of 80000 naira, just for that job. I couldn't believe my ears. I thought it was just going to be a quick fix - get some wires here and there and redo the joining.
We managed to beat down the price to 50000 naira.
I was still thinking of how I would resolve the funds, then he also discovered the transmission ECU had also developed some fault.
I was petrified😪.
That was another 40000 naira for foreign-used ECU. I had no choice but to pay that up.
The faulty transmission ECU
He finished the job and all went well. Got the car back - and it felt all good again.
While I was really spent for this unexpected episode of spending, I was still grateful I didn't have to spend beyond what I did.
For more modern cars, I can imagine how much these parts could cost compared to mine.
Someday soon, I'll get another car - much better and modern.
But before then, I'll have as much fun as I can with this gass-guzzling truck I call a car!
Check out my other posts about my Gass guzzling truck👇👇👇