Posted: Jan 28 2005 at 4:10pm | IP Logged

I believe it is reccommended to manually shift from 5th (OD) down to 4th when hauling uphill or loaded and into a headwind.

I think the torque converter status in 5th (actually OD) is different than in 4th (or other gears) . Even though the trans downshifts automatically I remember someone mentioning this back in the summer. Downshifting to 4th brought the temp down .

Posted: Feb 01 2005 at 7:15pm | IP Logged

I had a similar situation happen to me last summer.  I was pulling a 5000 lb travel trailer up a mountain, when my tranny temp went high (and I was in 4th with tow/haul button pushed).  I then contacted my dealer, who in turn contacted an engineer for Nissan.  They recommended to manually drop to a lower gear, even though the engine was still pulling in 4th.  I tested their theory 2 weeks later, and sure enough it worked. 

Posted: Feb 13 2005 at 8:18pm | IP Logged

I tow a race car with a 24 foot trailer (7000 pounds ) and had the temp gauge go up to the first line as well...told the dealer...told me that was "NORMAL"...I left thinking that was wrong...

Downshifting to 4th gear manually brought the trans temp down to "half"

Just changed the rear diff fluid...totally black...and the rear diff cover has lost its black coating...

I am going to add REDLINE 75w-90 synthetic gear oil...