Gilbert Hernandez – Barsom Automotive – Whittier CA 90606

Date Released: 03- 30-2012

Nissan Xterra Automatic Transmission Repair. Transmission components replaced as needed.

TCM Damaged by water or coolant intrusion from defective radiator.

The pictures of this article are from the 2007 Nissan Xterra with internal TCM.

NOTE: The pictures are high quality 1896 x 1424 pixels, just save the page in your computer, or right click to see the full picture

Technicians always recommend to replace the TCM when coolant enter the transmission, but nobody can explain why.

Out of my curiosity, I decided to open this unit and see were the damage is. The unit picture above shows the TCM, which seems to be sealed.

The cover on the other side was easily removed and the inside was exposed.

What a nasty stuff had been accumulated. In this particular unit, the fuses are blown, with no explanation, until now!

After seen this, we cleaned the unit and we saw the picture below:

A short at the grounds! I couldn't wait to see the inside of the TCM! We have to use the grinding wheel to remove the welding at the connectors.

We removed the rivets that hold the pressure sensors, and also grind the spots that hold the turbine sensor in place, the whole thing came apart

like this:

A lot of deposits were fond at the bottom of the connectors, see row at right.

Few minutes of grinding and we saw the TCM exposed! Nothing can get inside, this thing is more than sealed.

Ok, now based on my speculation and the pictures above, we inspect every TCM inside for the nasty stuff. If it looks like this one, replace it!