Nissan RE5R05A Valve Body Diagnostics

Nissan RE5R05A Valve Body Overview

The Nissan RE5R05A transmission debuted for the 2003 model year, and was considered to be quite technically advanced at the time. This was Nissan’s first attempt at a 5-speed automatic transmission, and they put it in their entire RWD line of trucks and cars. The RE5R05A was manufactured by Jatco (Nissan’s automatic transmission subsidiary), and featured full electronic shifting controls, 3 planetary gear sets mounted inline, and 6 multi-plate clutch packs. Nissan is known for making smooth, yet powerful V6 and V8 engines, and their RE5R05A transmission was able to handle this power quite well. However, a number of issues eventually led to early RE5R05A valve body problems.

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Nissan RE5R05A Applications

2003–2008 Nissan 350Z
2005–2012 Nissan Pathfinder
2005–2015 Nissan Xterra
2005+ Nissan Frontier
2003–2015 Nissan Titan
2004–2016 Nissan Armada
2003–2008 Infiniti FX35
2003–2008 Infiniti FX45
2005–2008 Infiniti M35
2003–2008 Infiniti M45
2002-2006 Infiniti Q45
2004-2010 Infiniti QX56
2003–2008 Infiniti G35
2003–2008 Infiniti G37

RE5R05A Valve Body Specific OBDII Codes

How the infamous early Nissan RE5R05A transmission failure caused early RE5R05A valve body failure

Although many people do not realize this, a vehicle’s radiator plays an important role in the overall health of a transmission. In order to remove heat from the transmission fluid, the boiling hot ATF gets piped from the gearbox to the radiator, where it passes through a special cooling chamber at the bottom. Once the transmission fluid has cooled, it then gets sent back to the transmission pan so it can soak up more of the heat that gets created by all of the moving parts.

The Nissan RE5R05A radiator however, had a defective transmission cooling chamber. This fatal design flaw would allow antifreeze to seep into the flow of transmission fluid, which would then wreak havoc on the internal transmission parts.

The resulting Nissan RE5R05A valve body problems

Once enough glycol and water from the antifreeze mixed with the transmission fluid, it would destroy the friction material on the clutches, creating a sticky gel-like substance. This sludge like material is responsible for a number of RE5R05A valve body problems, which we’ll look at now.

RE5R05A solenoid failure

As you probably know by now, a transmission solenoid is a little plunger-like device that directs the flow of pressurized transmission fluid. When a Nissan radiator failure occurs, the gel-like ooze can both jam the plunger mechanism and short-out the wiring on the RE5R05A solenoids.

Other issues

After the radiator goo has reached the RE5R05A valve body, it can quickly clog the passages, rendering the valve body almost useless. Because the contaminated transmission fluid is unable to remove much heat, cracks and warpage in the valve body are also quite common.

Different RE5R05A valve body designs

Throughout its life, the RE5R05A valve body a number of design updates. The original design spans 2002 – mid-2004 production. The second design was released in mid – 2004 and includes changes to the solenoids and check ball locations. The third design came around 2006, and included changes to the casting, spacer plate and spring calibrations. The RE5R05A TCC solenoid was now fed with a different pressure source. There were different accumulators, and there were changes to the passages for different valves.

In 2009, the RE5R05A valve body was redesigned again. The changes included the elimination of all pressure switches, save for the low coast brake. The spacer plate was also changed, temperature sensor number two was eliminated, and the TCM programming was changed.

Solving RE5R05A valve body problems

The problem with repairing a RE5R05A valve body is that you don’t really know what kind of stress and extreme temperature changes they have been subjected to. This is why many people simply install a remanufactured RE5R05A valve body, to eliminate the threat of the unknown. Companies like Street Smart Transmission use state of the art equipment to completely remanufacture the valve body. This is not like rebuilding, where new components are simply installed into the existing valve body. They use specialized equipment to analyze each valve body to see if it has been cracked or warped. A mechanic does not just simply eyeball it, a machine does the inspection, and even checks the tensile strength of the metal to make sure that it meets the original OE specification.

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Once a casting has been selected for the build, all of the bores are honed out to OE specs, to make sure that the valves will function the way they were intended to. Then every single component from the check balls, to the valves, pistons and springs are tested and/or replaced. After that process is complete and quality inspected, they install all new solenoids (they also bench test them prior to installation), speed sensors and pressure switches. The finished product is then put on a Superflow AXILINE Valve Body Tester, which can simulate actual road conditions. This allows their ASE certified techs to verify the functionality, and make any adjustments or fixes before they ship it out to the customer. Street Smart Transmission also gives it a 1-Year/No Hassle Warranty, which makes getting a remanufactured RE5R05A valve body almost a no-brainer. To learn more about the remanufactured RE5R05A valve body and the remanufacturing process that Street Smart Transmission uses, click here, or give them a call at 1-866-812-7560