hey guys, on my 91 with 200k miles the clutch felt fine, no problems shifted smooth, was tight to grip and shift, allthe sudden in the last week the shifter its self has gotten very loose, i dont know why, im wondering what some possible problems could be, i don't beat up on it, havent had any accidents or anything out of the ordinary, just seemed to start giving a lot more when i shift. and when its in neutral its alot more loose too, help guys, i dont wanna lose 2 clutches to two third gens in one year!

 

when you say the shifter is loose, what exactly do you mean? the shifter moves back and forth easier than it did before? it moves more than it did before?

is there any additional range of movement that it didn't use to have? (i.e. you could only move it 3" before and you can now move it 4"?)

does it sway back and forth when you press or let off the gas?

 

i mean the amount it moves in neutral from left to right is the same, and when it is in a given gear it has a little bit of lateral give each way as most clutches do, however it is just much more loose in these movements, before in nuetral if i tapped it with my finger it would barely move, now it does not fall to one side, not that loose, but it gives much easier and just does not feel as secure, and each maxima ive had has kinda had that bucking in the shifter when ive hit the gas and let off, that doesnt seem to be an issue

 

sounds to me like possibly the ball/socket thingy under the shifter is coming loose a bit.
otherwise, I don't really see a problem with it.. might pull your exhaust off and the heat shields and take a look at the linkage where it bolts to the chassis, but I think that's going to be your only problem.

 

i would check the rubber mount the holdes the shifter in place ive seen a few go bad they break right down the middle where the bolt it and everything still works but it makes the shift feel very loose. you can check to see if its broken by removing the trim around the shifter and then removing the rubber insolator around the shifter and you can then see the rubber mount and it will be very obvious if its broken

 

thanks alot guys, ill check it out... another quick question, on my jeep cj7 the shifter can be pushed down and rotated and pull right up out of the floor, this woudlnt be the case for a maxima would it? could the shifter be easily removed and replaced?

 

heh... if only!
the only way to remove the shifter on a max is to take it out from the bottom.
you can do it with the exhaust in place, but it's a lot easier to remove the cat and heat shield and then pull it out.