Can anyone tell some telltale signs of a impending manual transmission failure on 4th gen Maximas? For those of you who experienced transmission failure, were there any signs or things you noticed shortly before the transmission failed completely?

Thanks,
-Brian.

 

I had an 89 Toyota Celica with manual tranny. Right before the whole thing failed, one gear started failing. What I mean by it was that it wouldn't stay in gear and kept popping out of gear. Then another gear failed and it went down hill from there.

 

You're describing the syncros going out.

 

Does it make any sort of noise before the transmission begins to fail?

 

Anyone?

 

I have not experienced a tranny faliure in a maxima BUT from all that I have read there is a "noise" that you hear, its almost like a whirring noise that you gradually hear through 1st and it works its way through the gears until the tranny blows up...

I would start looking for an LSD tranny if you think yours might be going...from all that I have read they are the way to go.

 

Thanks for the response ChristheNite!

I'm wondering if I'm doomed to suffer transmission failure, because today while I had the car in neutral, the engine shut off by itself. Just before that, I was driving in 5th gear at about 60-65 mph, had my foot on the accelerator pedal slightly, and then I felt a slight jerk and loss of response. It was almost as if fuel was cut from the engine. I'm wondering if this could be related to the transmission, because when I start off in first gear, there is a slight gurgling-type noise when I slip the clutch for a second, entering first gear.

I have my check engine light and it shows knock sensor and engine coolant sensor. I wonder if it's related to my problem?

Thanks again,
-Brian.

 

Do you know what a slipping clutch feels like, because it sounds like that could be your problem if you just loose power and it seems like a fuel issue, I would say clear al your codes by replacing all of the sensors and then see where you stand.

 

ChristheNite,

Thanks again for your time and response.

I don't think it's a slipping clutch. I'm not really sure what that feels like, but I read somewhere that a sign of a slipping clutch is the revs go up but the car doesn't accelerate? Also, the clutch was changed 10k miles ago and has been granny-shifted (not double clutching when I should though) since.

The car started stalling today. Then it wouldn't start for a while. After about 20 attempts to start the engine, with long pauses in between, it would start. I pulled the codes and got 0103, 0908, and 0304. I replaced the engine coolant sensor and reset the ECU and got the code 0505 - no error.

The thing that concerns me is the stalling. It would happen out of nowhere.. the car sometimes bog before the car just stalls completely. I'm scared of being stranded somewhere - any ideas on what it could be? Doesn't seem like any other Maxima owners experienced this because I ran a search and came up with nothing.

Thanks again,
-Brian.

EDIT: I'm replying under my friend's account. This is MoogieBoogie.

 

Off-Topic:

double-clutching...I do not think it means what you think it means. Double-clutching is actually good for your transmission. It reduces load on the syncros. You basically do this: clutch pedal in, shift to neutral, clutch pedal out, rev to appropriate RPM's for the gear you want to shift to, clutch pedal in, shift to your gear, clutch pedal out. (This is unnecessary (I'm told) on newer transmissions, but you almost had to do it when downshifting older ones.)

As for your problem: It doesn't sound transmission related, IMHO.

 

I changed out the engine coolant sensor today, and didn't have a problem on the 25 mile drive home. Would that little sensor cause all this trouble?

As for the double-clutching, I knew what it was.. it was just a poor attempt at humor, by quoting from Fast and the Furious. Now I feel stupid

-Brian.