Well a feiend called around for me and he said he can find me one used for $500 to $800 but hes telling me he can find one with LSD is this true????I have'nt heard of lsd on a maxima.Anyway i can't decide on weather or not to rebuild or buy a used tranny with lsd?Can i get some opinions??(Also the car only has 1st 2nd and 4th no 3rd 5th or reverse)

 

That's what a rebuild costs, more in many cases. As for the LSD all the canadian maxes had LSD along with the I30t here in the states.

 

So i can get a I30 5spd and drop it in with no problem?

 

Yes. Well actually you'll need a new passanger side axle for the LSD.

 

If that's what the rebuild costs, I would definitely go for a tranny swap instead. You can get any tranny from 1995-2001. LSD trannies need a new driver's side axle.

 

Had my auto tranny rebuilt for $1000 b/c the car wouldn't go in reverse. Going to get the VB mod later on.

You can check www.car-part.com for prices on Infiniti I30 trannies. Like Big D said, you will need to get a new axle.

 

thanks i'm going for the swap!!so tranny and axel is that it?

 

Also is the i 30 tranny more dependable or is the LSD the only thing different between mine and the I30's

 

I would go for the LSD tranny. Mine costs around the same to rebuilt so im trying to find a LSD tranny for it. I dunno if i can find one but i did find a tranny off a max with 120K but i guess the ones made before 11/95 wont fit on the 12/95 ones for some odd reason. Never heard of that crap before but thats what i was told.

 

Just a quick question.... In my Haynes manual they have pics of the 5 speed tranny bolt pattern, but the bolt pattern looks different on the 95 - 97 tranny than the 98 - 99 tranny.... Are they acually different? I thought they were all the same trannies 95 through 99 ???

 

I wouldnt go for a used transmission. I'd rebuild my own. Apparently most maxima/i30 5spd transmissions for the 4th gen are prone to transmission failure due to incorrect shim size for one of the bearings which causes the bearings to wear out and *** everything up inside.

I am in canada and my LSD tranny is starting to fail. I'm gonna get it rebuilt just to make sure that it doesnt fail again. You dont know what kind of condition your used transmission with LSD would be in. You might get lucky and get a good one or you might end up with another failed transmission after 50K miles.

Check out www.motorvate.ca for more info. This guy did some detailed writeups on our transmission problems.

As for $1500 for a rebuild check around some more you could probably get a cheaper price.

 

Your starting to scare me with your opinions but every thing you said is true! Thats why i have a week to decide on what i'm going to do!(my funds)

 

There are quite a few people who had their trannies rebuilt and ended up with problems not too far down the road. If you can get a tranny with low miles and verify that it doesn't currently have a bearing problem or other problem (most places have 30-90 day return policy), I think that's your best bet. I personally wouldn't touch anything over 50-60k miles.

The bolt pattern for MY1995-2001 should be the same. I have a 2001 in my 4/95 build.

The Motorvate experience goes to show you that getting it rebuilt is iffy. He had his bearings replaced by a NISSAN DEALER twice and they failed after a VERY short period of time afterwards both times.

 

Yea but the bearings failed twice because the dealer did not put the correct sized shims for the bearings. The same ones were used that came from the factory. If the correct size shims are put on so there is proper preload on the bearings then they wont fail.

I am not sure how one would verify on a used transmission if it has a bearing problem or not without opening it up unless you get it from someone on the org who totalled their car or something.

Even with a 30-90 day return policy I would be reluctant to take a chance because if it does turn out to be bad you still have to pay for removal and installation of another transmission. But if you can get a verifiable low mileage transmission for cheap then I guess that would be cheaper.

 

I was searching through some old threads and I found this:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=71609

So it seems that bearing failure usually happens around 50-60K miles and before that you cant really tell if there is anything wrong with the transmission without opening it up. So the idea of getting a used transmission from someone who knows that it was working fine still seems risky unless you open it up and check.

If you do decide to go for a used one then based on this thread I would go with a little bit higher mileage transmission because if the tranny was prone to bearing failure then it would already have happened around 50-60K.

This is just my opinion and what I understand from the thread.
Think hard on what you wanna do and do what you gotta do.

Mishmosh did you say you have a 5th gen tranny installed in your 4th gen? Bolt patterns are the same? What about wiring harness and computer? Are there any issues with 5th gen 5spd transmissions? Would a 2k2 6spd fit?

 

Actually there is a way to check for tranny bearing failure. Take multiple samples of trans/gear fluid and have BlackStone labs test it. Oh, and so far no probs with my trans rebuild after 1yr/12K of wear.

 

Actually there is a way to check for tranny bearing failure. Take multiple samples of trans/gear fluid. Drain some onto dark cloth and larger particles might reflect very bright light. Better yet have BlackStone labs test it. That's what I do.

Oh, and so far no probs with my LSD rebuild after 1yr/12K of wear.

 

The earliest reports of differential carrier bearings seemed to indicate that around 50k mile or so, they would start to go. However, since that time, many have reported 100k+ miles. I had just under 100k miles before the oil leak because so serious that I needed to fix it. Bottom line is, it's a total crap shoot. Higher mileage just means other problems are more likely to occur.

And yeah, you read right. I have a 2001 tranny on. So does Matty. The 6 speed tranny does NOT bolt up. 2000-2001 works fine--you just need to transfer your vehicle speed sensor over. A manual tranny is purely mechanical (aside from the sensors attached) so there is no issue with ecu, etc. They are sometimes cheaper to get too!

I would say that if you know a reputable shop that does good work, a rebuild is a good way to go. If not, do a tranny swap yourself.

 

Hmmm
Are 2000-2001 5spd transmissions also known to have bearing failures also?

 

You could of course just rebuild the tranny he has now and install the PHANTOM GRIP LSD plates.