tallica62

I was just told by my mechanic that I have a bearing problem. I was over reading in the 4th gen FAQ section, and I found some posts about common 4th gen bearing problems. (I have a 97 SE 5 speed with 67k miles). I am scared ****less after reading these stories. I hear people getting new trannys and having them last only a month, etc. I understand that this bearing problem occurs with gen 4's, but please give me any advice as to how to save my car and wallet from future occurances and what to do about this one. I just bought my car about 2 weeks ago, and reading these posts is very discouraging to me. So far I love my Maxima and I hope to keep it that way...I need my car for work and I really really don't want to have to give up on it...just tell me anything that may help...thanks

ChiTown Max

Did he say your bearing is shot, or is it that tranny fluid is leaking from the driver side? My brother has a friend who is a Nissan mechanic, and when mine started leaking, he just replaced the rubber seal around the axle/tranny. It's been working great for a couple months now with no leaks. *knock on wood*. He also mentioned that of all the cars that he's seen get brought in for this type of leak, he could only remember one instance where the tranny needed to be replaced, so hopefully this will solve your problem. I just paid him $10 for parts, and $50 for his work...

tallica62

I hope to god its the same thing. I have to call him today to get the exact diagnosis, but he said something about a leak, so hopefully its that. tthanks

ChiTown Max

Yep--go with the cheapest thing first.....Even if they suggest replacing the transmission, I'd still start off with just replacing the seal. It's barely a 1-hour job for them, if they know what they're doing....

SMX95

iTrader: (8)

My drivers side seal broke on me too. Its been a month and its been holding up, even after some e-brake burn-outs and Racing up to 80 mph.

ChristheNite

Start looking for a 5th Gen tranny - they're stronger and have no bearing issues and relatively cheap!

tallica62

any idea how much a 5th gen. tranny would cost for my 97 SE?

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

Specifically, the problem with the bearings in some 4th gen transmissions is that they were shimmed incorrectly from the factory. The preload is set too high on the bearings, sometimes the input shaft bearings, sometimes the differential carrier bearings, sometimes both. When this happens, the bearings wear at a much faster rate than they would if they were shimmed correctly. The races start to wear unevenly, play develops, and axles start to wobble, thus the axle seals start to leak.

The fix is to have the bearings properly shimmed. This can be costly. The parts (new bearings and shims) are cheap, but the labor required to remove the trans, tear down the trans, measure the shims and figure out what size is needed, reinstall bearings and shims, reassemble the transmission, and then reinstall the transmission, is what makes it costly.

SlackR237

Yeah just a couple months ago I had LOTS of transmission trouble due to bearings, etc, and my trans fluid was slowly leaking too. I had all the stuff Nealoc said done to my Max... $1200 later the car was as good as new!

bergzsemax

how difficult would it be to mate the 5th gen tran with vq30?? and how much would it cost. i was told the other day that i have a bearing thats banging around and might need a new transmission soon. I have 115000 on my max now and im not sure if i should just sell it and get something newer. I was hoping to keep it a while cause its a great car but dont know if the tranny problems will be to costly.