My 98 Max has the same noises, I got the car used. What causes this bearing to go out like this, rough driving, wrong gear oil, or maybe the past owner used it to teach someone how to drive a stick on it? The past owner claims to be an airplane machanic (I knew that he let his younger son drive it for a while). However he kept the rest of the car in top condition including the engine which still runs with lots of power even though it has 140k. Also if anyone could tell me how much does it typically cost to change the input shaft bearing? and since the car has so much mileage, should I just change the gear oil and prolong its life a little longer and get a whole new rebuilt gearbox when it dies on me.

Would putting a small magnet on the end of the drain screw catch any of the metal shavings that can cause damage help? I may try that.

It needs at least a rebuild with full bearings and seals replacement. In theory you could save $100 by not replacing the other bearings, but after several hours of labor already invested that's a very bad idea. You'll want to get this job done soon, because if the tranny is actually leaking that suggests very bad wear in the bearing that could leak to damaged gears. Damaged gears are much more expensive to repair than bearings. I do rebuild 4th gen Maxima trannys for cheap, if you're interested in details PM me.

Dave

Changing the oil will help a little but it's too late. Maxima trannys definitely don't last as long as they should. The bearings simply don't handle the loads. Fortunately, if you don't wait until it fully dies, the rebuild isn't too bad and is limited to bearings only. Even if you have your mind made up to use a rebuilt (say, a VLSD version), this tranny will have nearly no value if it's run until it truly dies.

Dave

It has a magnet, and it's probably covered in metal gunk. If you think cleaning the oil will help, just drain and replace it.

Dave