Hey, just have a quick question before i buy a used tranny. my tranny in my 98 5spd blew, and as some of you may know 5spd are pretty damn rare up north (canada). I have only been able to find 1 5spd transmission, remember we have VLSD! The only transmission available is from a 96 and it had 140,000KM (87K miles). What transmissions were most affected by the improperly shimmed bearings? The transmission comes with a 6 month warrenty, but id be pretty pissed if i installed it and it started leaking. Rebuilding my current transmission i dont think is very realistic, as the car will NOT move in reverse, and moves forward in neutral. Also my axles from my 98 will work on the 96 correct, aslong as the 96 maxima had ABS and LSD?

 

The axle depends on the LSD. So unless you switch types the axles will fit.

From what I can gather *all* 5 speeds can die early due to diff bearings. The VLSD model has a bigger/stronger bearing on the drivers side, but IME the passenger side bearing goes first anyway.

When you get the used tranny, try to move the differential inside by reaching in where the axles enter. If it has any wiggle room, it needs rebuilt. Then take it to a tranny shop and have them open it up for an inspection. They will be able to thoroughly inspect it in about 30min, and right away you'll know if it's good or not. You can also take it apart yourself to inspect it.

It sounds like your current tranny has a broken piece in the shifter linkage, maybe a broken fork. It could probably be rebuilt.

Dave

 

Hey, I'm new on here. Have a '98 5-speed with 92k miles. I'm afraid I have a bearing issue as well. I've had a new seal, and two after market axles installed and it still leaks when you push up on the driver side axle...too much play. Is it the conclusion on this forum that it's the differential bearings? I found a site where someone said Nissan put shims in that were too big which caused skalling on the bearings...if this is the case it seems the new bearings would suffer the same fate and you'd have the same problem after a while. thanks for any input...this is really bumming me out...I love the car and want to save it. I also don't race mine at all.

 

Yep, that's pretty much the story as near as I can tell.

The good news is that if you only have leaking and shaft play, you'll probably have a minimally expensive rebuild. Just remind the rebuilder that the shims might be wrong - it's kinda unusual for the factory shims to not fit right and they don't always re-measure for them.

Dave

 

When you say minimally expensive, what might I expect?
thanks
Scott

 

get an 01 tranny

 

Why an 01?

 

Minimally expensive probably means around a thousand dollars. I have the input shaft bearing as oppose to the differential bearing problem on my tranny and brought a used one from this guy on craigslist for 300 and when I put that piece of garbage into my car it was more noisy than the one orginally in my car. So I called a few tranny places up to get a quote on changing the bearing and they told me that they don't change just one bearing, but they change all the bearings when they rebuild it. That guy didn't give me an exact quote he just told me it would cost around $600 plus for both parts and labor. So I figure that if I were to have them take the tranny off my car then rebuild it and put it back on, that's about an extra 4 or 5 hours for them. I'm not sure how much they charge per hour, but I'm guessing at least $125 per hour from the $600 plus quote I received. So all in all that's 200 dollars in parts and about $125 per hour for 8 or 9 hours (Shouldn't take more time than this if they have the skills and tools.). So you figure like around $1250 (@$125/hr) if they actually know how to fix it.

 

Yep, $600 for the rebuild is reasonable. Removal and reinstallation is additional. You definitely don't want to change anything less than all of the bearings if you're 'going in there'.

BumbleB80, I would bet a dollar that the diff bearings were worn out in yours and that the input shaft bearings got noisy from the metal particles in the oil that came from the diff bearings. Diff bearings usually fail more quietly.

Dave

 

Thanks for the input. I have a Nissan dealer tech helping to look into this too now. So hopefully we'll get it squared away. I know every situation's a little different, but I'm going to keep posting mine here so maybe it will help someone else.

 

Someone mentioned getting an 01 tranny - I know it's the same engine but will a 01 Canadian VLSD tranny fit a Canadian VLSD 4th gen engine?

 

From what I understand, the vq30de (4th gen) and vq30de-k (5th gen) engines differ only in that the K has a variable intake manifold with slightly higher flow injectors. The limited slip is basically a function built into the differential part of the transaxle, where the axles connect. The 01 tranny should definitely fit the 4th gen engine, whether or not you'll need a new flywheel depends on your existing one's condition. Also, if you're rebuilding the clutch assembly at all you can also probably expect to require a new disc, release bearing, pilot bushing, maybe even pressure plate.

 

Thanks for the info, but I don't really notice the diff bearings being worn. It wasn't leaking from the axle seals either. However the tranny was previously rebuilt when I purchased it since I noticed that there was a sloppy sealant job. Maybe the input shaft bearings got damaged prior to that rebuild and they weren't changed being that I don't feel much metal shavings. Anyway I have the whole tranny opened and the only bearing that was noticably worn was the inner input shaft bearing, I could see a little grove on the inner side of the bearing made by the *****. Since I have an extra tranny to play with I'm just changing both the input shaft bearings for now and when I swap out the one currently in my car maybe I'll change all the bearings since I don't want to deal with the bearings races for the diff bearings right now since they look tough to get out. Thanks

 

Timely thread for me...just found out today that I have the leak/shaft play problems also, both on driver's side. Figures: paid the car off a few months ago and have been looking forward to a few years of cost-free (you know what I mean) driving.

Hmmm, I can get a brand new transaxle for about $1700 (same price for an '01 w/LSD) from Pinnacle and car-part.com lists various places where one can grab a used or rebuilt part.

I'm wondering if folks around here know of a reliable source for rebuilds where the bearing preloads are definitely done properly. Like to avoid getting a new one, if possible....but I like the idea of an off-the-rack rebuild (that may leave me in this same spot 2-3 years from now) even less.

Thanks!

D.

 

Honestly, ive gone through all of us, decided id take my chances and bought a tranny from the wreckors. cost me about 300USD for a VLSD 5mt with about 90K miles on it. I put it in, and it didnt leak, well 6 months down the road its starting to leak, i tossed around the idea about rebuilding but it would have cost too much, looking at it now, im either going to have to rebuild this one, or buy another junk yard one, which is going to net me about the same price as a rebuild.

Thinking about it now, i should have just got one rebuilt. take my advice with a grain of salt, if you perfer screwing around with junkyards then be my guest, but ive been through all of it (actually got ripped off 1100 by a junkyard who wouldnt return a BLOWN tranny) to top it off i was 17 at the time, so i thought it was pretty pathetic ripping off a 17 year old.

 

I do rebuilds for a very reasonable price. You can PM me if you're interested. I only do Maxima manual trannys, so that allows me to stock all the shims and I have a lot of good used parts handy too.

Dave

 

Got my '98 back last week from Nissan dealer with a bill and a schematic with the shims circled, even though they didn't open the tranny. Called Nissan, they claim no responsibility and offered no help. None of the local shops want to touch the rebuild, say they don't like 5-speeds. One did offer to put on a seal that has bearings in it...anyone know of this type of seal? price is around $40. They said they had used these with success..."never had one come back".

 

if the bearings are done, the trany needs to be opened...right now my car is at a transmission garage and they are rebuilding my tranny(bearings) and i will check for the shims...after that u should have nothing to worry about....forget used trannies, problems waiting to happen

 

The part suggested I try is an axle stabilizer bearing. Anyone have experience with these? Seems like this would be a band-aid solution...just wondering though. thanks

 

WTF? Perhaps they're talking about a sealed bearing, which makes no sense because it's the wrong kind of bearing for that location. There is a bearing, and then there is an oil seal. While they are assembled next to each other, they are entirely separate items.

Keep looking - most shops don't do 5 speeds, but when you find one that does they will recognize that this rebuild shouldn't be a big deal. Worst case, you can buy a new tranny for around $1800 from Nissan and have that swapped in.

Dave

 

i had the exact same problem and still dunno what caused it. but i got a used tranny. i was wodnering if u had spare axle's LSD/ABS thanx

 

axle stabilizer bearing and seal:

http://www.secureleadercom.com/fssto...Bit=3&dept=373


I'm going to take your advice and have the rebuild done...don't think I'll mess with this stabilizer thing..

 

I see, it is exactly what it sounded like. Actually, for $80 that's not a bad band-aid. But it won't last long, and you still have the substantial risk of fragging your tranny internals.

So while this bearing/seal keeps the CV centered and not leaking, but all the play in the internal bearings mean the gear teeth don't stay well aligned, wear very aggressively, and eventually one of the gears will shred. If you rebuild now (put it on a credit card if you have to) you'll save money over making bigger repairs later.

Dave

 

Went by the shop that's doing the rebuild. Sure enough it's the diff' bearings. They didn't seem to think the shims were a big issue so I took them the info off of the "motorvateca" site. Is there any other source that talks about the shim size? If they (shop) orders new shims will they be the proper size?
thanks for the help Dave

Scott