talisman311

Title says it all. I'm about to replace my tranny, the car has 130k miles and I wanted to know if I should get the rear main seal replaced at the same time. Thanks all.

matty

iTrader: (54)

Yea sure. While you have the trans out, its a good thing to have done..

-matt

MadMaxSE-L

iTrader: (4)

YES! it is apparently very easy to replace and if you don't and it started leaking after you put the tranny back on it would ruin your clutch and you would have to take the trany back out to do the 10min job of replacing the RM seal...

just do it

BobMax

always do it when you have the chance.

SEmy2K2go

iTrader: (10)

Is it leaking?

talisman311

Not leaking, but figured since the tranny would be out i might as well..
PS. dang these seals are pricey.

MaximaSE96

iTrader: (8)

depends who u ask...some say if its not leaking dont replace it cause if u replace it u may end up with a leak cause its not seated like the old one was....some say replace it cause u can and its there....or u may not see it leaking now but it could be when u take the tranny out

f550maranello2

iTrader: (2)

fact is that they are not easy to seat correctly.. its a pain in the *** and you need to get another seal for the oil pan so that u dont get any leaks after wards...

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

I would leave it alone.

Dave

MaxBlack97

iTrader: (11)

what if its already leaking like mine? does that mean my clutch is ruined and I should get a new plate for my clutch now?

MadMaxSE-L

iTrader: (4)

supposedly oil will soak into clutch material or something like that. you can wipe it off and clean it w/ something like brakeclean but I have heard that you can never get it al the way out from inside the material...

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

If it's leaking I would change it and plan to put in a new clutch.

Most Maximas never see a leaking RMS in their long mechanical lives.

Dave

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

Not if you do it the proper way!!! Even hacking it took me alot longer than ten minutes to remove it, prep it, goop it, then stuff it back in there.

Tallisman if your car is an automatic (you never really said?) I definitly wouldn't bother, spend your money and time on something else. BUT if your car is a stick than you'd wanna replace it, but trust me, DO IT THE RIGHT WAY which involves removing the upper oil pan, trust me, just be careful pulling off the pan and be **** with cleaning/gooping/and tourqing both of the pans AND the rms and it will be well worth it.

MadMaxSE-L

iTrader: (4)

I said apparently b/c I didn't really know if it was easy or not, but most of the ones I've done on other cars were pretty easy...didn't know it was that hard on our cars-but im gonna find out in a couple weeks when I do my clutch job...

speed racer

iTrader: (10)

why leave it if automatic?

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

On a 5-speed if it starts to leak enough oil it will ruin the clutch. On an automatic it would have to leak 10 times worse than that to be of any concern, and even then it would just make you lose oil, it wouldn't affect the oil pressure or cause oil to get on anything it shouldn't.

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

MadMax, apparantly Nissan sorta dropped the ball on the vq's rear-main seal, they last about as long as a clutch, but what's worse is that the seal is not like 99% of the set-ups out there where you just pop out the old seal and drive in the new one. (NOTE: the haynes manual blows, lol, according to that it is.) Nissan wanted to make it EXTREMELY difficult, the seal has a big aluminum bracket around it that bolts to the block, and the bracket has another rubber seal on the bottom of it that makes up the oil pan seal. Supposedly some here have been successful replacing the seal while slipping the pan-seal into place, but there have also been others who had it replaced or replaced it and had it leak right away because it was done the "easy" way, but I would never try to do it that way again, it's just impossible if you ask me, it's a pita AND very prone to leak. So instead you need to remove the upper oil pan, then do the rear-main seal, then install new oil pan seals on both ends, along with rtv in certain spots on both the rms and on the oil pans. Check this thread out, you can see my frustration when I had to remove the tranny again to do it the right way, lol, down towards the bottom of page 2 is most of the stuff about the rms. Anyways, I wish both of you guys the best of luck, it's not to hard to remove the upper oil pan, the hardest part is the a/c compressor bolts and then breaking the seal without warping the pan, just be patient and you won't have any leaks. I used the permetex grey, and after I cleaned off all the old stuff meticulously using a 3m scotch pad (Get one! trust me!) and brake cleaner, I put a 1/4 bead around all the bolt holes and around the outside of the channels only, and I have zero leaks after quite a few miles. Don't forget you need more than just the rear-main seal for parts though, you need to go both front and back upper oil pan "c-shaped" seals, and there is two o-rings for the oil pick-up that MUST be replaced when you pull the upper pan off.

Here's that thread.......http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....highlight=seal

MDeezy

iTrader: (27)

You have got to be joking . . .

A careful eye and a rubber mallet should seat the new one properly. If it looks to be in good shape and holding up well, maybe dont take the risk.

Or change it, seat it fully. . . then RTV the hell out of it.

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

hahaha, I was gonna say the same thing, they leak lke clockwork, just like the upper intake gaskets on our cars. If I'm not mistaken (It's possible I am), the '95 used a more conventional seal that could be done in this manner, and that's why the haynes is all messed up. Oh and it doesn't really matter, I looked at his cardomain, he's automatic, but figured this might be helpful to others.

talisman311

I guess I should've mentioned that I'm auto, and after reading this thread, I think I'll stick with leaving it on there. BTW, anybody here have any experience dealing with cottman transmissions?

jjamzman

Cottmans are independently owned so you can get a good one or a bad one. When my wife's car puked a trans (not a Max) right in front of one, it seemed like the thing to do. What a disaster. I will avoid the details but suffice to say that I had to call Cottman Corporate and DEMAND in no uncertain terms (you can fill in just about any thing you want here and be close) that the problems be resolved at a different Cottman location. It was just that bad. I got an absolute NO at first but they eventually relented after some considerable threats at litigation and besmirching their reputation. The second one was great, the first one abominable.

jjam

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

awww common man! You know you want to slap a tranny in there yourself! Think about what you could buy with $500!!!

kcryan

iTrader: (1)

I dont know, id usually say yes for sure, but now after the problems my axle seals have given me id lean toward if it has NO leaks, leave it... if theres any sign, change it.

MadMaxSE-L

iTrader: (4)

I will definatley be replacing my RMS when I do my clutch job, there's just no way with 150K on my car that I will have it all apart and the seal be right there and not replace it

much thanks for the info...

talisman311

I ended up calling around like 10 different places in richmond today to find a tranny shop. I ended up going with a place called Gene's transmission shop in petersburg (for those of you who are familiar with central va). The guy on the phone talked to me for 18 minutes mentioned how he loved his customers and making them happy and gave examples, also stated how he's been working on trannies for 37 years now. Hopefully I went with the right guy for this as his shops about 25 miles away from where I live. I'll update you guys whenever I hear results. Thanks all for the help.

BTW, KRRZ350, found a place offering to sell me a tranny w/ 53k miles for 650 shipped. From what I gathered, you're saying the trannies have VINs on them and to double check with carfax right?

d00df00d

iTrader: (4)

This is what Tilley did on mine a while back. The amount of RTV he used could have sealed a leak in the Hoover dam. You'd better believe it never leaked after that.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

If the tranny was an original tranny, the VIN will be on a metal tag right near the speed sensor opening.

While I agree that running the VIN is a good thing to do to find misdocumented trannys, it is no substitute for having the tranny opened up for an inspection. I would never assume a tranny is good (this car or any car), ever. It's SO much easier to crack it open before you install it, than to pull it for that same inspection later.

Dave

carlmax5

While having my new clutch (Stage 1 Exedy ) installed, the mecahnic went ahead and replaced the 10year old rear main seal.
FYI, the stage 1 exedy clutch is AWESOME! NO CHATTERING[/COLOR], smooth shifting. HOWEVER,!! be mindful to go easy (on a "shifting gears" standpoint) for the first 500miles before any launches,etc.