Hey all.

In another thread, someone claimed that stock auto transmissions don't last long in the Maxima.

Is this true?

Can I go 5-speed when my auto dies? (I doubt it's worth the trouble.)

-- Brian R.

 

Yup...

Stock Tranny:
A little mod + a little spirited driving = bad in 60k.

Well, a swap may actually be cheaper than a tranny rebuild. Provided that you can find a good one at the yard for cheap.

-Shing

 

Ouch. I have 66k in a 98. No mods. Hope the previous driver wasn't spirited.

-- Brian R.

 

Anyone know how much a tranny rebuild costs around? thanks

 

 

Shing i don't doubt your knowledge about maxima's but
60K ?

isn't that a bit conservative ?
also what do you mean by a few bolt on's ..

Ant

 

Ask JimW how long his tranny lasted? It's not a number I made up. Seen several posts of rebuilding trannys at 60-70k range. Don't get me wrong, I never siad everyone will be like that... but just saying that that's happened to enough people that the number sticks in my mind.

I've got 53k right now. Initial shift in is starting to get rough. I do'nt drag the car either...

-Shing

 

My 96 with just over 50K had to have the whole transmission besides the clutch replaced.. luckily it was under warranty.. my dad had a 90 and went through 3 clutches with it.. and its not his driving either.. maxs transmissions are just soft

 

I certainly hope my transmission lasts longer than 60k!

At 15k, I got the fluid drained and refilled. At 30k, I drained and refilled with Redline D4 ATF. I'm rolling up on 45k now, and will get a full flush and refill with Redline D4 ATF, which will be expensive. I figure $200 total, approx $100 for the transmission flush, and $100 for 10 quarts of Redline D4 ATF.

 

I have already had a new tranny and i bought mine brand new and its a 99. At about 15k miles my car was slipping going into all the gears. So i just went and it took a day over at Miller Nissan and i had a new tranny at the end of the day.All i had on the car at that time was an intake and exhaust. Now i have 22k on it and its fine.

Chris

99SEL

 

Wow, I would say I am a "spirited" driver and my transmission with 120k still feels solid. Of course, I didn't start with mods until recently, but I still wouldn't call the transmission in my car weak by any means. Maybe I just got a really good one.

 

I think while there may be a trend for some to die early, we can't really base our judgement on a few people here. I'm willing to bet the majority of high mileage cars here have not had auto tranny problems. Also consider that we tend to be more aggressive with our driving and modifications than most maxima owners so we are bound to see more problems.

Still yet, keep in mind parts are designed with cyclic failure in mind, they are meant to break after a certain number of cycles. The way this works is that a certain number of cycles are chosen and the parts are designed so that it has a 50% chance of failing before that period and a 50% chance of failing after that. So a few cases on the low side are completely normal in any system. I'd say a tranny is probably designed to fail more around the 100k mark, which means the significant area for failure is probably between 75k and 125k. So I gotta ask you, do you feel lucky punk?

 

You need to be more explicit. Stock auto trannies don't last. This is because they don't torque the valve bodies properly in the factory. I put out 284 hp and 262 lb-ft at the wheels with my 5-sp and I've never had a problem with my tranny. After the last SC pulley change, though; my clutch does slip a lot now.

 

FYI Ryan, 3rd generation trannys are diffrent than the 4th generation trannys.

 

would a vb upgrade prevent the tranny from dying?i have 111,600 plus miles on my car, and the tranny feels fine..but i dont want to sell my car to get a new tranny later on

 

hey shing, you can add me to the 60k (59,000) list for stock auto tranny dying!

 

Is your car sitting on the ground in that picture

 

but let me add this...

JJW is SC'd ... no ?
or did his tranny die b4 the SC install..

Buss your lucky man .. i got 98 K miles and i'm gettin nervous.. **** tranny ...

Well i guess its time for the VB .. i gots the tranny cooler sittin in my garage..

Ant

 

I ahve 89K ... i bought the car with around 83K... umm my tranny was either rebuilt or replaced by the previous owner at 75K so i guess my tranny is alittle new.... so i guess maybe maxima tranny kinda suck..... oh well...

 

Jim W and JJW are two different people.

Jim W does not have SC. JJW yes.

Anyhoo... to me, the maxima auto tranny will not last under abusive driving. Especially after a little mod. There fore, like Chad(deathwish) said.... do you feel lucky punk? (not you directly)

-Shing

 

My 95 GXE was delivered to me with 11 miles on it. I had that car for almost 6 years (got it in Aug '94)
After the 2nd year (about 35k) I started manually shifing the car all the time. That's when I found out how quick the Max was in stock trim. I didn't even change the tranny fluid until 50k (car was a lease, and I wasn't planning on keeping it)
Then at 55k, I decided to keep it. I started modding it, and street/track racing it. I made about 40 passes down the 1/4, and made 100's of runs on the street, allthe time manually shifting.
I finally blew my tranny at 87-88k, and it was my fault ( I toasted it while at the track, doing a "healthy" burnout trying to get some traction out of cold street tires on a icy cold track).
I don't think that many of you will be as hard on your car as I was. I just don't think that's possible, other than neutral-dropping it or some other outright form of abuse.
I would think that 90-100k is the most you can realistically expect from any FWD transaxle with normal use. Harder use will accelerate wear and tear. Just like a manual transmission. You can only get so many miles out of a clutch, it just depends upon how you treat it.

 

how about the stock tranny of the auto if it is not modded--think it can last past 100k?

I think that the Maxima of the old had better trannies. My neighbor with his 89 Max--which he claims he has never wahsed (the color is fading from the years) has about 160K on it and mechanically is quite sound. The engine is VERY quiet--i would say even more quiet than my 97 and his tranny is still the original...

so is the 4th generation tranny the crappies of them all?

 

Got a 95 GLE with 71,000 miles and her tranny is tight as can be. She is all stock and been handled with care.

 

has just a tick under 130k miles now and has always been "enthusiastically driven" it is on the original transmission although my clutch is starting to show slippage....all in all, not bad at all...in my eclipse gst i went through 2 rebuilt tranny's and about 4 clutches in 2 years.

 

Che is your car manual or auto ..

we are referring to auto tranny's ... manuals don't have a problem...

Ant

 

So it really does become a luck of the draw on which car has a decent tranny and which one has a crappier one--auto that is--when it is rolled off the line.
I gotta say that the Auto tranny of the max isn't as tight and good --of say the Toyota V6's. I have had that car for almsot 100k and that tranny was smooth. Of course, it was not a very "inspired" car--bland at most.

I think some preventive maintenance such a a good tranny flush every once every 15-20K would be nice?

geez..I hope this sucker goes past 100K. I am only at 30K right now--but lots of little trips and street driving. And the thing is that I noticed it doesn't shift all that smoothly--but I think it is a "natural" thing with the Max.

 

I have a 97' w/ 5 speed, it just died last week and is getting a new one under warrenty... I think that's a little early for a car with only 67K on it

 

what happened to it? Just wondering.


I think it can be safely said that in general that the Max tranny seems weeker than it should be. I think though a lot of it maybe have to do with driving style and the other like humaras said, is luck of the draw.

-Shing

 

I agree, the Maxima tranny is not stong, and some "sprited" driving seem to make it go faster. So what I do is not drive the car hard if there no need to, gunning it from light to light will shorten its life.

 

It started to make a squeeking sound when the car was idling down from 4000RPMs-2000 so I has it checked out and the guys at Dorschel Nissan (in Rochester NY) told me it wsa he final drive? or somethign else in the tranny and they were going to take it all apart. Has anybody else had this problem?

- Aaron

 

My 96 Max is running on 79K miles and the tranny has not gave me any problems at all. I drive about 100 miles everyday. (Knocking on wood like crazy) And my tranny is fine. I just think I should probably change the tranny oil about now..


LateI