i recently broke my tranny , ill be taking it out within the next two days and taking it to be rebuilt. i havent ever taken the tranny out of a 4th gen before , what special tools are required if any ??? which manual should i look at getting ??? chiltons haynes or should i just buy the FSM ? any info is appreciated
-pete

 

oh yeah and its a 5spd

 

A tranny jack is a good start. You will also need a Torque wrench and large breaker bar.

You can use a regular jack and a flat piece of wood or metal, I don't recommend it though. Some places sell adapters to make a regular floor jack act kind of like a tranny jack.

I have a Chiltons manual and it seems to cover the install pretty well.

Good Luck

 

Haynes will do nicely for this project.

Go to http://www.motorvate.ca/
Click on Transmission in the left window.
Click on Removal in the left window.
Read all about it.

If you read the whole 5-speed rebuild story at this excellent site you may feel encouraged to tackle the rebuild on your own.

 

alright , i dont need any tools for like the axles or anything like that though right?, nothing special like a nissan only tool ?

 

no way rebuild instrutctions ? u might have just saved my car , if this was going to be too expensive i might have had to sell my car , thank u guys
-pete

 

The fellow who owns http://www.motorvate.ca/ (I think his name is Frank) wrestled his 5-speed out of the engine bay by sheer muscle power! Most mortals need a jack.

Harbor Freight #507 is an example. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...itemnumber=507 I have one of these and found it more trouble than it was worth. I use an ordinary floor jack, with care.

You need a 36mm socket for the big nut on the end of the axle. The torque specification for that nut is 174-231 foot-pounds. Let's call it 200 foot-pounds. Do you have a torque wrench which goes that high? I do, but they are uncommon. My advice is to make that nut as tight as you can, and that is tight enough.

Chilton and Haynes give slightly different methods of removing the axle.

Chilton calls for separating the ball joint from the steering knuckle. Disadvantage: this requires a ball joint separator, and the inexpensive "pickle fork" style should be avoided because it tends to tear the rubber boot. See Chilton, page 8-11, Figure 35.

Haynes calls for separating the lower end of the strut from the steering knuckle. Disadvantage: the car may require an alignment when the tranny repair is finished. See Haynes, page 8-8, photo 11.9.

 

Thats a great page Daniel, thanks for sharing it with us.

I am actually doing a Clutch Job my self this weekend .

 

seems a little complicated, if this was just a bearing job id probably do it , im afraid theres alot of damage in there , where would i get gears and shafts and all that stuff if they are broken ? my tranny looked like it was leaking also but from the center seal i think , does that mean it was rebuilt already once? i really have to think about this , thanks for your help
-pete

 

A leaking transmission does not in any way mean that it has been rebuilt. If it is leaking oil in the center like you discribed, I whould think that you have a rear main seal leak. A new RMS is about $30 from courtesy nissan or $45 from your local dealer.

I have no qlue about rebuilding transmission but if your looking for things like syncros or something I whould think Courtesy nissan whould have the best deal on them. Go to www.courtesynissan.com , find there # and tell them you are a maxima.org memeber and they will give 25% off any and all OEM nissan parts. BTW I just ordered my OEM Clutch, plate,disc,TOB and 2 seals for $198!



Daniel B. Martin, I noticed you quoted 2 different procedures, 1 from Haynes and the other from Chiltons, which procedure do you think is the better of the two? BTW my TQ wrench only goes up to 140lb's . Thanks

 

The choice of procedure should be based on personal circumstances. Use the Chilton method if you have the ball joint separator, otherwise choose the Haynes method.

It's not difficult to tighten that big axle nut to the correct torque range. When the repair is almost complete the car will be assembled and on the ground. Have an assistant sit behind the wheel and step on the brakes. You put a 36mm socket on the axle nut and orient the breaker bar so that it is horizontal. If you weigh 200 pounds put your hands on the breaker bar 12 inches away from the socket and use all your weight on the bar. That applies 200 foot-pounds.

If you weigh less, put your hands further away from the socket. 200 foot-pounds equals 2400 inch-pounds. If you weigh 160 pounds, divide 2400 by 160 to get 15 inches, so you would put your hands 15 inches away from the socket and bear down with all your weight.

 

due to the help of a few org members i was able to find a used transmission for $500 i dont exactly know the mileage however i do know that it was swapped out for a tranny with the vlsd, i do plan on pulling the tranny appart to replace the seals and clean it out , i should be able to tell what kind of wear is on it once i have it in hand , and if i have two transmissions ... and i know one works, then i can experiment with my broken one before attempting to replace anything on the one ive purchased , thank you all for your help , if you have any more advice let me know
-pete

 

Taking out the transmission is no easy feat if you havent done it before. I dropped the transmission out of my old 90 Camry to replace the flywheel. Allow plenty of extra time for stuck parts/bolts during dissassembly and things that dont fit for reassembly. Allow plenty of space and PATIENCE! I took my time and did mine over the course of 4 days. You just need basic tools to do the work. Hopefully you dont have anything too stuck on the vehicle.

 

This is good advice. When you get tired, that's when mistakes are made and accidents occur. If you are working alone I suggest you do the tear-down in two half-days and the reassembly in two half-days. Make written notes as you go along. Fasten masking tape labels to loose parts to help you remember where they go. If you can recruit a friend to work with you the whole job will be easier and more fun.

 

Taking out the tranny is easy. No tranny jack is required(just a floor jack). But putting the damn thing back in is the beoach! Tranny jack makes things easier but it can be done w/ two people and good floor jack. I've removed/installed maxima trannies about 4 times now. If you replace the rear main seal, get a clutch aligment tool as it will have to be re-aligned again when you take off the pressure plate/disc to access the seal.

And for Eric, I have done a 4 cylinder Camry 5-sp also. Toyota trannies are about 3x as hard to install and remove because Toyota put all their supension pieces in the way!! Geez ridiculas! Toyota Camrys are nice reliable cars but one BIG ASSED PAIN to work on.

 

hmmmmm , i need to get a manual , im not going to be able to afford the fsm , and i dont have the garage space at home to leave the car in the garage , my father uses it for his car and he doesnt know the tranny is broke , even though its my car he still feels justified in yelling at me whenever i break something , anyway, i think i may have found a tranny. the install might have to wait a while because i move back into school in a few days. maybe if i have time sunday , i dont know , thank you all for your help , any other advice would be awesome
-pete

 

That's what fathers are for.