yes....already. I dont even have the case off. I cant get one of the detent ***** out, it seems to be stuck back there, ive tried all kinds of things.
I'm also unsure of where the reverse idler support bolt is. This is something I have access to on the outside of the tranny right?

 

You have tried a magnet to get the detent ball out, right?

MT-12 starts the disassembly process...along with images showing everything that must be done.

 

yes I have. I think the tranny is currently in reverse or something because i was messing around with the shifter yoke trying to move around the rod or wahtever and loosen the detent ball. Anyway i cant get it out of whatever position its stuck in (yoke pulled out all the way).

I have been reading mt-12 and I cant seem to find the reverse bolt.
edit- ohhh it isnt labelled. okay im going to check that out and see if i can maybe break the seal loose and wiggle it around i guess.

 

wow that was kind of miraculous. I have the case off now, everything is super wobbly and loose (might explain the jolting). I'm going to go ahead and start tearing it down and checking for problems/take some pics and i'll post back later. stay tuned.
and thanks pmohr

alright there is quite a bit of sludge near one edge (where I believe the magnet is) with alot of little metal shavings (normal?). The differential is flimsy beyond belief and as far as I can tell none of the gears look too bad (nothing like your broken gear pmohr). I'll take pics tomorrow and let the pro's tell me what the real deal is.

im excited!

 

Sounds good mate! The diff is floppy, and the metal shavings are normal as well. That is for the CPS and when I did mine, I took it out, cleaned it (and all the grease) and replaced it like I found it, but clean. The MS (1,2) is in the center, and the IPS (3,4 + 5) is atop (looking at it with the selectors in front of the gears). The IPS and MS should be snug, a bit of play, but not overly loose either. You need to post some pix for us! Glad you're finaly getting it done, I think you'll be happy when it's done! Goes to show if you have the ambition, there is always help someplace. Keep up the good work!

 

so in the rebuild, what are you going to replace?

 

You'll need that skinny magnet for sure in a moment. Go get one now.

Dave

 

To remove all the interlock ***** and plungers, I just used a long, skinny screwdriver and held a larger magnet to the other end of it

 

man thats exactly what I did but it just wasnt strong enough. I think the ball was wedged in there. its out now though. I'll see if I have a skinny magnet none the less.

JTZ YAY!! Like I said everything seems fairly sloppy and floppy. I'll definitely post some pictures up later. My main concerns are that I want to determine if the races need to be replaced as well as the synchros and also any other damage. The tranny doesnt look near as complex as it did in the pictures.

darklegend- As far as I can tell I'm replacing the differential bearings and IPS bearings and some seals.

I'll report back later

 

okay everything is going along fairly smoothly. I've just removed the input and mainshaft as well as the final drive. I couldnt remove the larger plunger that was between 2 of the forks nearest the final drive(sorry still not familiar with which is which) it seemed too large so I left it in there for now.
anyway im about to take some pictures and continue dissassembly. post them up shortly.

okay picture time.
After looking closer I am pretty sure there are 2 races that are garbage. They arent hard to replace right? they look easily accessible. Heres the races that look damaged. On in each half of the casing.
this one is pitted

this one is...i dont even know how to explain that..very damaged

here's the metal sludge stuff on the magnet

here's some pictures i tried to take of the synchros and gears that have little markings in them and a few beveled edges (not sure if thats normal)

 

this wall of the inside was kind of rough and had a lot of little hairline cracks...I could be over analyzing everything though

 

The one diff bearing is spalling badly. The other is also trash. I wouldn't consider reusing any bearings in that tranny.

Dave

 

of coarse not, no way. I took it apart all new bearings are going in. Can you tell (or tell me what to look for) as far as determining the condition of the synchros?
And how about the way the case has those little cracks in it like it got overheated?

other than that I think I got this under control

 

The housings look normal. Make sure you clean the magnet.

It's really hard to assess synchros, usually they are fine. Looking at the teeth from the side, you should see a "v" shape. Even a rounded "U" shape is ok. More wear than that though and I'd replace them. Unfortunately mostly when they are that bad the sleeve and gear also need replaced to fully restore shift quality.

 

yeah they look like they are still in the v-shapeish stage. Maybe I wont mess with them right now...I appreciate it.

also...im not sure where all the shims should be but I didnt really see any except 2 that were on top of the mainshaft. What shims should I be replacing most of them look like they are between gears on the shafts according to the FSM.

 

the shims are behind the bearing races on the 'top' side (driver's side) of the trans.

can't tell what is going on in any of those pictures of the gears. without pictures that are in focus it's hard to determine anything. remember if your camera is digital you don't have to get within half an inch of what you are taking a picture of. you can use your image program to just crop down the edges of a picture taken from a distance at which your camera can actually focus.

 

Well Ill take some more pictures later. I know they are out of focus I was trying to get it as in focus as I could and didnt realize they still were blurry until I got them on the computer.

Tomorrow I need to go order those 2 races. I've got a busy week in school coming up so I might put this on hold for a few days.

The race behind the oil channel piece kinda just came out when I was hammering on one of the pins for the selector shaft and I didnt see any shims behind it.

 

Try macro mode on the camera if it has it.

BTW, are you replacing the input shaft bearing too? I am going to need to do that on mine as well. My transmission sounds like a flippin touring car in first and second.

 

no macro-mode its an old cybershot 3.2 megapixel :-p
but yes i'll be replacing all the bearings. They actually look easy to do. I cant wait to finish this thing and have it feel like a brand new transmission.
I wonder if the whining noise in reverse will go away too.

 

wow, looks fairly simple.I took mine to the shop to have it rebuilt and they played games. The idiot mechanic had it for three weeks, took it apart, started to order syncros and all only to realize I needed a new mainshaft which was more than the tranny itself. So now I brought a rebuilt one and that took 2 weeks to get!!!!! All in all my car has been down for a month.


96 nissan maxima SE 5spd

 

Nice, how much for all the bearings and where did you get them?


As for reverse, almost all cars whine in reverse because the reverse gear is straight cut, and not angled like the rest of the forward gears. Straight cut gears by nature are stronger, lighter, and more durable. The only downside is the whine. Usually most cars have them on reverse to save weight and cost since it isn't too too noticeable as most people don't do significant parts of their driving in reverse.

Touring cars and racecars and stuff generally tend to have straight cut gears in the forward speeds and thats why you hear that whine in them. Ugh, I just realized my first gear sounds like my straight cut reverse gear. I'd better crack open my tranny too by the end of the summer.

 

thats fine, i can handle the reverse whine...but none of the other sounds and symptoms. I got the bearings for just at 200 bucks I believe although the kit didnt include the races. There's actually alot of things the kit doesnt include...you'd think they could throw some extra check ***** and clips in there or o-rings for those little shafts.
I got it from Gttransmissions.com

 

your bearing kit didn't come with races? wtf.. I'd be contacting the place you got that kit from with a quickness. you can't just order bearing races alone from nissan, they always come with the bearing in automotive applications (at least every auto application i've ever seen, including the maxima). brand new bearings without new races are completely useless - paperweights in your case. you just got ripped off.

 

ah damnit. yeah they are just bearings in little boxes...I'll email the people right now.

 

What are bearing races?

 

nevermind, im borderline retarded. the races were right there with the bearings in the packaging, i was thinking they were separate and they looked like it was all one piece in the packaging.
oh well..im happier thats less pieces I have to buy. I'm going to work on it more tomorrow when I have time.

modenaf- the races are like the housing the bearings spin in.

 

All conventional bearings are made of 4 major parts:
Inner race
Outer race
Rollers or *****
Cage

For a tapered roller bearing, the inner race, cage, and rollers are all one subassembly called the "cone". The outer race is separate and called the "cup". Chillin was looking for the outer races, which should be in the same package of each bearing. Like all basic rebuild kits, the GT kit comes with all bearings and seals. Springs, check *****, roll pins, snap rings, and c-clips would have to come from the OEM.

For ball bearings all four parts come in one assembly and don't come apart.

Dave

 

ty ty dave.

hey..Im not sure if I can explain this well enough. There are those 2 plastic oil channels in one of the cases. I removed both of them to clean everything out. I noticed the smaller piece (box breather) has sort of a little tiny foam separating piece that got torn when I took it out. Anyone have any information on what this does and how important it is that it be there?

I'll take pictures if necessary.

 

Torn foam doesn't matter.

 

awesome ty

 

alright I got the bearings off the input shaft, I was pretty good about not hitting anything with my cutoff wheel although I made a few small nicks. anyway...the synchros feel a little wobbly..not sure if there is supposed to be play there.
i was trying to check the clearances between the gears on the input shaft like shown in the FSM (called end play). Between 4th and 5th input gear I'm getting like 60mm of space and the 3rd gear and whatever the gear under it is i can only get 12 which is under fsm spec.
Just thought I'd put that out there, not sure if its a concern.
The 5th gear synchro ring came off cause i was playing with it and Im pretty sure i put all the clips back in there properly but now it seems a little stiffer than before, still engages fine, maybe some lubrication was lost...just being paranoid.
time to put the new bearings on

 

i also just realized that...it looks like i'll need a very long hollow tube to put the input shaft bearing on the splined side..I guess use a punch and guide it down? that just worries me about getting cocked at an angle i guess.

 

okay i've removed all the bearings. just making an observation. both differential bearings are exactly the same bearing.
ummm. i think thats about all I had to say really. I'm trying to decide when to put the bearings on everythings going smoothly. I actually got the two races off the mainshaft but getting behind them and tapping them off with a punch.

 

Wazup Chilly!

Sorry, my MB went on my PC, so .... no .ORG for a while

Sounds like you are doing fine. The syncroz should seem to slide a bit, and feel "loose" to a degree. The MS, IPS bearings you can tap on with a punch, just hit at 12, 6, 3, 9 - repeat till it "dings" and you'll know what I mean when it does it. That ensures the bearings are all the way seated on the shaft. Don't feel too bad about the outter races playing tricks on you ... I did the same thing going .... WTF ???? lol Good luck pulling that MS outter race, gonna need a special low profile puller to get it. The caps come out of the case (top) for the MS and IPS outters there, but that lower one ... it's a doozy. Same for the IPS outter need the low profile puller too. Those races looked just fine ... why replace them. That is crazyness ... no wonder all the noise and vibrations. The mag seems fine ... normal shavings. The oil channels don't need the foam, in fact I used gasket sealer to hold them in place while I slapped the lid back on. Just let it set up for a bit prior to closing the case, and make sure none gets seeped out into the housing to become loose and gum up your newly rebuilt trans! Sounds like you're coming along just fine. I didn't dismantle the shafts / gears at all ... just seals and bearings. Also, the shims go on top of the IPS, not MS. Silly! lol

Glad all is going well! Keep up the good work.

Jim

 

hey! i was wonderin! Well what I dont understand is how the races are held in place in the housing. Like I said, one of them just fell right out when I was beating on the case. I dont want to go trying to tap them in and ruin them or something.

Also, I guess there are shims for the MS AND the differential then? Im going to have to go double check because the only shims I found were on top of the main shaft.

thanks alot!

 

yep, diff has shims too. the new outter races will likely fit much more snug than the old worn out OEMs. I cut mine out .... not the best way to do it, but it worked. If I were to do it again, I'd invest in a low profile puller. You may be able to rent / borrow one from a parts store.

Cheers ... gotta get to work!

 

but as far as replacing the races...how do you put them in? tap them on the edges until they are flush?

Also...I dont think there were any differential shims in my tranny either...isnt that weird? Can someone explain how to do the solder crush method to find what size shims I need I would like to order them tomorrow if possible and wrap this thing up by mid-next week. I might just buy a dial indicator and do it that way though if the solder crush method is too mind boggling for me.

 

Okay excuse me for my ignorance...but I've just discovered that the shims are UNDER the races. . I removed the differential bearing from the "transmission side case" by punching it out from behind (didnt need a puller ) and the shims were behind that. It sounds like this is the only spot for the shims, they dont go on both sides of the differential just the transmission side case. (for some reason i imagined them on each side).

the input shaft has shims and so does the differential. it sounds like yall dont normally check for the input shaft clearances...correct? Should I just put the stock shims back in there?

I think I'm going to buy a dial indicator to get the shim size for the differential...

also...the input shaft seal, i forgot which direction it goes in. with the face down into the transmission case?

 

IS seal: flat side toward the clutch.

I always measure mainshaft and input shaft shim sizes, and unless I'm mixing and matching major parts I never need to change size. Diff shims are another story. Get the dial indicator or borrow a depth mic.

Dave

 

thanks dgeesaman. I almost put that seal in the opposite way (flat side facing towards tranny).
What do you use to install the races? a punch on the outter edge? I'm leaving the race in that is deep inside one of the cases (would have to remove plugs to get to it) because it doesnt seem damaged. I'm going to try to tackle this all tomorrow and order my shims if necessary.