Quick question and I'm hopping someone can shed some light.
Hello,


I'm going to be picking up a used tranny tomorrow from a parts car. I've confirmed that the tranny is LSD. The seller confirmed that there are no leaks, no grinds and no diff play. I can probably confirm the no leak part, but I'm not sure how I would be able to confirm the no grinds and no diff play.

1. Is there anything in particular that I need to check before I purchase the tranny?
2. Aside from the tranny, should I be picking up any other parts up?

My car is 98 Maxima - 5spd - LSD.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

as far as i know you are pretty much buying blind until you bolt it up or unless you cracked the case open and checked things out inside.

I would make sure there is at least like a 30 day warranty on the tranny to protect against leaks and grinding.

 

I'd go the extra step and pop the lid off. Always best to know if you are gonna need to rebuild this thing in 2k miles - ya know. Most of what you'll find in Canada is going to be VLSD - unlike here in America. I think they did it for a couple different reasons - weather being one of them (Ca gets a lot of snow, right?) and that the US is so limited on what (or how many at one time) it will 'accept' via the feds. Blahhhh - sorry, off topic a bit there.

You can check for diff play fairly easy too, other than looking for leaks. You can slide one of the CV shafts into the diff and see how much free play (if any) it has. You'll need to be able to get a good look / feel for it, so this is best done not on the car. As far as I know, you'll need the (dual spline) drivers side axle too. Other than that, direct bolt up. Have fun! There's a link in my sig that might help.

 

Check the input shaft and differential bearings for play and you should be set to go. Don'y forget to change the throwout bearing when you swap it in too!

 

Thanks everyone for the input.

I just picked up the tranny for $300. I used the axles that the guy had to check for play and there was very minimal play, but i mean there should be a little play anyways. I'll probably not swap them out until my current one completely dies unless you guys recommend otherwise.

I'm 99% sure the tranny was LSD, because when I looked through the hole where the axle goes, I can see right through to the other side. Also, the code on the tranny was 31U31 which is the same code as mine. The tranny was off a 96, but I'm pretty sure 95-99 are all the same.

 

Yea, the 4g trans is the same throughout. The LSD trany will have a larger DS axle hole. Does this one? You can swap it out when ever is good for you. If you know the other one is on it's way out .... have fun with it, see if you can get it to explode like Merlin did (at least I think it was Merlin).