I've done my research and found what may be wrong with my Maxima. When the clutch is pressed in when in neutral, I get no noise, but when you take your foot off the clutch, there is a whirring sound. Through some research on the forum here, I found that it is most likely the input shaft bearing going bad. (207K on the original).

My question is will driving with a bad input shaft bearing ruin the transmission? Should I wait for it to completely stop working and then get a rebuild, or should I pay someone the labor to go in there and do it now? I dont want to have to pay the labor twice if something else goes wrong with the tranny not long after. Please advise!

 

How did you rule out the release bearing?

 

What is the release bearing? :/

 

I'm having the same freaking issue. The first day I put my coilovers on, I was in a parking lot making a slow decently sharp turn, and I heard a weird noise then the rattling/whirling noise and steering wheel rattle during acceleration as well. I've replaced the control arm bushings, I just put a $200 Raxle in today and it still does the same Sh*t and I'm pretty pissed about it. I'd like to know if anyone else has had this problem and fixed it because the noise is driving me nuts.

 

Wheel bearing.

 

It's only when the clutch is engaged. When I did my clutch about 20k miles ago, we didn't resurface the flywheel and there is a slight vibration right when I let the clutch out. And when the clutch grabs, it sounds like slight squeaking. I've tested the hubs and tie rods for play and there is no play.

 

lol.....well, you didn't mention anything like that.
Did you change out the RB while you were in there?

 

Yes, it will. The gears will wear out if the bearing is not supporting it properly. Assuming the teeth don't shatter due to shifting under load, what's left will not be worth rebuilding.

I've also seen badly worn input shaft bearings seize and burst the transmission housing. It leaves you stranded standing in a puddle of gear oil.

David

 

Yes it will.

My input shaft wiggled so bad that it shook the input shaft seal loose and dumped all of the gear oil out during a.... uhm.... exhibition.... yeah.... But that was the final straw of after string of minor things going bad (Diff bearings, gears sounding all clickity clackity, etc).

 

Mine did the same.

 

My tranny was making noise too. Took it to the transmission rebuild shop and told him I was sure I had a bad input shaft bearing (making noise accelerating in lower gears) and also needed a new clutch. He opened it up and said no it was bad differential bearings. And by the way, needed a new first gear because he didn't like the wear pattern on it. So, complete tranny rebuild, clutch and first gear replacement. But baby she runs sweet now. Cost me about $1,800.

 

Yes, you will ruin enough of the trans as to make it impractical to rebuild it if you let it go long enough.

He ruled out the release bearing doing the proper research. What he is describing is absolutely the input shaft bearings, not the throw out bearing.

 

Yes, that was clear in post #3.

 

Whhhuuuttttt ???????


OP .... as mentioned, yes it will lead to other - worse issues that may be non-recoverable. It sucks standing in a puddle of gear oil, not to mention you smell it every time you put those shoes on again. If she goes, slap a 6 spd in there and be done with the woes of the notorious 5mt.

 

had the same exact problem 2 yrs ago i just kept driving it..started poping out of gear then third stoped working ..kept driving on it lol then one day at a stop light i put it in first and...that was end of story...had to get towed back and i just thru a new trans in

 

it was clear in post #1...

 

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

yep. had Trans rebuilt. the guy said my bearings looked perfect. replaced anyways. done axles, wheel bearings, everything.