Ok, so I've had an issue with my '99 Maxima going into neutral when I would stop at a stop sign/light. It would happen periodically over the course of a week. The issue I had got worse on my way home from work the other day, forcing me to pull into a gas station and take a look under the hood. Turns out my transmission fluid was very low. This, of course, is what was causing the problem. However, now the isssue is, what's causing the leak...

I spent that night looking at ratings/reviews for local independent transmission specialists and found one right around the corner from me. There's a couple things going on. My engine mounts are broken, which is causing added pressure when I go from 1st to 2nd gear. This has played a part in the leak, which is coming from the transmission valve body (I believe it's called). The mechanic quoted me about $625 to take care of everything. The problem is, in order for him to get to that area to work on it, he has to remove this metal supportive beam (I guess is what you call it) that's bolted to the frame of the car. The area it's bolted to has signs of corrosion/rot. He said from his experience there's a 50/50 chance that when he goes to unbolt it, the whole area might crumble. If this were to happen the car would essentially be totaled because he would have to rebuild the entire area and it would get costly.

I told him not to proceed. He told me that's ok with him. I'm just gonna have to take it easy on the car and be vigilent with checking/adding transmission fluid. He said if I decide to get the work done to take it back to him. He said I may have to add fluid every few days.

So what do you think? Did I do the right thing? I would have just paid the $625 if it were a straightforward repair. I have two jobs I need to get to. I don't have public transportation near me. I didn't want to risk having my car potentially decommissioned without looking into other options.

Also, I forgot to ask the mechanic... Is it a good idea to use some transmission stop leak product to temporarily reduce the rate of leakage? I've read mixed recommendations about it, but it seems most people recommend it as long as it's a high end product (like Lucas).

A little more info: my car is worth about $1650. The car is in good condition (other than this issue).

 

Replace the lower radiator support bracket with an Oem piece.
It can get expensive..
About $150 for the part and anywhere from $300-$700 for labor so shop around for that.
Get energy suspension bushings pressed in your torque mounts ..an org member used to sell them for $200 already done..not sure if he still does..name is maxima joe
You can polyurethane fill your side mounts with a kit from energy suspension called DIYMMI.

Fix those problems and the maxima should last to 300-400k with other basic maintenance.

That lower radiator support happens to almost everyone after 10 years.

 

can you please provide a photo , to prove this needs to be removed for transmission maintenance?

 

I found this image from the forum via Google image search. I'm almost positive this is the exact area I'm talking about. This is exactly what it looks like at least. It's just not as rusty as the one shown in the image.

 

Thanks for all the great information. The only thing is, that's all what I was afraid of. The actual leak is coming from the transmission valve body, which needs to be replaced. This got messed up from the broken engine mounts. So, I'd still need to get the leak repaired. The mechanic said if the area didn't crumble when taking the bolts out, he said it would be completely fine and he could take care of the job and it would be fine.
So the dilemma is if I roll the dice and give him the go ahead to perform the job, and the area crumbles when unbolted, I'll not only have to do the regular job ($625), I'd also have to get the radiator support done too. And as you detailed, that can run $500-850 for parts/labor —for a total repair of $1125-1475 for a car that's worth $1650 is decent condition.

 

If your car looks anything like that picture, It should not have a WOF/COF take it off the road!

 

Also though if its not half as rusty then its not going to crumble. obviously your car is in need of care , its not hard to do, but best to buy a run around or borrow one while you weld and fabricate to bring it back to standard. mounts and valve body may be stuffed but trans gonna need a recon and thats heaps, I would suggest ditching the car to a wrecker.

 

its all about how much you are prepared to spend, in that pic i would just fabricate a mount for radiator and get it certified , cert in NZ is around $400 NZD, but gotta get it right first time. but if the pic is an indicator of rest of car then as i said before id just ditch it.

 

We could be more ready to advise you if you showed us pictures of your car. Normally the rust is not that bad in that area.

The body rust issue is clarified here;

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...ment-pics.html

That beam is called the crossmember. It weighs 25 pounds and the 2 motor mounts that wear out the most sit on it. Replacing them is a very good idea while doing this rad/tranny job to save labor because you are right there.

 

The area in question looks nothing like the photo. I just used the photo to show the part of the vehicle I was talking about. The thing is, my mechanic said the "crumbling" could go either way. He said it's very random; he's seen them look mildly corroded and then crumble when unbolted, or look very corroded but stay perfectly intact when unbolted.

The mechanic was able to fix the leak, though. He had one of his guys work around the area (without having to even unbolt it) to replace the transmission cooling lines (I think is what it's called).

So it's no longer leaking and therefore no longer slipping into neutral. The motor mounts are still an issue I'm going to have to deal with. My mechanic said I have 3-4 months or so until they're gonna need replacement, so I'll have to deal with this in the future.

 

as above, could you just post a photo of the area , it would help so much.