jrmcb

Hi

What sort of mileage are people getting on their Automatic transmissions before having to have them rebuilt?

Also, how much should a rebuild cost?

BTW I am coming up to 90k miles on my transmission with no problems so far.


Thanks


J.
95 GLE Auto, FSTB, P6000, Spoiler.

maximavr6

thats a good question
if your looking to rebuilt urs
i have a tranny for sale it has 4,873
original it came out of a 1997 if your intrested let me know

just courious how much does a rebuilt trany cost cause my friend has 142,000 on his 5 speed and i tthink he wants to rebuilt it

skeelo34

iTrader: (4)

mine went at 37k. Go figure, my stepfatehr drove it for the first 27k. I have not idea why it went, it's a 96 too. The tranny shop told me the pump that pumps fluid through it failed and eveyrthing burned up. I'm 5spd now.

jdunagan

Got 96 auto with 36,000 on it in '99. At 13?,??? it was driving virtually the same as when I got it, when I decided to do the Don Cooper vbupgrade. It took the upgrade and even without the cooler on yet is running great. I do a lot of touring, so the the mileage is split between that and DC, NY, tmpa city miles.

I have however had the transmission fluid changed around every 20k miles since I hit the 60,000 mark.

Shout out to Don - Thanks! - where's my cooler?

Joey

marsbar

I just hit 152,000 on my 95 SE 5sp when my trans went.
It cost me $1500 to rebulid. Yea Yea I know I could buy one in a junk yard for $600 pay someone $500 to put it in...
Only to find out the trans is bad. I rather rebuild my trans
than take a chance on a used one..

Scruit

If you have a workshop and tools then rebuilding an automatic tranny is not as difficult as you think. At 125k my wife's '95 Grand Prix had a problem with a bearing that failed and broke the parking pawl retaining spring, allowing the parking pawl to engage, which effectively put the tranny in park at 50mph.

I did some research, bought a rebuild video/manual for that exact tranny ($60), a couple of tools ($200), soft parts kit ($80) and replaced the damaged hard parts ($300). Total will be $650 after I've purchased ATF and a new seective washer (to control endplay).

From rolling the car into my workshop, to putting the tranny on the rebuild stand was 5 hours. (working alone) Another hour to dismantle the tranny completely. Another hour to locate and replace all the soft parts (gaskets, O-rings and clutch packs). Another hour to reassemble the tranny. 5 to reinstall the tranny in the car and drive away.

Total of 13 hours of work, $650 and my wife now has a rebuilt tranny tht should last her another 125k. Plus, she thinks I'm Superman now... :-D

marsbar

Dude... Your nuts... and gifted....lol

Cashj2002

What should I do if I smell my transmission burning every now then?
The burning doesn't happen alot

desertmaxima

iTrader: (5)

Now how do I get a hold of Don Cooper for the valve body upgrade. I have heard of this and I want to go and get it done or at least get the parts so my tuner can do it for me. I dont want to go thru level 10 cause they seem kinda overpriced and ive heard they are compared to Don. Anyways any info or contact info would help Thanx

davey6693

67500 and goosed

sinewave

Nissan list price on a remanned A/T is $2600 with about $400 for the install. A friend in the service department hooked me up for $1700 & $200 for the labor.

FWIW, the remaufactured tranny shifts as firmly as the 2 Maxima's that I've ridden in with Don's VB mod.

JAIMECBR900

I don't want to start a flame war here, but I find it almost impossible to believe that a "rebuilt" tranny w/o any mods shifts anywhere near one with Don's VB mod. I have had an old tranny, stock tranny, rebuilt tranny, brand new tranny, and a rebuilt tranny with Don's VB mod. I can tell you w/o any problem and extensive experience that Don's VB mod is not like any of the listed above. I have heard people compare it to Level 10, that I believe. Don's VB mod vs Stock (even rebuilt) is no comparison period.

cerumo

iTrader: (2)

around $1500-2000 for rebuild transmission?
maybe its the time to have 5 spd conversion since it costs about the same?
or maybe I'm wrong.

JAIMECBR900

the conversion and the rebuild end up costing about the same. It's all really personal preference. When you put a heavy duty clutch in a 5spd and have to drive in rush hour traffic everyday, you will want an auto. When you go to the track, you will want a 5spd. It's all personal preference.

sinewave

You are pretty hard on transmissions, aren't you? Whether you choose to believe me or not, I stand by my statement that the FACTORY re-manufactured transmission I have (not some AAMCO jack-leg job) shifts as firmly as the two cars I have ridden in with Don's valve body.

JAIMECBR900

Like I said, I'm not trying to start anything here. I have had my share of trannies and rode in tons of different cars that had "some" work on the trannies, both FWD and RWD. I have had 2 different maximas for well over 250k combined. I have personally paid for the tranny to be rebuilt twice (once in each car) by a transmission shop (not an ammco or backyard hack). I have had "shift kits" put in; I have had new TC put in; I have had factory parts put in. Both rebuilds were total and the only difference was the parts used. The latest (on my current car) I opted to try and make it as strong as possible with factory clutches, hand-built torque converter, cooler, and "shift" kit (which suxd BTW)(I just converted to Don's VB mod).

All this to tell you that unless your factory fresh tranny has something that is not available to the general public or your mechanic is an ace on maxima's and did some kind of personal "touch" to the tranny you are referring to; I too stand by my statement that my freshly rebuilt tranny with Don's VB mod is the hardest shifting tranny I have ever driven or ridden in (FWD). That is why I find it hard to believe that a basically "stock" factory rebuild shifts anywhere near as aggressive as a modded one.

sinewave

A very real possibility is that the very soft shifting of the factory transmission has become a warranty issue with Nissan and they decided to correct the problem in the rebuild. Short of you coming over and driving my car, I don't know how to prove it to you with anything other than my testimonial.

I'm in the New Orleans area, 10 minutes from the airport. IIRC, Southwest stills flies anywhere for $99. Give me a call and I'll pick you up.

JAIMECBR900

Alright, alright. If you say so, ok then. I have seen crazier things happen. We have a guy here in the Atlanta area we call factory freak because noone can figure out why he's as fast as he is since he is all stock.

jdunagan

The best I've felt is the B&M Trick Shift - Don's Combo.

When I lay the throttle on the floor the car hammers from gear to gear actually accelerating more during the gear transition.

The other key deal with the Don's is I all the sudden have a second gear... You know you're cruising down Constitution (probably in 3rd or 4th gear) trying the get the h out of DC, you see a piece of daylight only to push the gas pedal and wait 2, 3, 4 then 1st gear slams in around 4,500 RPM.... After the vbupgrade I get quicker downshifts that actually listen to what I do with the throttle in a timely and reasonable manner.

Beware, I also added the Venom computer mod on top of the Don's which has it's own issues, but is especially incompatible with Don's at high speeds. ie. cruising at 70-80 lay down the throttle and the car repeatedly shifts into 3rd. It feels like your dropping the clutch over and over again, until you release the throttle. Venom seems to give a little boost in regular city driving. It pulses too which I'm assuming is my intake or exhaust limitation, but that's a discussion for another thread...

Still haven't heard back about the cooler... mobiletek.com is the website to check out for comm with Don. I never had a phone number, just an address and an email. I'm ready for the cooler though, I never had to listen to the electic cooling fans before - almost sound like a valve problem their so loud...


Joey

JAIMECBR900

You don't need to wait on Don for a cooler. Go to any reputable Auto Parts store or speed shop and buy the biggest one you can find. Brand is not an issue since all a cooler is lines with cooling fins, like a radiator. The install is very straight forward and I personally mounted mine in front of the stock radiator. I have not had any leak issues either. Seriously, go and buy one and install it yourself. It should cost around $70 to pick one up and about an hour to put it in.

jdunagan

if only I didn't already pay for it...

you're right though, cheaper that PAYING for it later
Joey