On a scale of 1-10, how reliable are the auto transmissions in our cars when used for daily purposes with a little bit of hard acceleration here and there but no manual shifting. If I've got 33K on my max now, if i drive under the conditions above, how long do I have before it goes boom. And another thing, how loud are the engines in your guys' cars just for a comparison?

 

i dont know what you mean by "how loud". this is about has objective of an analysis as i can get: my 2k2 was silent (and i mean, comparable to a new V6 camry) when i first got it. after a poor break-in with several trips to redline, it was running noticeably louder from miles 2000-7000. i've been taking it really easy for the last month of so, and it seems to be quieting down, despite the cold weather. cruising at highway speeds, because of the windnoise, i don't hear the engine at all.

 

sorry, yeah that is a pretty objective question, but what i meant is that when i first take off my car can be pretty noisy sometimes although when its stopped i can faintly hear it. I can never feel the engine vibration though, its really smooth. Its just the noise that worries me sometimes.

 

yeah, i would say my car is loud for rpm's 1000-2200 or 2500 hundred or so. i dont know if it's just me, but i think the car is actually quieter at 3 to 3.5 grand than it is at 2.5 grand. if it isn't actually quieter, it's really really close. go figure.

 

You should flush the transmission w/synthetic oil for better gear-shifts (noticable in extreme hot/cold temperature). I did mine at 12K w/Redline D4 ATF. The transmission now shifts very smoothly (with recent minus teen temperature in my area) and it should help prolong the life of the auto-trans. I would give a rating of 8 out of 10 for the reason that it lacks the 5th gear and no manual shift, like the G35's. Most auto-articles I've read praised about the smooth operation of the 02Maxima's auto-trans. As long as you keep up w/the maintenance and not abuse it. I am sure it will last for the life of the car.

 

what type of daily driving you have?

stop and go traffic - 5 pt
straight highway - 8 pt

stop and go traffic really boils up the ATF up to 190F. High way miles keep the ATF around 120F. U can search my earlier thread on what events heat up ATF the most.

Also depends on your driving style....from one stop light to another, do you usually take it to the 4th? Hard acceleration is bad for the tranny of course, but driving slow is not good either if you let her shift all the time and then bring her back down to first at another stoplight. I usually try to avoid unnecessary shifting by closing the throttle before the shift point or tapping the gas pedal when I was stuck in traffic or in a parking lot.

basically......Auto tranny is too complicated to be reliable.

The tranny is controlled by a lot of electrical singals and one of them went wrong may bring down the entire tranny. If you want to keep your tranny, I would suggest to avoid unnecessary shift or high rpm shift. OD off in the local. Watch ATF level/condition and install a tranny cooler. Reducing its workload will extend its life.