OK, here is my confusing story.

I have been having issues "engaging" gears, especially from 1-2 and 2-3. Forget even being able to down shift at all below 3. I have replaced my tranny oil and the stock came out metallic gold. Discussed that on the board and seems like maybe syncros are going.

After I replaced stock oil with Redline, it shifted much smoother but I could still feel the nashing as I tried to engage. And unless I was very slow and methodical I would have issues engaging, even with attempting to rev match.

It has been in the teens to 20's around here and its been a chore to drive this car. Last night it was down to like 1 and was 5 when I got in the car this morning. It drove fine? WTF? As the car warmed up, then the nashing started to happen more and more. Can anybody give me any ideas on what could be happending here?

Is there a definative way to test syncros w/o pulling the tranny?

 

I've been having just about the exact same problem. It started in Nov. 2001 and so I had the transmission checked by my dealer and then switched to Redline. The Redline seemed to provide smoother shifts sometimes but then other times it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Unfortunately it seems to be happening a lot more often lately. I've been thinking that its the weather, but transmission troubles keep popping into my mind...

 

Mine has been happening since August 2002. Redline helped a bit too on mine, but it does not feel like it felt when I bought it. What did the dealer say, cant replicate?

 

Well, I have a 6sp, but I'm sure it works similarly. In my case, if the car isn't warmed up yet, and it's really cold out, the shifter is very notchy, and I sometimes have trouble going 1-2 as well, or even N-1. However, as the car warms up (i.e. tranny fluid warms up), the shifter becomes much more relaxed. You're saying though that even when the car warms up it's very "nashing" (is that the same as "notchy"? ), so that may indicate a problem.

I think if your synchros were busted, then you'd be grinding into these gears. If you're not grinding, then perhaps the synchros have deteriorated, but not completely busted. If you're still under warranty, maybe a visit to the dealership will rid you of your worries.

 

Yeah to me "notchy" is feeling the "gates" as you shift. Nashing, to me, is that sound and feeling that you are just about to grind. And yes, this happens even if the car is warmed up.

Plus, I had forgotten to mention. When its tough to engage, it WONT engage. I try to go 1-2, it wont go into 2 so I go back to N, unclutch, clutch and reattempt 2. Sometimes I have to do this several times. Just so hard to explain this.

 

Sounds kind of like what happens trying to get from N-1 on mine. Others are just fine (for now).

BTW, 32,000 miles are on it.

 

I post this with fear of being flamed.....

On other stick cars I have owned I have experience problems similar to this and the problem was in the linkage (yes it was more noticable in cold weather). Knowning nothing about the linkage (shifter/cable) setup I will ask this question:



Are there any ways to adjust the linkage (I would think there would have to be)and if so have any of you started in that area?


T

 

J/K.

I have similar issues, but not near as bad. Only 17K miles, so I'm sure it will get worse. However, it is a royal pain in the **** to get into reverse. 80% of the time I have to rock the car(1st gear pull forward, then I can engage reverse).

Jon, you may suspect the clutch pedal "play". I had a problem getting gears to engage smoothly and I ended up figuring out I had my seat so far back that I wasn't 100% pushing the clutch to the floor. So, I adjusted my driving position and that 1/4-1/2"(I'm guessing) of clutch travel made a HUGE difference.

I've read in the ESM that the clutch pedal take up can be adjusted, so maybe you should have that checked. Just a thought.

 

I have thought about this also. I have become very aware of how I am pushing the clutch and make sure its to the floor. I too also have the "rock and engage" for R or 1. I tend to go 4,2,then R or 1.

I have also thought about needing the clutch to be bled too. I have not opened it or serviced it but have been curious about it.

 

Even though your clutch is on the floor, that doesn't mean it's fully engaged or disengage, whatever.

There are adjustments that might have "slipped". Sorry I don't know much about how a clutch system works.

If I get a chance this weekend, I'll check the ESM section for adjusting the clutch. YOU SHOULD READ IT!!!!!

 

Yep, the dealer couldn't replicate the problem. I've been thinking about going to a transmission place and having the clutch adjusted or at least asking them if it sounds like a transmission problem to them. Not that they would know anymore than the dealer, but who knows?

 

No flame...

The 6 speeds have a cable linkage. The 5 speeds are a rod linkage. The adjustment of the clutch pedal is an interesting point, but I think their are bigger issues at work with these transmissions.

 

I was thinking the same thing. You can make slight adjustments at the point where the shifter base bolts to the linkage. When I put in my short throw shifter I played around with slightly different placements, until I found where it would shift as smoothly as it was going to and then I torqued down all the bolts at that point. There is a little bit of play when installing a shifter on the Max, and very small differences in placement DID make a big difference in reducing the "notchiness". I'm very happy with the shifter now and incredibly the 2-3 shift is the smoothest of all! The cold weather does make for a little more notchiness but Redline helps.

 

Would you be able to fathom a guess?

 

Please explain "slightly different placements".

I've installed mine TWICE now and I don't know what/where you're talking about.

Mine is still notchy and the shorter I set the throw, the worse it gets. I'd say it's normal though, since it changes the angle of the linkage.

 

huh, that's surprising, especially coming from you.

I've installed and re-installed this countless times. I also did Adam's (The NewClimax). After some adjusting, both of our's came out great. I also make sure and use PLENTY of lithium grease at the fork part of the linkage. Keep in mind I'm talking about Stillen shifters.

I'm not talking about the fork part. I'm talking about where the shifter base bolts to the top linkage. There is some play here, and room for slight positioning changes - see this diagram, specifically where #4 bolts to #13 .

 

I know exactly what parts you're referring to, but what kind of adjustments are you making?

You've got me confused on this.

 

Jon,

I think most people are aware that the bearings in the transmission are prone to failure on the 4th gens, but I just saw a post on bearing failure on a 2K. I find it interesting that you saw metallic flakes drain out when you first changed the fluid and think you may be heading in that direction. The analysis that Alex ran on his gear oil after 15k also looked very scary to me for a such a short interval.

I'm over my head guessing as to the actual cause, but I think there's a design problem with these particular transmissions (another member thinks improper preload on the bearings is possible). The Maxima and the Altima sure the same basic 5 speed and these seem to be the only Nissan's with these particular issues. I've never heard of bearing failures on their other transmissions. I think this problem dates back almost 10 years and Nissan seems to be playing the odds that enough of them make it past the warranty period so they won't acknowledge it.

I think you're on the right track with waiting a little and then having your gear oil analyzed to see if any excessive wear is flagged. Since you still have plenty of life left in the powertrain warranty, it's not something I'd lose much sleep over.

 

Maxima transmission bearing failure goes back more than 10 years. The '87 that we used to have had the following history:

55k miles on the original bearings
Next 40k on the dealership repair
Next 60k on my first effort
~20k on my second effort before the engine swallowed something metallic and we got rid of it.

What I learned was that the first bearing to go was the input shaft bearing on the engine end of the tranny. Given the fairly predictable bearing life in that individual vehicle (~50k miles) I'm wondering if bellhousing/tranny alignment errors (i.e. block and/or bellhousing faces not perpendicular to the shafts or mis-located dowel pins resulting in errors in concentricity between the crankshaft and the tranny input shaft) is a factor, possibly even more so than bearing preload problems. Particularly given that although I'm not an auto repair tech by trade, my initial effort outlasted both the OE and the dealership work.

Norm