Well, just heard last night. At 104k miles on my 2003, my transmission just puked. On Tuesday night while driving home from work, the car didn't want to go over 3k rpms a couple of times and wouldn't downshift others. I had thought that the ecu went into safe mode and that I had a MAF issue. I could only wish! The next morning I went out to go to work, put it in reverse, and, well, nothing at all. Put it in drive. Moved forward. Put it in reverse again. Nothing. Long story short, pushed it backwards out of the space and drove it to the stealership. Bad tranny. Getting a used one with 28k miles and a 1-year unlimited milage warranty for parts and labor (got them over on that one! I drive 50k a year!) for 1200 with 800 for the install. Total bill with the rental will be 2300 bucks! OUCH!!! I'm saving for a wedding, so any of you guys out there with extra cash that want to throw it away, I'm here for you brotha!

Well, I guess it'll be a great time to get that transmission cooler I've been thinking about! That, and the VB mod.

 

wow that sucks... i hope all goes well and if anything thats the only major thing (i presume) you have had to deal with in 104k miles... good luck and hopefully the $tealer$hip doesn't shaft you...

 

wow I though I drove alot with my 2k1 and 105k. Were there any warning signs?

 

Yeah really....was there any warning signs, i am at 94k already. You got me nervous....

 

The only warning I got was the night before it died. The car didn't want to get over 3500 rpms at one point and 2k at another. It also seemed a bit sluggish. I had thought it was the MAF. I've also noticed that my car tended to squeel a little more at take-off for the last 5k miles than normal. One more thing: at 30k I had a transmission flush and fill at the dealership and when I pulled out, I lost my fluid because they forgot to tighten a hose. Didn't seem to hurt at the time and I had a third party look it over to be sure there wasn't any damage, but there might have been. Since then, I've had no problems with any part of the car.

 

Better luck w/ your other tranny~

 

How often did you service the transmission? Just once at 30K?

 

very dissapointing to say the least. my 4th gen is running at 155 k miles with out a hint of tranny issue. i know there's a huge differenve b/w the two cars in terms of power etc, , but i can't beleive the difference in reliablity from nissan between the two cars

 

Had the tranny serviced at 30 and 70. It was due for another service. As I said above, I didn't have anything more than a premonition that something bad was about to happen.

 

That sucks. As asked, what other maintenace did you ever do to it? You drove it for a bit really low on fluid, because of the dealership...?

$2k for a "new" auto tranny is actually not that bad.

 

I only drove it about 500 ft. I did the routine service, but stretched it to 40k on the second. The third flush and fill was due, but hadn't scheduled it yet. I was planning on getting it done today, as a matter of fact. Guess I don't have to pay for that now! I knew 2k wasn't a bad number at all for a tranny w/ 28k installed. The dealership just earned my respect. I think I know where I'll be going for the rest of srevice.

 

Since u getting another tranny, why didn't u just do a 5 or 6 spd manual swap? I'm waiting for my tranny to go, once it dies. 5 spd conversion baby. (just looking for a reason to do the conversion)

 

Had the same thought, but the cost to switch is rather prohibitive!

 

oh really? wow.. do you know whats the price difference?

 

started looking into it: had to change the ecu, wiring, and center councel. Not worth it until I "retire" my car to my garage for a lot of bigger and better things.

 

I'm on 85k no problems yet.... touch on wood... but if it happens I'll get a brand new one, and start counting again.. it sucks but what can we do. Automatic SUCKS and we have to live with it......

 

Sorry to hear about this and I hope it is not problematic to the 2003 Merlot SE.

 

I really believe it was all to do with the color. Overspray killed it!

 

Ouch! that is quite a few miles you got there. I just notice that mine had four x 8's across my odo and went damn, It's starting to add up than I saw this. Don't feel too bad though, My other car's tranny puked on me @ 20K-ish it's sitting at about 90k now.

 

daaang am i glad i got the 6-speed now...haha! although im sure i wouldnt hit 100K anytime soon considering i'll put about 12K a year on my car at the rate im going...good luck with the new tranny, and i hope you dont have the same luck as before!