bpe383

I called the dealer today to find out about having my car looked at. The 3rd gear is not meshing well. The lady told me that it will cost $100 to look at, and if they can't really tell from driving then they may have to take the tranny out, and pull it apart to see what is going on. I asked about the warranty seeing as how I"m stil under it. She said well "we can't tell if it's a warranty issue until we pull the tranny out, and apart"? I'm not a cert. tech, but I know the gear is bad. She said they may have to pull the tranny out to make sure it's not the clutch? If they find nothing wrong, then she said I will have to pay for all the work? Can't I buy a new one for the cost of all this?

Are these statement just to cover their A$$ seeing as how they have not looked at it, or does this sound like I'm headed for trouble/rip off? Do they charge even if it's to look at a warranty covered item? It only takes like 2 sec to shift and feel the gears, and hear the noise.

Love_00_Max

This is total non-sense, tell her to shove the clutch up her a*se. Go to a shop and not a stealership. A tranny issue can be diagnosed by just driving it and taking readings from the TCM as to gear changes for which $100 may be needed. If they are going to charge $100 to say what you are experiening and put the labor cost for ripping open the tranny then tell them to fish in the nearby pond. Damn id*ots who have the nerve to monkey with a tranny and in the process steal money from the customer!!!

bpe383

I've always thought a place, or biz didn't charge to look at a item under warranty unless it turned out something else was wrong, and had nothing to do with the warranty item then they may charge you for the labor?

naxray

That's BS...do you have another dealer you can take it to? I had my car in for a front end noise 3 times before they found it and was not charged until they actually found something to fix.

bpe383

This is the second dealer I"ve tried. The first wanted $8 for parts that sells for $.65. (Sunroof shim). So, I crossed them off my list. This is the next closes dealer, and this is what they tell me. I guess I will have to try the next one which is about 1.5 hours from here.

super6

iTrader: (5)

wow, thats so F'd up. how can they charge anything if under warantee???? total BS!!!!!!!!! what do u need to pull the thranny for? 3rd gear is the weakest gear in our tranny and known to have problems, of corse nissan doesnt know that they only BUILD them, pisses me off every time i hear a story like this.

naxray

I'd call the service manager and politely ask if he'd drive the car with you to see if he can duplicate the problem.

qballjr13

Id agree with this one. Screw the person on the phone, talk to someone who has the authority to make a decision, i.e. the service manager, and become his friend. Either that or give up your ban on the other shop (even if they over charge for parts like every other dealer) and use them again. My dealer charges a $41 "diagnostic" fee if they cant fine anything wrong. But in their deffense look at all the people that bring their cars in and complain about every tiny little thing every week. I've worked in one, people can waste the techs time chasing so much rediculous crap. I know its hard to swallow and $100 is deffinitly excessive but I think they have some right to charge a little for false claims.

bpe383

I agree people can waste a biz time. I feel this maybe part of the deal. I think maybe they are telling me this because I"m so close to the warranty running out they are trying to scare me with all this stuff. I can understand it to some degree. I think this is why she mentioned the clutch. Maybe to keep me from coming in to try and get a free clutch. I can totaly see them charging for false claims, but they should say something to that effect.

I think I'm going take it in, and try talking to someone once I get there. Maybe a little face to face, and some friendly gear head talk will allow them to take the guard down a little as mentioned.

kbohip

I don't know, I think if it were me I'd just live with the 3rd gear grind, unless of course it's very bad. The problem with dealers is every time they fix one thing they manage to screw up two others. My '02 Max grinds a tiny bit sometimes, but not enough to make me want to take it to the dealer for it, especially after seeing what happened to this guy. http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/805

MxdOut97

iTrader: (1)

tranny shop that i went to did a free diagnosis, im sure you can find one too if you look.

imported_black_max

I had the same sort of problem with my 02 6speed. It was grinding as I tried to shift into 3rd after only 1 week after buying it (with 52,000 miles). Took it to one dealership and they thought it was the clutch and drained the master cylindr and readjusted the clutch...didnt work. I decided to try another dealership and the gave me the whole "it'll coats $90 for a diagnostic, but if it turns out to be a transmissio problem you won't have to pay." The car had 8,000 miles left on warranty so I thought I better get it taken care of. Well two hours later they come back in and tell me my whole transmissions shot (it wasn't) and they want to replace it. Fine by me. If Nissan wants to replace a tranny when the problem is just with a synchro I won't argue. They had it back to me in a day. Its been over a month and still drives great. Sometimes its just a difference in dealerships.

5thgenmaxima

iTrader: (1)

I'm guessing this is a manual transmission
I remember quite a few posts about third gear a few months back. Do a few searches and find out what the common problem is. I'm guessing as long as your gears aren't torn apart you just need new synchros. Find out what the common problem is and call the dealership up and ask them if that would be covered.
BTW: here's what the tech gets paid
. 8.6 Warranty
. 12.5 Non-Warranty

Responding to the above post: Alot of times if the service rep hears enough **tching about how bad warranty pay is for a certain rebuild job, or if their techs get alot of returns for previous work done on a specific job they will just swap it out as long as corporate oks it.

geenowalker

Take the max into the dealer and suck up a tranny flush. Take it back the following week and complain that the noise was not there when you brought it in for the flush.

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

Just let them do it. It will be replaced under warranty with a new tranny with improved syncros. This is a very common problem with with 02 6-speeds. They've stopped fixing them and are replacing the whole tranny now.

The service writer you speak with when calling the service dept isn't a tech. They just set appointments and recomend services. The tech will tell right away that it's a syncro. Even if they try other things first it won't help. Once they call it in for warranty they will be informed that it's common and needs a new tranny.

bpe383

I took the car in today, and was not charged. I went to a different dealer than mentioned. Just my luck the tranny did not act up. They said they could not dup. the problem, and I would not believe them except I couldn't either today. Last night it was there, then this morning driving the car to the shop it worked fine. It has worked fine all day. Damn this thing.

spdfreak

Hope it was just one of those things that happen and fix themselves, only to come back in the near future with double the damage.

bpe383

My guess is the amsoil (I hope anyway) "MTG" fluid has finally started to work it's magic and help smooth out the shift into 3rd. I must say the dealer was nice. They said if the cars starts having the grind again and I'm in the area to just stop in and they will have a tech atleast drive it and make note of it, and then I can make another appointment to have them spend a little more time checking it out. I thought that sound like a pretty good thing coming from a dealer.

They also mentioned a extended warranty. Anyone have any experience with this?

imported_black_max

Does your tranny only act up after its been driven for awhile? The reason I ask is that mine wouldn't grind until I had driven a significant distance. I commute 30 minutes to work and the car would be fine for about 10-15 minutes of driving but by the time I got to work it was grinding even at low rpm shifts.

bpe383

it doesn't seem to have any set time or way. This is what is making it hard. It does it say 8 out of every 10 times I drive it. I thought it was a cold thing but I've had it do it first thing in the morning, then sometimes it's only after I drive it for a few. I then thought maybe cold weather. but again it's done it, and not done it in both hot and cold weather. RPM range has little effect on it.

Now the one thing I can say is that if I don't sift into 3rd right away but give the syncros. a second then shift it works fine everytime.

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

That warranty probably isn't transferable after a certain time. You have a very limited time to transfer the extended warranty and you have to pay for the transfer.

I was going to have the same problem fixed under the extended warranty but didn't transfer it in time. I didn't even know the previous owner bought one till the dealer told me.

I just replaced mine my self with a used HLSD unit from a 2004 car.

imported_black_max

If dealerships keep trying to give you the run around theres a customer service number you can call that I've heard gets the ball rolling. I don't have the number on me right now but its in one of the manuals that comes with the car (just let me know if you don't have the manuals, I can check when I get home). I wouldn't wait on transmission problems, had an 01 Cobra that I waited with and wish I hadn't. Just my two cents.

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

Man, after reading all you guys' responses to the dealerships and the problems you are having, I'm amazed. I have a 97 SE 5 speed and I'm in the process of buying an 03 SE 6 speed. I'm retired Army and when I had my car in Germany I had no choice but to take it to the German Nissan dealer, it was scary at first because they hadn't worked on a US spec Max before but they did me nice. Now that I'm stateside again I have a trusted mechanic and only go to the dealer when they offer me a complimentary service to diagnose problems. I then take my car to my mechanic and get what I feel I need done. I suggest you guys do the same, especially if you are having major problems with your dealerships. Good luck.

sleeperI35

Just a little bit of advice.....from what I am reading, the BAND or SERVO need to be replaced internally. I just had my I35 trans rebuilt after 60K and it is thae same maxima tranny you have. That was the problem with the car. My car was back to the guy who rebuilt my tranny 5 YES 5 times to get it right. Honest opinion here, fins a junk tranny, and tell them to put it in, instead of a rebuild. If you are under warranty,. then get a NEW tranny put in there. Transmissions are delicate instruments, and TOO many things can be the root of the problem. You might take it to one person who says its the clutch, and the next say its the BAND not applying the gear properly. Well my band burnt out again after the 5th rebuild and the car is getting a new tranny because I found a guy to warranty his rebuild for a year.