I think I am going to order one of the TransGo kits for my '02, since reading on a lot of threads that the TCM replacement usually doesn't seem to make any difference in fixing the transmission slip from 2nd to 3rd gear. I am not trying to spend $400+ on a part that won't do any good. Then I will have to try to sell it to someone else for less money than I paid, convincing them that it's brand new. I know the shift kits are definitely cheaper than getting a brand new TCM from DaveB, but I'm not sure about the labor. I know the installation of a TCM involves unplugging the old one, and plugging the new one in. I wanted to ask a few questions for anyone who has had one of the TransGo shift kits installed in their '00-03' Max:

1. Any idea what kind of labor hours I can expect to pay for to have this done?
2. Is the correct model for us the SK-RE4F04B?
3. How many of you have automatic transmission problems that were actually FIXED by having this shift kit installed, and what were your problems?

Thanks for any help.

 

+1 Id like to know as well nice looking car by the way.

 

I would like to know as well. I have the 2-3 slip, as well. Its not a big deal since it goes away once the car is warm, but its annoying none the less.

 

my 2-3 slip feels like someone is changing a manual gearbox, the gap is just too long.
and it feels the same whenever what position the gas pedal is at.
it shifts the same when at 2000 rpm or at 6500 rpm, maybe a little shorter at 6500 rpm.

 

Ditto, i wanna know more about that kit too

 

got the same issue,its annoying as hell

 

Thanks.

My slip doesn't ever go away. It's there even when the car is warmed up, and is really bad when the car is cold. Especially if I don't let it warm up because I am running late for work. Sometimes on rare occasions when it's really cold, it actually doesn't even shift into 4th gear at all until it warms up, which makes me really think it's a VB issue.

Mine actually seems to shift a little quicker if the RPMs are up higher and I'm going "fast", but when I'm driving at "normal" speed it shifts horribly.

 

1. Most likely 2 or 3 hours, plus ATF and disposal fees. It's really not that hard to drop the VB, takes 10 or 15 minutes and the same for reinstall. (Damn, AllData has 2 hours for R&R of the VB...so you might be paying a fair amount).
2. Yes, that's the correct kit. There's also the RE4F04B-HD2 which is a more heavy duty kit, firms up the shifts a lot more (read: DR mod type shifting).

 

According to the TransGo website, the RE4F04B-HD2 is more for nitrous, turbo, and supercharging. Do you think it's worthwhile to get that one for a car that has no plans of any of the 3?

P.S. I went to Pasadena Elementary for 1st grade haha.

 

If you can live with DR-mod type shifts all the time, sure. The less slippage the better, to a point.

If you're looking for a nice relatively smooth shifting daily driver, I'd go with the former.

 

In one of the transmission threads, someone who installed the TransGo kit said the cold 2-3 slip was completely eliminated with the shift kit. Definitely considering this as well. My 2-3 shift is more soft than an actual slip unless it gets down into the 20s and 30s, but even when it slips it is only 100-200 rpm at the most. Even though it goes away once the transmission warms up, I still worry about what kind of wear even just a couple soft shifts/slips might be doing to the clutch packs.

I have put shift kits into TH-350 tranmissions (GM 3 speed automatic) and it is relatively easy to do on that particular transmission. Drop the valve body, drill a couple holes in the seperator plate, remove 3 check *****, change a couple springs and put it back together. However, it appears that installing the TransGo kit is more involved and time consuming. In addition, you mess up a TH-350, you can get one at a wrecking yard pretty easily for $100. Not so easy to do in our case. For that reason, if I get the kit, I am going to look for a transmission shop that regularly installs shift kits to do the installation. I'd rather pay $200-300 (or whatever they charge for the 2-3 hours TransGo says the kit takes to install) in labor than have to find another transmission.

I'd go with the non-heavy duty kit. The B&M shift kits I have installed when I had my Chevelle had "street" and "strip" versions. At the time, I wanted hard shifts so I always installed the "strip" version. I got the HARD shifts I wanted. Half throttle would bark the tires on the 1-2 upshift and full throttle meant 10-20 feet of wheelspin and a hard chirp on the 2-3 upshift. Not so sure that constant hard shifts would be so much fun anymore.

 

Mine does an actual "slip" if the temp is around 30 or less. I am pretty good at preventing it however. I found that if I let it shift anywhere past 2k rpms then it will slip, if I go at or under 2k rpms then it does a nice smooth shift. I also find that my 1-2 shift is usually a rough shift, but is smoother at a higher rpm...this stays the same if the car is cool or warm. Once my car is warmed up, my 2-3 shifts perfectly even if I floor the car onto the parkway.

I might eventually invest in this shift kit. It would be nice for my tranny to be perfect.

 

I think I will try to order the shift kit tomorrow and then start looking into a transmission specialist to install it...

 

From another thread: http://forums.maxima.org/6502962-post118.html

I got the HD2 kit and sometimes (not always) have a firm 1-2 shift. Everything else is smooth as butter. I have not had any tranny slippage since the kit.

Will a normal AT chirp tires from 1-2? Mine will.

 

Mine does occasionally on asphalt. My Accord would too after I adjusted the cable between the throttle and the transmission. No such adjustment on our cars.

My 626 would only shift hard when the engine was cold. Once it warmed up, the engine dialed back power just before full throttle upshifts so no way would it chirp the tires.

 

new problem, not just 2-3 slips, now it slips when 1-2. anyone experiences this before?

 

how cold is it when ur driving?

 

Under what driving conditions?

 

Does it chirp every time? That could be embarrassing?

I had a TransGo shift kit installed in a Taurus SHO. The kit required drilling the VB, and included various actuator springs that altered the shift firmness. My installer suggested the mildest springs. It was perfect, regular shifts were firm and fast and WOT shifts were like "flat-shifting".

I think I am going to install one in my car when it warms up.

 

fully warmed up and driven normally.
it does like this, let's say 1st gear the engine reaches 3000rpm, then the gearbox shifts. instead of shifting into second, the rev stays there, and the gearbox is like waiting for something, then the power kicks in.

 

I haven't had the chance to order the kit yet...will hopefully do so on Monday. I'm really surprised to see that not many people have done anything to fix their 5th gen tranny issues...or maybe this thread hasn't had enough exposure. I'm sure there are tons of people that have the same issue as me. If anyone has fixed their transmission issues with a brand new TCM, please chime in. I don't know about everyone else, but driving my car like this makes me feel disappointed that I even bought the car...seems like Nissan shouldn't have let such a common problem slide without some kind of recall...but of course I know that would be way too expensive for them to acknowledge. I really like my car, but I'm hoping that getting the transmission problem fixed will make me love my car like I did the day I bought it...

 

Looking through the FSM it does give the valve body as a solution. Your car is out of warranty, a valve body is $1200 plus labor. Since most seem to be getting well past 100k miles even with the problem, I guess it is easier to just live with for a couple minutes a day than spend that kind of money.

I am on the fence about putting in the shift kit. I am sure it will fix the issue but with 143,000 on the transmission I'd hate to spend the money then have to do it again in 20,000 miles in a replacement tranny because my transmission is just flat wore out.

 

whats the price for this kit and could someone mechanically inclinded install this.

 

$120 for the kit and it comes with a video showing the install. If it takes 3 hours, you'd pay 3 hours of labor and any ATF they need to add.

 

imo I just dont think its worth it to do it. Once summer comes rolling around the issue will be gone again and the car will drive fine. Right now all we need to do is try to avoid the slip at all costs until that tranny gets warmed up. As long as the slip is avoided I dont see how this would be any issue.

 

Fixing the problem is better than ignoring it.

 

when I bought mine max from dealer in winter it was snowy. Couldn't tell there was something wrong with tranny. So I had 1-2 problem for a year and a half. Going back and forth to "stealer" to fix it. They would flush the transmission and after 3 attempt of fixing(finally they sad that they don't know what is wrong) exchanged it for brand new one, I had extended warranty
During 1.5 y period it depended from "something" Transmission would work fine all day or jerk all the time when start driving. When cold in winter was working just fine for few minutes until was warmed up. I could tell that jerking and slipping "dance" was either on low or very high rpms. Later it start doing this from 2-3, so I got pissed and went to stealer saying that I'm not picking my car completely fixed up and if they want they can drive all day long to find out. When I came to pick my beauty guys would say that they where driving 10h, I checked mileage, 3.7 mil. These stealer-dealer people are

 

Can't give any opinions of the Trans-go kit in the Maxima, but I had one installed in my '93 HB 4X4 V6 when the tranny was rebuilt, it made a hellava difference. The shifts are very quick and hard. My truck runs 33 x 12.5's and have no problem power braking it. Plus I use my truck as a truck, I carry heavy heavy loads (almost 2k lbs of plaster last Thursday) shifts very precise, no lag time.

RLW001: It will chirp from 1 into 2 if under heavy acceleration, but under normal driving, it won't.

 

while I do agree with you it seems hard to pinpoint this problem and nothing is really a cheap fix. The shift kit sounds like the best option but if it doesnt work then that was more money down the tubes.

 

I figure the kit is $120, 3 hours of labor at $75 an hour and ATF, you'd be out the door for $400 or so. New valve body is 3 times that.

In my case, is it really worth doing it with 143,000 miles on the transmission?

 

yeah probably not because who knows when something else can go on that tranny. Im high miles too I have 113k now and I put tons of miles on my car. Its been doing this for a long time now, I just feel that if im going to put any money into that transmission it would be best if I had the whole damn thing done at this point.

 

So Scott, when your tranny goes are you getting rid of the car? Im just asking because you could always swap the modded VB into a new or rebuilt tranny when the time comes.

 

I guess it depends on when it goes out. I'd probably replace the transmission but with a used transmission, I'd want to make sure it works properly when installed. If I swap the valve bodies and the replacement transmission doesn't work properly it would be hard to get whoever I buy it from to take it back-they'd probably blame the modified valve body for any issues.

 

i had a shift kit on one of my 4ths. i'd say go for the 'harder/stronger' of the two kits. $120 is cheap. and dropping a VB is a piece of cake, least it was in my 4th and i can't see why it would be harder in my 5th. for $15 bucks i got a new filter and gasket from pepboys.

 

1sexyleo's tranny is slow shfiting from 1-2 then a 2-3 hard delayed shift. Sometimes after hgwy drives it refuses to shift from 3-4. Was bad in summer-fall, now worst in winter. She is getting the transgo hd2 kit in a couple weeks. Tranny shop is charging 250 to install.

The tranny shop says he can also rebuild the tranny with high performance clutches and shift kit for $1600. (lifetime warranty) Just dont wanna spend that type of money right now...

 

lifetime warranty? lol on what the clutches or the tranny?

 

anything he did to it basically. clutches, shift kit...etc

 

no one gives a lifetime warranty on an entire auto tranny. i could easily blow it in one day...so basically what he replaces he warranties for life? that's amazing...

 

I'd be leery of a $1600 rebuild. That seems about $500 or so lower than the going rate for a stock rebuild, let alone one with heavy duty clutch packs.

I will say that a properly built high performance automatic with heavy duty clutch packs and a properly programed valve body does give you really quick, tire chirping shifts. Had one built for my Chevelle and it stood up to a couple years of regular bracket racing as I went from the mid 14s to the high 12s as I continued to mod the engine and changed from 2.56 to 3.08 to finally 4.11 gears. Very consistant performance.

 

Well, he gurantees all his work. He also says, he doesn't just fix transmissions just to make alot money and bust your head open like Aamco. He likes what he does too.