I've had my 03 SE for about 8 months now. It has 136k on it and the clutch is about to have to be replaced, but when shifting hard the shifter grinds going into 3rd. What the heck is causing that?????

 

It is not uncommon with the 6MT.

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ar-crunch.html

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...-3rd-gear.html

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ar-crunch.html

 

Search is a great thing...
That is the oh so common third gear crunch. Mine does it also. You could try switching to Redline MT90 Trans fluid when you do the clutch. It will probably help with smoother shifts but on hard shifts it will probably always crunch. Other suggestion is to adjust the clutch pedal. I really don't think that will do much for you. This issue is caused by crappy 3rd gear syncros. I believe that 3rd generation of the 6mt has this problem fixed completely. 06+ I think???

 

forum police..

i guess we should just search and never make threads... then this forum will just die and become a maxima-google-type search.

give the guy a break.


(this post was just as useless as yours)

gl with fixing ur problem.

 

NOOB we weren't giving him a hard time at all. Just made a suggestion. We even provided links and information on the issue he asked about? WTF are you talking about?

 

In all seriousness:

GET USED TO IT.

Nissan won't warranty it (even if you WERE still in warranty).

If I recall -- REDLINE MT-90 is NOT within spec of the GL-4 rating that Nissan recommends for the manual tranny fluid....so DON'T put that stuff in there!!
AMSOIL makes a VERY GOOD GL-4 full-synthetic (is that the right number?? - going from memory) that is TOTALLY within SPEC of the svc manual.

Generally speaking -- NO LUBE will solve this issue. The third gear crunch is common, and is a bad synchro issue inherent to the OEM tranny design.
Drive around it....upshift slower, and deliberately - and you'll find the happy spot.

Follow your manual -- use the proper lube, and change your fluid at regular/recommended intervals.

**AND let me know when & where you get your Clutch replaced...I'm going to need a new one in not too long also!**

gr

 

i have it too man.. sucks... worst part i think isnt feeling it through the shifter... you want to grimmace.. put your music off and your windows down.. and then listen to it.. its friggin loud and embaressing....

on another note... when downshifting... if you double clutch and match the revs perfectly with the trans it will slide in perfectly,... on up shifting.. if you go deliberatly slower.. or shift in a (up right up) in stead of a diagnal direction it seems to lessen it.. but that prob just has to do with timing/taking longer... g/l learn to live with it or buy a 04/05 HLSD trans

 

I have 04 internals. Still isn't fixed. I believe it isn't fixed until 08?? I think that is the third generation of the 6mt

 

They fixed it in 04. I think they went to dual cone syncros. It's weird that yours is still grinding. I swapped for the 04 tranny and it shifts great.

 

Just the other day my Nissan Service Manager suggested Redline MT-90. Their senior mechanic uses only Redline products on his own cars, and he's GT-R certified.

So I'm thinking they know what they're doing.

 

You're right. I'm sure you've spent a lot of time and contributed so much to this forum that you know exactly what's going on.

Just look at those links. It's paragraphs and paragraphs of information contributed by several different people.
Are you going to sit down every day and type out answers to the same 5 questions over and over? If not then don't expect us to!

 

Thanks for all the tips. And just so ya'll know I felt pretty stupid when after posting I saw about 3 other threads on the the same topic. My bad, but I know more than I did before. Thanks again

 

glad you found what you needed man

 

04 is only the second revision of 3. Some still had the issue.

 

I didn't know that. I thought they were the same from 04 till they got rid of the HLSD all together. I guess I got lucky with a good one. When did they switch to the final version? I'm pretty sure 06 was the last year for any manual tranny in a Maxima.

nimsomax95, don't feel stupid even for a second. It takes a while to learn the site.

 

Not really sure when the third revision was. I could be wrong also...

 

I always found this issue to be weird...imo it's a hit or miss. I know some guys with 6mt with over 150k miles with not a single tranny problem and then again I know of guys with less than 50k miles who have had tranny problems with their 6mt's.

The good news is you can easily get a quick and painless fix for this and it's not too expensive. Locate a 6th gen transmission and swap it in. It can be had for less than $1000 and the install is painless

 

Even the 5spd suffers from the dreaded 3rd gear crunch. I have Redline MT-90, ES Shifter Bushings, MMIs, a short shifter and a weighted shifter to try and reduce it as much as possible. Even though it has helped it's still there. Just something you have to deal with.

 

I've used both and studied the specs of both of these fluids. As far as I can tell, they are identical and both meet Nissan specs. (Amsoil MTG vs. Redline MT-90)

Dave

 

i didn't know the 3.5SE altima was 5speed.. figured they would use the 6spd from the max :P

 

The 3.5 Altima was only available with a 5-speed or an auto up to 2006 when they put the 6-speed in the SE-R version.

 

They put the 6spd in the 05 ser. The only manual option is the 6spd on the 07+ models.

 

Good stuff.

 

If you don't mind, can you disclose your cost, or ballpark it?

 

The 06 tranny might be better than the 04 but there were changes made in 04 to improve the crunch. I did a lot of research before my swap and that was before the 06 models were even out.

 

I'd say around $1700...just my guess though. But it should def. be less than $2k

 

Thanks for all the info.