Sorry if this has been covered but I'm new and searching seems to only turn up AT to MT swaps so...

I'm still trying to iron out the wrinkles on my newly aquired '00 SE 5MT I purchased a couple weeks ago. I'm slowly but surely making some progress only to get kicked in the ***** with my discovery tonight. Apparently my Max is the victim of the dreaded diff bearing failure...driver's side axle is loose and leaking. Since a replacement seems eminent the question is do I swap in a 6MT? What will I need as far as parts? I bought this car to replace my '06 Spec V (it's too small) and really wasn't looking forward to giving up the HLSD 6MT. Maybe this way I can have my cake and eat it too...

If not, which 5MT do I look for? Finding either won't be a problem, my neighbor runs one of the local salvage yards and is swap-friendly and savvy enough to find what is needed.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

Well you are probably going to be told to search because this has been discussed before, but I have been thinking about trying to acquire the parts for the same swap so I will respond. I want to do it to further improve my economy. My 5MT/clutch is in good shape at the moment so I have time to gather everything and get down to it when I decide.

Everything I say has been gathered from what I remember from having searched on the topic myself, you would do well to verify it as I have no actual experience with this yet.

I am a little confused as to whether you still have the Spec-V and are proposing to take the 6MT from it? If so this is possible, however, the bellhousing on the Sentra tranny is different from the Maxima so you have to take the transmission of the Sentra and mount it to the 6MT Maxima bellhousing. The reason people do this is apparently the transmissions are not exactly identical in gearing, the Sentra 6MT has a longer 6th gear than the Maxima. The other advantage is the Spec-V tranny always has the HLSD whereas that was a rare option on the Maxima one so you have to really search around if you want to find the HLSD.

Assuming you are talking about finding an unrelated tranny. The above is your decision. You can buy the Maxima tranny, most likely without HLSD and also save yourself the work of having to do the bellhousing thing.

If you buy a Sentra tranny then obviously you will have to buy the 02/03 Maxima bellhousing. Not sure of the date range of compatibility but I believe the newer Spec-V tranny are the better ones. 06-08 if memory serves correctly (definitely verify that but I do know for sure there are better Spec-V trannys)

The parts you will need other than that are the 6MT gearbox and shifter assembly. I believe you also need the pedals. Not sure about the hydraulic parts or which of the axles you will have to replace (I think both?). The other part you should be aware of is I believe to complete the project you must modify the crossmember in order to mount the transmission (verify that too).

 

5mt to 6mt?! That's impossible man! You're crazy for attempting this swap!

 

 

To be fair, there's not really much info out on this, searching could easily bring up nothing.

There's a couple threads on it with details, even a couple DIY threads IIRC. I dont know where there are, but they are out there. You might want to look in the 4th gen section, the 5speed they have is the same as yours.

 

Ok ok, I'll be nice...

http://forums.maxima.org/all-motor/6...p-4th-gen.html

and there are a few incorrect things in FFC's post, when I feel like it I'll address them later.

 

I saw your thread. Installing a 6 speed is easier than installing headers? If that's the case, then yikes.

I have Cattman headers I was planning to install myself.......maybe I'll leave it for a shop

DW

 

I have a FULL 6 spd swap for sale...

 

Yes, removal of the rear heatshield is really that annoying for me.

And if the vehicle has never had it's y-pipe removed.....

After that it's really easy to do headers, like silly easy.

6MT swap aint that hard either though...... once you have all of the RIGHT parts.....

 

NO, I bought the Max to replace my Sentra...but it's not leaving until the Maxima is reliable. If I do the 6MT I will prob. source one from a Sentra since they're cheaper and seemingly easier to come by. Thank you for your post, lots of good info there. I believe you don't want to use the 02/03 Sentra trans, and anything 04 and after is ok iirc.

I can appreciate the sarcasm and I'm glad you decided to contribute, I was hoping you would. Thank you for the link and the added info.

After looking it all over I'm not sure if I can afford the down time, but I'm still going to look into it. If I decided to stay 5MT which trans do I try and get to avoid this mess all over again?! 6th gen?

A big 'Thank You' to all those that have posted so far, I appreciate the input.

 

It took me a week to do headers, and 6 days to do 6mt swap, bear in mind 2 of those days were just "OSH WHAT AM I MISSING" and the other 2 were "OSH I DONT HAVE PART XYZ NOW I GOTTA GO BUY IT."

It can be done over a weekend if you have ALL of the correct parts.

In comparison to other FWD cars, this is one of the easier and cheaper 6mt swaps out there.

 

Just read over your thread. Seems like quite a project. Is it nearly identical on a 5th gen or are there noticeable differences?

 

You do the same exact thing as the 5th gen... Even though no-one has talked about doing it on a 5th gen.

As for a 5.5 gen it's nearly the same except a little less work because of not needing to customize the flywheel.

 

Well, after calling and getting prices on just the trans it looks like I'm leaning toward the 6 speed again. Just need to get my grocery list together and start acquiring parts...

 

I'm confused, wouldn't a 5.5 just be a tranny swap as it already has the 6MT?

 

I think he's talking about putting a 5.5 gen 6MT on a 5.0 gen.
The 6MT was "born" on the 5.5 gen Maxima, not the 5.0 gen.


DW

 

OK so no modding the flywheel on a 6MT to 5.0 swap? Is that because they are the same flywheel, you use the 5.0 flywheel, or use the 5.5?

 

The 5MT and 6MT flywheels are different, so yes you will need to mod it.