After recently swapping in an 06 Altima engine I concluded I also needed to rebuild or replace my 6 speed transmission. I picked up an 05 Sentra Spec V 6 speed, which is known to be the same tranny as the 02 with different final drive and a synchro update, but requires you to swap the Sentra bellhousing for a Maxima one. Here's my question- I've split the casings, and have been trying to figure out how to extract the outer race for the diff side bearing from the clutch bellhousing since the bearing/race are fine and I want to re-use them. Nissan has a special inner diameter puller tool they use- closest inner puller I could find only handles up to 1.5" and the ID of the race is 2.5".
How the heck did you guys get that bearing race out?

 

Can't just get a 2 jaw slide hammer from advance? Bearing races are super hard sonic wouldn't worry bout damaging it

 

Thx for the stab, but no. I tried every combo of 2 and 3 jaw pullers, but the edge of the race is rounded so is hard to grab, and there's limited clearance- a 2 jaw might work by grinding down the hook end to a thin edge to fit in a small notch under the race. I ended up using a hardwood dowel as a drift and knocking it partially out from the seal side, then walking it out with an aluminum seal driver with a stepped edge that was thin enough to get into the space between the race and where it sits.

 

Every time I have heard of someone using the Sentra tranny I hear about it in the context of them taking it to a shop to have the bellhousing swapped. Can't remember anyone ever doing it themselves.

 

I think several orgers have completed it themselves, and mine is done as of tonight. I admit there were some challenges, and it's important for anyone attempting it to be patient and methodical. The FSM is essential for reference, especially the exploded diagrams, and be careful handling the gear assemblies once they're removed from the clutch housing, and be especially careful not to slide the coupling sleeves around because when their range is not limited by the shift forks you can easily pop out the shift inserts, which I did on both the reverse assembly and then on the 3-4 coupler on my first botched attempt at reinstalling the main, input and reverse assemblies into the new clutch bellhousing. Oh yeah, that part- you need to remove and install the main.input and reverse gear assemblies together, anyone who can juggle bowlings ***** will have no problem with that maneuver. You in fact just need to mesh the main and input assemblies as the reverse can be slipped out separately once you lift the other 2 out a bit, and when reinstalling it's possible to insert main and input first, then lift them out a bit and slip the reverse assembly into place then seat them all together. The first time you do this swap will be time consuming, the second time would be cake.