After reading forum & doing research I Have decided to use a remanufactured valve body from Canadian firm Valvebodybuilder. The Shift Kit discussed in detail in this forum can be seen on U-Tube: It's not too complicated & well presented viseo -but the Kit primarily addresses a repair of the 3 Linear Solenoids. The video also shows a complete overhaul kit in Part 2, but thats a separate valve body O/H kit. I tried contacting Levelten, mentioned in the forum, but on numerous occasions their responsives seemed very very short, evasive, & dubious. As an engineer , I didn't get a comfortable feeling nor a clear idea of what they do. Transtar , distributor of high quality but expensive Valvebodyxpress, also offers the 3 linear solenoid valves in a kit, that are at the heart of the transmission problems being described & sell the kit for $277 (three Sonnex valves easily installed-good instructions fast install). I suspect most rebuilder are simply switching out & using this kit & making a tidy profit.. I think it's easier for a novice to go this way, doing the eork yourself or a shop, than to have a Shift Kit installed by a specialty shop (see U- Tube; replacing solen. on Vave Body fot this transm). After speaking in some detail w ValveBodyBuilders, I think I'll pay abit more & hopefully get a quality remanuf valve. I'll post the final results ; the ease of transaction, cost ( appx$650), the quality, & performance of valve body.

 

Valvebodybuilder ((Canad) has much better prices (e.g., core is $150 instead of Levelten $550!!). There valve us $550 while Levelten is $700. There technical service and remanufactured process for the valve body is very good with over 8 Sonnax parts replaced and a complete tear diwn. Levelten won't say what they do & answer question ambiguously & in riddles. I Don't Levelten is bearly as good. One needs to keep in minds the shady players & business in the repair industry that thrives in burning (shamelessly over charging) regular customers. As an engineer I have worked and dealt with many suppliers and also understand the technical side to products, so this is just my opinion.

 

Nice rogernow. You are, however, silent on the new oem VB. What's your opinion.

 

I had no need to do a relearn when I changed my VB (06SL), and the TSB on the issue does not mention it either. The fact is, disconnecting the battery (which you must do when installing a VB) does clear the transmission computer.

 

Hello Forum! I'm new to the site as I'm sure you probably already know and looking for some expert advice.... I recently had my transmission assessed on thursday of last week and the guy at the shop tells me I had a stored code od P0726?? Upon further research I was able to find a little more information about the code but not quite satisfied yet. a brief description of the code was "DTC P0726 ENGINE SPEED INPUT CIRCUIT PERFORMANCE" something related to the transmission. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also while driving the vehicle last week on the highway in cruise control it felt as though the gears and/or transmission was jumpy any ideas???

 

Sorry forgot to mention I'm driving a 06 SE Max

 

I got my valve body from them in May 2011 after driving my car for about 10 months after symptoms first showed up in August of 2010. Only good thing is that the car almost never jerked during the winter months here in Chicago, I guess trans never got too hot, but once the Spring came the jerking started again so I knew it was time to fix it. During those winter months I researched the problem until I found this forum which I didn't even know existed.
I read this thread over and over, trying to figure out what would solve my problem. I took the car to a local shop where the owner is my dads' friend, he quoted me for $1150 with one year / 12,000 mi warranty because he said that the kit failed in a lot of cases, therefore he didn't want to risk it. With that answer, I mentioned to my dad all the reading that I had done and that some people had succesfully changed the valve themselves, but he told me not to mess with it.
To make a long story short I ordered the valve without telling him, printed the detailed instructions posted here, and asked my in-law if he would help me. We did it in about 5 hours, went very slow. Now it's 7 months & 9,000 mi. into it, and no problems whatsoever.
Spent a total of $750 including fluid & a little $ for his labor.
Anybody that plans to order from Valve Body Builders has to keep in mind that they are in Canada and prices are in Canadian dollars, of course. So just look for the current exchange rate. Also, depending on your credit card, you might get charged a "foreign transaction fee", but this has nothing to do with them, this is all your credit card.
One last thing, if you order their valve without sending yours in, which is how I did it, in their technical bulletin they ask you to check the original valve and look for a spring under a plate that some valves have and some don't, if the original has it, you will need to remove it and install it on the one they send you. Luckily for me mine didn't have it.
Good luck to all.

 

POSTING BACK AFTER INSTALL OF NEW/UPDATED OEM VB:

So +1 for the OEM revised VB. I installed it with my friend last night.. took 3 hours total.

1-2 hours disassembling getting the old one out.. cleaning.. getting the new one in.. and the last hour was a food break while the RTV settled.

Filled her with 4.5 qt's of Matic K and she's happier than I have ever felt.

Shifting from 1-2 is barely noticeable now..

Drive to Reverse etc.. Park to Drive.. are all super smooth now it feels like a brand new car. I have to admit the OEM VB is really the way to go. I only have put 50 miles on it so far but very happy with it.

I paid $625 shipped for it via eBay. A guy sold it to me as he was going to get it fixed for his wives Nissan Quest but they ended up covering it under warranty and he couldn't return the VB.

Ended up breaking the clips on the original valvebody intentionally because we didn't want to stress the possibility of destroying the wires to the solenoids. They were too much of a b*tch to get out so we snapped them clips they plug into.

Good luck to everyone. I have a Transgo shiftkit available as well.. if anyone is interested in going that route.

 

Congrats on your successful instal L'Ice. It sure took you some time to get the instal done;I was beginning to think we wouldn't hear from you again. 4.5 qrts for the refill! That sure seems to be on the high side. Was that the amount drained? If so no problem.

 

hey all.. i recently had the transgo kit installed after pulling a p0797 code, and violent 3-2 downshift... after researching this for days, i bought the kit and had it installed. After i got it back everything seemed to be working fine, the harsh downshift was gone, and even the other shifts felt crisper. however when turning at an intersection, or even coasting and then getting back on the throttle at around 15mph, there is a very harsh bang as it seems like the tranny is "searching" for a gear and then finds it. the engine tachs up to about 4000 rpm, and then it slams into 2nd gear... no codes are showing up or pending and i have run the car for at least and hour. also have a p1800 code, but not sure if that could be related. if anybody could shed some light on this for me it would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance

 

Code P1800 is an electrical issue; you may have to take the car to the relevant expert.

 

Does anyone know the Torque Spec. for the 10mm Valve Body bolts and the Torx pan bolts?

Thanks,

Scott

 

the p1800 code is related to the vacuum assisted variable intake... not too concerned with that unless somehow it is affecting the shifting issue. Anybody have a similar problem after the Transgo install??? btw i have an 04 SE with 110k. still no codes. my mechanic did say that one of the solenoids, (the black, lock up control) felt a little "lazy" as the spring did not feel like it had the same tension as the two other solenoids. is this normal, or could this be where my problem is coming from? wouldn't there be a code as well if it was the solenoid??? please help i need to do something asap

 

Please i need advice, I installed the transgo kit in my Maxima, it worked for a week and then the care resumed the slams the hard shifting etc. Now the car wont get into gear, it turns on the engine revs when you hit the gas but thats about it.

So im thinking of a tranny rebuild.

My questions are

If i do a trany rebuild, does that include a valvebody overhaul ?
Is the trany and vb diffrent parts ?
Im in houston anyone know of a good trany shop that would replace/rebuild both tranny and valvebody?
do i need to order another transgo kit to go with the work mentioned above ?

 

how come nobody helps? i get one response and its not even close to answering my question... and to the guy above me.. it seems like we are having a similar problem after install. when does urs bang? any check engine light or codes?

 

and btw costee, that is the whole reason that i am on a forum trying to get info, because i don't want to pay the relevent professional. it seems like u people know a lot about ur cars, i'm just asking for a piece of that knowledge, but please, if u are going to respond, at least give some useful info instead of something so generic as "take it to a professional"

 

The concept or philosophy of the forum is not about cutting costs, but about passing information and giving leads. There are certain things you can't DIY in so far as you're not an auto technician. I am not an auto guy either and when I get confronted with things beyond by capability I give to those who know better.

 

Something tells me you've actually not gone through this thread very well. Except your tranny has totally gone bad, there are generally three options here that have resolved the issues people have had with their trannies: the kit; valve body rebuild; oem valve body. In my own opinion, the kit is the cheapest option, but the least successful.
To answer your questions, I don't think you need a tranny rebuild at this juncture except it's been ascertained that the internal components of your tranny have gone bad. Have your car scanned and let's hear what codes you have pulled. Yes, the tranny and the vb are different parts, though the vb is attached to the tranny. Good luck.

 

Thank You very much. I will do so.

 

That would be most unlikely. This thread is for those having issues with the 5speed tranny, that is, RE5F22A, and not the 4speed, that is,RE4F04B.

 

So I've read through the 22 pages...and I just have a quick question.

Picked up an 05 Maxima SL 2 weeks ago with 127k miles for $3,500.

The body wasnt in TOO great shape..but it was sold to me from a good friend so I knew there wasn't any major engine problems.

I knew the transmission had a CLUNK whenever I switched gears (P-D, P-R, D-R, R-D, etc).

It wasn't too bad at first...but now it gets REALLY bad after the car is warmed up.

This issue does not happen when the car is cold..

I'm not experiencing any hard shifts whenever I'm driving...only the clunk when switching gears.

I dropped the car off at a local mechanic and he said that motor mounts are going bad..and that is causing the clunk when switching gears. Can that be it? This is just a regular shop near my house..so I don't know if its reputable or not (doubt it).

Thanks in advance!

 

The clunk could be the result of bad mounts all right. Since you do not experience hard shifts when driving and your SES light is yet to come on, I'd say you should give the mech the benefit of the doubt by replacing the mounts.
Keep us posted.

 

^ Thanks man. Appreciate your input.

I was just a little doubtful on the mechanic because i couldnt figure out why the "clunk" would be there AFTER the car is warmed up.

I figured if it was the motor mounts..it'll clunk regardless of it being warm or cold.

I'll bring it to the shop this week and keep you all posted!

Thanks again!

 

Hey guys I'm new to the forum. I've been reading the posts about the valvebody issues. I ordered a new VB through Nissan for $850.....$902 with tax. I'm going to try to install this weekend. Any advice is welcome.....

Mike

 

Your thinking is correct.

While worn motor mounts may not cause the problem, they help to expose, for lack of a better term, the transmission issue that many of us have had to deal with.

My car initially had the same issue as you - great when cold, gets worse as it heats up, shifting from P-R, P-D, D-P etc would eventually yield a violent bang that almost felt like a garbage truck had smashed into the car

As someone who battled the transmission issues intermittently for about a year, my advice to you is to forgo the motor mount repair for now, and have your valve body checked and replaced if necessary. Once the transmission is fixed, then you can consider replacing the mounts.

Congrats on the purchase. Transmission issues aside, I think you got a pretty good deal. please keep us posted, and best of luck with the car. When it's running properly, it really is an awesome vehicle!

 

I know the tranny (VB) issue on our 6th gens is usually an inevitability, but until there is concrete evidence that the tranny is awfully acting up(and it will throw a code), I'd suggest that OP should let sleeping dogs lie for the moment. It is said that you address a problem from the simple to the complex, in this instance changing the VB before the mounts is the opposite.

 

In the early stages of failure, my transmission threw no code whatsoever. It did not throw a code until it got to the point where the transmission was free-revving and slamming into all gears.

If the OP changes his mounts and the transmission continues to slam into gear, that will just cause unneeded stress on his new mounts.

If the mounts were causing his problem, wouldn't the problem present itself regardless of the operating temperature of the vehicle, as the OP himself has (logically) asked? Engine mounts are 'all or nothing' so to speak. If they're torn, they're torn, and signs/symptoms of bad motor mounts will manifest themselves at all times. The problem that the OP is describing is markedly characteristic of the VB failure that has been discussed in this thread, and it is something that I have personally experienced and had to deal with on my own vehicle.

In fact, my motor mounts are bad as well (diagnosed at the same time as the failing transmission), and I have not even replaced them yet. I instead opted to repair the transmission first, as that problem was steadily becoming worse. Now that the transmission has been fixed, the car no longer slams into any gear, even with my torn engine mounts. I do plan to replace them soon, however.

I just don't want the guy to spend a few hundred bucks on the motor mount repair, when he can instead put that money toward replacing the valve body if necessary, or at least having the transmission diagnosed by a trustworthy shop.


OP: Quick question - when you shift from P-D, P-R, D-R etc, do you at times also have a delay between the engagement/slamming into gear?

 

All well. Retroflashbacks just has to decide on whether he has a clunk or a bang; the two might actually be symptoms of two different things. Quite recently the gear of my brother's Acura RL slammed at cold start from P-R, and D-R, but was quite smooth when warm. Change of mounts resolved the issue. Now I ask: why didn't it slam irrespective of the temperature of the car? I honestly don't know. But of course retroflashbacks can go ahead and change the VB if he has the cash, but if not I'd still suggest that he should wait for the tranny to show evidence of failure. Yes, as you suggested, he could scan the car to be sure there are no hidden codes. A bad transmission takes little time to manifest: it just becomes dangerously undrivable, as you become paranoid from the expectation of a bang when you downshift.lol. Well that was my experience.

 

I know this is late, don't let the TSB's for any car run your decision making. TSBs are designed to find the quickest most cost effective solution to fixing the problem for the technicians. Replacing the VB is cheaper and more cost effective for the average tech to do. If they screw it up the first time labor just adds up.
I have had my Transgo kit in for a long time now with no issues.
As for a reply to why this reply was given. The code that you received was because the kit was not done correctly. The solenoids are what get repaired by this kit. This is not a coincidence, it is due to the improper install of the kit. Hopefully this has been figured out already due to it being so long ago.

 

Could be a sensor like the Camshaft Position Sensor.

 

This information on cost and customer service is very good for others, however to say Level 10 is shady is not. They are a very reputable company that specializes in Foreign car transmissions. They make race car ready transmissions. Chernmax has their VB installed in his transmission. If you want to know what they do to their transmissions, just ask here. The amount of knowledge on this forum is amazing. If I remember correctly, they achieve their results by redesigning the whole valvebody by porting directly to each solenoid. Meaning they reroute the fluid using piping for quicker response and direct transfer of fluid. Which eliminates lag or other possible clogging or fluid slowdowns.

 

I completely agree with this statement, however, there is also a relearn feature that should be performed after a transmission replacement. I would call nissan and ask them if they will do the trans relearn for you or PM me and I will see if I can find the procedure again. It is in the service manual somewhere. You can also see if your TCM has an update for it. The only way to do that is for the nissan tech to hook into your system with their computer and see what firmware you currently have.

 

Sounds like you are about the get the Camshaft Position Sensor code and failure. The CSP sensor goes into the side of your block and basically sends a signal to the ECU telling it where your Camshaft is at. If this sensor is failing or off by the slightest, you will get codes that will affect your transmission shifting. The transmission will think your engine is at a certain RPM when it is really not there. This will cause the engine to shut off and the trans to go into limp mode, 5th gear. So be careful and keep an eye out for a more descriptive error to appear. Hope this helps.

 

is there a lag between the shift, meaning you shift it manually, and it takes more than 500 rpm before it shifts? or is it shifting, but slams into gear? If it is shifting, but slams into gear, you should check your motor mounts. I replaced 2 of mine and installed the rubber spacer, and no slamming. If it delays shifting, then the kit was not installed correctly. The solenoid for that gear is getting stuck, needs redone.

 

buy new ones off ebay and save hundreds. Install is a piece of cake if you follow the instructions on this forum. Any questions pm me.

 

Once again!

Thanks COSTEE and CRIME for your insights. It's been really helpful!

As far as the "clunk" or "bang"...i'm going to lean towards a "bang".

The car jerks violently as I switch gears...enough to hit the car in front of me when i'm parking.

As far as delays when switching gear..I haven't noticed anything..but I don't release the gas pedal right away after I switch gears.

Will autozone be able to detect any hidden codes regarding the transmission?

As you guys can tell..i'm a complete newbie when it comes to cars.

Thanks again!

 

That's exactly how my 06' problem started out - hard clunk changing gears betweeen R and N and D. Then , problem got worse to the 'slam shift' issues. I was told motor mounts early on. Bad advice. Even thought these guys are mechanics, unless they are familiar with this particular problem,the amount and level of detail here in the forums makes you the most educated person in that discussion. I almost did the mm but then quickly learned it most likely wasn't. I ended up taking my car into Level 10 (cause they are right here in NJ) and problem gone for 2 months now. My experience with them are they are super nice guys. They showed me what was wrong, how they fixed it and told me come back to them if there were ANY problems. I have no doubt they'd back that up. They even showed my how to clean out my air sensor for more HP's. Not bad for a grand. I'm not saying they are the only game in town though, just my experience was a good one.

Bottom line is - change your VB.

BTW - I was at Nissan getting an alignment for another car and I mentioned my tranny issue. Service guys acted like it was soething they never head of. Said they'd put a new one in for $3800+tax. Then told them about the TSB and the class action. They said oh yeah..blah blah blah. Bastards.

 

Guys,
I installed the Nissan OEM Valvebody this weekend. Car runs great now. No hard shifts or RPM spikes. Took longer that I thought but I went slow to make sure I did not miss anything. Thanks for the write-up. All I can add would be to remove the bottom guard and side wheel guard. Also take "Pictures of the VB" wire conections. That saved me. My colors did not match up with the new VB harness color codes. I will post pictures...

thanks
Mike

 

I installed the Nissan OEM VB this weekend and the transmission acts 100% better, no sign of delayed or missed shifts and P-R delays are gone too! Found the VB at a local dealer for $845 and Matic K for $8/quart after a little negotiation. Scrui's post #588 was great help to get the VB changed. Only trouble I had was removing PS1-PS3 wires. I broke the connectors on the solenoids to avoid damaging the wires when I removed them from the original VB...still not sure how to get them out without damage, maybe someone has a method.

Thanks everyone that contributed to this thread.

 

I ended up just taking it to a tranny shop, they said third gear was gone, when they opened it up i had came by to check on it and my clutch bands were black

I ended up getting a total rebuild with new torque converter, 3rd gear drum, bands, etc. It shifts good now, but is still learning because they reset everything back to factory shift points and i have only put about 200 miles on it.