ok guys i have had a problem with my 5 speed grinding going into third gear. well i asked around and i have found a 5 speed out of a 98 that has 50,000 miles on it for 500 bucks. it's about a hour and half away. my quesiton is what are the differences if any between the two? if someone could help me out that would be great.

my thought process was this might be cheaper than having mine rebuilt.

 

No difference except the striking rod length which will make the shifter sit a little further forward.

 

I believe that the synchros are better in the 5th gen tranny, but a 4th gen tranny will work without any problem in a 5th gen. I put in a 4th gen tranny into my 5th gen before I sold it.

Even though the 98 tranny only has 50k miles on it, you never know when the diff. bearing will go out. And whether it's a 5th gen or a 4th gen, it will die prematurely. It's just a matter of when. So you might wanna think about just rebuilding your tranny and know for sure that you won't have any more problems ever again.

It would suck to buy that 98 tranny and then have the diff bearing go out a short time later. In my 2000 maxima, the bearing went out at 57k miles and the tranny was replaced under warranty and then it went out again at 100k miles.

 

I told you this stuff in your 5th gen thread

 

Bearings don't just all of a sudden fail. They slowly wear out over time and have symptoms that one could detect if they are buying a used transmission. Some transmissons never have the differential bearing problem and can go 200k without problem and outlast the car (like one of mine did). Some of them get it very early like yours did, and like another one of mine did. The reason yours failed twice was not the fault of the transmission but rather the fault of the transmission builder. They were lazy and reused the same improperly sized shims that were in the transmission when it was new. Those improperly sized shims caused the diff bearings to fail the first time, and then when they didn't properly shim the transmission when you got your rebuild the same improperly sized shims caused the bearing failure the second time. Both 4th and 5th gen transmissions are susceptible to the diff bearing and input shaft bearing failure. I've seen it in both.

There is no difference in the synchros from 4th to 5th gen. For 1997 (middle of the 4th gen model years) Aisin changed from a single synchro first gear to a double synchro first gear.

 

It wasn't a rebuild, a brand new factory unit was installed in my car @57k miles in 11/03 and failed in 11/05 @ 100k miles. I'm aware of what causes the failure. It's the fault of the F@CKTARD manufacturer/rebuilder of the transmission rather than a design flaw.

I'm aware that the bearings don't suddenly fail, but from the time that it first starts leaking oil to the time where it almost explodes can be within 500 miles.

 

i know i was just after some other opinions and these guys in here know more than a lot of people in the 5th gen forum, thanks for your help. i'm still deciding on what to do

 

what about a 5th gen auto tranny in a 4th gen car, will it work? is there any modding i have to do to make it fit?

 

The electrical connectors are different IIRC.

 

you'd probably need the ecu. But if you're going to swap an auto tranny, you should be swapping the 5spd auto.

 

I just swapped in the 01 LSD and its light years nicer than my stock open diff. Mine had the input shaft whirring and the diffy bearing issue, starting after a clutch job in 04. It was leaking all along. It just started to get really loud.

I would get a late 4th gen tranny only if you check the preload or its still in a car and can hear, or not hear, the bearings. There is just to many problems related to these bearings.