Well, the other day my alternator went bad. Just picked up the car, the repair was $440. Thats fine. My mechanic then told me I need a new tranny!!! He said the bearings are kinda bad, and the gears arent much better. He showed me that if the car is idling, there is a little noise you can hear, but when you push in the clutch the noise goes away.
My options are to either get a new tranny, or get a rebuilt one. He said (off the top of his head) that the new tranny would cost about $500-600 more than the rebuilt one, and he said its probably worth the money. Since the tranny will be open I guess I might as well put in an ACT street clutch. Total, he guesses the job would run around $2000 (not including the ACT). Does this seem reasonable?
So what do you guys think? Should I run out this tranny till it dies, or should I rebuild it ASAP, since it will only get worse? I'm leaning towards waiting till its totally dead, since a new tranny would be REAL nice, and I dont have $2000 right now. And to think, I just filled this bish up with Amsoil tranny fluid! And yes, I do have whine in 1st gear.

Please help me!
Oh yea, I might drop in a LSD tranny while I'm in there......Do you know any place that sells cheaper new trannys? Are there things I can do to strengthen the tranny while I'm in there?

One more thing, when I'm driving at like 3 MPH and am in neutral, and I try to put it in 1st, sometimes its REAL hard to get it in gear, and I usually just put it in 2nd. Does this mean 1st is going out? And sometimes when I try to put it in 2nd I feel like I get some resistance or something. Its not smooth. However, it doesn't happen all the time, so is that my fault by not shifting in the perfect direction? I'm so confused...and furious....

I hate my car now .......

 

blah screw the tranny for right now... when it starts making alot of noises then fix it. Either way rebuilding or replacing it will be like having a new tranny. Trust me, it won't be any cheaper fixing it now than later so do it when you HAVE to. Plus, 2k for rebuilding or replacing is a rip off. TRUST ME, i know, i've done alot of researching.

As for the alternator... maybe it was under recall? wait, u have a 95, so maybe not.

 

Damn!!!! $400????

I just bought an alternator for $160 and I'm going to put it in myself.

 

www.car-part.com used tranny pretty cheap...also, it might be your output shaft bearing/bushing. Those are quite common on 4th gens to go out. I'd get a second opinion before I did anything drastic...I mean, he already ripped your head off on the alternator...

 

440 is normal for a alternater replacement at a shop...

Whine...my car makes a noise in first gear but it sounded it normal to me... When does the bearing problem usualy rear it's ugly head?

 

OK man, one of the first things you said caught my eye - when the car is idling theres a noise, and when you push in the clutch it goes away...that's normal, isn't it? My car does the same thing. I sometimes have trouble getting my tranny into reverse, but that's only because I have a really short throw shifter.

I would definatly get someone else to check it out, do not tell them what this guy told you, and if they come up with the same issue, it might be true.

 

noise goes away when clutch is pressed ... Isn't that just a sign of the pilot bearing for clutch going bad only? hard shifting, etc ... Really sounds like a worn clutch assembly, only ...

 

I'm having the same sypmtoms at 103k miles. Car has made a sound like dry bearing for the first mile or two in VERY cold weather (ie 20deg) but otherwise Ok.

Last week it started making the noise all the time, and yesterday on the way home from work it developed a ton of really nasty chatter. I have a clutch on order and I'm gonna rip the tranny out tonight. We'll see how the tranny input shaft bearings are once I get it on the bench. Hopefully it's just clutch job.

Clutch parts $230 from Nissan. Bearings, approx $250 from nissan. Labor = free 'cos I'm doing it myself. Dealership wanted $800 for the clutch, $2000 for the tranny (prolly only 2300 together as most of the clutch labor is in removing the which would be out for the rebuild anyways.)

Don't put a used tranny in there unless you know the diff bearings are good, and the input shaft preload is within spec, otherwise you're just as likely to put a bad tranny in...

 

well, heres the story....
a few days ago i ran the car up on some ground by accident, and part of the noise appeared then. im not sure when the noise that goes away when i push the clutch in started. i was told by another mechanic (and the first one) that that noise means the clutch is going bad. i took it to the 2nd mechanic today and he told me part of the noise is from a busted left axle (probably from running aground). the other noises are the bearings going out, which causes the whining sound in first gear. the roughness going into gears is a combination of the bearings, bad clutch and worn out synchros. so its not as bad as i thought it would be. does all that sound about right?

what do you think i should be paying for the parts? $250 for bearings seems a little high. is that a reasonable price? what about synchros? i think the price for the axle installed should be around $200. how much is the ACT street clutch? the 2nd mechanic said it would take about 7 hours to do the tranny job, at $70 per hour. he also said i could get like a 10% discount if i do all 3 parts at once. is all that reasonable?

im also hearing a ticking sound in the engine bay over the cylinders/fuel injectors. i was told that noise is the fuel injectors going bad. i have 84K on my car now, and the mechanic said i shouldn't worry till i get to about 130K or more. does that sound right to you guys?

the reason i paid $440 for the alternator was because i had the option to get a cheap one, or one that was better quality. i chose the one that was better.

 

lemme shed some light on this fellas....the whine that you hear when in neutral is the input shaft and differential bearing going bad...I had the exact same symptoms and the dealer said it was nothing and two months later the tranny goes...gear falls apart...Guess what...the dealer ended up footing the bill to replace the entire tranny and labor...I paid for new clutch. But your best bet is when the tranny finally goes to have a good rebuilt tranny put in...the price seems about right...but you might wanna check with some tranny specialists what they charge...but I feel for ya..

 

did the tranny break because of the input shaft and bearings going bad? because i was told i could drive like this for a while, then do the whole job when my clutch dies. so you think i should get a new tranny, instead of just replacing the bearings, synchros, and clutch? whats everybody elses opinion about this? i think a new tranny would cost about twice as much (just guessing), and right now i dont have that money. if everything else in the tranny is fine, im leaning towards just replacing those parts....ideas?

 

so do you guys think its worth it to get a new tranny? or should i just replace the bearings, synchros and clutch?

 

I'd rebuild it if you've got the $$$. Also, that ticking noise is just the fuel injectors firing. Mine have been making that noise ever since I've owned the car. I had it checked out before, and my dealer's master tech said it was just the injectors firing.

 

i know plenty of people have been in my situation, what have you guys done?

 

4 gen manual tranny...................