My 93 Maxima was having tranny problems, so I took it to a "reputable place" to get worked on. The torque converter is garbage. Not to mention when the tranny is opened, how many other trashed internal components are going to be found. I bought the car a month ago and recently noticed an escalating shifting problem and also a shuddering while in overdrive. I have a warranty on the car that'll pay for the repairs. But I searched all around these forums and all I can find are maxima tranny horror stories. Are there any successful transmission rebuilds out there??? If not, why try fixing it??? I'm paranoid over the whole thing. I'm contemplating selling the car as soon as it gets out the shop. That way, in 5,000 miles or so when the tranny gives out, the new owner has to deal with it. Are there any good tranny repair shops or are they all suspect???

 

I dunno...with these tranys even a rebuild can be luck of the draw. you really have to take the chance, but I'd say after you rebuild it once and if you baby the car and keep up on the drain/refills it will last! I've been through 3 rebuilds myself, but then again the 2nd rebuild was a mistake by the installers and the 3rd...well that was just my maniac drving habits. treat it right and it should last!

 

rebuilding mine was a great move. at 148k, it was making a howling noise while in gear, and slipping.basically, the sum***** was shot. rebuilt, silent, shifts like brand new.that was 7 months ago.

 

1.5yrs after rebuild and i'm still good. however, cryo-treat the internals if you can before rebuilding. you'll rest easier that way. i'm wishing i did...just for the peace of mind.

 

Why would cryo-treating the tranny make things easier to swallow? I'm curious.

 

if you are doing all that work to an auto tranny(cryo, etc.)...than you might *** well just spring for a Level 10 PTS kit. than you'll have a completely bullet proof tranny.

 

you might want to add a tranny cooler if you haven't. supposedly it helps in the long run. i have about 2 years on my rebuild by an independent shop. it seems to slip right around 50mph (2,000rpm) when in 4th. but it doesn't do it all the time.

 

strengthening the metal bits. packing the molecules closer reduces their fragility and thus they can take more beating.

 

It's "positively" expensive! I know that. Actually, mine has lasted another 50K so far and we added a B&M tranny cooler to help out.

 

I wouldn't recommend cryo-treating the internals on your transmission. If you want to cryo your bell housing, I would recommend that. That way next time your transmission blows sky high it's not a TOTAL loss. As far as autos... well, 5 speed swap or Level 10.
I've been through 3 trannys in 3 years, and the only satisfactory rebuild experience I have had was doing it myself. Every other time, they never lasted more than a year (regardless of driving). Most of this is because transmission shops are some of the most crooked sons of you-know-what in the entire automotive industry. No tranny rebuild is worth more than $400 labor... and whoever wants to can argue that but I've done it so there. It's rediculous. They have the whole world scared to hear of any transmission problems when tranny problems shouldn't be that big of a deal. When your tranny goes, that's ALL that goes. It doesn't effect other parts of the car. It's an isolated condition... but they have everyone convinced that if your tranny goes it should cost $2K+. Rediculous.

 

I agree with you nismo1989......these transmission places have a license to steal. If it wasn't for my warranty I would have to pay for this debacle by myself. And every two seconds they come up with another way to grab every last penny you own. The owner keeps telling me things like your torque converter is bad, the planetary gears have to be replaced, you'll need all new seals and gaskets, my wife wants a fur coat, I really need those new Callaway titanium woods. My warranty company isn't even trying to rebuild. They bought a used tranny with around "50,000" miles and basically said put this in the car or get your own used tranny of equal or lesser value. There's a third option....... If I want to rebuild, they'll give me the money for the price of a used tranny and then I'll have to come up with the rest which is $1000 out of my pocket. F#%K THAT!!! I need to learn how to "fix" trannies so I can rob people too. If I had no warranty, the guy at the transmission shop would have said to me "Turn around, boy, pull down your pants & bend over, I have a big surprise for you". We'll see how this God forsaken ordeal turns out.....

 

I agree with you nismo1989......these transmission places have a license to steal. If it wasn't for my warranty I would have to pay for this debacle by myself. And every two seconds they come up with another way to grab every last penny you own. The owner keeps telling me things like your torque converter is bad, the planetary gears have to be replaced, you'll need all new seals and gaskets, my wife wants a fur coat, I really need those new Callaway titanium woods. My warranty company isn't even trying to rebuild. They bought a used tranny with around "50,000" miles and basically said put this in the car or get your own used tranny of equal or lesser value. There's a third option....... If I want to rebuild, they'll give me the money for the price of a used tranny and then I'll have to come up with the rest which is about $1000 out of my pocket. F#%K THAT!!! I need to learn how to "fix" trannies so I can rob people too. If I had no warranty, the guy at the transmission shop would have said to me "Turn around, boy, pull down your pants & bend over, I have a big surprise for you". We'll see how this God forsaken ordeal turns out.....

 

Well, good luck to you.

I would suggest buying a used tranny that may or may not work from a junkyard and starting now. There is a lot to figure out. Most importantly, the clearances on the bearings are very precise and everything moves into a different place once you install it. Very tricky, but not too tricky. It obviously doesn't take a rocket scientist... just take a look at some of the toothless bozos that are fixing them for a living! lol

 

LMAO......but we don't have any toothless mechanics in Pennsylvania....((YEAH RIGHT!!)) What do you think of using a used tranny that's not in bad shape with only 50,000 miles on it? If it gets all the seals and gaskets replaced with new ones, do you think my MAX has a good chance of making it out alive?.....

 

Absolutely. #1 cause of failure is bearings... and runner up would be seals. Do your own rebuild on a tranny that's already running!

 

Braniac, the only recommendation I can make if you want a quality box is to either go 5 spd or Level 10 like Nismo suggested.

My take on it is, pay a big amount up front and you can expect to pay less in the long term. That's one reason why I sent my transmission to Level 10 for a PTS Stage 3 (and bear in mind, I live in Australia, just to put it into perspective). The other reason is because I was running a 100 shot of NOS at the time and now I'm nearing the completion of a 500hp turbo project.

The gearbox can handle 600hp, the torque converter is set to 4000rpm stall speed, so I figure putting 500hp into it from the crank should be a safe limit.

So the motto is, do it once, do it right, but don't expect to get a Ferrari for the price of a Pinto. I'm happy to recommend Level 10 to anyone who wants to rebuild their auto, no matter what stage you go for. If you just want to use the standard horsepower out of the vehicle and not go nuts or tow heavy loads, then just go stage 1. If you're towing, stage 2 and if you're nuts, stage 3.

I'm nuts

 

it most likely will be fine. the question is for how long? It just sucks major weeds to have a tranny that makes your heart skip two beats anytime a sound out of the ordinary comes up. On my way back to kansas yesterday, i heard a "clacking" sound and first thing i did was to depress the clutch fully to see if it was the tranny. I ALWAYS do that first which kinda ticks me off...so much distrust and uncertainty with the tranny. Any normal person would have checked the tires first. It turned out to be a loose splash shield which i conveniently discarded by the side of the road in Denton. My tranny has about 60 - 70k miles on it now (i'm at 204400) and it's doing okay so far. i make sure i change the fluid as often as every 3 months and inspect the oil for shavings. last time, it was really clear with negligible specks in it. Unfortunately, the guy that rebuilt mine was fired (cottman transmissions) i think due to the fact that he was raping customers...but i have to say he did a good job to benefit the raping. You dont want to know how much i paid...lets just say it cost me almost what i paid for my car, and i never paid them off cos he got fired before i could. all's well that ends well :knocks on wood: if only we could get a fully bullet proof tranny. I heard Phoenix Hard Parts was pretty good and they had warranties. about 800 for a rebuilt one...a lil more with a longer warranty.

 

How good are the chain tranny shops???(like Cottman, Aamco, etc.) As good as an independent shop, better or worse?

 

It's a roll of the dice, buddy. I've been screwed by Aamco and Cottman. Aamco was the worst on quality, and Cottman was horrible on price. Neither time did I get what I paid for. Too bad my car was stolen last week, I was enjoying the rebuild I did and it was running VERY strong

 

Sorry about your car, man. Maybe.....it was stolen by a Honda Civic owner who got tired of getting spanked on the road by Maximas.

 

When I get MAX back and everything is good to go, should I give it a tranny flush in a month or so?? (just to be sure there aren't any contaminates in there) The advise on draining and refilling the ATF every oil change sounds solid to me. But does a tranny flush sound like a stupid thing to do???

 

That's what I did at 5k after my rebuild, but it sounds like you wont be keeping the car for that long. Most on this board was saying it wasn't needed to flush so soon but I did anyway. 30K after my rebuild I'm going strong, but I also upgrade to a VB mod very soon after the rebuild. I also believe "my" tranny failure was due to my driving style.

 

when i first got my car i had another tranny installed...i thought the guy was gonna shaft me bein that i didn't have to pay for it (thanks to the lil used car insurance thing i bought when i 1st got the car)....but i got a decent tranny i guess...it has 80k miles on it and not to mention i straight knock a huge whole in the tranny pan from an accident...i thought for sure i fucced it up,...but it still runs strong..thank god!!!

 

damn dude! your car got stolen??? that's just rotten!! sorry to hear about it. hopefully it turns up soon without any damage.

 

I am still driving around in my 89 SE with a blown tranny in overdrvie all day, so how much you guys thinking for a rebuild?? I am just about to hit 170k .

 

Not likely. The police assured me that since it hasn't turned up that it probably won't. It's in pieces right now, probably being sold in the Maxima.org classified forums .

The insurance company is only going to give me $1000 or less for it... and I'm going to have to fight for that. I'm screwed , again.

Worst is that Nissan is doing nothing to help me get a new car. I'm going to have to buy a GM now because of the $4K rebate and my GM employee discount I get for being a supplier. Damn!

 

Doesn't your insurance go by the Kelly's blue book value or some other buyer's guide? If the mileage wasn't that high and it was in good condition, it should be worth at least $2500 to $3000. I doubt that you'll ever see a penny for personal items or special mods to the car. Unless you had a full coverage plan that included a reimbursement for things as such. I thought I was having a hard time. Keep you head, bro.

 

over 200K miles on the chassis. The odometer didn't work either (broken speed sensor) so they claimed it 'annauled'. In other words: "your car isn't worth a dime!!!"

 

damn..... Hey! I know where you can get a 93 Maxima....

 

Thanks... but it's not likely I'm going to have enough money any time soon. I think I'm going to have to get a new GM I guess if I must then I'll go with the Cavalier LS Sport Coupe. That's about the only thing short of a Cadillac that GM makes that I could drive...

 

What would cause the transaxle not to park? Everything else works great but when it's put into park, it doesn't engage. (The car doesn't lock in place) Could it just be the parking mechanism or is there some other unseen malfunction??? Well...anyways, this is the latest developement. I won't get the car back until after the fourth of July weekend. God bless America.......

 

ok, so i drove about 20,000 on a burned out tranny, (od gone, 18,000 miles later, 2nd gear went, 2,000 miles later 3rd went out the window) you don't want to know how much got paid for it, but i went to aamco for a rebuild.
since they have to get approval to do more than $100 worth of worth above their est, i got a call to look at the scrap. EVERYTHING inside there was chewed beyond beleif inc. the hard parts. but... 10,000 milles on rebuilt with "like new" hard parts, very noticable difference with the shift kit, now i'm left to repair the exhaust leak myself. but, overall, either DIY or get what you pay for. and get warranty if someone else touches your car.

 

I finally got my baby back after all this drama. She's driving beautifully. Everything is shifting smooth and on time. I'm happy as hell to have my max back but being the skeptic that I am, I'm waiting for something to start messing up. It probably won't be for a few weeks or months until I notice if anything is wrong. I guess no matter how much it kills me, I have to drive like an old lady for now on. Well......atleast in this car. In a week or two, I'll check my ATF and I see if that used tranny had contaminates in there that have to be flushed out. It sucks being paranoid....

 

I finally got my baby back after all this drama. She's driving beautifully. Everything is shifting smooth and on time. I'm happy as hell to have my max back but being the skeptic that I am, I'm waiting for something to start messing up. It probably won't be for a few weeks or months until I notice if anything is wrong. I guess no matter how much it kills me, I have to drive like an old lady for now on. Well......atleast in this car. In a week or two, I'll check my ATF and I see if that used tranny had contaminates in there that have to be flushed out. It sucks being paranoid....