Did tranny's in 3rd generation Maxima's come from the factory defective. My mechanic told me that my input shaft bearings were bad on my 1990 5-speed and that it was a common problem. When I release my clutch it whines very loudly, and now it's starting to pop out of gear.
I also own an 89 Honda Civic 5-speed with 282,000 and it's running on the same tranny since new. It won't die! What gives with the maxima's tranny? (it has 149,000 miles)

 

It is one of those things. As great as the Maxima is, it does have its little idosycrocies. However, unlike Honda and Toyota, Nissan is the only manufacture that make a 4 door sedan with a powerful V-6 that can be mated to a manual tranny. Sport + Practicality = Enthusiasts!

 

the Borg Warner trannys in the 3rd gens inherently are weak. bearing failure is not guranteed, but is common. i had my 1990 SE 5spd rebuilt at around the benchmark you mentioned, about 146k miles -just live with it. and avoid hard launches if you can. i personally cannot, so i risk wearing mine out again prematurely. i think next, though, that i will upgrade to a VE VLSD tranny. with this swap i will need the driver's side half-shaft changed to VE VLSD spec as well as that side's hub.

 

Toyota produced a V6 Camry in the mid 90's with a 5spd tranny, 190hp V6

 

Borg Warner made the crap of the lot for the 3rd gens. you gotta pamper those trannys or you pay the price. they suck.