how much of a "wet" shot of nitrous can I give a maxima without having to worry about reliability issues (blown head gaskets, melting rods, etc.) .I'm guessing it would be able to handle a 75 shot fairly well. Nitrous maximas, let yourself be heard!

 

a well tuned 75 shot would be fine for the engine but it would destroy an auto tranny fairly quickly

 

I will let you know once mine goes in.

 

R u serious? dammit! do u know this for a fact or is this your personal opinion? I thought the maxima trannys were fairly strong. I guess i was wrong?

 

maxima autos aren't very strong at all. They are a common problem w/ the 3rd gens. The VE autos are strong than the VG, but still a weakpoint for the max. Best bet is to swap auto to 5-speed or sell your current maxima and look for a 5-speed. Or I would talk to Aaron92SE about what you can do to maintain your auto. Good luck

 

tranny cooler and the vb mod would be good first steps i'm sure but like said above, talk to Aaron and he'll point you in the right direction as for getting the autos to hold power.

 

Tranny cooler, Maximum Tuning valve body recalibration and a tranny temp gauge are essential. Get the absolute biggest and nicest tranny cooler you can possibly get. Believe me, you have a lot of room if you stick with a 3/4" thick cooler. Something like 24"x18". 9 out of 10 tranny failures are due to heat and this includes the VE Auto.

Without my tranny cooler, it will easily heat the tranny up above 180 degrees in these Vegas summers. Normal fluid starts to break down soon after that. I never let my tranny get above 160 degrees. I just won't drive it if I can't keep it under 160.

Next is that VB mod, aka valve body recalibration, aka shift kit. Your ONLY option is Maximum Tuning in Long Island, NY. Nobody knows your tranny as good as these guys. www.maximumtuning.net This will get your tranny shifting faster, which reduces slippage and reduces heat during shifts.

Next, go to Pep Boys and get the cheap white faced Sunpro water/oil temp gauge. When you get that, then email me and I will tell you how to install it. VERY easy after I tell you what to get at Home Depot. haha.. another HDM (Home Depot Mod) I love those.

After that, there's not much that can be done to help save the tranny with higher amounts of HP. You can build it with better parts. So instead of paying $2K for a normal rebuild, it should cost you $2700 instead. There has to be some good shops in Socal that can do this. But, once again... BE SURE to contact Maximum Tuning before you do anything. They will help lead you in the right direction as far as Nissan trannies are concerned.

You're next option is going with a 5spd swap. But you are talking to a guy that swears that autos are better for the 1/4 mile. But 5 speeds are more fun on the street and much better for road racing. They truely are better for the 1/4 mile when you start running 12s. It's not easy to shift a 300+HP FWD car down the track without banging, slamming and breaking something.

If you are really thinking about running 12s or better in this car, then talk to a guy that goes by the name of "Jime" on this forum. He has a 4th gen Maxima with the same tranny as I have. Viscous Limited Slip trannies are very nice. He has run low/mid 12s many of times and I believe has gone through a couple of these trannies without any special rebuilds. But, he is pushing over 330fwhp HP and insane amounts of torque in that beast with his simple 150 shot of nitrous. DROOL! I'm next in line. muwahaha!

 

Aaron, I thought Jime's tranny outlasted his car? lol (swapped the 97's engine/tranny into the 95 IIRC for the last few seasons. Now he's moved on to bigger and better things, cough 3.5l auto )

Also I think it would take a whole hell of alot of nitrous to melt a rod

 

From what he's told me, he went through his RE4F04A tranny (stock US 4th gen Maxima tranny). Then he swapped in an i30 tranny (or was it a Canadian 4th gen Maxima tranny?). Then I didn't blow that one up. But I was under the impression that he blew up 2 or 3 trannies. Not sure. But I do know that his axles aren't a problem. Must be ****ing those Honda guys off. lol

Melt a rod? In a Nissan? Yeah right! In 99% of cases, if the nitrous is done right, the motor will not blow. But it's easy to mess up things with nitrous. In every story I've ever heard about nitrous being bad, they blew up their motor b/c they didn't something they weren't suppose to. Nitrous is a very safe substance if treated with respect.

But I wouldn't worry about the VE motor other than meticulous maintenance. The tranny will be the weakest link. Be nice to it and it should treat you just right. Also, the VE Auto tranny is probably the strongest tranny of their time. I mean, look what their competition was, 92 VW Auto, 92 Accord Auto, etc.

 

I found a website with some tranny coolers. Click Here I am planning on having a nitroed auto this summer. Tranny coolers are not that expensive. I want to install this myself but how hard is it to install for someone who has never fixed something mechanical on a car other than an intake.

 

its simple...mount it, remove the stock cooler hoses from the bottom of the raditor(you can also cap off the stock cooler openeings on the radiator), run one new line from the tranny fluid oulet to cooler and the other back from the cooler to the tranny inlet...viola.

 

so glad i have a ve 5spd