My 2000 maxima just ate another tranny. I had the tranny replaced at 59k miles and I now have 100,080 miles. It was a certified car so the drivetrain had a 100k mile warranty.

I noticed last week that the tranny was leaking oil out of one of the CV joint seals and immediately took it to the dealer. They replaced the seal under warranty (99,970 miles). The next day, the tranny starting to make "whirring" sounds consistant with bad bearings. Just so happens that it started making the noise after it hit 100,000 miles.

I called Nissan consumer affairs and had a case opened for goodwill. Does anyone have any advise on how to deal with Nissan? Is there a good chance my claim will be approved?

Would I have any legal recourse since the problem is documented as having occured or occuring when it was under warranty?

 

MT or AT?

.

 

It's a crappy 5spd.

 

Mmm no idea how to deal with them.. I ate a tranny at about 40k... apparently one of the gears wasn't getting enough oil or it had a hair-line fracture that had been there all along... The techs at my shop were miffed to say the least, but I was still under the drive train warrenty thank G-d

 

do only SE models come wih 6spds? or is it for other year models?

sorry for your misfortune.

 

Some of the 2002-2006 SE models come with the 6spd. 2001 and older SE and GXE maximas were available with a 5spd manual.

 

02+ manuals are 6spd. 6spd is only available on the SE trim.

Its pretty much obvious that the failure was caused by lack of lubrication, due to the failed seal. you shouldnt have any trouble with this at all, you have a documented complaint before warranty expiration. furthermore, im wondering if the fluid level was even topped off afterward. either way you shouldnt have a problem.

 

Nissan has denied the claim saying that the failure is due to abuse and not the failed seal. Bastards!! This really pisses me off. This damn tranny is worse than the Ford Tortise trannies.

I'm going to the dealership on monday and will check the fluid level of the tranny. My gut feeling is that the dumbarses at the dealer drained the gear oil and forgot to fill it up again after the seal was replaced.

 

You're the only A33 that I know of that has blown 5MT issues, are there others?

 

Spudskier had a blown a33 5spd, I read of some others as well.

 

That sucks way bad. Where do you take it to? When my gold car had problems I would take it to tim dahle nissan in murray. There was a guy named shane he would always help me out (after warrenty) They are really cool over there

 

I took it to ken garff nissan of orem. Nissan said that if I could get a dealer to say that the problem was caused by the seal that they would then cover it. Maybe I'll take it to Tim Dahle since it's still driveable.

 

I would try there. They have always been really good to me.....

 

I think that Ken garff is assuming it was "abused" since I have a y-pipe, intake, and nice wheels. Do you think I should return it to stock before taking it there?

 

No. I have taken mine in with intake y-pipe and exhaust for a check engine light and they didn't say anything to me.....

 

which goes to show you, if you gotta do something right, do it yourself. These are reasons my car will NEVER go to a shop.

 

I'm not sure if it's the dealer's fault or not right now. I still think that they forgot to put gear oil in there. Even if the seal is bad where the CV joint goes in, there still should be plenty of gear oil left in the tranny. In my mind, it's too much of a coincedence that the tranny would die within 100 miles of them working on it, esp. when the tranny only has 41k miles on it.

I won't have time until monday to go to the dealer and look to see if there's any oil in it. I'll bring a friend with me to witness it. If there's no oil in it, I'll sue the crap out of the dealer.