Anyone here still running on an original auto tranny on their 1989? I'm just curious. I'm just asking because I overkill it on my 1993 by draining the ATF every 7K miles and use Nissan OE ATF. I just took heed years ago when I heard about weak 3rd gen autos, and presently, the tranny still shifts as smooth as when I bought it 7 years ago. The engine's just running lean right now, but I wonder how many 1989 and 1990 guys are still running on the original slushbox. Thx!

 

i had a 90 that was still on its origianl tranny about 3 years ago and it had 186k on it and ran like a raped date.

 

My 89 still kicking. Amen

 

Mine was replaced before I bought the car. I've also heard about the 3rd gens being notorious for having bad tranny's. I'm just glad I'm not the one who had to pay to have it rebuilt or swaped, whatever the previous owner done.

 

Amen indeed, that's phenomenal mang. How much mileage?

 

Don't praise it too hard. I was the same way three trannies before I gave up on the max.

 

Mines still running strong at 92k miles

 

My mate just bought a 1990 maxima, the auto box was replaced 30-000Kms ago, with a "jap" version. does anyone know if thats means it is stronger or is thats cause most Nissans come from Jap-Land?
Also, when u go from P(Park) to D(Drive) it wont actually engadge drive, but if u put it in 2nd or 1st then back into D she will go as normal, any ideas?

 

shifter bushing

 

" shifter bushing " - im not a auto poerson, could u tell me what this does?
and if it can be replaced with some home mechanics?
can it be left like this / cause any damage ?
... thx

 

Guys, my 89 max is on its orginal 17 year old tranny with 225,136 miles on it and the engine! ! Hows that ! I think we have a winner !

 

Right behind you 212,000 and some. Can i get a Amen.

 

The shifter bushing is a little plastic bushing that is on the end of the shift lever on the car. It is actually on the underside of the car. It is a bushing that attaches from the shift lever to the linkage rod or is it a cable? (or whatever you call it) that travels forward to the transmission. Over the years the plastic part hardens, cracks and then finally falls off. The end result is there is a little bit of slop in the shift lever causing the need to move the lever farther to compensate for the slop. It's nothing more then a nuiscance and doesn't affect the actual performance of the transmission. It is not necessary to replace it unless it bothers you.

Its a very cheap part to replace, about a couple of bucks (not sure what that translates for you in Australia). It's also a somewhat easy job to replace... The problem is it just so happens that on the bottom side of the car the exhaust pipe is right in the way of where you need access to replace the part. I bought the part about a year ago, but never actually had the desire to crawl under the car to put it in. The part is still sitting in the center console last time I saw it. It's not impossible to replace it is just a matter of having the right tools and flexible hands (I was at my inlaw's house working with limited tools and no ability to jack the car up so I gave up quickly).

One of these days when I rent a bay at the autoshop on base I might actually remember to replace the dumb thing. I've had the car on a lift twice but I keep forgetting to replace it.

As far as my transmission (92 gxe auto). I'm not positve if it's an orginal because I got the car after it was in a wreck with 92k miles on it but my guess is it probably is the orginal tranny. It now has 217k miles on it. For the most part it's still holding strong. Every once in a while it does give me doubt. I'm hoping to make it to 230-250k...

 

256k and still movin!!!

 

My old '89 that I gave to my sister currently has 159K on the original tranny.

 

My 91 still shifts smoothly with 173k. Car runs fine but with some oil leak.

 

Original auto, 83k. Shifts smoothly at the redline or at low RPMs. It even does well when you shift from 1 or 2 on the shifter!

 

Awesome guys! It's nice to see that many of you guys are in regions where it gets pretty cold too vs. CA or WA.

 

Replaced my 91 tranny back in 96. Nissan installed a new one and it has been a champ since. Knock on wood.

 

1989 - original auto tranny - 17 years old - 220k miles. I also had to replace that little shifter bushing (plastic washer) and the shifter now feels pretty good.

 

May your luck hold out.

 

I wish I was still running mine.

It didn't like doing 180's in the snow about 4 years ago

 

im still using my 89 stock tranny, has 184,000 miles on it wroks great still

 

ill praise mine too....you just gotta know how to drive haha


jk, but mine has 203k and its still on its orig. tranny and going strong as ever.

 

'91 here with 180+ now - never felt it do anything unusual yet.

 

not bad for pushing them pretty heavy wheels too.. my 1991 tranny crapped out on me at 128k miles

 

175k miles on a 90, but its slow when changing gears you have to give it a little time, but it shifts ok most of the time.

 

Still barley holding on to mine @ 150K

 

My 89's doing well at 123k. Car's been in the family since 90, and taken pretty good care of. Looks like a million bucks, and drives great. I wish it was thrashed so I could justify replacing it, but as it sits, it'd cost me 10g's to get something newer, which probably wouldn't be as nice and may have just as many miles!

 

My 1990 Maxima was at 206K before it started to slip.

 

My 90 was at 140K miles in 02 when I got rid of it. It had no slipping at all, and I doubt the tranny fluid was changed more than 3 times. Wish I still had that car............ Damn I should have kept it. It sure would be nice not to have a car payment.....

 

Got my 92 SE with 140 k and the transmission still running strong(knock on wood)

 

Just checked 315322 original 1989 Tranny and Owner

 

My VG has ~185k miles on it. Original tranny. Shifts fine.

 

My wife's '91 has the original tranny but the car only has around 70k miles on it now. It shifts perfectly. Hell, the whole car drives perfect. There's no way it feels or even looks 15 years old!

 

My '89 is still running it's original auto tranny, at 204k miles. It shifts a bit slow into second, but it's done that ever since I can remember.

Anyone try a shift kit in one of these? There's a $40 version I researched a few months ago for it, I think it might be a "transgo". I have wondered if quicker shifts might reduce the wear on the friction material.

On a side note... I had some crappy aftermarket injectors installed in the car for the last few months, and I believe they leaked fuel inside or sprayed more than they were supposed to at idle, because the idle was really crappy with them. Part load was also crappy (stumbled, intermittent missing it seemed.) Compression braking didn't work very well because the injectors never "shut off" when the computer seemed to tell them to. Anyway, how this relates to automatic transmissions... I think that with the crappy injectors that the computer would tell them to shut off something during shifting, but they wouldn't, so the RPMs wouldn't drop as quickly as it should and when the next gear came in, it felt bad... lots of slipping. After installing the new injectors, the RPMs drop quickly during shifts and there seems to be much less slipping, and better matched RPMs going into the new gears.

 

1990 Australian model M still purring like a kitty