I'm looking at buying yet another maxima. I have yet to drive the car. From speaking to the owner he says 3rd gear slips. Which means to me that 3rd gear is blown. I have heard about blowing 3rd gear but this is a completly stock maxima. Has anybody heard of 3rd gear going on a stock maxima or is it unlikely?
Any input is appreciated.
I was planing on parting the car out but may fix it depending on the problem.

 

it could be synchro related also, hard to tell with limited info. You are correct though, 3rd gear commonly breaks at high hp levels but regardless that means it's weak which makes it more prone to break even in a stock application. either way if the car is decent enough you could rebuild that tranny and sell it for more than you'd get parting it out

 

What does he mean by 3rd gear "slips"?

 

I'm not exactly sure.I will find out for sure in the next couple days myself though. I plan on buying it regardless.

 

That would mean to me the gear is shredded. Drain a bit of oil and look for shavings.

Hope it shifts ok, with all those pieces of gear teeth collected down in the bottom of the case.

Dave

 

Ok heres an update. I have driven the car myself and am the owner now. I was able to drive the car home 250 miles which i didn't think was going to happen after the test drive.

The shifter will not go into first gear even if i try to force it.
The shifter will not go into 2nd gear. The transmission grinds as if the clutch is not in but it is.
3rd,4th and 5th gears all work. Other then the fact that when you do not apply any gas at all and just coast there is a grinding noise. It sounds exactly like if one of the splash guards under the engine fell off and is dragging on the road.(If you know what that sounds like).It's the trans though. I set cruise which applied gas so no sound and i was able to make it home. he sound is also present sometimes when it is in nuetral and coming to a stop. It's not as loud though.

The clutch i do know is shot for sure. Since there is no 1st or 2nd you have to start in third. The guy that sold it said they drove it like this for a week or so. You can clearly smell fried clutch after you take off from a stop.

Any ideas on whats broke in the trans?

 

There is probably something broken inside the tranny, and the loose pieces are blocking the shifter from moving into 1st or 2nd. Whether it's gear teeth, pieces of housing, shift fork, won't be known until it comes apart.

Dave

 

ok, come on now, make us jealous................ What kind of shape is the rest of it in and how much did you pay?

 

It badly would need to be detailed.The interior stinks. THeres a code for all three o2's and ks.both fogs are cracked.Theres a few dents.Around spoiler on trunk is rusted badly. Needs a new im gasket.I'm a good negotiator.$900

 

I think you should just cut your losses for this vq30 and the 5spd and swap in a vq35 and 6spd.

This way you could sell the vq30 and either trash the tranny or try and sell it. Other than that I don't know how to help with fixing the transmission.