Hey guys, I got my 98 5 speed SE maxima about 2 weeks ago. The car has 90k on the engine, 160 on the chassis along with a 01 clutch installed. The car has been running fine for 2 weeks, made a road trip from Houston to San Antoni without a hiccup.

This morning on my way back from class, I was approaching a stop sign. Put the car in neutral like usual and came to a stop. Put the car back into 1st gear, car would not move...just revved up ALONG with the speedometer going to about 20mph. Tried all the gears, would not move the car at all. Had to push the baby all the way home in the pouring rain, great day. The pressure on the clutch pedal is as stiff as usual. The gears are going in without any grinding or any unusual way.

Upon inspection of the undercarriage using my baby car jack...this is what I am seeing...a leak coming from, what it looks like, my transmission case.








Along with a youtube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2kOEmOgz8Q

I've been in contact with a few people, I've got a plethora of answers. Ranging from clutch, axle, transmission issues. I will get the car up in the car tomorrow with a more reliable jack to inspect the axles.

 

Well the obvious first thing to do would be to check the tranny fluid level. There is a plug on the front of the tranny(towards the front of the car). You'll need a 1/2" ratchet to get it out. Make sure the car is on level ground(ie: not jacked up). With the plug out, stick your finger in the hole. If you can feel fluid, then the level if fine. If not you'll need to top it off. GL-4 fluid only. Not GL4-5 compatible stuff. If the fluid is fine, then I'm not sure what the problem would be. Always best to start with the easy stuff. Good luck.

 

drain the fluid and look for metal pieces..

 

The VSS runs off the ring gear. Therefore, if the Speedo is reactive then most everything in the trans is functioning as it should. The motion is ended somewhere between the ring gear and the tires.

1 clip broke
2 fragged differential gears
3 sheered the CV splines in the tranny
4 fragged cv joint
5 twisted/broken halfshaft

Your leak looks like it is below passenger side CV joint so I'm going to say its 1,2,or 3 and the CV joint is moved out away from the seal allowing a leak.

Read this thread http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...usted-not.html

 

Thanks guys, I'm going to check all of these problems out now. Need to get this car up and running asap.

 

YOU KNOW WHAT. I'm pretty damn sure its the driver side axle. It was making noise prior and the owner told me to get it checked up by the mechanic that did his strut install. I went there, the guy said everything is fine. I'm guessing everything isn't fine, I'm going to jack the car up again and try to a post a video similar to the guy who was having similar issues to mine

 

I agree with previous poster that the CV shaft is the culprit. You haven't had any diff bearing noise leading up this have you? Also, I sent you a PM.

 

No sir, I have not. Also, didn't get a PM from you. What part of Texas are you from? San Antonio here. I need to drain my tranny fluid, it's leaking everywhere in my garage causing a horrible smell.

 

I'm in San Antonio as well. There's a place that does free inspections. They've been around a long time and do good work. I do most of my own stuff, but take it to them when I don't have the time to get under the car. Their prices are ridiculous.

 

Only problem is I need my car towed....=(. That's why I kind of want to do the work myself, I'm not too mechanically inclined. That is why I am asking a few org members for assistance, and they have been great. Thursday is the day I am shooting for to disassemble the passenger side axle area.


Aackshun from Houston is coming down tomorrow, hopefully I can get another maxima owner point of veiw.

 

That's cool of him. Let me know if you guys need a hand. I was going to replace my control arms tomorrow, but I may hold off until next weekend.

 

PM me your number ell, I'd appreciate it. Aackshun is coming by tomorrow around noon. I need to get my car rolling soon...interviewing for a job where I need a running car.

 

Nellridge came to my apartment, ripped my maxima apart. Turns out, my front drive shaft bracket was snapped in TWO! Big thanks to Nelleridge and Aackshun who came out later for the lols and pics. Ordered the part from David Burnette up in Austin, got a wholesale/org discount....came out to $140 shipped. It should be here on Thursday.

 

quick preview, shot some pics with Aackshun and nelledge...along with my 2 roomates. of course, my car is not ready. Hope they dont mind me posting this

 

resealed, regreased, reclamped, new boots. $20! I just want to keep this thread detailed for anyone else who has similar problems to mine.

 

You're welcome. It's nice to have a support group for these cars. David B actually sold it cheaper than Courtesy (again). $140 is shipped with new seal I believe.

 

So the carrier bearing broke allowing the axle to pop out?

 

I'm still interested in how the carrier bearing broke..

Side note: Herra frush status, anyone? anyone?

 

So Aaron thats why you were here the other day. Would've enjoyed watching this go down but I don't hang around school much if I don't have to. This give me an idea on whats more than likely wrong with my third gen.(wrong axles not on my part)

 

Exactly.
My theory? The bolts connecting the bearing support bracket to the block were not tight. So, the continuous vibration caused by this small freedom of movement finally caused failure in the material.

 

I envy u guys down in TX. U got those nice smooth roads lol.

OP,

Glad to see u guys were able to diagnose the problem. And quick question: Is Aack's car really as fast as he claims it is??? lol

 

I'm going with Nate's description. Lol, Alex ordered the BC RA coilovers yesterday...wants to get the car extra HERRA FRUSH for CCM on Feb 5th.

Yeah, what he said

That's just a new area with smooth roads. I didn't get a chance to sit in Aackshun's car, we were shooting photos and such.

 

how the hell did that break? Thats gnarly!

 

Getting sideways on every turn.....


I actually don't know, I bought the car roughly 3 weeks ago, bad mechanic?

 

I bought my black VE 5 speed a year and a half ago and it's currently undergoing a minor overhaul. It looks like the previous owner either didn't tighten down the carrier bearing enough, or tried to get away with using only two bolts (it takes three).

Anyway, rather than break the carrier bearing, it simply broke off two of the bolts into the block. So my carrier bearing wasn't even attached to the block this whole past year but oddly had NO driveability issues at all. I only discovered the carrier bearing wasn't bolted to the block when I was removing the rear motor mount to poly fill it.

Seems really odd the carrier bearing would break. You'd think it'd rather just break the bolts off like it did on mine. But I guess this proves anything is possible

 

I would imagine you just got lucky (perfect timing). Once that bracket is no longer connected the CV shaft will come out because of the tension force on the shaft from the road wheel while driving. I guess the bracket may have wedged itself on something though. Are you removing the bolts from the block in the car or on a stand?

The carrier bearing is pot metal. I imagine Nissan uses a weaker material by design in order to lessen the chances of damaging the block. I would guess the last time your support bracket was installed the person either used the wrong grade of bolts or cross threaded them which could have led to them shearing or maybe both. Even with two bolts installed, there shouldn't be enough force to snap the bolts unless they were not installed correctly.

 

Once I saw the bracket wasn't attached and two bolts were broken off into the block, I just decided to pull the engine. So I stuck it on a stand and did it the easy way. I suppose it could be done on the car, but I already had the axles and transmission out, crossmember dropped, and the engine just hanging there with an engine support bar, so I just decided to pull it.

While I've got it out and on the stand, I re-did the oil pan and will be doing a ton of other gaskets/replacement parts (just as soon as I get some more money to blow on it/finish it ). But once all this is done it'll be good as new just like my blue VE.

 

Update. Picked up some oil for the tranny, closest thing I can get...75w-90 GL-4.


I need to clean my garage...eventually .

 

MT-90 is good stuff! You gonna put in new axle seals and check the strike rod seal while you're at it? Would suck to put in MT-90 and have it slowly leak out

 

Yep, just double-checked!

 

Mo, you already know to text/call me when she's back up n running.


Off topic:

Inner city roads are no joke...

Just wondering, what are my claims?? (PM me the response)

 

NO! Lmao!

 

You got it dude, It looks like my trip to Houston will be pushed back another couple weeks with some upcoming stuff. Though, we should arrange a few max owners and meet in Uptown park (galleria at west oak area) for pics. It is a beautiful spot and I always see 350z guys there.

 

No PM required. This is freeform talk lol.

u got the dyno listed in your sig. and u started that thread way back about the car being fast.

U got a lot of mods and u got the latest cattman exhaust.

I was jus wondering what it was like to sit in Aack's red devilman . SInce Mo was there i had to ask

 

Not the point of this thread, that's why I asked for a PM.

 

Trying for the last 2 hours to get the axle seal out, it's a *****! searched on the org, seems like I can use a seal removal tool to help me out so my next step is to call local automotive stores.

 

Little update, want to keep this as a reference for anyone in the future with this kind of problem.

Nelledge came by, replaced the seal exhausting a good part of the day. Got everything back together, I drove the car around....everything was gravy. I pulled it up to the driveway to inspect any leaks. Nelledge noticed a small drip towards the front area of my driver side. SO......



I put my hand directly under the leak for 23 minutes (idk why I didn't grab a napkin). Felt 3 drops, all silverish blackish graish oil which was my old tranny fluid. My new redline synthetic is redish bronwish siliverish . What I'm thinking is, it's just the residual oil from the undercarriage because this ***** has been leaking for a straight week! I grabbed some of the old tranny oil from the oil pan that was collecting for a week, and some of my leftover redline...bad pic of comparison but you get the idea.



I couldn't have fixed this without the help of my boy Nelledge, and everyone posting in this thread. I'm a college student, I'm always on a god damn budget...moreso after buying this car. I've spent over $250 to get this fixed up, saved tons of $$$ opposed to getting it towed to a mechanic and having him repaired. I learned a heap of mechanical knowledge,saved cash, and made a great friend. BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE!