I haven't logged on in god knows how long but i've used all of your advice on many occasions just from google search results..I appreciate it!

For this one I have to log on because I'm trying to avoid spending $1500 on my car which has 170k miles on it!!

My 2000 Maxima Auto has an odd problem....its been driving without incident for 2-3 years but the symptoms are gradually getting more noticible (yet still never really interfering with my commutes). Basically the transmission makes noise while driving.....sometimes almost undetectable and other times such as shifts between what i think is 2nd and 3rd gear it makes a grinding noise. Sometimes it will slip a little at the same time as making this grinding noise but never anything horrible. The noise is usually worse when the car is cold in the winter months...sometimes before warmed up the transmission makes the grinding metal sound pretty noticeably. One side note, is that it also will grind louder if the stability of the car is upset by a bump or dip in the road while accelerating...if its really in the high rpms and it hits a bump in the road the grinding will become very loud for a second and go away again...any ideas? I verbally talked to a transmission guy one time at a bar (yeah I know) and he said it sounds like possibly shaft or planetary bearings and just leave it alone if it still works. I just dont know if Im cool with that idea.....it kind of embarrasses me when i drive people around even though they dont usually notice.......

Advice welcome!!!



P.S I will never buy a 6pack of ebay ignition coils again in my life. Total cost of that stunt was having to buy 6 new discounted OEM coils.....new bank 2 pre cat and o2 sensor ANYWAYS.......

 

No one can offer any insight? Great.

 

Patience my friend...it has been less than 12 hours since your original post.

A noise like that certainly sounds like a moderate to significant internal mechanical issue with the transmission. This means at a minimum the transmission needs to be pulled, inspected, and likely rebuilt if you want it fixed.

What you can do in the meantime is drop the pan and check for metal shavings. I'm guessing you'll see quite a bit in the pan. This can tell you how far along the issue is and a guesstimate as to how much longer it will last.

I would concur with the guy you talked to that if it isn't causing a drive ability problem then keep on driving it and not touch the transmission. Otherwise, you will have to bite a large bullet on rebuilding or replacing the transmission. If you are up for it you can probably find a relatively inexpensive rebuilt transmission and swap it out yourself.

 

Transmission rebuild

 

I go along with both schools of thought.

If it drives fine, leave it alone. However, use this time to start shopping around for options. That way when/if it does grenade, you won't have to do a frantic search-n-settle.

 

Yup..or a third alternative, sell it now.

 

Lol...thanks guys...........yeah all are options. I scheduled an appointment with Nissan today and took it in.....had a guy drive it around for a bit with me and he said the same things...."Weird....I can hear it...it seems to be the transmission"....but get this....he also said even though he was one of the service managers "If I were you and its been driving ok like this I would leave it alone"...HA.....go figure! BUT he also told me he's almost 100% sure I need at least 1 new motor mount...he said he could hear it clunking around. He did some trick where he held the brake down and flexed the motor in reverse and drive while I watched...he said the motor shouldnt move forward or backwards more than a little bit...it was moving a good three inches id say from memory. SO...could it be extra sound transport coming from bad motor mounts? Would also explain the grinding that gets loud over large bumps at speed.......i dunno!

 

Yup...motor mounts can be part or all of the problem. I didn't even think about them...

Get the bad mounts replaced first and go from there.

 

I'm pretty mechanical and I have a friend whose extremely mechanical and has compressor and pump jack etc...can this be done in a regular garage?

 

Yes. Do a search as I believe there is a write-up somewhere on here for motor mount replacements.

 

Cool beans...thanks. As of now I know I need new shocks/struts and most likely motor mounts. Im prioritizing the motor mounts first...because well....its the motor!..lol

 

Mine has the same symptoms. I'm pretty sure it's the motor mounts but haven't had time to replace them.