just as the title says, what is the clutch pack and gearset directly up behind the vb for? as in what gears does it include?

Reason I ask is I had the long drawn-out issue of stalling when going into reverse, then warm up times took longer and it would drive fine. eventually I lost 2nd after many slips from 1 to 3, skipping 2nd altogether. anyway, here's a Youtube link to see my video of the clutch pack I'm asking about. I thought the clutches needed to be tightly mashed together, but they're flopping around loose. Once it's warm I can drive in 1, 3 and o/d fine, but no 2nd and no reverse. I figured these clutches were for 2nd and reverse.

Transmission guys, hit me with the info please. Thank you.

 

When my 99 se acted up it was bad news. One day I hoped in to go to school and put it in reverse when it stalled. I'm like wtf it's auto... So I started it in neutral and bumped it into reverse for a sec at a time till I got out into the road. Then it drove fine forward, well it kinda felt like I was stuck in a higher gear. I babied it till it got moving and then I'd let her rip. Always changing the gears myself to minimize wear and slippage. Eventually a diff pin sheared and busted a hole out the side of the trans case. Perhaps it was the tq convertor or drop resistor because I changed all of the solenoids and it still acted funny like it was stuck in a high gear. I ripped it like that for a while before it blew up. But the only thing keeping it together was a b&m auto trans cooler and amsoil synthetic atf. Good luck. I'd get a cheapo from a junkyard and swap it in on the weekend. Only takes a hour but for a first timer and taking your time I'd guess a day or two. BTW is that a hole busted out on the right in your vid?

 

I have not dug into my tranny that far to see if those clutches are suppose to be loose but I am curious if your fluid was black all the time? Those drops sitting there are nowhere near red and was curious when was the last time the fluid was changed.

 

The clutches and the disc bands should be tight at all times. This is what the auto tranny uses to do the shifting The pressure of the clutches and the disc and the bands are holding the plantation gear set when the gears are shifting.

 

Is it just me, or is there a hole in the case of his trans?

 

To answer some questions about my video...i just noticed what looks like a hole on the right side. But I'm not sure if that is cast like that or a busted hole. I'll have to go check tomorrow during daylight hours. It does seem to be rough unlike the rest of the casting. Interesting to say the least.

The fluid is as black as coal. A couple weeks after the issues began, i dumped some tranny cleaner in there and planned to do a home drain and fill a couple times. Jowever I didn't get around to it and drove with it in there for over 3 months. Yeah I said 3 months. I'm not an expert in automotive chemicals but I don't imagine that was good for the tranny, plus I beat on this car a lot. So excess heat probably played a part.

Question for auto tranny guys: is loading the torque convertor all that bad and exactly what happens on the inside of it if it becomes damaged? Reason i ask is because not long before i lost reverse i was having to hold the brakes and load the tranny to get the engine not to stall before i could leave from where i was parked after sitting a while. I'm talking hold throttle to the floor sometimes for a few long seconds at a time over and over. Just wondering if I shreaded the damn thing.

Well, since i have the valve body out, i might just do a shift kit. Does that entale anything other than the vb? I was using the drop resister mod on a switch for spirited driving only, but then it got to the point where it wouldn't shift and hold gears with the resister enabled. I liked the instant shifting. I'm hoping for something similar if all it needs are mods to the vb. any info is appreciated.

Thank you

 

I noticed a Pull-A-Part salvage yard in Nashville. Their site has auto transmissions with converter listed for $74.95 + $25.00 core charge. If you could find a nice transmission from a wrecked Maxima to use as your starting point, you might come out better in the end.

For example, last November I picked up a motor with ~72,000 miles from a rear end collision Maxima that must have been driven by a grandma. I paid $350 for the motor then paid the salvage yard another $150 to pull the and drop it in the back of my pickup. So for $500, I went home with solid engine. Now I paid too much ($1,500) to get the engine installed. But that was not the fault of the salvage yard.

I would check around the Nashville area for a compatible transmission from a wrecked Maxima where you can tell the car was running before it went to the salvage yard.

You might luck out and find a yard or jobber who will pull it for you for an extra fee so you can go home with a good find.

Usually an abused transmission will leave behind traces of burned smelling fluid to let you know when to "pass on it" and look for different one.

 

There is a lot of play on that clutch pack when there should be very little (FSM states that the limit should be 3 mm)

You may as well get another transmission or rebuild your transmission, replacing anything that may have burned. Your trans will still not have reverse or 2nd if you just do the shift kit.

 

I agree. I'm going to just replace the transmission with a junk yard swap. I know a few yards including the pull-a-part you mentioned and another one called express pull-n-save in LaVergne. They're closer to M'boro than Nashville is. I just need to go a look, but job keeps me busy during junk yard hours. I'm gonna take a half day off next week to go look at a few. They always seem to have at least 3 to 5 4th gen's in the yard.

Since I have the valvebody out of mine, I'm wondering if a shift kit is comprised of parts for the vb only or are there other parts for the major internals included? If I find a decent one, I'd like to do a shift kit and [possibly] beef up internals to take my abuse

Anyone who can share info on shift kits and such, please do.

Thanks for your input everyone.

Is that a hole in my tranny? LOL