Rivethead

I recently bought a '96 Max with a 5-speed (stock everything, 68K miles).

It's a great car and I love it, but the manual transmission seems sluggish. Sometimes I can hear/feel a low rumbling from the clutch when starting out slow from a stop. And the rest of the shifts don't seem particularly crisp.

I've had a manual VW Jetta and Mustang GT and never encountered anything like this. Two different shops said they couldn't find anything wrong.

Is this typical of the Maxima's manual transmission?

Any and all help appreciated in advance,

-Rivethead

Daniel B. Martin

I recommend checking the level of transmission lubricant. Better yet, replace it. If you do your own "wrenching" this will cost less than $10.

See:
http://integra.vtec.net/geeser/megam...fluid_page.gif
http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/mtoil.html

The drain plug is horizontal, low on the transaxle case near the engine, and near the shifter boot. It is fairly small and looks like an ordinary bolt.

The fill plug is on the side of the transaxle housing nearest the front of the car. It is fairly large and has a square recess. The tool to remove it is an ordinary 1/2-inch ratchet wrench, with no socket fitted.

Remove the fill plug first, and then the drain plug. That will eliminate the risk of draining the old lube and then discovering you can't install new lube because the fill plug is too tight. It will also help the gear lube to drain faster.

Observe the color of the old lube as it pours out. It should be brown or black. If it is shiny and silvery, that is cause for concern. That silvery color is thousands of tiny metal particles which have flaked off internal transaxle parts such as bearings.

Install and tighten the drain plug before installing the new lube. (Don't laugh, plenty of people have forgotten to do this and wound up with a large puddle of new lube on the garage floor.) You may find it convenient to install the new lube with a funnel and a short length of plastic tubing fitted to the funnel spout. Position the funnel in the engine compartment, near the battery. Route the plastic tubing into the fill port. Add gear lube until it begins to overflow. Nissan recommends API GL-4 SAE 80W-90 gear lube. The capacity of the 5-speed is 4.5 - 4.8 liters. Do not use API GL-5 gear lube.