MaxedOut97SE

Hey everyone, I took my car into the dealer for a grinding noise and they said it was the internal bearings in the tranny. It's gonna cost me about a grand. I'm really shocked that they are bad. I mean, aren't Nissans supposed to be reliable? The car only has 65K miles on it. I got the car with 48K on it and since then have taken great care of it. I went to 3 different places. Has anyone had this problem so prematurely? I really don't understand it. If it were 165K, I'd understand. But at 65K miles?!?! When they told me that and the price it's gonna cost literally my jaw dropped. I mean, I've driven the car moderately hard sometimes, but I wouldn't consider my driving "ragging it out". I went to Aamco Transmissions and they quoted me a price of around $700 but I think I'll pay a little more for the dealer to do the work. If anyone has had this problem was it around the price I'm paying? Anyone know if Aamco does good work? The dealer says that they went bad cause the fluid probably wasn't changed until I had it serviced at 60K. That seems reasonable, but I don't know, I'd think even without changing the fluid they would last a little longer than that. Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!

One more thing: I feel so dumb cause I used to be so cocky about my car and the supposed durablility. I'd say "It's a Nissan, you can drive it hard and it'll never break." But I was wrong. Everyone with 5 speeds don't be too hard on them, cause tranny problems SUCK!!!

BrianV

iTrader: (9)

That's because you put your foot into the clutch and leave it there too long. Always shift to neutral and let out the clutch. Holding the clutch in while the car is in gear wears out the Throw-out bearing.

Daniel B. Martin

This advice is good in general, but does not apply in this case. MaxedOut97SE reported worn internal transmission bearings. The throw-out bearing (a/k/a clutch release bearing) is an external bearing. Replacing a failed throw-out bearing costs much less than $700 because there is no need to open the transmission case.

Daniel B. Martin

This means we have no idea about what happened during the first 48K miles.

Abusive driving will damage the synchronizer mechanisms but not internal bearings.

This question is impossible to answer. Each Aamco shop is independently owned. One shop may be excellent and another be awful. What is important is the skill and experience of the technician who repairs your car. This kind of repair should be handled by a careful and patient person.

This is nonsense. The Owner's Manual shows that Nissan does not require changing transmission lubricant unless you are towing a trailer, using a camper or car-top carrier, or driving on rough/muddy roads.

Failure of the internal bearings could be caused inadequate lubrication. If there was a transmission leak during the first 48K miles and if the owner ignored the problem, lack of lube could have caused this problem. You bought this Maxima as a used car. When you bought it, did you check the engine oil dipstick? Probably. Did you also check the transmission lubricant level? Probably not.

Was the transmission lubricant changed during the 60K service? Maybe everything was perfect up to that point, and a careless technician did not refill the transmission with the proper grade or amount of lubricant.

Failure of the internal bearings could be caused by a factory defect. It could be defective materials, inadequate heat treatment, or a manufacturing problem (improperly ground races or rollers).

This is not true for Nissan or any other car.

Nissan dealers have the option of asking Nissan USA to provide a Good Will warranty extension in cases such as yours, where the car is not long past warranty and the damage was not caused by neglect or abuse. Please approach your Nissan service manager and inquire about this. Don't demand anything, just ask politely. Be prepared to accept half a loaf. Nissan might agree to split the bill 50%-50%. Be aware that labor is the biggest part of this repair cost. Therefore do not accept an offer of free parts if you pay the labor.

Curt Deiner

iTrader: (1)

Hey everyone, I took my car into the dealer for a grinding noise and they said it was the internal bearings in the tranny. It's gonna cost me about a grand. I'm really shocked that they are bad. I mean, aren't Nissans supposed to be reliable? The car only has 65K miles on it. I got the car with 48K on it and since then have taken great care of it. I went to 3 different places. Has anyone had this problem so prematurely? I really don't understand it. If it were 165K, I'd understand. But at 65K miles?!?! When they told me that and the price it's gonna cost literally my jaw dropped. I mean, I've driven the car moderately hard sometimes, but I wouldn't consider my driving "ragging it out". I went to Aamco Transmissions and they quoted me a price of around $700 but I think I'll pay a little more for the dealer to do the work. If anyone has had this problem was it around the price I'm paying? Anyone know if Aamco does good work? The dealer says that they went bad cause the fluid probably wasn't changed until I had it serviced at 60K. That seems reasonable, but I don't know, I'd think even without changing the fluid they would last a little longer than that. Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!

One more thing: I feel so dumb cause I used to be so cocky about my car and the supposed durablility. I'd say "It's a Nissan, you can drive it hard and it'll never break." But I was wrong. Everyone with 5 speeds don't be too hard on them, cause tranny problems SUCK!!!

I had this problem on my '97 SE 5spd. I also bought mine used with 45K. Was a lease return, so I took a gamble I suppose. I love the car, bose, htd leather, roof, blk/blk. Paid $16600 in May 2000. Mine started with a seal leak that the dealer replaced twice before Nissan told them to open tranny only to find the worn bearings. This was all covered under warranty. 6yr/60K powertrain. Also like Daniel said Nissan will work with unusual poblems too. By the way, I replaced my clutch while they had it apart. $181 for Nissan part. Had the "grabby/chatter" thing from take off sometimes. Cured that. I still have the "groan" or vibration thing at cold. I suspect maybe throw out bearing?

Daniel B. Martin

No. A faulty throw-out bearing makes a shrill squeal when the clutch pedal is pressed down to any degree, inclding all the way. Maxima Clutch Groan is heard only when the clutch is in the process of engaging (your clutch pedal foot is on the way up). If you don't hear the sound when the clutch pedal is "floored" it isn't the throw-out bearing.

Curt Deiner

iTrader: (1)

Thanks. That makes sense, since my "groan" doesn't matter if the clutch is in or out or in between. Sounds kinda like hydraulic fluid going thru a pressure relief valve? Maybe an accessory like power steering? I may try the "stethoscope" this weekend.

Daniel B. Martin

Possibly.

That's the right thing to do. Facts are better than guesses.

GTRBlkMax97

iTrader: (1)

OK Mr. Martin a question for you.
When I have my clutch all the way out there is a type of squeal, but as soon as I just touch the clutch pedal with my foot with maybe an ounce of pressure the sound goes away? Any ideas, I am under the 6yr/60k so if my bearings are out I will take my car in and get them to check and replace it if that is the case. Please help me and thanks in advance.

Daniel B. Martin

Your description of the symptom is clear but I don't recognize it. Is the squeal heard with the engine idling and the transmission in Neutral? If so, you have an opportunity to identify the source.

A four-foot length of small diameter rubber vacuum hose will help you do this. You can buy the hose in any auto parts store. They typically sell it in bulk for about US$0.80 per foot. Start the engine and let it idle. Put one end of the hose in your ear and the other end near any suspected source of noise. The engine compartment presents a cacophony of sound. The benefit of the hose is that it isolates the sound from one specific area. Work safely! Avoid contact with any moving parts!

You may find it interesting to explore the sounds of your engine with this inexpensive tool. Each moving part has its own characteristic sound. For example, listen to the muted clicking of the fuel injectors. They should all sound alike. If you find one with a different sound (or no sound at all) you have found a problem.

The dealer's service department is equipped with high-tech diagnostic instruments. These are wonderful devices but they are expensive and the dealer has to recover his cost by charging you for diagnostic time. Sometimes the home mechanic can do legitimate diagnostic work with nothing more than a rubber tube.

Tri-lite

I have the exact same problem I had it checked at a nissan dealer and they said it would cost me 400$ (canadian) to get it fixed and I was suppost to bring it in next week but now I have a new problem ...my shifter wont go in first nor second... I don't know if these probelms are related but this make me furious... I was one of those guys who bragged about nissan reliability...

GTRBlkMax97

iTrader: (1)

Well I checked again today and the sound happens when I have the clutch in all the way and in first gear, kind of a squealing sound, like something may be loose on the shifter bar or something any ideas?>

Daniel B. Martin

You were advised to use a rubber tube as a listening device to pinpoint the source of the sound. Please do this and post your findings. Facts are better than guesses.

Keven97SE

I just wanted to chime in and summarize my 5speed transmission failure from ~6 months ago. The car had ~73K miles at the time.

My transmission had been leaking transmission fluid for ~6 months prior to failure. Just a small leak at first, but in the last couple months, quite a bit. The leak was from right at the driver's side (inner) CV joint. There was a lot of play in the shaft there (indicating a bad differential bearing, correct Daniel?), and this movement had apparently damaged the seal and caused the leak. It got bad enough that much of the underside of the car was covered in a thin layer of oil. The car smelled when warm. Ewww. I was quite diligent about checking the oil level on a regular basis, but must admit that a couple of times I had to add a full quart, so obviously I wasn't dilgent enough.

Throughout this period of losing oil, and in fact for ~6 months prior to the leak having even started, I had a whining/high-pitched humming noise from the transmission. When I disengaged the clutch, the noise would disappear. The noise got progressively louder and louder as time went on.

The transmission finally failed one day on the way to work. When accelerating in 2nd, the car started to buck violently. I came off the gas put in the clutch to shift to neutral to coast to a stop. As I put the shifter into neutral, I heard a loud, metallic "ping" noise. When I tried to engage the clutch again with the shifter in neutral, the tranny engaged, gear unknown. Something locked up internally.

I had two failures: Bad differential side bearing/seal, and what finally killed it, I'm guessing a bad input shaft bearing (again, Daniel, please chime in to correct me if this guess is wrong).

I new the transmission needed to be cracked open. Just to diagnose the problem would have cost a lot, plus the rebuild cost. I don't like rebuilds myself and prefer factory units. Therefore, I opted against the rebuild route. I managed to find a low-mile used transmission with a warranty for $650 shipped. Installation with a new driver's side CV shaft (old one had badly scored splines) was ~$450. Total was ~$1100, not too bad all things considered. I suppose I should have considered pursuing a good will warranty, but was focused on obtaining a VLSD transmission, which would not have been covered.

I did drive the car "lively" but never beat on it by any means. Judging by the old clutch disk (I had a new one installed with the tranny), I was quite easy on the clutch actually. I could have gone ~125K miles on that clutch easily. I did have a habit of pushing the car hard when exiting corners, so I'm sure that was not good for the diff side bearing, but the internal bearing failure escapes me.

I'm not all that confident in Maxima 5 speed transmissions any more. The car is very reliable in other areas, but the transmission does not appear to be all that robust judging by the other failures listed here and failures posted in the past. Strikes me as being too frequent for a manual transmission...these should be far more reliable.

ericdwong

Keven, why are you selling your car?

Keven97SE

I'm going to get an SUV. Seriously, I can't stand this modifying crap anymore. It's driving me nuts. I need to get away from the whole scene and spend time on more important things...relationships, savings, career, etc. Plus, I just get wayyy to obsessive about cars. A nice, boring SUV fits the bill. j/k Actually, an SUCV supports my lifestyle, outdoors and go-anywhere. Ever tried offroading in a Maxima? Haven't tried and don't plan to.

Eventually, as time goes on and income goes up, I will definitely consider getting a sports car. I loooove to drive, but there are quite frankly no cars that I want in the price range available to me that are RWD, high power, etc etc except for Camaros and Mustangs (yuck, no offense). There's no point in spending quite a bit of money on a car that I just think is "okay" (A4, etc etc) when I can have an "okay" used SUV for less money.

I still like the Maxima but want to move on, want something different, etc.

Daniel B. Martin

Warning number 1.

Warning number 2.

Yes.

It's difficult to know after the fact. It is possible that the failed differential bearing was the only primary defect. We have to distinuish between primary and secondary (or consequential) defects. If one tooth broke off the differential crown gear and then got caught in the teeth of other gears, that would account for the "locked up internally" symptom. The inside of your tranny could have been the scene of mass destruction. This is an example of how ignoring warnings can be expensive.

This habit was hard on the tires but not the differential. Your driving practices did not precipitate this costly episode. Your maintenance practices contributed to it. The fundamental cause was a bearing failure which may have been a factory defect. These bearings should last the life of the vehicle. If they don't the cause could be ...
- bad materials (metallurgical defect in rollers or races)
- inadequate heat treating (this hardens the steel)
- manufacturing defect (rollers or races not ground to correct smoothness)

GTRBlkMax97

iTrader: (1)

Sorry Daniel I forgot, the sound comes from the shifter, like down below the boot, anything? or should I try to listen for it underneath the car maybe?

Daniel B. Martin

Yes, please do this. Pinpointing the origin of the sound is half the battle. Maybe you will need nothing more than lubrication of the noisy part. While you are under there, check the condition of all the exhaust system heat shields. A loose heat shield can vibrate and make all sorts of strange buzzing and rattling sounds. Sometimes these sounds mimic other vehicle problems and fool you into fixing the wrong thing.

GTRBlkMax97

iTrader: (1)

Thanks I will do that later this week and let you know what happens