So I have a Maxima that makes a whooping noise during acceleration... I haven't taken it in to have it looked at, but the dealer said by my description of the sound it was probably a pilot bearing... Is this pretty common? Can extensive damage occur if not replaced right away? Approximate cost for a shop to replace?

This is a 5 speed btw.
Modified by djur at 9:54 AM 6/17/2007

Shouldn't be the pilot bearing/bushing. Most Nissan that I know of actually use a bushing which is just a brass bushing and in the FWD applications I've always seen, are only used to align the clutch so couldn't even bu ruined at all.

If the noise is coming from the transmission and only happens on acceleration it could be an internal bearing, which wouldn't be fun nor cheap. There's a slight chance it could be the throwout bearing but normally you would notice problems/sounds with that only when the clutch pedal is pressed.

Do you hear it when keeping at a constant speed or only when accelerating?

I can only hear the sound when accelerating. Moving the shift handle from gear to gear has become more difficult, it always goes but there is more resistance.

It almost sounds like its something internal. The whooping sound, does it sound like marbles rolling around? I think there's been a good number of early 5th gen guys that had bearing issues in their trannies and if its getting hard to shift, that's definitely a possibility.

One way you can check, if its something internal, would be to drain the gear oil and check for metal pieces.

when i had my 95 altima i had the same issues shifting in certain gears was getting a bit harder with resistance i know not the same vehicle but trannies all act the same almost. I would also hear a constant sound when accelerating slowly or hard. Found out it was the clutch.

When was the last tiem you changed your clutch if so?Is it the original clutch If so how many miles does it have?