196K Transmission Failure

[debiniarthug]

I was reversing up an inclined driveway then I heard a clunk but contined reversing up the hill. Fortunetly I was only a few miles away from the mechanic. They cleaned the metal debris, added the proper tranmission transmission fuild and said that I needed a new transimssion. Now my car will drive fine but doesn't reverse however I recall it reversing before going to the mechanic. After the service the mechanic showed me that if I put it in reverse and rev'ed it to 3000RPM that then it will go in Reverse but I was only able to do that once.

Do I have any other options other then getting a new transmission?

Couldn't they just rebuild the reverse gear or something?

Also, couldn't it be the transfer case and not the transimission if reverse worked after 3000RPM's?

[svard75]

Get the transmission rebuilt. Around $900 at a reputable transmission garage.

[Costee]

Is the SES light on? Any codes?

[Double E]

That's probably a reasonable route (rebuilding) but my understanding is that the labor required to rebuild is close enough to replacement that it's a wash. Teh benefit is that new is new and rebuilt has some unpredictability with it.

[svard75]

That's probably a reasonable route (rebuilding) but my understanding is that the labor required to rebuild is close enough to replacement that it's a wash. Teh benefit is that new is new and rebuilt has some unpredictability with it.

Buy used and swap
http://www.autopartsfair.com/infiniti-u ... &seq_num=5 That plus labour to pull old and replace anywhere from 3-4 hours to swap transmissions (Roughly)@$90/hr=$270-$360 for labour.

Rebuild existing
http://transmissions4less.com/price_list-Infiniti.html about $1500 based on the FX pricing for the 3.5 RWD.

You're right rebuilding is always inferior to buying a brand new transmission but how much are brand new trannies and is it worth putting a $4-5K part into a car that's only worth 8-9k at the dealer?

I would suggest a rebuild for a few reasons.

- You know your transmission already, you have maintained it and driven it and know where it's been
- The engine and transmission have been together since factory and IMO the mating surfaces and electrical sensor connectors fit perfectly. I know it's probably not a big deal but I like to imagine putting another cars transmission onto mine and then imagine the mating surfaces slightly different causing leak issues after a few years.
- Buying a used transmission doesn't mean it will last longer. You may be buying someone elses problems or if the car was in an accident and written off perhaps the transmission was damaged?

[svard75]

I was reversing up an inclined driveway then I heard a clunk but contined reversing up the hill. Fortunetly I was only a few miles away from the mechanic. They cleaned the metal debris, added the proper tranmission transmission fuild and said that I needed a new transimssion. Now my car will drive fine but doesn't reverse however I recall it reversing before going to the mechanic. After the service the mechanic showed me that if I put it in reverse and rev'ed it to 3000RPM that then it will go in Reverse but I was only able to do that once.

Do I have any other options other then getting a new transmission?

Couldn't they just rebuild the reverse gear or something?

Also, couldn't it be the transfer case and not the transimission if reverse worked after 3000RPM's?

Wait a sec is your car AWD? Your signature just says M35. You don't have a transfer case if it's not an AWD or x model. The transfer case does not control forward/reverse gears rather it's what controls the amount of power sent to the front vs rear wheels.

[debiniarthug]

Well I decided to do a swap. I got multiple quotes for a rebuild but no one would give me a range in pricing that made sense. The average rebuild quote was $2,000 - $3,500. What a silly range! I kept asking why such a broad range and I received a consistent "well we don't know until we get in there". Swapping out the transmission gave me more predictability. The shop I go to quoted me $1,800 for a transmission with 70K mile "but I needed to move fast because it's the only one", (like we haven't heard that from everyone in the car sales or service industry enough), $500 for labor and $75 in Nissan transmission fluid. Basically $2,400. Instead, I purchased the transmission myself and had it delivered to the shop for $1,100. So it costs about $1,700 instead of the $2,400. What I'm concerned about is I don't know if our year of the M needs to have the Transmission programmed. The mechanic said he looked it up and it doesn't need to be programmed but I can only take it with a grain of sand. The transmission feels great though.

[merlinq2]

well that is great news- good call on the replacement. i was also told that the transmission is bolt on plug and play,so it will just work better than the old one.

[JoshTex]

FYI The M's do not have a transfer case. Only 4X4 vehicles have a transfer case.

[svard75]

FYI The M's do not have a transfer case. Only 4X4 vehicles have a transfer case.

The awd m does.

[merlinq2]

FYI The M's do not have a transfer case. Only 4X4 vehicles have a transfer case.

Technically they do it is called "electric controlled coupling (AWD solenoid)", operates the same way as good old transfer case- just more sophisticated.

Service manual section TF explanation and diagrams can be found on TF10 and onwards.