2003 I35 Transmission issue

[marko959]

2003 Infiniti I35 has 131,000 miles on it. I was told by a national car repair company that the car had 2 bad engine/transmission mounts. Today I was told by an independent used car sales/repair company that the issue is not mounts, but the transmission itself. They said there is a "knuckle" in the vicinity of where the axle meets the transmission. Apparently this is causing the clunking sound I hear when punching the gas from a stop or slow speed, or sometimes even when it is at highway speed and downshifting. The mechanic's advice was to not bother getting it fixed right away. That it might last a few years, or it might fail soon. Chances are it might have been in this condition for awhile.

So I am wondering if this issue is a problem with a lot of I30/I35/Maxima's of this era, or if I am the only lucky guy to have this. Just bought the car last month, so I'm a little upset. I don't know how much this will cost. The owner of the used car lot I talked to (not the one I bought from) said he usually doesn't bother with fixing transmissions if it's not some simple problem. He just replaces the transmission before selling the car.

Comments/advice please?

[Maxcruiser]

I did have a clunking too after a drive shaft replacement in my 01

I thought it couldve been displaced gas in the shocks or a bent piston rod in that controls the shock compression.
Personally i believe a passenger side motor mount will improve the drivability at 131xxx miles.
The carrier bearing bracket is mounted directly behind the motor where the mount is so if the mount is bad it could bind up the CV joint causing a popping noise in the trannie.
Its probably a good place to start and definitely could solve the problem!
The mounts are SBR so if you replace the mount just make sure its styrene butadiene rubber (SBR). OES brand is the best choice however Anchor mounts are known to be acceptable too.