[chapmant2]

I was driving home tonight and I went down a small hill. When I hit the throttle again, something in the drivetrain made a pop. Now, the transmission just makes a whining noise and neither driveshafts will spin. It does make a slight grinding noise in reverse, but that's the only noise I can get. I tried it in 4x4, but no dice. Anybody have any ideas? If it's the transmission, is there a complete rebuild kit or a rebuilt one I can get somewhere?

EDIT: also, what transmission do I even have? I can't find it anywhere online. I just bought the truck 4 months ago and it's my first Nissan. So, I know basically nothing about it.

EDIT2: '99 king cab XE 3.3L v6 automatic with 118k miles

 

[shift_RUSH]

Year? Auto or manual trans?

 

[chapmant2]

Year? Auto or manual trans?

Dang it. I thought it was in my signature. It's a 99 king cab xe v6 3.3l automatic

 

[smj999smj]

The trans is a model RE4R01A, made by Jatco. This should be on your driver's door tag. Rockauto.com has rebuild kits as well as shift improvement kits, if interested. By the description of your issue, you may want to teardown the transmission for inspection before rebuilding to see if there is significant hard part damage, which could end up costing more than the cost of a reman replacement with a warranty. Remans and used units are available from a number of sources as it was a fairly common transmission used for a number of years by Nissan. If you have a reputable transmission rebuilder, that would be another option. It's all a matter of how much you want to spend compared to how much work you want to do yourself and if a warranty is important to you.

 

[Blue Devil]

I was driving home tonight and I went down a small hill. When I hit the throttle again, something in the drivetrain made a pop. Now, the transmission just makes a whining noise and neither driveshafts will spin. It does make a slight grinding noise in reverse, but that's the only noise I can get. I tried it in 4x4, but no dice. Anybody have any ideas? If it's the transmission, is there a complete rebuild kit or a rebuilt one I can get somewhere?

EDIT: also, what transmission do I even have? I can't find it anywhere online. I just bought the truck 4 months ago and it's my first Nissan. So, I know basically nothing about it.

EDIT2: '99 king cab XE 3.3L v6 automatic with 118k miles

Have you even gotten under your truck to look at the ends of the driveshaft? Are the U-joints and Yokes still intact?

 

[chapmant2]

The trans is a model RE4R01A, made by Jatco. This should be on your driver's door tag. Rockauto.com has rebuild kits as well as shift improvement kits, if interested. By the description of your issue, you may want to teardown the transmission for inspection before rebuilding to see if there is significant hard part damage, which could end up costing more than the cost of a reman replacement with a warranty. Remans and used units are available from a number of sources as it was a fairly common transmission used for a number of years by Nissan. If you have a reputable transmission rebuilder, that would be another option. It's all a matter of how much you want to spend compared to how much work you want to do yourself and if a warranty is important to you.

Thanks a lot. I'm gonna pull it tonight. I'll post an update later to see if it's worth rebuilding.

 

[chapmant2]

Have you even gotten under your truck to look at the ends of the driveshaft? Are the U-joints and Yokes still intact?

Yeah, everything is intact on that end of the drivetrain. The shaft won't turn but there is no gringing from the transmission in any gear. I'm thinking I might have broken the torque converter in some way. I'm going to pull it tomorrow and inspect the carnage.

 

[smj999smj]

On the ol' J30 Maximas, I've seen the splines strip on the end of the input shaft where it engages the torque converter, resulting in no pump operation, thus, no line pressure. I don't recall ever seeing it on the rear wheel drive transmissions, however. It's worth checking, though.

 

[chapmant2]

On the ol' J30 Maximas, I've seen the splines strip on the end of the input shaft where it engages the torque converter, resulting in no pump operation, thus, no line pressure. I don't recall ever seeing it on the rear wheel drive transmissions, however. It's worth checking, though.

My uncle mentioned something like that too. I'll post pictures when I get it torn down.

 

[smj999smj]

You could test the line pressure using and oil pressure gauge at the line pressure port before you remove it.

 

[chapmant2]

You could test the line pressure using and oil pressure gauge at the line pressure port before you remove it.

Is there a thread somewhere about the transmission removal or a diagram that lists all parts that need to be unhooked? I can start working on it tomorrow evening and I don't really want to waste time trying to figure out where all the bolts and connectors are.

 

[BigDad]

Nissan Frontier Factory Service Manuals

Go to your year, and the AT section, it will give you a lot of information. I am slowly printing out a hard copy for my truck.

 

[chapmant2]

Nissan Frontier Factory Service Manuals

Go to your year, and the AT section, it will give you a lot of information. I am slowly printing out a hard copy for my truck.

Thanks a lot BigDad. That will come in handy.::smile::

 

[BigDad]

Thanks a lot BigDad. That will come in handy.::smile::

No problem. What I've been doing, I bought a 100 pack of those clear plastic pages for a 3 ring binder, and have been printing select portions of it (projects, and repairs that I know will come up at some time) I have 80 or so pages at this point. The thing I like the best is the diagnostics. If A is good go to step 2, no good go to step..... and so on. Pretty much a to b to c. Good luck

 

[smj999smj]

Make sure you measure your ride height before jacking the vehicle up and after loosening the torsion bars, mark them for proper installation. I leave the bars in the crossmember and remove as an assembly with help of a second person. When you are finished putting it all back together, I would recommend taking it to a wheel alignment shop and having them make sure the ride height is in spec and then have them perform a wheel alignment (ride height adjustment is part of a wheel alignment, but if you don't mention it, the may overlook it). Any change in ride height will affect front wheel camber, which is why I recommend having the alignment done, afterwards.

 

[chapmant2]

Make sure you measure your ride height before jacking the vehicle up and after loosening the torsion bars, mark them for proper installation. I leave the bars in the crossmember and remove as an assembly with help of a second person. When you are finished putting it all back together, I would recommend taking it to a wheel alignment shop and having them make sure the ride height is in spec and then have them perform a wheel alignment (ride height adjustment is part of a wheel alignment, but if you don't mention it, the may overlook it). Any change in ride height will affect front wheel camber, which is why I recommend having the alignment done, afterwards.

I got the transmission out and torn down. I found the problem. The rear planet is stripped on the output shaft. I can buy the rear planet on rock auto, but does anybody know where I can find a new output shaft? It's not horribly messed up, but I'd much rather replace it sooner rather than later. ::smile::

Edit: One more thing. Does anyone know what that little metal gasket is that is between the starter and the bell housing? I bent it out of shape getting it out and need to get a new one.

 

[kevinjohnson3216]

I got the transmission out and torn down. I found the problem. The rear planet is stripped on the output shaft. I can buy the rear planet on rock auto, but does anybody know where I can find a new output shaft? It's not horribly messed up, but I'd much rather replace it sooner rather than later. ::

Edit: One more thing. Does anyone know what that little metal gasket is that is between the starter and the bell housing? I bent it out of shape getting it out and need to get a new one.

Not sure about a metal piece exclusively between the starter, but my standard trans truck has one that goes all the way around the bottom of the bell housing .

On my truck That metal piece is critical because it sets the shimmed space between the engine and trans, which is what the starter needs to engage with the flywheel . Without it the starter Bendix might kick out too far and over time may wear either flywheel teeth or Bendix teeth

I wanted to leave mine out when I did my clutch to have a inspection window but i came to the above conclusion when I thought about it haha

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[smj999smj]

There's a shim plate that sits between the block and trans and then there's a cover plate that covers the lower part of the bellhousing and which the starter mounts through. Both have been discontinued by Nissan and if you can't straighten out your original cover plate, you'll have to locate one in a junkyard.

 

[chapmant2]

There's a shim plate that sits between the block and trans and then there's a cover plate that covers the lower part of the bellhousing and which the starter mounts through. Both have been discontinued by Nissan and if you can't straighten out your original cover plate, you'll have to locate one in a junkyard.

Thank you. The shim plate is fine, but the cover plate is the bent part. I think I can straighten it out though.

 

[chapmant2]

Update:
I finally got everything put back together Monday and it is running fine. I've put about 50 miles on it so far and it shifts perfectly. It wasn't an easy job but it only cost about $320, counting trans fluid. I had a few hiccups, but everything is ironed out now. Thanks a lot to everyone who helped me out!