# Manual Transmission problems



## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

Hi! I have a 97 Almima with a manual transmission. Two days ago it became hard to shift into the 1st and 2nd gears. All the other gears work fine, but first and second, you have to force it in place for it to shift. Does anybody know what is wrong with it? I am thinking maybe something with the rubber boots, but I don't know. I am trying to take it apart but there are four bolts that hold the hole cover and two of the are different, so I can't take off. The middle part looks like a solid, round, metal bar and the bolt is very thin and flat and looks like 10mm. The weird thing is that the metal bar doesn't have any cuts on it as in normal bolts. Is it some kind of a clamp? How do you take it off? Help Please! What is wrong with it and how do I fix it?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

speedman said:


> Hi! I have a 97 Almima with a manual transmission. Two days ago it became hard to shift into the 1st and 2nd gears. All the other gears work fine, but first and second, you have to force it in place for it to shift. Does anybody know what is wrong with it? I am thinking maybe something with the rubber boots, but I don't know. I am trying to take it apart but there are four bolts that hold the hole cover and two of the are different, so I can't take off. The middle part looks like a solid, round, metal bar and the bolt is very thin and flat and looks like 10mm. The weird thing is that the metal bar doesn't have any cuts on it as in normal bolts. Is it some kind of a clamp? How do you take it off? Help Please! What is wrong with it and how do I fix it?


you have to get the other 2 bolts from underneath. you need to remove the shield from the tunnel over the catalytic converter to get to these bolts. whats the condition of your rear motor mount and when was the last time you checked the tranny oil?


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

AsleepAltima said:


> you have to get the other 2 bolts from underneath. you need to remove the shield from the tunnel over the catalytic converter to get to these bolts. whats the condition of your rear motor mount and when was the last time you checked the tranny oil?


Thanks, I will have to check out the motor mounts, because I am not sure. The tranny oil was changed about 40000 miles ago, so I will change it. I think the recomanded milege is 30000. Thanks for the info. What kind of oil is good for tranny? (Brand, type, etc).


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

Ok, the all the mounts look good. I don't know how they are suppose to look, but they seam to be in place and look solid. I had a small problem with shifting about three month ago, it was a little harder to shift and it produced a squiky noise when I shifted. I took it to the mechanic who oiled it and it was ok. He said that it could be the ruber things that guide you to the right gear, so I think that what need to be changed. Any ideas? Let me know.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

speedman said:


> Ok, the all the mounts look good. I don't know how they are suppose to look, but they seam to be in place and look solid. I had a small problem with shifting about three month ago, it was a little harder to shift and it produced a squiky noise when I shifted. I took it to the mechanic who oiled it and it was ok. He said that it could be the ruber things that guide you to the right gear, so I think that what need to be changed. Any ideas? Let me know.


it could be the bushing that the shifter fulcrum (ball) itself sits into. is the shifting sloppy on the stick itself? the bracket that goes attaches onto the engine could be loose as well. particularly look at the rear motor mount to see if theres any separation happening at all. i beleive the oil for your tranny is 75w90.


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

AsleepAltima said:


> it could be the bushing that the shifter fulcrum (ball) itself sits into. is the shifting sloppy on the stick itself? the bracket that goes attaches onto the engine could be loose as well. particularly look at the rear motor mount to see if theres any separation happening at all. i beleive the oil for your tranny is 75w90.


When I shift into first gear, I have to push it in place and yank it out to get it out, even though the clutch is fully pressed and it only happens to the first and second gear, third and the rest shift perfectly. I don't think it's the clutch, so it has to be something around the stick. I will go and work on it right now. Thanks a lot for your help. I will let you know what i find out.


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

So, I bought jacks and stands so I could work under the car like a normal person and meanwhile I talked to a friend who works on cars and he advised me to take it to ammco and get it checked (because the specialize in trannys), so I did. They did the tranny check for free and told me that it looks like somethign internal and not the clutch or anything, and they think that it is Transaxle and he wants 2000 to 2500 to change it. My car has 74000 miles on it and I payed 2500 for it half a year ago. I think it's bs, so I am picking it up tom. and taking to a different mechanic. It's is only the 1st and second gear that shift hard all the other gears shift fine and you have to simply shift it with a little bit of force. It is still drivable, but it needs to be fixed. Any ideas and could it be the transaxle or not?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

speedman said:


> So, I bought jacks and stands so I could work under the car like a normal person and meanwhile I talked to a friend who works on cars and he advised me to take it to ammco and get it checked (because the specialize in trannys), so I did. They did the tranny check for free and told me that it looks like somethign internal and not the clutch or anything, and they think that it is Transaxle and he wants 2000 to 2500 to change it. My car has 74000 miles on it and I payed 2500 for it half a year ago. I think it's bs, so I am picking it up tom. and taking to a different mechanic. It's is only the 1st and second gear that shift hard all the other gears shift fine and you have to simply shift it with a little bit of force. It is still drivable, but it needs to be fixed. Any ideas and could it be the transaxle or not?


at this point im not going to beleive that the trans is bad. not yet. you always check the easy things first and i never trust the big companies like aamco. the tranny can be had for about 400 dollars and takes about an hour to install. total time of about 3 hours including prep if you already know what youre doing. you can do this yourself, its actually not that hard to do especially if you have someone helping you that is mechanically inclined. get a second opinion before you do anything that expensive though.


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

I replied to your PM but I have yet to hear anything less than "You need a new trans" from AAMCO. First do the gear oil change and then see if the problem gets better.

Troy


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

KA24Tech said:


> I replied to your PM but I have yet to hear anything less than "You need a new trans" from AAMCO. First do the gear oil change and then see if the problem gets better.
> 
> Troy


Thanks, for your message. I thought the same thing. I am taking it to two other mechanics who worked on my car before. I should know by tom. afternoon what they think is wrong with it. It only has 75000, so tranny change would be a little drastic. I am just trying to find out what is wrong with it and then probably do it myself. The AAMCO guys told me that they are pretty sure that it is not the clutch or the nob. They think that it is internal, but who knows. It is hard to find a decent mechanic. I will have the oil changed by tom. and I will post what ever the two mechanics say by tom. afternoon. Thanks a lot guys.


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

As of today, nothing has been fixed yet. The aamco and the first mechanic said that it is not the clutch and that it is not the nob, but most likely is the transaxile or some part of the gears themselfs, basically they have no idea what it is for sure but are saying that it is something internal. The third mechanic is the one who usually works on my car. He looked at it really fast and that that he will check out the details on tuesday and will change the tranny oil on tuesday. He is pretty sure that it is not the clutch and he will check out the rubber things around the nob because I had problems with them before. Last time he simply oiled them and everything was ok this time it is more serious. I am currently driving around in my car but shifting sucks and you have to watch out because it is hard to shift and you just grinding the gears. There is one weird thing that happened to me the third time today. when I turn going like 25 mph the engine just turns off. It doesn't stall or anything. I am at neutral when I turn. You can just feel that power steering is not working and then the light turn on like the engine is off. I am having way too many problems with this car. well, tuesday hopefully I will know if I have to rebuild the tranny or not at 75000 miles. This is not cool at all. I am hoping for a miracle.


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

*Same old, same old.*

The conclusion is that there is something wrong with the transmission itself. I changed the tranny oil, didn't do anything, and all three mechanics that I went to told me that it was not the clutch, and not the stick, but something inside the tranny itself. Could be a damaged gear or something. For now I am driving it. I have two long trips planed for this weekend, most likely I will drive it for a while and then I will have to see what happens. Maybe the weekend after this weekend I will take apart the tranny and see if anything is damaged. I have no clue what exactly is damaged and neither do the mechanics. Any ideas?


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

I didn't take the tranny apart yet, but I have problems with rpms dropping very low. I got used to changing the gears and I don't have the money to rebuild the tranny. Anything else besides rebuilding the tranny that I can do?


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

I don't think your idle problem is tranny related... Take the distributor cap off and look inside for oil. Also look inside the intake tube at the Mass Air Flow meter to make sure that it is clean. Unplug the connector at the MAF and try to start it see if it changes in how the car idles.

Troy


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## speedman (Feb 4, 2005)

*Thanks*



KA24Tech said:


> I don't think your idle problem is tranny related... Take the distributor cap off and look inside for oil. Also look inside the intake tube at the Mass Air Flow meter to make sure that it is clean. Unplug the connector at the MAF and try to start it see if it changes in how the car idles.
> 
> Troy



Thanks, I will try that tom. and let you know. Anybody saying that I don't have to spend 2500 on my tranny is good!!!! 
P.S.
Just got my Haynes manual, so I will be having some fun with my car. I will try to do those things when i figure out where they are.


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