# 5th gear popout - which cars?



## 91 3sgte (Sep 19, 2003)

Hey guys, still in the "research" phase of car buying. I heard about 5th gear popout and after a search, i still have a few questions. First off... which models (se or ser) are affected by this... and what years?


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

it was in the b13 models. You'll be buying a B14 so you won't be affected.


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## bahearn (Jul 15, 2002)

Not true.


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## HoloSkull (Jan 30, 2003)

i heard it more or less involved the SR20 trannies


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## 91 3sgte (Sep 19, 2003)

So which is which? Is it just in the SE-R with the SR20s? and if so, which years? The one i'm interested in is a 1997 SE-R.


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## James (Apr 29, 2002)

I've only heard of those problems with the sr20 trannies... the GA16's haven't produced enough power yet! But Mike Y. car is handling 200+ hp and so far no probs.


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## HoloSkull (Jan 30, 2003)

I think the '97 SE-R has the SR20, but I could be mistaken. I think it is only a problem if you push the limits of the car... I don't think it is just a regular problem. So it should be fine if you are just using it as a daily driver.


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## Harris (Nov 11, 2002)

All SE-Rs had the SR20, period. The Sentra SE-L and SE (99 and 00 respectively) had the SR20 as well. The trannies you want to worry about are the ones that went from 91-99. The incidence of 5th gear popout is less likely for cars 95 and up. The 97 SE-R will probably be fine. Just take the car on the highway, put the gear in 5th, and mash the gas. If the gear stays in place, you have nothing to worry about.


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## sfhellwig (Feb 4, 2003)

You have nothing to worry about for now. But really you at least shouldn't have to worry about it for awhile. The pop out is caused by worn 5th gear syncros which is why its more common on B13s. I have heard its expensive to fix. I have also seen it attributed to people driving with their hand on the shifter in 5th gear. Wether its true I don't know but I make sure I never cruise w/ my hand on the shifter.


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## 91 3sgte (Sep 19, 2003)

Ok, so 5th gear popout is less common on the 95+ SE-R's. Just out of curiosity, though... what about the other gears? Are there any other "common" tranny problems I should watch out for?


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## Harris (Nov 11, 2002)

If you go turbo, you *MAY* have the 3rd gear taking a shit as well. The best you can go is cryo-treat and weld the tranny to avoid the possibility of tranny breakage. However, if you stay NA, 5th gear is the only one. Mind you the tranny is sorta softer than it should have been, so YMMV.


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## Z_Spool (Sep 27, 2003)

It happened in my B13 GA16DE. It still gets up to 85 MPH though.


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## atomicbomberman (Jul 6, 2002)

The problem is mostly from cars between 91-95 SR20DE, look up se-r.net for common problem.

My 5th gear moves around a LOT, hence I drive very conservatively over the freeway (if I see a bump comming up, I'll let off the gas padel to let it sit tighter in the gear and not putload on it), this problem can also be accerated by forcing the shifter in gear (a.k.a. rest your hand on the shifter, put weight on it while your cruise)... That's why when i drive nowdays I'll shift to 5th, drive conservatively, and not have my hand on the shifter (having a momo steering wheel helped on that  )

Putting redline shockproof tranny fluid was supposed to help too.


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## Spelchy (Jun 24, 1987)

The 5th gear popout legend was noticed in N13 pulsars, too. Some receipts in my glovebox that i found when I bought it indicated a popout problem, but it works fine now. I have also read about this occuring spontaneously in other N13's as well.


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## AVERAGE (Aug 9, 2002)

actually guys, 5th gear popout has been seen as early as the b12 sentra with BOTH engines. it isnt that expensive to fix for most of alleged mechanics on the board. as a matter of fact the e16/ga guru called blownb310 had a thread somewhere as to how fix it. u guys might want to look it up or just pm him


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## Myetball (Dec 15, 2002)

My B11 suffers from 5th gear pop-out. There's a website dedicated to trying to get Nissan to recall this problem. Seems doubtfull considering the number of tranny's produced for the B11 through B13 series.


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## H8_2BU (Jul 1, 2003)

*hmm*

I am the 3rd owner of a 91 SE-R. All services have been tracked since the car came off the lot. Never had a 5th gear pop out and still works great @ 216,000 Mi. 

Side note.

Manual transmissions are not complicated and not difficult to repair. If you can't fix it yourself and plan to keep your car for a long time, just take it to AAmco when you have the problem and buy their life time warranty after the repair. You'll never have to worry about it again.


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## MNPULSAR (Apr 8, 2003)

*5th gear popout*

Even the older e16 is vulnerable to the popout. My 88 pulsar has this problem. Here are some links that might help.

http://www.se-r-list.org/fifth.gear.phtml
http://www.nissanforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=183953#post183953


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## GrideGanjaman (Oct 15, 2003)

yep! 5th pop-out for me too. costs over 400 if you just wanna replace 5th gear componetry.
there's a site where the guy's done it to his 94 g20, gives you the parts you need and cost. 
it is a VERY common problem. nissan knows about it. search on the web and you'll find NUFF info about it. something about 3rd gear failure too, but less common.


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## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

i've got it too in my 87 Pulsar with E16i. I just hold the stick in place in 5th gear. there is no way i'm going to drive on the freeway in 4th gear all my other gears are starting to make grinding noises to so i think its time to replace the tranny....costs to much to rebuild it.


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## Pretty White (May 6, 2002)

It is a big problem in Australia too. I was on the Pulsar forum and they suffer from it too.


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