Member - Ed. C. replied:

Aha... Funny you should mention that!!
As I type this, mine (May '99 build, Td42T) is at the dealer w'shop having the box stripped... When the 5th went on holiday, I was approx. 270 km from home. (could have been worse, we were on our way home to Toowoomba from Birdsville via Innamincka, towing a 1.5 ton C/T at the speed limit).. Based on reports here & elsewhere, I was given to understand that it's ok to continue to drive the vehicle (in 4th), which I did...
As for getting it fixed under warranty, well that remains to be seen.. however, at this stage, I am encouraged by the attitude of the service dept. personnel who are "putting it to Nissan" even though they haven't seen the vehicle since new, as I've done all of my own serviceing, though I've kept accurate records of every oil change & everything else done on the vehicle...
The fella to whom I spoke seemed fairly confident that Nissan would "come to the party", though he did say that I may have to meet *some* of the cost...
Any help is better than none, I guess...

Regards, Ed. C.

Leroy replied:

Do a search. You will find that you are still able to drive in 4th. I'd be inclinded to do an oil change to remove as much if any metal particles in the oil asap before driving again. Also Nissan seem to be fixing outside of warranty but I would assume you may need to push a bit and or call head office.

Leroy

Peter Guy replied:

Pete sometimes when you are on your own in very isolated ares you don't have a choice and if your vehicle can be driven then you drive it. In this situation if you have the good fortune to have a choice then it is best for your car to trailer it back to the next town where the fault can be correctly diagnosed.
My understanding of the Nissan 5th gear problem is that you should be able to drive it indefinately until you make it to a workshop using the other gears and when the gear box is repaired the oil and metal sediment is flushed from the box and refilled with new oil.
I hope you don't find your self in this predicament!
For your model it would be best not to use 5th going up hills especially when towing a trailer.

Member - Andrew(WA) replied:

On the subject of 'you may have to put a bit yourself towards the repairs'

Have spoke to a few people about this as to why some dealers will say it's covered by Nissan and others say it's covered ...but...you will need to contribute X dollars.

Aparently, nissan pay the franchised dealers set amounts of money per warranty claim ie..a gearbox may be a 15 man hour job + parts = WHATEVER.

Smaller jobs are less hours + parts = WHATEVER.

So dealers are paid a fixed amount for a fixed job. If it takes longer the particular dealer is out of pocket in man hours.

Apparently, if the dealer thinks there is a likely hood he will run into more hours than he is paid for, you may be asked to fill the gap. and heaven for bid, there may even be a few unscrupulous people out there who will ask you to contribute even though they are being paid. They just know you will be happy to pay some extra quids when your getting an expensive fix done at little cost to your self.

It's a dodgy business but I guess you know that because you service things yourself?

Cheers

GeroBoof replied:

Hey Homebrewer
I have just experienced of which you speak
10kms west of mundrabilla 5th gear dropped out. I spoke to the nissan mechanic in berri. He said it wouldnt hurt it to drive so I changed the oil in Berri then spent 4 days off road in the flinders rangers and ventured back to WA across the Anne Beadell Hwy. Was 1600ks from home when it blew and the final ks for the trip was 7400kms so I did 5800ks with no 5th gear. My only cost to have it fixed was $57 for one bearing!

Just my experience and 2c worth
Get out and get Dirty
Gero Boof

Member - John replied:

We have had three of our early GU work Nissans do their 5th gear. All were promptly rebuilt by Nissan dealers under warranty. In fact mine was nicer after the rebuild. First sign of failure is discoloured oil... orange reddish colour.

Driving in 4th is no probs. Try for a complete rebuild because of the potential damage all those bits of metal may have done.

The replacement parts are much stronger and bigger so should help restore Nissan's reputation for good drive trains

JohnS

Homebrewer replied:

Thanks for the replys..that puts my mind at rest,looks like I will not be stranded if 5th gear fails,and by keeping an eye on the colour of the oil I may get an early warning....Any idea of the sort of Kms that they fail at..
PETE...

duncs replied:

Earllier in the post dates of manufacture were talked about.

I spotted one in the local dealeres service dept. a couple of months ago. I asked the mechanic working on it what the prob was. "5th gear" he said "What model is yours?'

Mine is a May 01 and he said I was outside the danger period but not too worry 'cause Nisssan will pick uo the entire bill if it goes.

Now I'm not in a big town and the mechanic is a mate of one of the guys I work with so I am inclined to believe him.

Based on what I was told my camper skips down the road in 5th. If it is going to go I figure the sooner the better.

Here's hoping it don't
Duncs

CMB replied:

PETE,

I have one of the first turbo 4.2's (1999) and had 5 (yes five) 5th gear sets put in. The current set is the updated shaft and 5th gear that will last. The 5th gear set is in a separate sub chamber that will keep most of the metal out of the main box. The old gear is super small and the splining on the shaft is pathetic. I have determined that high torque loads kill the set (ie driving around town at 60 km/hr in 5th etc).

I have a good relationship with my dealer and have paid $0 for everything to date. I even got one set put in in Adelaide that cost $0. 2 gear sets lasted less than 30,000 and the last one was put in at 120,000 odd Km. I wroe a letter to Nissan and they said to keep the correspondence letters and they would look after me if the problem ever happend again This was on the 4th set and when the updated gear set became available the dealer installed it even before the 4th set failed. Mind you, we put the gear in a vice, the shaft in the gear and turned it with some stilsons - took some effort but this is how close it was to failing.

If you have any trouble $$ wise drop me a line and I'll send you what I wrote. It might give you some ideas.

Regs,
Chris.