Automatic Transmission salvage

On Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:13:52 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ivan Vegvary" quickly quoth:

No, until you mentioned your wife's penchant.

Could be! She'll love the valve body, too. Disassemble that and you're looking at the inside of a man-made ant farm.

Only if you're afraid of a silly little thing like FIRE!

-- Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. -- John Quincy Adams

Lotsa cool gears, shafts and hydraulic spools, 'n' stuff in a tranny.

Is it confirmed dead? It will be by the time you are done with it, but...

Dunno if Nissan was using Magnesium in their tranny housings. I know that Ford did, so who knows. Test the stuff before you put a bunch of effort into salvaging it to melt.

Scrape a clean area, and apply houshold vinegar. If it bubbles a bit and turns a smutty purple-brown color, not good. Not for casting purposes, anyway. :-)

I have done a couple "curiosity solving" forays into transmissions in the past. Found out that there was less to go wrong in a manual trans, than I thought.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Hi Trevor, Thanks for your insight! Yes, it is dead. Replaced it about a year ago with a working tranny. Looking forward to the cool parts!

Ivan Vegvary

Ivan,

This is a '90 Maxima??? I have a Sentra of that same year - four speed manual. Aside from needing another paint job[*], there is very little wrong with it. The car has a job as long as it wants it.

Did you have any trouble getting parts? I have heard "can't get that" a couple of times, but not in any critical areas. Most parts seem to be readily available, but I am wondering when I might start having trouble.

[*] I don't (too much) mind what body shops charge - I very much mind that they seem not to do the work they promise to do, at least in my experience. My plan is to strip and prime myself, and then take it to somebody to paint it. If they start over and do it right, great; if they do what I have come to expect (light sand and start spraying), then at least there will be a good primer underneath it. The car is largely garage kept now, and with FL's drought, I appear to be able to take my time, to a point.

Bill

Unless it's a total loss, there's usually a substantial core price that can be had from rebuilders of same. Anywhere from $100-500 depending on make, model and demand. Of course, if you've already started whacking away at it, scrap price is all you can expect and you might as well have your fun.

Stan