I lost first gear today. 2000, 4WD. A while back it was in at the dealers and they found teeth in the transmission fluid, so it was no big surprise.

I'm wondering what my options are. I just talked to the dealer, and they expressed shock that I could lose first gear. Based on a couple posts here, it doesn't seem that uncommon. They recommended against a rebuild.

I do a fair amount of off roading, fully loaded getting to various kayak put ins and take outs. I'd like to keep costs down, but on the other hand, I don't want to have problems down the road.

Any input on rebuilding vs. used or new? If I go with a local shop, are there other things they may not know about that I'll need to have done (I saw something about getting an alignment performed after changing out the transmission)? Any idea on ballpark costs for the various options?

thanks for any input,

Rob

I put in a used one out of a '99 Frontier and so far it's doing well with about 50K on the tranny. I would think a rebuild should be fine as long as it's done right. I think the dealer was just trying to make you think it's a freak thing... surely it's not the first they've seen!

Removal of the tranny requires removal of the exhaust system, torsion bars, crossmembers, etc., so an alignment is a good idea afterwards, although if the t-bars are installed in the exact same position it will be fine. Just good to be sure!

Mine and my twin (both early 2000's) in the club both went at just about 80K. There was another one in the club that was starting to show signs of trouble about the same mileage when it got traded in. Out of curiosity, what is your mileage?

Sorry to hear another one went T.U!

Thanks for the reply. Mileage is in the low 90's

Hopefully I can get it taken care of quickly. I'm supposed to go kayaking over T-day. With all the rain in WA, things are going to be pumping.

I also lost first gear. A friend called Nissan and they told him that this was common for 2000. They made two transmissions in 2000 and one of them was made of not as hard a steal. They corrected the problem in 2001. Although my Nissan dealership said they had never heard of this before and were shocked I lost first gear. I no longer trust them. I took it to Mister Transmission to repair. Quite costly but it needed to be done. Can't keep starting in second, then you will wear out second. They replaced the sinchro, clutch and machined the fly wheel. I had the clutch replaced as it's 6 years old and 150 km. they said it was more than 50% worn and since I plan on keeping the truck it was wise to replace it at the same time.