Ok, so I have a 2000 SE 4x4 5 speed blue beauty. I have owned this truck since new.

I am making the obligatory "hello world" post here... I am looking at possibly buying an 06 or 07 as I keep cars for awhile, but first there is a problem with ol' blue...

A few thousand miles ago we were on a trip through Baja over Christmas and the clutch started screaming at us... lol... really making loud and horrible noises that frightened the locals... Had the cluctch replaced, no probo.

BUT, the transmission had started 'wobbling' when in the first gear position. My buddy/mechanic said that the tranny is probably on its way out, but that it might be good for a while. When I say "wobble" I mean that when I would place the tranny in first and began to apply power the stick itself would shake really badly. If I held onto it you could feel stuff not meeting up right, like stripping a screw...

Unfortunately it was not. The other night, while stuck in some wonderful 405 bumper to bumper, 1st gear DISAPPEARED. Seriously. It is just gone. I can put the stick in first, let out the clutch all the way and just idle there. It is gone.

So what does this mean? Do I need a new tranny? Is it something simple like bushings or the synchros on 1st?

And if it is bad and I need work done... does anyone know any good Nissan guys in San Diego County? How much for a used or new tranny that will fit a '00?

AND will the new 6 speed fit in a 2000?

Whew... hopefully someone out there can help me. As soon as I get this fixed, ol' blue is getting put on CL for sale and I am heading down and getting a Blue Off-Road/Tow/4x4 '06 or '07! w00t!

I don't know a whole hell of a lot about transmissions, but from reading about them on howstuffworks.com I have a general idea of what happened. Every gear in your transmission is really just that, a gear on a shaft. From your description of what was happening before 1st went out, the gear was probably out of position between the input and output shafts. The linkage is probably broken now. Take a look at THIS SITE for more information.