1989 Nissan Micra from UK and Ireland - Comments

Main problem now is with the gearbox changing 3rd and 4th gears. This appears to be due to a faulty synchromesh. Apparently quite a common problem with Micras. It has been suggested that the gearbox oil should have been changed, but nothing stated in service manual about this. Mileage on my car at the time was 70,000 miles and this seems to be typical when such problems appear. It will cost me £600 to get the gearbox fixed which is not far short of what the car is worth.

Up to the problem described above, I was quite pleased how the car ran.

My Nissa Micra LS (1988) has just done the same, at about 60,000. The gearbox broke up on the M3 in a traffic jam! And, yes, it's going to cost 350 -- 450 to repair and that's about the value of the car. So interesting to hear you've had a similar experience. I've been told it's possible to get a secondhand gearbox through Part Finder but can't find them on the net and am not in a position to do it by phone. Problem is (says my garage) you don't know if you're buying one as bad as the one that's gone. So don't know what to do--a friend of mind got a secondhand one for her Micra.

Are you sure it is the gearbox because for a while with my '89 Micra LS, the gearbox became almost impossible to use, the car was almost undriveable, but it turned out that a new clutch cable solved the problem completely. Mine has done 110,000 but had done about 80,000 when the gearbox problem started. A replacement clutch cable is fairly inexpensive.

I'm looking for the ratio of a gearbox for a 1.2 litre nissan micra, can anyone help.

I have an "F" reg Micra 1.0 which has done 127,000 and still has the original gearbox. At times, the gears can be a little stiff, but it is quite acceptable.

My 1989 Nissan Micra LS has done 77,000 miles and the same problem has occurred, keep getting stuck between 3rd and 4th gear. I phoned a number of gearbox people and they all guessed the problem as soon as I told them I was looking for a gearbox (so it must be common). Got a 2nd hand one delivered and fitted for £100 though. Just make sure the box is tested when you buy it.