Keith, the car is okeedokee. I actually don’t notice anything different. My mechanic said the transaxle seal was leaking, but that was fixed with the trans swap.
I have to get the alignment checked but I will say that the steering wheel is now in the middle (at the start of this post, the steering wheel was off center to the left).
Nissan also said that I need the accentrix nuts/bolts replaced. Mechanic said trhat the nuts/bolts are in the back and are part of the alignment process? I dunno - never heard of accentric bolts before.
I think you mean eccentric bolts. These are used for alignment. Picture a normal bolt where the threads are perpendicular and centered on the head. Now picture the bolt with the threads perpendicular but off center. As you would screw this bolt into a hole, the head would be moving in a circle as well.
Yes, it is possible for all kinds of problems to develp because of a loose axle nut, or nuts. It can allow the shaft to wallow in the hub and cause several types of damage.
A neighbor of mine found this out some years ago when he replaced a few halfshafts on his Subaru and only snugged the nuts up instead of really torquing them down. Within a few hundred miles the splines were peeled out of the hubs and he was sitting on the roadside awaiting a tow.
Just theorizing, but maybe a wallowing halfshaft due to a loose nut took out the halfshaft seal on the transmission. Fluid was lost and this led to the loss of the transmission. The surprise to me would be that warranty would cover a trans problem of any sort due to a mechanic screwup; unless a decision maker in the service department decided to try and push one through under a shaky warranty claim.
The eccentric bolts used for alignment have an unthreaded portion of the shaft that is centered, then a smaller portion that is off center and threaded on the end. Now you have two sliding plates, one with a hole sized for the larger centered portion and one sized for the smaller portion. When you turn the bolt, the two plates will slide.
Now look at your tires, are they showing uneven tire wear? Are they wearing out sooner than you think they should? Is the steering pulling to one side? If the answer is no to all the above, then I doubt you need an alignment, but if it is yes, even slightly yes to any of them, then get an alignment.
I think they meant eccentric which are bolts or whatever in an oblong or egg shape. This allows a change in position by turning the bolt or screw. Would make sense if they are rusted up.