Hey Kris,
I'm a Nissan dealer technician. I had an 88 Max with a 5 speed and the suede interior. Nice little car. I'm not sure why you're having trouble with their automatics, they are pretty good units. They were used in the Maxima's, Stanza's, Altima's and some Quest's without many issues.
If you need any advise, give me a holler, I've installed many of the VG30's over the years,
Scott

Scott Ward

2 1948 1.5-ton Loadmasters
The red one and The snow pusher
1 1950 3100
1 1955.1 Chevy 6500
1 1954 Chevy 6500 2-Ton
1 1955 1st Series COE 5700
1 1963 K20 (454)
1 1964 C10 (350)
1 1951 1.5-ton Dump Truck
1953 and a 1956 Ford F800

Raising a teenager is like trying to nail Jello to a tree!