Yesterday my dad was driving his 1987 Maxima and all of a sudden it stopped changing gears.. Its Automatic, and the car still starts, but it wont change gears. What could be the problem and how expensive would it be to repiar it?

Thanks in advance

 

So basically it's stuck in neutral? When's the last time you guys changed/check the fluid level? That'd be the first thing I check. As that is characteristic to having WAY too low fluid.

S

 

Checked the fluid, its at a fine level, even added some to see if it made a difference. The car starts up and all, just it wont shift gears. Its weird for it to all of a sudden stop while on the highway, with no sign of something breaking like a sound. The only apparent thing was that it wont shift to reverse or drive or anything.

 

Well, we dont have a shift lock on our cars. My question is. Can you move the shifter from Park to Drive and so on. If so and your tranny wont engage when in these gears, your tranny may be shot.

 

Aren't those trannys electronic? I read somewhere that Nissan had problems with that tranny.

 

Yes, i can move the shifter from park to drive and so on. The tranny just wont engage. If it is electronic how could i go about checking that or finding out more about it?

 

The tranny is NOT electronic - the Electronic tranny was introduced in 1989.

The shift cable could have broken, but I doubt it. To clarify, the car was being driven, and the tranny basically acted like it went into nuetral, and has since no longer been able to shift into any gear?

In park, can you push the car? If not, does it free up when you shift to N?

The auto-tragic's in these cars are known to be troublesome...

 

This happened while being driven. Drive 1, Drive 2, Drive, Reverse and Neutral all act as neutral. Park keeps the car from moving.

Could the transmition screen be clogged? Or could the drive train be broken and transmition still be good?

 

this happened to me one time and even though my max was a 5-speed, the problem was something with the driveaxle. bolt came loose or it came disconnected or something. pardon my lack of mechanical knowledge, but I'm not sure if that makes a difference with an A/T vs an M/T. but no matter which gear it was in, it didn't go. that could be your problem too.

Dan

 

I don't think its a problem with the drive axles, or park would roll, also...

could be a problem with the pump, with the filter, with the valve body...i'd bet it's going to be hydraulic...mechanical failure would not effect all gears...perhaps all forward, but not reverse, etc...it could be the torque convertor died...

Good luck...

 

Hello,

First time poster here so please be gentle :>. As I cannot start a new thread I had to find one that was close to what I was experiencing.
With that said -----sorry to drag up an old thread-----

I am having a similar problem with my maxima. I have a 1988 GXE and it was driving fine up until a few days ago. My wife drove it to work and everything was great........she came out after work......got into the car......started it......and it will not go anywhere.

It seems like it is in nuetral all the time (except park which keeps it from going anywhere).

I went to check the fluid on this thing and I guess I am just crazy. We purchased it a few months ago and it was driving pretty good up until the other day.

Now where do you check the transmission fluid on this thing? I went looking and I just havent been able to find where to check it at. Another thing. Is it true that there is not a replaceable transmission filter on these?

The person we got it from has not kept up with the oil changes like he should so I am guessing that the same is true with the transmission fluid (will no more when I can find where to check it at).

Thanks in advance for any help

Chris

 

torque converter maybe???

 

First off I am also new to this website. I also can not start a new tread but this one fits my problem.

And to answer partyharty's question about where to check the transmission fluid it is on the drivers side in the front between the muffler and battery compartment the dip stick is red but when I found mind it was pitch black and hard to see.

Now my question is?


my transmission has just gone out a week ago but mind is acting funny when I first start the car up the transmission will shift in to the first gear and not shift into any other gears I move it to D2 nothing D1 nothing the max speed I can go is 25mph 4000rpm.i have check the fluid levels and they where fine I also let the transmission and engine warm up to 120 degrees bye putting it in neutral and tried the car again nothing. I completely flush the transmission I also change the oil still no progress. but when I floor it and bring the engine and transmission up to 6000rpm for less than ten sec's the transmission will kick in and start shifting again and will work the hole way about 63 miles until I shut the car off then this problem will start all over again. since the transmission has gone out I have had a hole lot of problems with the car so far I get error codes 23 24 and 25.also today my alternator has died after putting a new alternator in it three moths ago from AutoZone this is the second one from these guys and now my alternator has died again also I am going to get this alternator replace tomorrow for free. but I was wondering guys should I keep this car or should I sell it. Since I got this car it has cost me a lot in repairs. I got the car in April of 2005 I have had to replace all the spark plug wires and let me tell you these ones came with the car they even said 1988 on them. Spark plugs, timings belt, alternator belt, alternator, water pump, tires, brakes, thermostat, radiator temperature sensor, power staring hoses, PCV valve, fuel filter, and all the vacuum hoses. And now I got the throttle sense not working the idle sensor and a couple other things not to mention the transmission acting up. My first question is does anyone know what is wrong with my car by what i have just describe. And my second question is I want to know is it worth fixing this car or should I scrap it and get a CRX.
Here's a couple picture'[s of my car.

 

michaeljlyons Thank you for the scanned page. I was trying to find a haynes manual @ autozone but they were out of them (and Napa didnt have one either). That helps a lot

As for your car. I really cant tell ya what is the problem with the transmission however if you take it somewhere it they will tell ya you need it rebuilt. (around here you can take one in for almost anything and you will be told it needs to be rebuilt).

If you have replaced all of that I would be inclined to keep the car (provided you like the car and whatnot). At least you have some idea of where you are starting from with this one. If you were to get another car you would have to replace most of the wear items on it as well (unless I know a cars history I always do the plugs/wires/brakes/etc). I would take it prior to getting the tranny fixed and see if you can do some test on the motor (compression/leakdown etc) just to make sure there is nothing major with the motor. Around here I can get a tranny for these for about $300 (junkyard) and motors are about the same (or even less). These are cheap cars to fix (somewhat). It just sounds like your car is in the needy stage (the point where everything goes out at once).

As for the alternator. I have bought several alternators from autozone and to be honest if it works for a while its good. I purchased one (put it on in the parking lot) and didnt make it home from autozone (we lived about 40 miles out). They have a lot of the alternators rebuilt in mexico and the craftsmanship is ...........lets just say less than perfect. I have a friend (mechanic) that says the lifetime warranty is great as long as you do the work yourself (because you will replace it quite a few times within its "lifetime".

Just my .02 though.

Thanks again,
Chris

 

well thats a thought but I always was under the impression that when they went out it would be unable to hold overdrive. This one does that great (as long as its warmed up enough to go into overdrive). Well actually I should say that it did do that great prior to not working at all :>

Is there anyway to check it out (without pulling the tranny)?

Thanks,
Chris

 

Update.....

I checked the fluid today. It was pink and did not smell burned. I am guessing that the shift cable (or the linkage) has broken so I will have to get under the car to check it. The ATF dipstick was exactly where they had it pointed out (above picture) but there were wiring looms right above it and the dipstick was black so it was very hard to see.

Where the car is at the moment I cant get under the car to check the linkage/shift cable (the car is currently parked @ a business and is in a mud/grass field (where the employees park). So I am going to have to get the car towed back to the house (or take a trailer up there to bring it home).

If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

Thanks,
Chris

 

just a question, i have a 88 max AT/OD and all foreward gears have stopped working, i have a replacement tranny with 160k on it, but i cant get the right half shaft out of the car so i can get the tranny out. any help?