My maxy has a very hard upshift from 1-2. Downshift is fine. Been doing it for at least 25K miles. BTW, the car has 147K on the engine/tranny. I'm the original owner and changed tranny fluids on time.
Recently I put a bottle of TransX in it and drove for a few hundred miles then changed the fluid. Result: The 1-2 up shift is much better at hard to WOT accelerations and at very light accelerations. That is to say under both of those types of conditions the 1-2 up shift is pretty much what I'd consider normal. However, 1-2 up still gives the car a hard thud when doing mid-pwer acceleration (which is what I do in normal day-to-day driving). So it seems the TransX helped the shift at both light accel and very heavy accel but not at mid accels.
Any ideas on what's wrong with the tranny? Should I repeat the TransX treatment since it DID have some apparently beneficial effect?

Thanks

 

147K on original tranny = almost rebuild time !

 

Did you remember to use the correct trans fluid / addtive when you did the last change?

 

ahem, cough, What additive?! FSM doesn't recommend any additve.

 

And I assume you also followed the fluid recomendation and put in the Nissanmatic trans fluid?

Didn't think so!

You like most probably just used the dexron/mercon fluid without the additive to convert it to the Nissanmatic specs.

 

Not to argue with you since you're trying to help me with my tranny problem but let me quote the '93 Nissan Maxima FSM (page MA-7 Recommended Fluids and Lubricants):


Automatic transaxle fluid
VG30E engine models 7-7/8 qt Genuine Nissan ATF*1 or equivalent
VE30DE engine models 10 qt Type DEXRON IIE

I have the VE30DE engine, therefore, Nissan recommends DEXRON IIE (not the gen-you-wine Nissan ATF1 or Nissanmatic whatever that is). So again, what additive are you talking about that I need to put into the DEXRON IIE that Nissan recommends. Maybe there's a TSB that addresses that. I'll go check for that right now. Later

 

I personally have never seen dexron marked IIE
At least according to atp you use additive # at-203 or equivelant.

 

The FSM does indeed recommend Dexron II-E.... whatever that is.

I just used the Dexron rated stuff straight off the shelf at the parts store... my auto lasted until 122k miles when I totalled the car...
If you got 145k out of the original tranny, then consider yourself VERY lucky. most of the time, they die around 100k.

 

Many people rebuild their tranny at around 125-150k miles. But my tranny has 225k miles on it ( all but 5k highway mileage) and it has never been rebuilt. I guess it's how the car is driven too. It shifts smoothly not too hard or too slow. How do you know when it's time to rebuild?

 

when it starts slipping...making nasty noises, noisy hydraulic pump. Mine was loud, and badly worn at around 144k. I had it rebuilt. But it seems to be going out again after only 20k. somebody did something wrong rebuilding it. I dont drive like an idiot with this thing either.

 

That really sucks. I will definately go postal on the idiot that did that $hitty job.

 

The IIE was the earlier version of the III that's on the shelves now. What's 'atp' and can I check it out on-line?

 

BTW I got this from online:
http://www.atp-inc.com/

 

I can't turdlett. The place that did it went out of business after the problems started, and were closed before i could ever get it back to them. The guy who rebuilt it signed his name and dated it though, so if I was bitter (which im not, my 3rd gen has lived a good life and its probably time to move on since this is a repair that is very expensive to do a second time) i could find him and ***** him out. but that wouldn't solve anything. I'm hoping its just the torque converter.

 

Can you clue me in on something. I have a chance to purchase my honey a 1990 Max. Car will not go into drive. 186k on the odometer. Pretty clean. Engine runs decent. What would you give for a car like that and how much would a good tranny job run me.

 

trany jobs are $1400 - $2000 so figure the car is worth about $200 tops IMHO

 

I'd convert it to a 5 spd for around $450-550 (all parts taken from a junkyard, and all new clutch parts purchased and installed yourself, and maybe new seals) and install it yourself..or find an auto from a totaled car and put in there..I'd say the car is worth $800 if the body and interior are in good shape and the motor is good..

"trany jobs are $1400 - $2000 so figure the car is worth about $200 tops IMHO"

if you're paying more than $1000 for a GOOD tranny rebuild, are they lubing you up first? the best transmission man in northern Missouri only charges $600 to rebuild an auto, including a new torque converter. My uncle had the guy rebuild the tranny in the pickup he uses on a rural mail route over 350k miles ago and it still shifts like new and doesn't slip..if anyone wants the contact info, I'll see if the guy still rebuilds them (he did a little over a year ago when I talked to him about rebuilding the tranny in my work truck, but things can change..) and post it here..

the fsm for my '92 gxe reccomends "dexron compatible fluid", and nothing about any additives..

ok I just covered about 4 posts and need to let my brain relax for awhile..

 

My secret to long tranny life is to NEVER change the fluid :-) 179K and still going strong. BTW that thud you talked about in your tranny from 1-2....
"She's dead Jim..."

 

Yeah we got a guy around here at $750 but I still wouldn't trust 'em I used to sell parts for trans exclusively. So believe me when I tell you if they do any trans for $600 they're shaving corners and doing a SH|T Rebuild and while yes it may have lasted 350K on his P/U (lemme guess a late 70s early 80s GM RWD P/U) It won't cut it on a modern electronic trans. especially a FWD one

 

Yep, an Auto rebuild around my hood runs anywhere from 1500-2000. But that does include them pulling it and replacing it and a ****ty 1 year or so warranty.
I priced 'em about 3 years ago when I first started having the 1-2 upshift problem.

 

yep, its a '76 3/4 ton frame, '80 body, '78 engine, and '77 tranny 4x4, but I found his number, and yeah things did change...he doesn't rebuild trannies anymore due to an injury sustained while working on an engine, but he said all of his trannies have a 3 year/30k warranty, and now he just gives them their money back should it fail in that time period..

When I asked him (Jason Kewits, (sp) lives out in the boonies on the other side of the sticks with a 2 mile drive to his rural mailbox at the end of his driveway [little exaggeration here, its probably only 1.5 miles...], southwest of Moberly, MO) what he would guess he would have charged to rebuild a tranny in a maxima, he wasn't sure without looking at it, but guessed it to be in the $800-1000 range, since he charged $1250 to rebuild 4wd toyota trannies, and 800-1200 for most FWD models that he remembered..and I'd take the extra risk of cheap parts failing rather than go to a bigger shop and pay anything more than $2000..

I didn't ask how he rebuilt them so cheap, probably should have..