I just bought a 93se for my wife about a month ago. I had to get a slushbox cause my wife doesn't want to touch a manual Regardless, I am very impressed with the maxima so far in terms of ride and comfort. The car reminds me a lot of my previous Hondas in terms of build quality (Prelude, Accord). Something that the newer nissans seem to lack (Take note my daily driver is a 2002 Spec V). What I am truly impressed by is the paint quality on these third gens, the car still looks brand new.

Anyway, the problem I am experiencing with the tranny is a little wierd, at first I thought it was something electrical as it otherwise seems to shift quite strong.

The problem happens mostly when the tranny is cold. When I am at a stoplight or approaching a stop sign the car seems to slip in and out of gear into neutral. A slight tap on the gas seems to get it going. When I am finally rolling the car shifts quite strong and does not miss any gears whatsoever. This problem is more profound when the tranny is cold. If I drive for about an hour non-stop it won't happen at all.

Here is what I have tried to fix the problem so far:

1) Power flushed the tranny fluid and cleaned the filter, didn't make the problem any worse or better.
2) Checked the diagnostics codes for the tranny and had 10 short flashes meaning all the electrical/computer stuff was ok.

I have been checking around usenet and such and most of these symptoms seem to point to the valve body. Does anyone know if this theory makes any sense?

Thanks for your help

 

In case anyone is wondering what the solution was, I Got the problem fixed at a local tranny shop for $700.00

- Valve Body
- Seals
- 2 Clutches
- Tranny oil / filter

It now works great and doesn't fall into neutral anymore. So it seems that it was the valve body. But the previous owner drove the car far too long with the VB problem and wore out the clutches. The seal problem was most likely because the tranny was flushed and the new oil wore out the seals.

 

Good fix, I wonder how the other clutches looked though

 

did that also get rid of the hard shifting??...i'm getting the hard shifting but no sliping

 

Good point, but I did'nt want to shell out the $1600 for a full rebuild. I will be happy If the car lasts three years with the fixed tranny. The hard shifting from 1-2 is still there but that doesn't bother me at all.