I have a 94 Maxima . If the weather is cold, say below 50 (not sure) and you start the car first time (engine cold) and try to put it in gear (have only tried reverse and drive) then the torque converter appears to be locked up thus immediately killing the engine. This is a hard engine stop, not a normal stall for reasons related to the engine being cold or tuning. After a few minutes of idling in park or neutral the transmission will work normally. If you wait that few minutes without attempting to first move the car out of park then the transmission will work normally without the lockup. Anyone know what's wrong?

 

there might be a chance that its actually starting in third gear or something along those lines.

when the tranny is really cold i'm pretty sure its supposed to start in a high gear so that you can thrash it too hard. it could be that the engine just isn't idling up like its supposed to or something. i'm not very savvy on auto trannies so i'm not positive :dunno:

 

No, it is very definately going from park to lockup.

 

try checking the temp sensor...if you're running high miles a new TC might be needed