So I bought my 98 SE in Chicago, IL with 60K miles. I performed a 60K service also changing the ATF. It went through a autocrossing summer and 1 COLD winter. I recently moved to California and have 75K on it now. The hills are no problem for the engine, the auto trans is what concerns me. There is a slight vibration/rattling type sound on hard up hill acceleration, no vibration is felt in the car. It pulls like mad, has never slipped. Should I change the fluid to a synthetic or get a trans cooler? I have an extended warranty, should I bring it into Nissan ? Im looking into exhausts and cold air intakes, maybe they will help take a little load off... Does this sound normal to the car?? Any comments??

 

A rattling sound could be engine knock. Pull the codes from your ECU (yes, even if the check engine light isnt on). If you get 0304, you need a new knock sensor.

 

Ben,
I checked out your home page. You installed a "Custom trans shift controller", what does that do?

Thanks for your input! Do you think with a new knock sensor, the performance will improve or decrease?

Brian

 

A new knock senor, assuming the old one is bad, will definitely increase performance and gas mileage..

 

Great! So tell me about this shift controller! Is this some type of overdrive or something?