I bought my 99Max with 35k on it on Feb 3. By March 1st I had done a drain and fill, as the old oil looked really bad wanst even red anymore, more like brown. After the drain and fill the car shifted perceptibly better. Everything has been great until recently. I now have 44k and the shift between 2nd-3rd seems to have started to slip or at least i think it has. It feels like somebody is tapping on the brake for a split second. Could this be a symptom of a tranny going bad? Or could it be something as simple as needing to top off the fluid. Can low fluid cause a symptom like this? I have not taken a look at the dipstick yet, and I am upstairs and it's late, I don't even think I can read the stick correctly anyhow I am a little worriedI find it har dto believe that a car with such low miles could already have atranny trouble. Help?

 

Does not hurt to check if it has the proper amount of fluid, in fact if I were you I would check it as soon as you can. There is a section in your owners manual on how to check the fluid level. I read a post earlier regarding some hesitation, was it your post? If it was have you checked for codes. When I had a bad knock sensor my car would hesitate as I accelerated, especially noticeable from a dead stop. Hopefully there is nothing wrong with your tranny. As soon as I changed my KS, the hesitation was gone, and the Max had its pep back .

 

I din't really have any hesitation, it just seemed a little less powerful than I was used too. As far as the knock sensor is concerned, do you really think that a knock sensor could need replacing at only 44k? When did you replce yours?

 

My Maxima needed a new KS at 44K (this year on a 96). In any event, you should check the codes in your ECU. If you don't know how to do this, you can look at the sticky at the top of the 4th gen forum on how-to's. I have a posting there on the KS that includes a write up on how to check the codes. It would be unusual for a 99 with 44K to be having transmission trrouble, but it is possible.

 

I replaced mine around 100k, but that is only because I thought that my Maxima was just getting older. I had been dealing with the power loss/ hesitation for a while. I finally learned that I could check for codes and found the culprit. There was a big difference in how the car felt with the new KS in place, especially when I punched it from a light.

As far as your KS being bad at such an early "age" for the car may be a long shot, but I would still check for codes. I hope that what ever the problem is, there is a simple solution, good luck.

 

1. check your fluid levels, you can easily get slipping if your fluid is low
RUN A TRANNY DIAGNOSTIC
2. you might need a new solenoid
3. rebuild becuse your loseing pressure

you shouldn't be having problems at only 44k unless your an absolute tranny bastard dropping n-bombs all the time or downshifting like its nobody's business.

good luck