Recently my max has not been good to me . First the rear breaks keep ****in up, than rear psngr strut blew(excuse to go low but no money right now) now the biggest problem of all i think.

Today i was driving and for some reason the car started shifting vierd (i would miss 4th) I didnt give it any taught untill the 4th or 5th time i did it. Than i started getting curious and taught something was wrong, well something is. I was at a red light in Neutral and i played around with the shifter left to right. And ussually it goes back into center position. Now it just stays where i leave it. Like there is Nothing holding it. Im afraid for the tranny, at first i taught i was low on fluid, but that would just mean itd be harder to shift, so the next thoery is that there is something wrong with my shift likage. I dont know wtf to do and wth is wrong i need the car to get to work and school but i also need to know is it ok to drive like this for a little while till i get payed so i can fix these problems with out any long term or permenant damge to the tranny or anything else important. I need an answer asap i got work in 2 hrs and i need to know weather i should add more fluid(and how, also how do i check fluid) or should i just park the car and get a ride today.

 

Not positive on this, but take a look under the car right under the shifter, above the cat. There is a spring there that possibly came loose, that could be your problem and it would be an easy fix.

 

What spring, i just checked there isnt anything but rods there . Ill remove the cat tommorow and see maybe its way Up there but i didnt see anything. I sure hope you are right though and its just a spring

 

Yes. If you don't see a spring (???) then just inspect the shifting rod thoroughly. From gearbox to were it attaches on the tranny housing.

 

There is only one centering spring inside the tranny - it pushes from 5/R toward neutral. The other is built into the shifter somewhere (I believe it's above the cat like you've said, but to be honest I've never touched one), and that spring would push from 1/2 toward neutral. If the shifter pushes back toward center neutral but only from the 5/R side, your tranny is probably fine and you need to look under the shifter (above the cat).

Dave

 

Not sure if the Maxima has plastic shifter bushings. If anything your current situation is annoying but your car is still driveable.

 

the max does have plastic bearings just for reference. also you can pull up the center console and inspect from the top side. (little tricky to get to the spring that way though.

 

I can think of very few things worse than removing the main cat on my car. 160k of rust pretty much requires a cutting torch.

Dave

 

unfortunately i agree, and i cant see or get to any visable springs from the bottom w/o removing it, i might as well just go with something aftermarket after i remove the stock. But thnx anyway guys i just needed to know weather the car is drivable, and the tranny is alright.

 

had this happened to me. when i pushed the shifter to the right, it'll stay there but when i pushed to the left, it came back a bit. turned out the return spring broke. Heatshield on the cat is the one need to be removed. I found the pic long time ago, i'll go and search see if i can find it again.

Here's the link http://www.vbxmaxima.8m.com/shifter.html

 

I'm saying I'd go at it from the top. Buy a set of long needle-nose pliers from Harbor Freight and go at it. (Those pliers are worth having in any case).

Unless you were planning on doing exhaust work, I'd avoid it.

Dave