Just curious if anyone else with an auto tranny has experienced this.......
When I sit still with my foot on the brake and the tranny in drive OR reverse, the engine will surge once every couple of secs or so. It's been doing this for a while now, and has recently gotten worse.
Also, when the car was new (1995) when I rotated the tires, when torquing down the front lugs, with the tranny in park, the wheels would stay still, and I could torque the lugs down. Now I can't, the wheels will spin on me. I can spin the front wheels easily by hand when the front wheels are off the ground and in park. For kicks today, I lifted the front end up, and cranked the engine, put it in drive.....I was able to stop the front wheels easily from turning by hand as they were spinning.
Are these things normal? Where should I start looking for the surging?
Thanks for any help

 

That doesnt sound normal to me. So are you saying you can push the car while it is in park basically?

 

No......I haven't tried pushing it while in park .....I will though

 

u need a rebuild my friend it could be a number of things. my gues is the splines in the differential are gone. is it only on 1 side that spins when u torque it?

 

There's nothing wrong with your tranny.

If both wheels are off the ground you can spin either one while in park. The other goes in the opposite direction. Perfectly normal. If only one wheel is off the ground, you will not be able to spin it.

The surging is coming from your engine, that's where you need to troubleshoot.

 

Well, it only does it while sitting still in gear.....not cruising, accelerating, etc....thats why I think it's tranny or drivetrain related, not engine.....when it surges, it kinda feels like maybe it slips, then catches or something.
And like I said above, when the car was new, I could torque the lugs with it in park, and the wheels would be locked.....now they'll just spin when I try to torque them

 

you should not be able to spin both tires while the car is in park. njmaxseltd do u own a automatic vehicle? when u put a car into park it engages lever that locks the tranny. but in locklear's case hes having problems in drive and reverse also. my suggestion to locklear is pull out your cv shafts starting from the driver side and inspect both the shaft splines and the differential splines.

 

Yes my 99 is an auto. The park pin doesn't lock up the entire tranny, nor does it lock both wheels. Please try this test yourself so you can learn something. Put both front wheels in the air and spin one, the other goes in the opposite direction when the car is in park. Thats the differential doing it's job. When your auto tranny is in park, the differential isn't locked, only the tranny is.

So now please head out to your driveway and give it a try.

I'll be waiting for your results........


Once again, there is nothing wrong with the tranny in this thread, he needs to troubleshoot what could be a misfire felt under load (in gear) at idle.

 

njmaxseltd maybe ur right that it can still move when its in park i dunno i dont have an auto maxima in my driveway to test but other cars i worked on that even have a differential in them and they dont move when the car is in park. the problem is that its doing two things that it never used to do. oh i aslo know that the parking prawl does not the entire tranny but it does lock the output shaft which connects to the differential. all im suggesting is for him to take a look he doesnt hav to pull the tranny to check the splines.

 

I can tell you it's not a misfire.....I would hope the ecu would throw a code if it was, because that would be a pretty violent misfire. The first time it happened I thought someone tapped me from behind.

Now that I think back 10-12 years ago, I only had 2 jack stands so I would raise one side of the car, rotate the tires, lower, and do the other side....so that would explain why I could torque down the lugs, since one side was on the ground, so njmaxseltd you are correct on that one......and also when the front end is lifted up, and I spin one one way, the other does turn the opposite.......but what about when I have the front lifted and in drive idling.....should I be able to grab and stop a wheel easily, and spin it backwards? The passenger side is easier to grab, but I can grab each of them and spin backwards.

What about old tranny fluid? I looked in my records, and last time I change the tranny fluid was in 2001......so I've put about 80k miles on it since Could a dirty tranny filter and old full syn fluid contribute? Also, I noticed some of that green grease from the cv boots splattered up in the passenger side wheel well, would that do it?

 

There is nothing wrong from what you say about your tranny, I have disassembled more than a few auto trannies, everything is normal, the only way to strip splines is if your axles werent fully locked in and you drove for a while like that. Trust me not all misfires will set off a CEL light, IMHO i would look at a tune up, and other things engine related...

 

If it is indeed an engine issue.......any suggestions on where to start the trouble shooting?

 

Yes, check your sparkplugs and coil packs. In '99 Maxima tends to have trouble with the coil packs. Not all misfires will trigger a check engine light. I had a really bad misfire a few months ago. It would miss every second or two at the stoplights. In fact, when I finally got around to checking the coil pack, the coilpack in cylinder 1 was melting. o_O

I would start there, I'm 90% sure that's your problem because it sounds just like how my problem started.

 

Will do.......I'll pull the plugs and check them. I need to order some new ones anyways....the Denso Iridiums have been in there since '03.....so I've got about 55k-60k miles on them Other than tire rotation, and oil changes.....I've been lacking in the maintenance it appears

 

I used to have the same problem and never got a code,replaced fuel pump,sparks,f. pressure regulator, and f. filter. It was the mass air-flow sensor. The only way you can find if it is that is by getting one at a local junkyard, clean it up and install it. Good luck.

 

Actually I replaced the maf with a new one from Nissan a few months back, as the original crapped out completely and left me stranded. The "surging" problem I have I had before the maf crapped out.
I just checked the front 3 and 1 back coils and plugs. The plugs look normal, and the coils passed the test listed in the fsm. I'll check the other 2 coils and plugs tomorrow. If they check out fine...what should be next on my list?

 

Alrighty......all of the plugs and coil packs checked out fine. What should i check next?
I am going to get a new set of plugs, just because the Denso's are quite old now...and I am going to replace the tranny fluid, and filter, since they are old as well.
Anyone use ngk iridiums in their VQ? I use them in my CA-DET and they seem to do quite well. Also, anyone try one step colder plugs on a bone stock engine? Will they foul up?

 

This is the reason here why you are having problems starting up your car because your using the non-recommended plugs that are Denso's and BOSCH plugs and any other brands. Your supposed to use the NGK plugs any in this name brand. The problem such as melting coil packs and starting problems and misfires are the cause for the other brand plugs heating up and melting the packs. Yes,I have used the Iridium plugs and they are good.

 

Mmmmm, I never mentioned I had problems starting the car, infact, it starts as well as it did when i drove it off the dealer lot when it was brand new. I do plan on getting some ngk iridium ix plugs....which you said you have used.....but I asked if anyone has used a step colder plug on a stock vq.
Anyway, back on track....I noticed today it seems to surge more when the rad fan, and the a/c and fan are all going

 

I have noticed within the last year, and I also believe after a tune-up, the same slipping when stopped at a traffic light or stop sign (or drive through). The car will miss or slip in 1 second and resume normal idling afterword.

I've read here that the plugs/coils could be an issue. The mechanic I used is a cheap one, what should I inspect - how do I inspect the plug coil to see if it is the wrong type?