sorry it's a long story but;
i've let this go on as long as i could but these two issues are really bothering me.

first off she's a 97 se auto with 180k on the motor 122k on the tranny gets 19mpg.

when the gas gauge is on E i drive for a few miles then the light comes on.
then few more miles down the road i run out of gas?!
when i had my 3rd gen i could go a full day on E with the light on.
my q45 i went 2 days and a 1/2 on E.

my dad and c2g (kevin) aid then could go for about 50 miles with the light on.
so as soon as the light flickered on and off i reset the trip meter.
I GOT 11 MILES ON E!!!!!!!

the second thing is the transmission.
i normally dont let the car run cold. i let her warm up then i drive.
but if i let it run for a minute then put it in drive. itll go in gear...but it feels like 3rd or 4th gear.
if you press the gas down to a certain point it'll go into first or as soon as you reach about 10mph then it'll shift into first.

or either it'll shift fine. but HARD. VERY HARD. LIKE YOU BROKE SOMETHING HARD.

All of this happens for about a minute or two while the tranny is very cold.

another thing is when you have your foot on the gas pedal lightly,while in 4th gear sometimes it would downshift into 3rd then go right back into 4th.
or either the engine would slightly rev up and down (this i noticed this morning).

the tranny imo is fine she shifts firm like i like it. no slips. fluid is fine.
gas gauge and low fuel light works like it should or it seems like that to me.

can anyone piont to what the problem may be

 

The gas gauge can be fixed but you wont like the process. You'll have to drop the tank and take a look. Most manufacturers set their gauges to read empty with a little buffer left over, like the other cars you've described. With age and wear a cars gauge can read differently. I had an old Mazda that was bone dry when the needle hit E. I never let it get near empty again.

Your transmission problems sort of sound like a fluid pressure problem when its cold. Get under the car whiles its running and cold and listen for a whine from the transmission housing. When was the transmission filter last replaced? Might be worth dropping the pan and posting some pictures here.

Either way something is very wrong with your transmission and since it isn't throwing codes its likely mechanical. Speed is key here. If you keep driving it and don't fix the problem eventually something is going to break.

 

Your story says you run out of gas once the light comes on.
Why do you even run the tank down that low? They call them idiot lights for a reason...

It goes further on to say your tranny shifts weird when it's cold which is definately something the 4th gen is famous for. Although you go further to say it sort of slips and hunts for gears (I think)???


Then you make the following statement.....

I wanna say it's the driver at this point.

 

last time u did a tranny flush and type of fluid u using? If its slamming hard into gear then it does sound mechanical man. Can u be a lil more descriptive? It only happens with the tranny cold?

For the gas mileage, throw a bottle of the Chevron Techron in the fuel tank. Works wonders man.

Edit:

U sure the tranny was good to begin with?? It WAS pulled from the JY and has 120k already

 

cashoit cheveron lol

 

lol

 

thanks for the inputs
chevron does work wonder's when i had my grand am gt. it would hesitate bad at wot.
throw a bottle of that stuff it was a ok.

the trans does'nt slip at all.
fluid i did use was plain dextron mercon 3 or 4.
i did'nt have any money to get expensive fluid because of the first one (long story).

as for the light i can go 11miles till i run out.
since then i have'nt let the gas run out cause i dont think i can rely on something like that.

the car that i got the tranny out from, was impounded. here in chicago if your car's impounded they hold the car for 21 days then junk it.
i dropped the pan well i had to switch the pans cause the junkyard drains the tranny fluid by using an air chisel to poke into the hole. so the fluid that came out of the t/c was fine.
very little gunk. no metal shavings.

the the gear hunting between 3rd and 4th/or slight rev's only happens when my foot is lightly on the gas pedal if i go a little bit further it's fine.

 

I am having the same issue, this really helps

 

also i would like to point out that the gear slamming only happened once.
and the gas situation is that the 2nd time i ran out of gas i tested it the 3rd time.
i made it to the gas station just in time.
so once i filled up i topped off at 15 gallons.
that's 3.5 gallons or 3 gallons i'm short on hell even 2 gallons i'm short on.

 

I helped install the trans on his Max and when we swapped the pan from his trans to the "new" one, the JY one was nice and clean compared to the one we pulled from his car. I've driven it a few times and have been a passenger even more times and it appears to shift real nice and smooth yet firm.

I think replacing the filter would make a difference. He couldn't replace it last time cuz his old trans unexpectedly got a hole in the housing and started spitting out trans fluid which set him back close to 100 bucks in trans fluid which was the part of the money he was gonna use for the filter and other small things such as axle seals.

As for the gas related issue, wouldn't this be a problem with the sending unit?

 

^^^i got the seals. i made sure of that.
your right also john i'm glad we replaced it cause on the 1st "new" one 3rd gear was slipping a little at first.

 

bump

 

Think colombianmax had the best idea with the filter. Im still a lil confused about the actual tranny issue. Wish i cd drive it. But if for the most part the car is shifting good, then maybe its a tranny solenoid.

Best bet would be to look thru the FSM. See if u get any ideas about diagnostic or let a mechanic or fellow member take a look to get a second opinion.

 

^^^wish you could too. lol.
i dont know if this'll help but the tranny is an i30 tranny w/ lsd.
i looked thru my service manual and it's either pointing to tps sensor, line pressure solenoid, control valve.

but that hard shift only happened once.
and the trans was cold.

and there's nothing about car starting out in 3rd gear.

and the may sound ridiculous but i think these trannies are pretty well built.
cause the first one that leaked out fluid i drove that thing to the ground. trans smelled burnt.
i did that quite a few times too. i know it was bad but i really did'nt have the money.
but a friend of mine came over j/b welded the hole (which worked) and the trans was fine.
cept for 3rd gear. it was slipping a little.
but was fine.

 

Did ONE of the seals look big like this? From what I remember, both seals were similar size which was way smaller than this one (LSD axle seal)

Yes, both wheels do spin when at WOT take off but that doesn't mean you have an LSD tranny. Unless the trans code ends with a V instead of an A. IIRC you pulled the trans from a Maxima not an I30. I dont know though cuz the second time I was only there for the install and not the pull at the JY but I recall you saying it was a Maxima

 

yes your right. you were'nt there. and there were those times when i had said BOTH wheels were spinning in the snow.
we had to go back to get the axle again.
i said we started working on the maxima but danny came across an wrecked i30.

i wanted to continue taking it out of the maxima but you know how whiny and lazy danny gets, he did'nt wanna keep working on the maxima because there were so many rusted parts. so we went to that one. at that point it made no sense because i was the one who got the trans out by myself.

the driver side axle is double splined. i kept the passenger side seal and replaced it but took the other one back.
cause is was the wrong one.

also were getting off subject here. anyone care to clarify what i found in the service manual?
also the low gas issue with me running out of gas and topping off at 15 gallons?

 

lol.. you silly you!

 

would anyone happen to know how many codes the 4th gen ecm can hold?
as far as i know i have 3. and just taking a shot in the dark here. if there is a problem with the tps i probably wont see a code till i take care of the other 2

 

TPS prolly only throw a code if its totally busted and not jus because its exhibiting symptoms. '

Thats something i cant stand about our cars, the car can exhibit symptoms that somethin is wrong but the CEL wont come on till the thing is totally busted....

 

damn this dont make any sense at all.
i mean you'd in 95 they'd stop and think.
hmm well lets make the ecu more intelligent,make it store more codes,etc.

dude the q45 when there's a sensor, (except knock sensor) the check engine light came on...AND IT'S A 91!!!!

 

so today i performed a little experiment.
it seems to happen between speeds of 22-25mph. but it downshift into 2nd then upshift to 3rd then down shift to second then upshift to 3rd.
then it just stayed in 2nd but before it did it again i wanted to make sure if it was slipping or not.
no slip.
speed as soon as i press the gas a little. other speeds it does'nt do this.
but me and a friend decided to look under the hood and found the throttle cable loose.

 

I know my tranny once did that too me. But it never shifted to first when I let it down more. As a matter a fact, I had in fourth until 30, so from there I used the low gears. But it only happed once. Maybe it's the torque converter or the shift computer? I dunno check.

 

well the fluid looked a little low.
so i added some.
the car was fine for the next two days.
this morning i was running kind of late getting my brother to school.
so i let the car run for about 2 minutes (i let the heated seats keep us warm, lol).
i took off. mind you i kept the car under 2k the whole time till the temp gauge moved.

but everytime it shifts into 3rd it hit hard.
i got about 6 blocks down then it was fine.
the trans shifted fine, dropping him off at school, going to the store,going to work.
it was picking him up this **** happened again.
i let the car run for 20 minutes (it was 60*F) out too.
i get in drive off.
merge onto the road and floor it.
it shift fine.
then i made a turn slowed down a bit. but still took the turn hard.
then it kinda hesitated as if it did'nt know which gear to go in.
came to a stop.
let the brake go, the car did'nt move till i tap the gas.
then i pulled over put the car in reverse did'nt move till i tap the gas again.
i put the selector in 1st the car was fine.
i put it in 2nd.
it was fine.
hopefully i can get the money to get the filter and fluid. these spasms are pissing me off.

 

Sounds like my trans. I don't know if it is the TQ converter or something else... Driving with it like this is very annoying.

 

That doesn't sound good. I'd really try to not drive it until you try the filter and fluid.

 

im in the process of spring cleaning/prepping before my baby arrives-my car for maintenance. my tranny doesnt do all of that. it did however, rev if doing say 60 and need to go a bit faster...downshift, then upshift really quickly. almost like it slips. i changed my exhaust (it rusted apart right before the flange for the muffler) and from the uneven weight of the pipe hanging on the motor (yes the hanger broke too and it was sitting on that bolted on beam towards the rear of the car rattling all over the place) it caused that. i purchased and installed a new exhaust and it runs fine.

but i will be doing a full genuine nissan atf flush within the next month or so. hopefully your car gets fixed before this time.

oh and i thought we didnt have a tranny filter...its just a screen? or is this filter inside the bell housing?

 

It's a reusable screen located inside it's own pan within the tranny pan. You need to drain the fluid and drop the tranny pan to get the screen pan. You only need to replace the tranny pan gasket and 21 bolts. If you're doing a full flush you'll need 10 quarts of tranny fluid.

This thread gives a clear description of the process:

http://forums.maxima.org/fluids-lubr...eck-level.html

I did a full flush and cleaned the screen and pans last summer. It was easy using that thread as a guide.

 

today it really caused me to worry. this morning it was fine. this afternoon it was fine. till again i went to go pick the kids up from school. it seems to only do this when i make turns...

okay well right now money is tight and i need my car to drive so my next question would be: can i just replace the filter for now? and reuse my tranny fluid?
i get paid in two weeks i can do the drain and refill X's 4 then.

but i can afford the filter...barely but if it's clogged it's a necessity.

 

You only loose about 4 quarts when draining the tranny pan. If it's still bright red then re-use it if you like, or you can buy a gallon of cheap ATF at walmart.

You don't need to replace the screen. Just clean the screen, along with the pans and magents, with brake cleaner. You'll also need a new tranny pan gasket and bolts.

 

wow...ok well i work at autozone so i can get the fluid for cheap.
and when we swapped the pans all 3 tranny's did'nt have a gasket. they all had silicone.
and it hasnt leaked since.

you think i should clean the solenoid assembly too while i'm at it?

 

???

 

This is just a shot in the dark, but my dad had a Chevy celebrity that had a sticky TC solenoid. This solenoid supplied pressurized fluid to the lock up mechanism. When it stuck open it resulted in VERY hard shifts and at a stop light would kill the engine (Imagine coming to a stop with a manual in gear no clutch). If you can unplug just your TC without going into limp mode try it.

 

ok. thanks for all the advice guys, well i got the pan off. there were some metal shavings, and gunk, only on the magnets.
but i ran into another problem. getting the filter/screen off. there's one it's like a nut with a stud in place it's not coming off...just turning.
so i sprayed into the solenoids, and the filter/screen. right now i'm letting it air dry.

any suggestions?

 

okay well the good news is when i make hard turns no slipping/neutral after wards.
no slamming into 3rd gear.
but the slipping on take off while cold still happening.
so i disconnected the drop resistor.
it was better.
drove it like that a bit, then connected it back in.
now it seems to be fine.
i think i better pull another tranny...do you?

 

Drop a 5spd in that b!tch son, you'll love your Max a lot more

 

okaaaay...um. as i posted before it was fine.
the next day it was fine i checked the low. it was low.
put a quart in. level was fine.

yesterday i was driving to pick the kids up from school.
and it was shifting very hard IN ALL GEARS.
drop them off at school; i drove downtown;no problems. But i go to pick them up and it was shifting like this all the way to school. i shut it off then started it back up. it did it once and that was it.

last night it was fine when cold. once warm; it was acting up again: no creep till i tap on the gas in reverse or drive. then once fully hot it's fine.

 

??

 

Damn son whats with the ?? gotta give it some time for people to reply

 

Did u take it to a professional? May need a new tranny if the fix is too expensive.

What do u mean by it shifts hard? Like, the when the car shift gears the car will THUD into the gear?

 

no thud. it literally bangs. HARD.
now when the trans is cold it's fine and when it's fully warmed up it's fine.
in between it goes into neutral. but once i tap the gas it goes into gear. this happens in reverse and drive...in every selection i put it in; it does'nt matter.