On my 98 maxima maxima I don't drive it often but when I drove it last (probably about a month ago) everything worked fine. Well this past weekend I started the car and I could not physically shift it into reverse...all other gears worked fine. When I try to put it in reverse it's like hitting a wall it does not go in and then pop out, I just cannot get it in the gear at all...no grinds. Would a failed shifter busing cause this? I have not had a chance to look around for the problem I just thought I would post it here to see if anyone has run into this. The car is a 98 with a 5speed vlsd, and the transmission was rebuilt about 5k miles ago.

 

I am no expert. But it could possibly be the shift linkage. Maybe the clutch? I know when a clutch starts to go shifting into reverse becomes difficult. Like I said, I'm no mechanic. Just trying to help.

 

Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll check the linkage when I get a chance. The clutch does not have many miles on it, maybe 5k, is a 6 puck sprung disc act.

 

It's that transmissions nature to be hard to shift into reverse. I know the fluid can make it difficult, but idk about making it not go at all. I rebuilt mine and forgot a plunger, and it locked into gear. Maybe something happened to the plunger while it was being rebuilt? Its small and doesnt go in an obvious place, so its possible. I forgot about mine, and i have to take it back apart to put it in. The plunger usually causes it to get locked into reverse, so i would also think it could keep it from going in.


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I have had this car for 12 years now, I am pretty familiar with how it should feel I don't have time to pull the transmission now, so I am hoping that's not the problem. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

Any more help with this? What should I be looking for on the shift linkage? I jacked the car up yesterday and I can pull the shift linkage forward and push it backward....but I am not sure what I am really checking for. I did not see anything that caught my eye other than the rubber boot where it connects to the transmission was pulled off and some shiny metal was exposed.

 

i have a 2001 ae 5spd and ran into that problem where it feels like a wall and can't get it in like you said. I found that moving the car forward a bit in 1st then trying to put it in reverse works. Every other gear is flawless, i just run in to that problem once in a blue though. weird!

 

What's the condition of your motor mounts? Maybe the engine is sagging and your shifter might be sitting down too low on the cabin to reach reverse properly.

 

That's wierd. I drove the car like this so it has moved and I still cannot get into reverse. I think I will try pulling out the shifter trim to see if I can get more travel out of the pacesetter short shifter.

energy suspension poly mounts so they should be fine.

 

Agreed with Joe, I have to do that to get mine in reverse, I have a 96

 

i too have to do the "move a few inches forward before i can get in to reverse" thing on my winter beater max sometimes.

there are a couple different problems that could be going on inside the transmission that could be causing this. are you planning on taking the trans apart if you can't find a problem with the shifter or linkage?

 

I guess I will try that. It's odd that it has happened out of the blue. It was never hard to shift into reverse, but now it will just not go in.

What should I be looking for on the linkage or shifter for that matter?

*if it makes a difference I have a VLSD and a pacesetter short throw shifter, the other parts are what would come on a 98 GXE.*

 

Well today I ran into the same issue... Not sure what is could be. My other gears are fine and heck my car still drives great. I do have a slight leak in the input shaft... Not sure if that would affect it much thought.

I have a just the regular 5 speed with a 3.5 swapped. Not sure if the trans has ever been rebuilt/replaced but it mostly likely has 201,xxx miles on it now.

 

does the car shift into reverse with the engine off? if it does then its not a internal trans issue and probably related to your hydraulics, maybe leak somewhere in your master or slave cylinder

 

Unfortunately it doesn't shift into reverse when the engine is off. All other gears shift fine when engine is off. Could is possibly be the synchros that could be going on the trans?

Don't mean to thread jack mr cardana24...

 

I believe there's a spring loaded ball bearing under a plug (some undo this by mistake when draining the trans oil). It's possible the spring has let go or the ball has become dislodged and is now blocking the linkage inside the transmission from going into reverse. Find the plug, unscrew it and see what pops out. You should get a spring and ball.

 

I think njmaxseltd statement makes perfect sense. I sort of recall undoing a plug by mistake and a spring with a ball bearing popped out but this was nearly over a year ago. Surprised I remembered.

Anyways today I said eff it and I just shoved it in like man, didn't care if I broke something and it went in (pun intended :P ) lol. It felt like something was stuck in there but now it shifts in reverse like nothing happened...

 

I bet ya it was that ball blocking you somehow. Must have just been in the wrong position. Next time you change the trans oil, put that plug out and make sure everything is seated in there correctly.

 

I have not worked on this at all...it's been too cold But now that the weather is hopefully breaking, I am ready to figure this out. This spring and ball, do you know where it's located? I have always drained my trans fluid out of the drain plug so I am not sure what you are talking about. Also, if I do figure out what to remove will fluid come out? Will the ball and spring come out if they are there, are they easy to put back in? I have two extra transmissions at my house, I can try to find it on one of these, I assume the vlsd and open diff would have this spring and ball?

 

Yes, the VLSD trans has the same ball and spring if it's a 5 speed.
See if you can find the port, then look for it on yours.

 

Any updates on this?

 

Nothing yet, I never seem to have time to work on the car. It's been in the same spot for at least half a year now.

 

I know how that goes, one of my maximas seems to have this exact problem

 

okay guys, I am actually working on this!!! I have found several bolts/plugs that have springs and ***** behind them. One of them that I pulled out I only could get the spring, and looking down the shaft I don't see a ball but it's really hard angle to see. So I am not 100%. If one of these ***** did come dislodged what do I do? I have two transmissions that I am not using that I can use parts from if I need to.

 

here are a few pictures

This is on one of my extra trans. Both of these bolt/plugs have springs and ***** behind them. They have shorter springs than the other bolt I took out (see below)


Here is the other bolt/plug I took out that also had a spring and ball behind it...again this is on my extra trans, this one is not in the car. I left the spring sticking out of the hole, you have to pull it out, it does not just slide out.


Here is that ^ bolt removed on my trans that is in the car. I have already pulled the spring out and I am trying to take a picture down the hole to see if there is a ball in there.


Anyone who has had issues with this. Am I looking in the correct spot? Is this the correct hole that people have issues with the ball coming dislodged? If so what did you do to fix it?

 

anyone at all?

 

I dont think its gonna be a ball/spring problem. Going on two years now you should have just swapped the tranny.

 

I hear what you are saying, but I have not even tried to fix the car. It has been down for a while.


*Just as an update I was able to get a small enough magnet and put it down the hole I had the longer spring coming out of and I was able to retrieve a ball bearing*

Can anyone confirm that I am looking in the right hole. My next step is going to be unhooking the shifter at the trans and seeing if I can force the trans into reverse with something else (i.e. a screw driver).

 

Is there anybody that makes a rebuild or tear-down manual for the Maxima transmissions?

 

I finally took the trans out of the car this morning. So I am really to figure out what is wrong with this thing. I'm guessing I need to open up the case...any advice on this? I have never done it before.

So once I open the case where should I be looking? I am not familiar with the inside of a trans. This is a great thread with some pics of the case removed...can anyone point out where I should be looking?

https://maxima.org/forums/all-motor/...t-numbers.html