I was considering as an option to tow a small Uhaul trailer for moving, but the problem with that is whenever I try to take my car out of overdrive to pass someone quickly or go up steep inclines, the transmission starts bucking and the tach goes up and down. I don't have the problem all the time, but it's frequent enough that I just keep it on regular overdrive. Only does it when the Orange OD off light is lit. And supposedly, when towing you must keep OD off.

Wonder if this is a sensor or some other issue...and whether it's a bad idea to even consider towing (long distance, 800+miles) with 255,000 miles.

 

A small u haul isn't going to put much load on the vehicle. Just leave it in D and go.

 

i have always been under the impression that if your od is screwed up then the trans is on its way out. at least that's my experience.

 

Could very well be true.

 

what is the OD orange light on the dash mean?? its usually on the very top.

 

it means your in third gear when u click it on

 

overdrive? is that what it is? what does it do? i noticed their is a little button on the side

 

bro click the button o/d light comes on and you go into third gear it overrides drive hence the word overdrive

 

Overdrive means that 1 rotation of input shaft from engine to transmission results more than 1 rotation of the output shaft of the transmission, don't remember exactly what is the ratio but somewhere around 1:1.4, so that's 4th gear, gear 1,2,3 are underdrive gears, lower gears give you more torque while higher gears give you more speed. Of course, there is also a final drive ratio which is at differential output shaft to wheels.

 

^This. You push the OD button and illuminate the light to turn overdrive OFF.

What you feel may be the the torque converter locking and unlocking.

Have you changed the fluid lately?

Sent from my XT1060 using Maxima

 

I think it is wise to leave od on if you are driving over 45-50mph consistantly. Otherwise you will feel the torque converter constantly locking and unlocking, not very comfortable. Also Dont turn the od off if you are already going over 55. Turning it off throws the car back into 3rd gear, Thats why you feel the transmission jerking also. IM no expert but I think you can damage the transmission is you keep doing that.

 

Could be one of the solenoids. They're easy to replace and there was a TSB where you can get all (~5) of them for like $100 from nissan over the counter. I did it on my '99SE. You remove the ~14 bolts on the auto trans pan after draining the pan. I drew a similar shape of the trans pan on a piece of paper and laid each bolt in a similar spot to where I removed it from. Also added a trans cooler (with internal thermostat bypass) and synthetic fluid(amsoil) about 12qts. You can do this job the with the most basic of tools, ~$20.

 

Go autozone and get a can of Seafoam trans-tune, add half can to trans fluid, fire the car and drive like 5 miles but manually shift through all gears, then drive normally through couple of tanks of gas, then drain trans fluid, drop the pan, change the filter, fill with new fluid and add the other half the trans-tune in, again, drive 5 miles and make sure you shift through all gears. What Seamfoam trans-tune suppose to do is to remove moisture, deposit and varnish from transmission parts which might cause transmission slippage and clog the solenoids and passage ways. I use it, fixed my car jerking and hard shifting issue.

Also, check your TPS (Throttlebody position sensor) which can also cause car jerking when it goes bad.

 

Do the Transmission Self-Diagnosis. Check the factory service manual (FSM) in the AT section.

 

THats a good idea also, And I would replace the A/T fuse also.

 

Why dont you just rent a u-haul/similar company truck instead of damaging your trans?