Wow.. a maxima poem.

Anyway so the car is in the shop to get the tranny swapped out. They're also going to fix the scratches on the bumper (they put in new clips but didn't fix the scratches last time... interesting). I'm getting an oil change and they'll check out the cold idle drop.

So I asked him if they could put in redline transmission fluid when they replaced the transmission. He seemed a little worried about it... said he'd call nissan to make sure it wouldn't void the warranty. Thats lame.. performance fluids voiding a transmission warranty... oh well.

Lastly I got a Neon as a rental this time. MUCH better than a metro. Decent interior but the sides on the seat are sloppy and soft. Nice visibility out the windows. I can see why ricing them up would be fun. But its no max.

Well I'm starting to get happier with my car. Lets hope the tranny comes out as nice as oiprocs and I'll probably keep her at least untill the 2002s come out.

 

I can't wait to say "I told ya so!", hah hah. The little bit of immaturity still left in me coming out *grin*

 

Cool!

Voiding the warranty on tranny fluid?!?!? Make sure you don't use synthetic oil because they won't do warranty work on your engine! How would they know if you're using a different brand or not? That's just like saying you can only use Arco gas because Chevron or Shell gas will void your warranty.

BTW... since they have your tranny out... high stall torque converter, vb recal, lsd, and Level 10 rebuild would be very nice.

 

Well I asked them about that.. but they said that a performance auto tranny would void the warranty since it would cease sucking at that point. I also considered having them swap it out for a manual but I thought they might not want to do that. Nissan is just toooo lazy.

 

They're finished with my car so I'll be picking it up in about an hour. They couldn't seem to repro the cold idle. Apparently they say the ones that show the issue are like stalling. They claimed they do nothing more that reset the ECU, no reprogramming whatsoever. Well.. if the transmission is better that'll fix 90% of my concerns. I'll fill you guys in when I get home.

 

I'm curious why your tranny needs replacing and what tipped the service dept off that it did... Was it like Russ' where they found metal, or are they just using a "shotgun" approach to the problem, and doing every fix so they won't have to see your car again?

I haven't brought mine in for the ECU yet, but probably soon. My wife's driving style is so smooth, she doesn't see the shift problem much except when the car's cold. When I drive it, I experience it all the time. (she also manages to get at least 400 miles per tank, where I can't ever break 350!)

 

Metal in the tranny pan is why they are replacing mine. That and massive slippage.

 

Okay... I just got home. Due to rush hour traffic I couldn't give it a GOOD test. Shifting 1st - 2nd seems much less hesitant and definately a lot firmer. Lets cross our fingers and hope they finally have the bugs worked out. No word on the Red Line Transmission fluid (a.k.a. <B>TRANNY KILLER</B>) so I'm assuming it was far tooo frightening for Nissan to allow in their tranny. Now I've got to put the stock airbox back on and see if that clears up the knocking... I'm also going to look into the "air silencer CAI"

 

Okay so I've got the last 3 posts on my own thread now... I RULE! Just got to take the car up to WOT from a stop, the delay is gone, the slippage is gone, it just drops it into gear. Very nice! I also put the stock airbox back on. Is it just me or does it provide more low end torque than a hi-flow cone intake?

Anyway.. if you have ANY problems with your transmission I HIGHLY suggest having it looked at. If your dealer doesn't cooperate, go elsewhere.

 

So did they replace the TCM also? I'd feel weird if they didn't. It doesn't sound like bad trannys but the TCM is MAKING them break. The long delayed shift is causing them to wear. Make sense?

 

Yup... TCM, solenoid and transmission.

 

speaking of tranny.. is it normal when your car loses traction lets say on wet pavement or a wet rail road track and the tranny goes clunk???? if not hte i'm screwed aren't i?? HAHAHAHAHAAHHAAH

 

That doesn't sound good. I had a friend do that in a Jeep Wrangler and it turned out to be his rear differential. I had hard shifts between 1st and 2nd after it finnished slipping... but no clunks.

 

Mine clunks all the time

 

Driving a Ford Escort as a rental.

Please say a prayer to the Maxima gods. I want my tranny fixed or replaced. I don't want them to say, "We don't see any problems." My tranny is at its worse when it's cold. They'll probably drive it warmed up and ignore the slip.

 

If all else fails, make them go on a test drive with you and take it hard up a hill. Thats when mine reared its ugly head the most.

 

Good idea. Last week, the guy who test drove it didn't really get into it. I was riding along, but I should've driven it. I'll see what they say this afternoon.