K, well i dropped off the maxima last night at mossy nissan oceanside because the transmission in my 2003 maxima SE (auto) would slip when cold on the 1-2 shift durring hard acceleration.

the tech was able to duplicate the problem (i think this is the first time ever )
and they checked and there is a TSB on the valve body selenoid assembly.
apparently this is pretty common. so if your maxima (auto) is having these same symptoms, i suggest you hunt down the TSB, drop it off night before like i did so that the vehichle is cold and the symptoms occur. get your tranny fixed before your warranty runs out.

my maxima has 14,000 miles but i started noticing this at 8,000 miles. i remember posting to the boards here and a member saying it's a cold slip and is "normal"

well, it's not normal fella's.... so dont let it slide!

i'll update once the car is repaired.

 

Yeah I had my auto tranny on my 2k "repaired" under the tranny slipping tsb. They supposedly replaced the shift solenoid and TCM and it made absolutely no difference in the way the car shifted. It still slips just the same as it did before, especially fron 2nd to 3rd. All I got from bringing it in was tranny fluid all over my engine bay, fender, hood, and bumper and the splash guard in my drivers side wheel well wasnt replaced correctly so it fell off on the way home and got all mangled. So worth it......Shoulda just gotten a ****ing 5 spd when I bought the car so I wouldnt have to deal with this junk transmission.....kick myself everyday.


-Steve

 

Which TSB is it? My 2K2 Max auto when it's cold sometimes shifts "funny" from 1-2 or 2-3 (not sure which). It doesn't need to be on hard acceleration, but it seems to slip a bit before engaging into the next gear. I brought it into Pacific Nissan in Seattle and they claimed they couldn't repro it. They said it was normal to have higher shifts points when the tranny is cold... but that to me wasn't the problem I'm still facing. Annoying...

 

I just did a flush and conversion to Amsoil ATF.
My car only has 23 K miles but my fluid was brown, and the magnets on the bottom of the pan were
covered with tiny metal flakes. Hopefully the Amsoil will last a little longer. As far as tranny slipping I haven't noticed it before or after flush.

 

Would this apply to the 02 Altima 3.5? I have the same issue

 

Got a TSB # on that?

Nothing specific shows up on AllData or NTHSA for it.


Then again, the new Power Window TSB doesn't show up yet either.

 

I'm very surprised this issue is considered a problem because nearly every auto I've driven suffers from a delayed 1-2 and 2-3 shift when cold under hard acceleration. On a lot of late model cars, the slow shifts are done intentionally because the tranny fluid is not up to temp. Tranny fluid expands dramatically under heat and as the fluid expands, the tranny shifts better. Honestly, you should never hot rod your car around until the motor is fully warmed (tranny should be warmed up then too). I know there are times when you don't have a choice (ie to avoid a wreck), but otherwise just let the tranny reach full operating temp before going WOT. This is good practice regardless of the car or tranny you have.


Dave

 

I agree Dave..mine does it when warm

 

I'd like to know if this story has a happy ending.