I got an automatic transmission
128 000km

Saterday night, I was driving and suddenly i feel my car giving me a kick back i stop at the redlight (of course) i try to backup a bit but my car wouldnt like if R everse didnt work no more. I went back home since the Forward still worked. Back home i checked the transmission oil, everything was perfect. My neighboor saw me pissed, asked whats wrong, i told him i think my transmission is done finito. I pass him the keys, we drive and he we stop he tries to backup, the car doesnt want to, he presses the gas a lil more and the car suddenly gives a kick and reverse starts working again. I drove the car a bit but i feel a kind of kick back or slide when it shifts. I dont what i should do, i dont know if its my transmission or just something else, i mean 128 000 is way way to early to have transmission problems, plz someone help me

 

Sounds like the trans to me. How many times have you changed the fluid in 128K? Just curious.

 

i dont know, i had transmission fluid change when i went last oil change. so less then 5000km ago

 

If you're losing reverse, thats not a good indicator. Reverse actuation generally uses at least twice the line pressure as the other gears. The banging or kick back you are feeling is the engagement of the clutch or band applying. It is engaging harshly because as you rev up the engine you are generating more pump output pressure, and when you finally get enough to fully engage the clutch/band the rpms are already up. Be very EASY on it, you might be on limited time, and do NOT flush the fluid yet untill you have someone check it out for you.

 

im going to bring it to nissan tomorow

 

If you went to a corporate oil change place: Jiffy Lube, etc...

You will be in for a shock:

Thier computers say that the wrong transmition fluid needs to be in our cars.

The nissan transmition has it's own special brand of MT-90, GL-4 rated M/T Fluid. I have an, 01 Maxima SE, 5-speed.

Jiffy Lube and the others, their computers say to put GL-5 M/T Fluid in your car.

I had it done to me at a Jiffy Lube, I have put nothing except Red Line MT-90 in my car since I got it. I TOLD them only to check the level and tell me if it needs more... nothing else, I told it to the lady twice and made sure she understood me...

Anyway they changed the oil and drained my Red Line out and put that crap in, and my car shifted beautifully, I notice and immediately drove back and spoke with the manager ( I wanted to know if he put GL-4 or GL-5 in, becuase he didn't know... and the tech didn't know what he put in my car...) so both of us went to the computer and it says all nissan Maxima's take GL-5 M/T Fluid....
I went home and ordered more Red Line, but had to wait a week for the delivery...my car shifted beautifully for the first couple of days... then it started to get ugly...
By the time I had it changed out (I only go to a small mom and pop mechanic now, where I can hang out next to the car) The M/T fluid that came out was dark black, smelled of burning plastic, and there were little metal shavings.
So if you got your tranny fluid changed at one of those 30mins or less places, I'd have your M/T Fluid checked... It's supposed to be a clear-ish red or light brown...
If it's black like dirty oil, you need to get the right fluid immediatly, and stop driving your car, it's only going to get worse and even more expensive! And I think your neighbor made it worse by forcing the tranny to engage like that... If you push it at high revs trying to force it to engage, you might wind up snapping something...

Hope that helps...

Also, for the record, over all the posts that I've read about having your transmition flushed:
Having the tranny FLUSHED, not drained, a lot of people have had some weird things happen with their tranny's after this (and I'm not just talking about Maxima's)... So in my opinion, just have your M/T Fluid changed the old fashioned way... pull the plug and when the stuff stops coming out, just put the new stuff in (please don't forget to put the drain plug back in)... Do you really.. I mean really, really, need to shove a compressed air hose up into your transmittion and blow huge amounts of compressed air up into a chamber filled with synchros and gears and all these other parts that are meticulously put together??? It doesn't sound like something I would want done to mine... But whatever... to each their own...

 

well when i got the tranny oil change I did it at the dealer, but i got no idea what they put in there. He told me look at your tranny oil, its black, so i told well change it, he told me its supposed to be red, now when i check the oil its kind of brown, but i havent done much milage. Yesterday i went to Nissan, I came in at 2:30pm the guy said he would squeeze me in coz they were booked, finally around 4:30, after 2 freakin hours he told me he couldnt squeeze me in, so i flipped and started screamin, they called a tech for diagnostics, still they didnt bring my car in. The old man (tech) asked me how the car was behaving, he concluded that the problem was related to the clutch. They want me to leive the car, to open up the transmission en replace the clutch or clutches i got no idea, they told me it would take about 10 to 12 hours. the price for 1 hours is 70$cdn so it would come up about 700 to 840$ just labor not including parts, lets say i need about 300 to 400 bucks of parts comes up 1000 to 1240$ and to the sh*t off i have to pay 14.025% for taxes so the whole deal would cost me around 1140 to 1413.19$. WTF I had american cars before and never had anyproblem, mather of fact i have winter beater Pontiac Transport 91, and never replaced a single crap on it and rolls perfect. 128 000km so around 79 500miles automatic transmission the transmission gets ruined. I'm so disapointed at Nissan, that i plan to sell it

 

He has an automatic transmission. While your information is interesting and good to know (I'll definetly bear this in mind when I get my M/T Max in the spring), grades of M/T fluid aren't all that relevant here.

The correct grade of A/T fluid for your automatic Maxima is Dextron-III/Mercon. It's also the same stuff that both M/T and A/T cars use as power steering fluid. Change your A/T fluid every 30,000 miles.

 

my dad's friend is a mechanic but he suggested me to bring the car to a shop specialized in transmission, he also told me that the chances that the tranny is dead are so low and that it probably is a solenoid problem. Is that possible

 

Sorry 'bout my bad info for you A/T users...

But for you M/T users, keep an eye on what gets put in your car!

Just wanted to make sure you guys keep it in the back of your mind, that if you're reading these posts, then you probably will know as much or more about your Maxima, than some employees at these 30min or less places...

 

Amen, brother. Information is a powerful tool. Knowing what you're talking about can save you time and money down the road when you have to deal with knucklehead mechanics.

Classic example: My mom's Sable was had some unusual transmission behavior at around 90,000 miles. Took it to a transmission guy who was highly reputable; he said that the torque converter was bad and that the transmission wasn't going to last much longer. I suspected it was an electrical issue. I knew he was bullsh!tting me and I called him out on it. Instead I fixed it myself. Now at 180,000 miles, the car still shifts great on the original transmission. Not bad for a blown tranmission, huh?

 

lol i got into an arguement at work with the parts guy, i called him told him i had a 98 5spd, and wanted a clutch kit from a 2001, and it will work because both the transmissions are the same(same part no.) he calls me back 20 minutes later, hey man, i dont think the clutch is going to work, 01's have a 6spd and you have a 5spd, and the 01 uses the 3.5. felt bad for him because he was just tryin to look out for me so i dont end up ordering the wrong clutch. but he apolagized after he realized he was wrong. so dont always take the word of some shops, because there not alwyas right.

 

i dont know whats wrong with my car, there is no way the transmission is burned not with the milage i have on it. there are 3 things that people should fear in the ocean , lawyers, car mechanics and sharks. I dont want to bring it to some transmission dude and change the whole thing coz im sure its not burned, i dont beat the car i actually cuddle her more then i cuddle my gf. Nissan told me tranmission clutch without even checking the car, They are BS me