Yeah, so my tranny is slipping now at 105,000 miles.. since all the kinks havent been worked out of the site yet, i'll make it easier for everyone and say that i have a 2001 auto max. Let me tell you the history of my transmission. I had brown fluid and experienced hard shifting from 1st to 2nd gear between 4-5k rpms. So I decided to do a drain/fill with mobil 1 synthetic. This did not change anything, so about 2,000 miles later I do a flush through the tranny return line with mobil 1 synthetic using the 2 quarts in, 2 quarts out method. This got my fluid more red, and improved the shifting below 4,000 rpms, but the hard shift at 4-5k rpms was still there.. and now its kind of hesitating when it shifts close to 6,000 rpms, where shifts at that rpm used to be smooth. Could I have made the problem worse by doing the tranny flush? What should I do next? Would getting a tranny cooler remedy the problem or do I need it rebuilt or what? I was thinking about dropping the pan and cleaning the magnets, which would require another drain/fill, but I don't know anymore. Should I still do that? Thanks in advance for any help

 

Look around for shops that can rebuild transmissions. Have them do the flush and drop the pan to clean the magnets. I'm not totally sure but maybe they can determine the state of your transmission by the amount of shavings on the magnets. You should also check the radiator and ac condenser fins and make sure that they are both free of debris. This will help to properly cool the fluids esp the trans oil. It's up to you if you want to install a trans cooler.

 

Either rebuild it or swap it out for a new one.

OEM Maxima trannies suck in general.

 

so i mean like.. how long do u think i'll be able to go without getting it serviced... will it eventually like crap out on me and leave me stranded or something? like i said, it shifts fine below 4k rpms, so im thinking maybe it's not an urgent problem...??

 

Well I have 02 auto and sometimes i go up to 4,000rpm but not all the time. No disrepect but i dont think the auto transmissions where made for that type of abuse all the time, and there is no reason that if your driving your car normal that it would have to shift that high, if any it should shift no higher than 2,700rpms under normal driving. With the miles you have on your car you know you have to drive it a little better unless you have money to waste on a transmission. If you wanted to shift at higher Rpms you should have got a manual.

 

have you tryied SeaFoam?

 

no i havent tried seafoam

 

There is also a TSB for updating the TCM and one more for checking the ground cable inside the tranny.

 

I did try tranny seafoam on my car and worked out really good...

 

is there? maybe i'll try that depending on how difficult it is.. do you have a link for it, or know where i can go to look it up myself?

 

what kind of symptoms did u have before you tried it?

 

http://www.nissanhelp.com/Models/200...escription.htm

 

I'll be the noob to ask this;

You just pour in ?? amount of Seafoam into the tranny dipstick doohickie? Do you need to flush it out after doing so?

The reason I ask is I have a can of it in my garage.

 

How does that seafoam work..I would like to give it a try!!!

 

Yeah but if he has a auto why is his shift so high between gears, or did i not read correctly what he said??????????

 

I got auto, did seafoam, once and then second time...perfect

 

i shift so high between gears because i like to go fast and the techs at nissan told me that car could take it.. i asked them if it was dangerous to do that and they said as long as i dont hit redline im good.. but yeah, u read it right.. 6,000 rpms is where is starts to hesitate.. how do you do this seafoam thing in the tranny?

 

Lol I give my auto a good workout everytime I take it out. Its got 134000 miles on it so far...

 

Here's what I found about the Seafoam Trans Tune:

http://www.seafoamsales.com/transTuneTech.htm

Just add 1/2 -1 pint into the tranny dipstick.


Odd thing is that the MSDS's for the tranny foam contain the same chemicals as the Engine Seafoam. Must be a marketing scheme.

 

hmm.. this stuff seems like it might be good... anybody try this? and what was driving like before and after use?

 

alright guys.. after reading that TSB, i'm thinking maybe the solenoids and/or the tcm might be bad.. somebody told me that it's probably an internal problem and i would need a rebuild or a new tranny.. but that route is very expensive.. lol.. would replacing the solenoids and tcm make the problem any better at least? i would install a tranny cooler too

 

I would attempt to replace the TCM myself but not the solenoid pack. Unless I have detailed instructions and someone to help me, I would not replace the solenoids myself. Like I said earlier, take your car to a shop that specializes in transmissions. You can have them check everything and correctly diagnose your problem.

 

yeah, i wasnt gonna attempt it myself, but i dont wanna get f*****d over either.. i've had a bad history with mechanics and have developed a distrust for them.. but if i could find out from somebody on here if the solenoids/tcm might fix the problem, then i would just go to a shop and say "i want these things replaced" instead of "tell me whats wrong with my car" you know? cause that opens the door for

 

I've had good experience w/ royal purple

 

royal purple.. i thought they only made motor oil.. you've had good experience with what product from royal purple?

 

have you replace the TCM and selenoids..... ????

 

no i havent... i was advised that the tcm and solenoid replacement wouldnt help and that there was probably internal damage since my fluid was brown before i flushed it

 

ok here is your problem(imo):
your motor mounts are beat to **** because you drive and pretend your car is a race car.
your tranny isn't slipping the hard shifts are your engine and tranny rocking around in your engine bay because your mm are beat to ****.

how you put hard shifting and slipping in the same sentence is beyond me.
do you know how an auto tranny performs before it ****s itself?
do you know know what the difference between a slipping transmission and a tranny that shifts 'hard'?
do you know why your fluid was brown?

 

cuz the tech's at nissan designed the car. :stfu:

if you don't hit redline your good? do you honestly believe that it's ok to shift at 5.5k but not 6k routinely???

if you beat on a car it adds tons of wear n tear on MANY components, not just the engine and tranny.

now you say the tranny hesitates at 6k?

you are pretending your auto is a 5/6 spd aren't you? manually shifting the gears...incase you didn't know it causes more wear, and you will be slower in the 1/4 mile. it's been proven time and time again. leave it in D or buy a new car.

 

. . . . . . . . ..

 

first of all, i am not a transmission expert, and i don't appreciate being talked to like i'm supposed to have all this knowledge.. but to aswer your questions.. i put hard shifting and slipping in the same sentence because they both have to do with the shifting of the transmission.. my understanding of slippage is when the car hesitates when shifting between gears, and thats what mine was doing.. like it doesnt shift over from 1st to second smoothly, as it kinda hangs for a moment... then shifts over.. i thought thats what a tranny did before it died... was i wrong? hard shifting is when the car kind of jerks when shifting between gears... no? my fluid was probably brown because it was dirty and hasnt been changed... which was why i flushed it

 

A. i dont do that routinely

B. no.. i don't manually shift the gears... i leave it in drive all the time.. you are obviously being of no help flaming and assuming things that aren't true... since you are obviously of no use, then please remove yourself from this thread and be on somebody elses meat

 

I manually shift all the time. I like to exploit my powerband whenever I need to.

 

I do too.. I prefer manual shifting. Not just to redline the car, I mean in just normal driving. It's also good for hill climbing (as suggested in the manual).

 

it sounds like your tranny is acting normal. it's supposed to shift smoothly. every auto maxima i'v been in shifts just as you described except the 2 that had VBs done in them. if you want it to shift hard put in a VB kit.

also you can change the filter on your VB which you should do when you clean the magnets. and doings a flush without doing mags and the filter doesn't make much sense to me. would you do an oil change and leave on the old filter?

the way you are talking about letting it shift at different rpms makes one assume you're moving the stick yourself. otherwise it's very hard to make the auto tranny shift at the exact point you want it to eg: 5.5k and not 6k.

so your complaint is it's shifting too smoothly right? not hard shifting?

edit: manually shifting the auto trans drastically increases wear and is slower in a straight line. you can always double tap the pedal to force a down shift which is just as fast as moving the stick btw.

 

it's easy to make it shift where you want to without manually shifting.. you just have to regulate how hard you're pressing the pedal.. the farther down you're pressing the gas pedal, the higher it will shift.. i wish it shifted smoothly throughout the entire rpm band.. my complaint is the hard shifting at 4k-5k and hesitation of shifting around 5.5k-6k.. -Edit: i don't think thats normal, because it didn't use to hesitate at that point..- as far as not cleaning the magnets, i wasnt comfortable with dropping the pan when i did my flush, but after i did that, i've recently become more comfortable with the idea and have been wanting to do it.. but i'm not sure if it's a good idea being that it's starting to act up

 

Slower. I call . Of course, I suppose that can be a general statement, but it all depends on the powerband of the vehicle.


By shifting @ 7k, I am in a much fatter area of the torque curve for the next gear so,

 

When did the autos start coming with filters? I thought they only came with a screen which only keeps big chunks out of the valve body.

 

it is a screen.. thats probably what he meant

 

Have you actually taken off the pan and tried changing the screen?