Won't Roll Backwards...
 

This is a weird one that happened to me last week. My car will drive, but won't reverse. If I put the car in reverse, it engages, tries to back up, but it sounds like the car will tear apart if I force it to go backwards. I tried to put it in neutral and push it backwards, but it won't budge. I'm pretty much convinced that it's an axle issue and not the transmission due to the fact that all of the gears engage, it will drive, but won't back up without serious resistance. Fortunately, the car is in my driveway right now so I do not have to be worried about it being in an unsafe place.

Any suggestions/diagnoses are greatly appreciated. I just paid off my Max in Feb and now it's all MINE!!! :) Hadn't had any major issues with it up until now, and since I no longer have a car note and can put some $$$ away, I'm looking to mod it up a bit once I get these major issues resolved.

As always, thanks in advance for your trusted opinions!!! :bowdown:

O_o Ide check axles,brakes etc fist before you condem the tranny

Check behind the rear wheels for something like a bicycle or a child :gotme:

hahaha poor kid O_O:eek::D

I would suggest draining your trans fluid and dropping the pan and take a look for some chunks of metal. Sounds like a planetary gear set which are known to fail. You can get a new trans pan gasket at NAPA for less than $4 part # ATP17891

Interesting...
 

Thanks for the information guys. A buddy of mine that I described the situation to seems to think that my rear brakes may be locked onto the rotors or something like that because I told him that it's kinda like if the emergency brake was engaged when I try to back the car up. He said if the rear end feels like it's lifting up higher (like if you were trying to back the car up onto a curb) and the front end lowers at the same time, that could be my problem because there should be no reason why the car won't roll backwards in neutral if it was a transmission issue, which it will not do. Front-wheel drive cars like ours essentially don't have any gears dedicated to the rear tires - just a metal rod connecting the rear tires together, so it would appear that something other than a transmission issue has to be causing this to happen...

You guys are the best! :thumbsup:

If anybody else has any suggestions for me, please feel free to let me know. I'm going to have the car taken to the shop within the next couple of days to get it repaired. Thanks so much for your help with this!!!

man thats a wierd problam. hope its the brakes which will probably cost you less to fix. good luck with the car and your modding.

I'm sure it's your rear brake as well! Pull off the wheels and inspect your rear brakes! If you have a large floor jack or wheel dollies! Jack up the car enough that the rear wheels are off the ground and put your car in reverse and back it up to eliminate the Transmission B.S. Then inspect your rear brakes! make sure your emergency cable is releasing...good luck!

I doubts its the brakes locking......if its the brakes, it would affect moving forward and backwards. You mentioned that when you try to push the car backwards, it wont budge. What happens when you try to push it forward?

If its your brakes you would smell something too and see a visible difference in the look of the rotors. Definitely let us know what the outcome to this is.

if it's the brakes, you would feel the drag both going forward and backward. maybe a sound clip will help a lot.

if it is the brakes you will have the problem moving forward... common sense.... it has to be the tranny

I'm skeptical of it being a brake problem, but the fact that you are getting weight transfer makes me think twice before I write off the transmission. If the transmission was the problem, the car wouldn't tend to pitch toward the front axle as there would be no force acting on the rear wheels (of course ignoring the normal amount of friction in a healthy rear axle). Jack the car up and spin the wheels by hand. Visually inspect the rotors and the pads. Let us know what you find out.

Wheel bearing problem maybe?

59,142k miles = 60 million miles. How'd you do it?

Four trips to the moon, two to Saturn and of course regular oil changes using Royal Purple; you too can join the club. :laugh: Good catch, Whitebread

similar problem happened to me, car wouldn't reverse and when in neutral wouldn't budge. But when I tried to rev in neutral the car would attempt to inch forward. In drive it would just slip until 2 grand and then slowly move forward. I'm not sure if these are the exact symptoms of your situation, but I needed a tranny re-build.

THE VERDICT:

YES, this was a very bizarre issue. Only costed me $50 to have fixed. Allegedly, two nuts holding the upper control arm in place came undone, which caused the front passenger wheel to lean in towards the strut housing when the car was backing up, but would straighten when moving forward or driving. Looked like the wheel was about to fall off the car when it was being backed up. The mechanic test-drove the car and it drove with no problem. The wheel was scraping against this strut casing/housing, which was why it wouldn't go backwards (so now there's a nice, shiny reminder of the incident carved into the strut housing).

After a free tow to the mechanic (less than 5mi away - thank you AAA!) and about an hour later I get the news. So now I'm having them replace my transmission fluid ($70) and install a tranny cooler ($120). Should get away with everything for just under $300 and have my ride back in good working order by tomorrow.

Thanks for all of your help guys! You guys are the greatest!!!

LONG LIVE THE .ORG!!!

good report, I would never think our maxima can have this problem..

Sorry for bumping...but would anybody have any more information on this?

This potentially could save me from replacing my transmission.

How about checking out post #17 if you are having the same symptoms you may have the same problem...