I searched for an hour on this, and found nothing.

My 01' SE Auto is very sluggish in 1st gear on days when the air temp is below 45° and the engine is cold. Other gears seem fine, and once the engine heats up, 1st gear returns to normal as well.

I have cleaned the MAF using CRC MAF cleaner, but other than that I don't really know what to do. A mechanic at the auto parts store overheard me talking to the clerk today, and he suggested my transmission fluid filter might need to be changed.

This is probably a simple fix, so I'll thank you in advance for your patience and kindness with a newbie.

Evalyn

 

AT? how's the condition of the ATF?

 

I'm not sure. I just did some reading about how to check on the ATF, and I will do it and post again.

For what it's worth, here's another question: I bought the car 3 months ago. It has 80,000 miles on it, and I have no records that the ATF has ever been changed. Would it be a good idea to just do this anyways?

 

get the transmission oil flush.

 

I think i have the same problem over here. I live in PA and the weather has been under 40 degrees lately.

 

I drained 4 qts. today and refilled. Wish I had taken a pic of what color fluid came out--it was epic. Darker than used motor oil, for sure! Tomorrow is forecasted to be cold, so we'll see how she does.

 

I had similar problems with my 2000 I flushed the whole system and replaced my filter also. Replaced fluid but can't remember if I went synthetic after that car ran fine.

 

Same here when I drained mine the first time. And the second time! Now that I have done the drain and fill 5 times in the last year I've owned the car, the ATF is nice and pink.

The 2-3 cold weather upshift (until the transmission is fully warmed up) soft or slight slip seems to have improved along with the ATF changes.

 

mine feels like it's not engaging when cold.
the rpm stays there, but the gear is not engaging.
then 1s later, it engages.

 

I'm having an issue with my 02 SE now that temps are into single digits and below... The clutch pedal is really light at first, then lots of resistance near the floor. All the "action" so to speak is within an inch of movement by the floor, which is not normal for this car.

Today when releasing, it stuck to the floor momentarily then kind of snapped funny as it engaged.

If I let the car warm up to operating temp it is better, but if I drive it a while it gets worse again, almost like driving makes the transmission cold again. It works fine above 20 degrees. It was a little funky last year but nothing like this. 98,000 miles. No engine mods.

This can't be good. Anyone have ideas?

 

when was the last time the tranny oil been changed?

 

When the AT is cold it will not go into overdrive until the tranny is warmed up. That will give you the feeling that it is staying in lower gear longer than usual. Thats how mine has been from day one in the cold weather.

 

but it should be the same from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd.

 

now with a transmission FLUSH

how do we know which places get the most amount of A/T fluid out??

Is the dealership the best place for this...because ive owned my car for two years, and have had the tranny flushed once

 

yeah and i hate that about our cars! it sucks soo much and my car even after driving it for a while, if i go to a store to get some coffee come back, and jump is put in drive right away it holds the overdrive again and then it just throws it there after a min or two. its soo annoying.

during days below 55f, if i let the car sit for a minute or two and get on the highway it still doesnt go to overdive even after few minutes on the highway! im starting think i might have the wrong kind of ATF or something wrong with torque convertor. any ideas?

 

Mine will go into overdrive when cold after ~3 minutes of driving

 

Is this only when it's cold? That's wierd. How is your clutch fluid level? I would check operation of the the clutch slave cylinder. Inspect the clutch lines (espeically the rubber ones for cracks and bulging).

S

 

Im having similar problems only thing I get nothing when I put it in reverse, it only sputters to 2k rpms and then drops.

 

I don't know any transmission that allows the torque converter to lock up in top gear until the engine reaches normal operating temperature. Absolutely normal.

 

Good call. I checked it out this morning and it was low on hydraulic fluid. We've been alternating between sub zero temps and blizzard conditions here, but I gotta get this thing on a lift and figure out if there's a leak. Amazing what a difference a 1/4 cup of fluid makes. Probably time for the gear oil change too, but that will wait until spring. I gotta get some snows on this thing too. The Potenza Pole Positions aren't so good in the fluffy stuff.

 

OK, so here's today's quiz: Look at the attached picture. Which liquid is used motor oil, and which one is the ATF I just drained?

 

I'm guessing left is motor oil......

 

With my 00 gxe I had the same problems with 1st and reverse. Then 1st got worse, then I lost reverse. Now even in neutral the tranny tries to inch the car forward. This all happened in the last month, only 1k after I changed fluid and filter. I didn't do a whole system flush though.

The tranny shop says my tranny is screwed, it's all bound up and he doesn't know what the problem is.



So I'm getting a new tranny.

 

ATF is on the left

 

So I made my point: my ATF came out so dark that it gets confused with used motor oil. Half the guessers were wrong, and it was even hard for me to remember which was which. The ATF is on the left.

I guess I'm going to look at the dipstick and drain it again if it looks dark still. Question: if it comes out nice and light colored from the pan, can I pour it back in, or is that a big no-no?

 

Shouldn't hurt anything as long as the container you are putting it in is clean.

 

Alright, I drained and refilled the transmission again today. This time I was able to get 6 qts. out, because I drove the car up on higher jack stands and let it sit for about 3 hours. Since I replaced 33% of the fluid last time, and 50% this time, I estimate that I have approximately 66% new fluid in the transmission.

Let's hope this solves that problem of 1st gear being sluggish in the cold. I have spent $50 on fluid at this point, so I'd sure like to think it'll work!

Last question: I over filled just a bit. The ATF fluid comes .5" past the full line on the dipstick. After searching online, I concluded that problems can arise from overfilling, but usually only in extreme cases (+2 qts. extra). Any Maxima-specific issues I ought to know about?

 

so did the flush wrk for the problem?

 

I have never seen such dirty ATF fluid before..wow...

 

It didn't.

The car is still sluggish when I first start it up. I almost hit another car in our driveway this morning pulling out, because the throttle is so unpredictable in 1st gear with cold ATF.

I'm pretty frustrated. I spent $50 on ATF, and approximately 10 hours of time on this problem so far. I like doing things myself, but I feel like I am falling victim to the law of diminishing returns at this point.

The only other thing I feel qualified to do by myself is drain the fluid again, drop the pan, and check the filter. Do you think I should spend the time and $$ to do this, or is it time to take it to a shop?

 

No, I don't think the transmission is your problem. Have a shop look at it, not a tranny shop, but a general mechanic. I think you have a cold engine issue, not a cold tranny issue. Possible ECT issue???

 

ECT?

 

Sorry to join an old thread, but I am having the same problem with my '02 Maxima. When the engine is cold, sometimes it can take a couple to several seconds for 1st gear or R to engage. Other times, it'll just engage immediately.

After the car is driven for only a few seconds, it is fine. No transmission problems at all. I can shift in and out of a gear with no problems. Also, when at speed, there's zero noticeable slip when I shift from D-3-2-1, and I never notice weird shifts in normal driving.

This car sees a mix of side street and freeway driving.

This has been going on for over a year, and I haven't noticed it changing much. I have the automatic transmission.