So... This past weekend i decided to drain/ refill my ATF because i was having slipping issues from 1-2 and 2-3. My fluid was dark brown, but did not smell burnt. I went ahead and drained 4 quarts out, and refilled with Mobil 1. After starting the car, I immediately noticed a smoother shift from R to N and N to D. after doing some shifting parked to move fluid around, i drove it around. Perfect shifts. later that day, after driving a short while, the slips came back. Now today, i was drving, and came to a stop. WHen the light turned green the car wasnt going anywhere, no D1 - D3 or D. Moved it off the road and checked some stuff. Started her back and she worked. So, as I was driving, First gear, good, second gear good, no slip. Then, when its time to shift to 3rd, it doesnt. It just revs. Now, i just drive in D2. Ive looked around the org, but havent found any similar problems. Is this because I didnt replace all the ATF? I know i need to drain refill a few times, but i dont know if I should waste my $ if its not going to fix it/ make it worse!

 

Sounds like its time to rebuild or replace. I've seen some transmission flushes highlight existing issues.

 

... sorry to hear buddy... i know and feel your pain.. trust me

 

replace, do not rebuild. IMO

 

changing the fluid doesn t solve the problem,,tranny is bonkers,,

 

Time to find a used one. Trust me on this-very, very few shops know how to properly build an import transmission, I found out the hard way with an Accord I used to have. Find as low mileage used one as you can afford and make sure the fluid is red and doesn't have a burnt odor. Then make sure you do at least a drain and fill every 15-20k miles.

 

oh man, not what i wanted to hear lol.. but why is it that when I initially changed the fluid, it was working sweet? i mean, it shifted like butter!

 

um because the lack of fluid changes in the past occured, you went and removed the only thing holding the clutches together.


you should have been doing drain and fills every year since you got it to prevent that problem.

now that the flukid is old ad working fine you went and changed it, now the new fluid wrecked the tranny ..

if you have never changed the fluid, dont.

if you start changing it, continue to every year

 

yea if you havent been doing the necessary scheduled tranny services to the car then all the sudden replacing the fluid can help ruin the transmission

this

 

when you replaced ATF, you probably replaced what was making the last of the friction for that tranny. All the leftovers from your clutch packs are probably in that brown oil.

 

same thing going on here for me......

replacing the tranny with transgo shift kit in it...

600 for labor
450 for tranny
170 for shift kit...

meh

 

you should of changed it with Nissan's ATF.

 

i'm planning on doing a transmission drain and fill on my car. i have 194,200 miles and i got it at 187,000. i'm not sure if the previous owner changed it before. i never had any slips or anything like that. it just shifts hard and it annoys me greatly. now i'm not really sure if i should continue to drive it like it is or change it.

my gf's maxima also has the same shifting hard but she has 116,000 on hers.....

decisions..... decisions..... :-(

 

Stormz,
if your going to go that route (Id look into the pm i sent you).You get it? Sent it from my phone

 

If it's a hard, crisp shift with no slipping, I'd leave well enough alone. That means there's no issues with the transmission. If it's slipping, then consider changing the tranny fluid.

If your tranny is worn and the fluid has never been changed, the fresh detergents in the new ATF will oftentimes cause worn parts to break down.

 

check the condition of the trans fluid, if it looks dark and nothing like a red color, leave it alone until it craps out.

if it looks fairly red even if its a dark red, then its a 50/50 shot

if it looks nice and red then change it, chances are it is still relatively fresh and a change can only improve.

 

I find it weird that 02 trannys seem to be giving more problems than 00-01 trannys from reading these posts...my car has 150000 on older original 00 tranny...I did the drain and refill with mobil one also every year for the last few years and noticed tranny works better after too.

 

I think you need five quarts...maybe your low,did you measure 4 quarts cause five are suppose to drain out.

 

i did a drain/fill on my 2000 back when it had 135K miles on it. it had never been changed before and it was not red but brown but the only issue was a sluggish shift from 2-3. i used a case of amsoil and pumped it through the tranny until the last bottle topped it off and then immediately noticed better shifts. i now have 240K on it and everything is fine. i would highly recomment the amsoil and would suggest you do not use regular fluid if the original fluid is brown or if you are having shifting issues. good luck.

 

so i did the flush today using 10q of tranny fluid, drain 4, fill 4, unplug tran to radiator tube, pump 2, fill 2, pump 2, fill 2, pump 2, fill 2, and now my tranny is still screwed. Ive had it with the max.

 

so are there any 5th gen people in the south florida area that can recommend a place to get this fixed? or inexpensive places to find used trannys?

 

Wow op,

that sounds like what I am going trough, but I have a serious full axle leak.

 

axle leak? like your cv boots...or where the axle goes into the tranny?

 

Bought my car with 113,867 miles on it. The ATF was black but had no burnt odor. Did 4 drain and fills over the next few months, then once a year after that. When it was totaled last month with 194,595 miles, it still shifted great.

 

^^ yeah dude you did it properly

 

Where the axle goes into the transmission.

 

Read the threads here about it, didn't even make another one.

 

www.car-part.com

best place to find used parts it's a national database with descriptions and prices and locations of used parts

 

Exactly. The ATF wasn't changed on my Taurus until I had it at just under 100K miles. The fluid was rather laden with metals, but it definitely improved all aspects of the crappy Ford four-speed. I have yet to see someone actually break their transmission because all they did was change its fluid. Seems like a load of bollocks, to me. That's like saying "don't drain your oil if you haven't changed it in a while 'cause all those metals and sludge in it will shred up the inside of your block as it drains out lol." Fresh detergents causing old parts to break? Ehhhh... Again, why don't the fresh detergents in oil cause massive seal leaks if you change the oil after letting it foul over the course of 15+ thousand miles?


vybz05: Valvoline will flush and refill an autotragic for a little over $100. It takes about ten minutes. Just for future reference 'n stuff. I'd second Herr Scott's suggestion to not rebuild your existing transmission. My little brother has an '03 Taurus with a rebuilt tranny that has a whopping 30,000 miles on it. It's already begun shifting hard and jerking in the 2 -> 1 downshift. Yeah, not something you want to happen after dropping a grand into a rebuild!

 

this is what I did when I had mine changed at 167K when the following day I bought her.

 

hi i am having the same problem with my max what do u recommend?

 

the same problem?

how many miles, what color is the fluid and are there shifting problems?

 

It looks as though you have a burntthird clutch pack. If you changed the transmission fluid and left the fluidlevel a couple quarts low, it definitely could have caused this problem. Mostof the problems with these Nissan Maximas originates from having a worn outvalve body. Here is a link to an article for NissanMaxima Transmission Valve Body. Unfortunately, I don't think they valvebody is going to help you out at this point. It will not fix a transmissionthat is lost third gear completely. Good luck.

 

almost a year old thread.