My transmission will not shift into overdrive from third gear. When the car is running, the gear indicator in the dash board is always lit up in third gear. This problem comes and goes. Tomorrow I could start the car and it will shift just fine. Anyone else have this problem or know an inexpensive fix? Thanks

 

Have you checked the transmission oil level? How many miles are on the car? Has the oil been changed recently/ever?

Please don't be starting multiple threads for the same problem.

 

Yeah more info would be good....

 

Fluid levels are good. The car has 240,000 miles. The maintenance is kept up. This problem happened to the previous owner about two years ago. He said it fixed itself though. Seems like an electrical problem. Guess I will have to hook it up and get the trouble codes to see what the problem really is.

 

I had a problem with the sunroof previously and learned about resetting the switch on this forum. Figured it wouldn't hurt to ask about a transmission problem. 😃

 

This used to be caused by the revolution sensor on the older maximas (which doesn't exist now iirc).

I think it's pretty rare (on 5.5s), but maybe the shift solenoid is crapping out. Or some other sensor LOL. I don't have an auto maxi :P

 

I dont know how the transmission behaves when it throws an error (can our transmissions even throw errors?) so maybe the problem lies in the selector. Im just throwing out ideas. I got a CEL for the park neutral position "PNP" switch, but never came back after it was cleared. If the dash shows "3" selected then maybe the car thinks that "3" is the one selected and disables overdrive like it thinks it should.

 

Auto transmissions can cause the CEL to light. The codes are all in the P07xx category. However, the self diagnostic will give more errors then the CEL codes.

op should run the self diagnostics. Download the auto trans section and start on page 53:

http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/2003/AT.pdf

 

It seems to me the issue might be with the shifter, especially the switch between D and 3. Since the 5.5 gen doesn't have an overdrive button, but instead you move the shifter left and right. There is probably a switch in the shifter assembly that is likely either sticking or going bad. This would likely be the reason your car always indicate it's in third despite it being in D, and it doesn't go into 4th/OD.

I bet that if this switch not working properly might not trip off the A/T check light or SES like either.

S

 

I agree. The problem has to be in the selector. Funny thing is, I got in the car this morning and everything was back to normal. I think I am gonna ride it out and see if it happens again. Thanks for the help everyone!