My 01 Maxima SE has 160k on it and it's starting to show its age. I do need it to last me a little longer though and I need to repair the ECM and IACV first, I can't afford to dump money into a new transmission. The car is great on the highway but I do some driving downtown and the first to second gear shift is pretty damn rough, sometimes second to third too.

Are there any other parts I should check that may cause the jerking in this generation of Maximas?

Auto or 5spd?

Automatic lol sorry

A transmission flush would help but it also can ruin a transmission if the fluid has never been flushed before. I would start by draining the oil and just adding new oil into it. Do that a few times and soon enough youll have all new fluid! Lol

^^This. If it's black/really dirty, probably just forget about the flush. It might start slipping when you change the fluid.


Only solution is to replace/rebuild it typically.

DONT FLUSH. Just drop the old fluid and replace with fresh stuff.

Make sure to measure. If your drop 3.5 quarts, add 3.5 quarts of new stuff. Dexron III or equivalent.

I bought the car from some crook off CraigsList. Didn't ride like crap when I bought it, but the next day I found out the ECM was fried (car doesn't like to start with a cold engine), and now a month later the transmission is acting up. Not sure if it's been flushed before, but how would I go about dropping the fluid without screwing up the tranny? Any recommended amount to drop?

Ideally you would drop everything but that will never happen. Drop the old fluid out by opening the the plug for the tranny's oil pan. Then replace same amount thru the tiny dipstick up top.

You could repeat this procedure several times;

1. drop old fluid (make sure to measure)
2. Replace with new Dexron III fluid thru dipstick.
3. Drive the car for a day.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 and 3.

By driving the car around, you get the new fluid mixing with the old fluid, alot of which is still inside the TQ converter. By repeating steps 1 and 2 after driving you slowly replace all the fluid. You should notice a difference from the 1st time you do it.

I've done it on several cars and replaced like 3 quarts just doing steps 1 and 2 once. A difference was definitely noticed. The tranny seemed more alive, shift happy.

Have you looked at the ATF fluid on the dipstick yet? If not check to see if the level is right and if it's still red. Sometimes transmission can act up just from either too much or too little fluid. If it's really dark and ugly, proceed cautiously, the best way would be a simple drain and refill. Then drive around and see how it feels, if it feels better or no change, then a week later you can do another drain and fill. But if it seems worse, then leave it.