My son was trying to get our 2000 Maxima out of our driveway which has a pretty good incline and about half way up the car wouldn't go any further because of the ice and snow. He said he put it in neutral and it wouldn't roll back down and when he put it in reverse the engine would turn off. He said he didn't hear anything coming from the transmission or anywhere else to make you think something broke. I've never had any kind of transmission problems with it but it sounds like it has something to do with it. Dumb question but with the car on a steep incline would it have any kind of effect on the car in any way? I know it shouldn't but I thought I would ask. Any ideas what it might be? Thanks.

 

It is possible the steep incline affected the transmission such as fluid not in the right places.

How did the transmission act afterwards on level ground?

 

As a horror story, I had a pretty similar happening with my 94 Maxima. One day I went out to go to work and got in the car and started it. When I put it in reverse, it killed the engine. Re-started and put it in drive and it killed the engine.

Long story short, the transmission somehow locked up overnight just sitting there. It ran fine the previous day.

I hope this isn't what happened to you. Not a cheap repair.

 

He went back later and cleared some ice and snow out from in front of the front tires and drove the car forward then he was able to put it in reverse and it did fine. The transmission has always worked great before this happened and it has been working great since this happened. I wasn't there so I'm not really sure what caused it to do this but I thought it was really strange. The last time I checked the fluid level it was fine. I guess it's just one of those things that can't be answered. Thanks for the replies.

 

Check the fluid level. It may be low now.

 

Is the transmission toast?

 

Do you check the transmission fluid with the engine running? I thought you did but I wasn't sure with this car.

 

warm up the transmission, put it in park and check fluid level with engine running.

 

I checked the fluid level and with the engine hot, in park, and running it showed low. I turned the engine off and it read right on the hot mark. I also checked it with the engine cold and not running and it read right on the cold mark. I'm just guessing but maybe when the fluid was flushed the last time when the previous owner had it someone filled it up without the engine running. The transmission has and is doing great but I'm going to add some fluid to it and get it right.

 

Proper check is with engine running and engine/transmission at operating temp. Check on level ground and also run through each gear before you check it. I just checked mine this morning and went into each gear for about 5 seconds.

It should be close to the top notch in the dipstick on the HOT side. Only add a little at a time since overfilling can be damaging to the transmission.