So here it is,
I got a 2003 max with about 146000km, an autotragic trans and the first year i got it i was a bit rough on it (burnout and rough acceleration)

And so after a year the tranny started slipping a bit when i put it in drive and it was realy bad.. like if it was in neutral until i pushed the motor to something like 2.5k rpm and then it engage. Also, at cold start the inbetween first and second gear would slip too! (Kind of blimp and then give a hard it when it changed gear) edit; the change between first and second gear is Also delayed a lot!

This normally only happens for the first time i drive the car of the Day. After that its better!

I changed trans fluid 20k km ago and added some additive in it! It was better (like 50% better) but now i cant be hard on it or it will start slipping again! And sometimes only passing some one else will be enough to make it start slipping again...

Does some body had the same issue before? Is my trans gone? Is it only a sensor or some **** like that?

Thank you in advance!

 

replace the solenoids or just swap it out for a low mileage one

 

Well mine is a low mileage
But the solenoids would be the cause of all this?

 

Solenoids are what make everything work. A trans without solenoids is like a crane operator with a blind fold on. There used to read fluid pressures and temps. If the additive you added includes a type of "shudder fix" then I would dump fluid immediate.

 

The fluid made it better actually... but i want to know if changing the solenoids will make it like New...

I mean is there a way to confirm that this is the real issue?

 

Slipping between gears, delays and hard shifting is due to the solenoids, afaik. It was a known issue for 3.0L trannies, so I imagine the same can apply for these. They didn't change much.
Not shifting at all can be sensor related, but your symptoms are way beyond that.

/IANATE (I am not a tranny expert) lol

 

Ok.. so that would make sens.. is driving it hard the thing that could have made this?

And is a solenoids job hard?

 

The FSM should be able to give you resistances for each solenoid to check with a volt meter. An additive will soften shifting by allowing them to slip more. I've used "lube guard" in a previous vehicle because it worked for everyone else, it felt great for 2k miles then it would pop into neutral every time it would try to shift to third, and only third. Slow shifting was my original issue between 2nd and 3rd

If you have a low mileage unit, there should be absolutely 0 need for an additive. What atf and additives did you use?

 

Driving hard with old or improper fluids can toast a tranny fast. Otherwise lazy solenoids will kill a trans just as fast.

 

I think i used purple royal for hard shifting and oem trans fluid (dextron 3?) if i remember well! Did you replace the solenoids after it felt wrong again? And did it worked?

 

I replaced the gear pressure solenoids( ones known to fail prematurely) for 3rd and 4th gear but the trans ultimately failed. When third would engage the car would feel like you got rear ended. It also had a bad shudder at light throttle. This was my Acura Cl by the way. Grab a white napkin and wipe your dip stick on it and post a picture of it.

 

Did you get the fluid from Nissan or a parts store?

 

I'll do it later! Im at job but yeah.. is it a big job? Cause im thinking about doing it anyway and just see after of its better or not!

 

A part store but i took the same as mentionned in the manual's owner!

 

Oem and rated for oem are two different things. It shouldn't be hard to drain and fill the trans, I would give Castrol import a try because it's specd for nissans stock fluid. Oem fluid only comes from the dealer or bought online and will have the Nissan logo somewhere on it.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ImB7_DlSoTQ
This should be of some help.

 

I misstalked sorry im not english But i meant oil that was the same spec as the one in the owner manual but i think that i could change the solenoids by the same occasion just to be sure.. dont want to drain it again soon...

 

Depending on how it looks on a tissue or cloth we will know what to do. I believe draining doesn't remove all the fluid, just three quarts. Did you drain and fill multiple times?

 

Castrol import works well (personally used it), dexron with an additive will be good, and I have used mobil 1 a couple times.

You can also get the straight OEM stuff on ebay for a reasonable price http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12-Pa...4AAOSwfZ1WaXde

There's no point replacing the fluid, though. Try to repair the tranny if you want and reuse the fluid.


Those Honda trannies are unsavable unless you replace everything lol. Once they burn up, they're done. And they'll just burn up, again. Great design!

 

I did à full flush!

 

That's why you let the tranny pump it out through the return at the radiator. Drain it, fill it up, drain again while shifting gears until fluid is clean. Refill, then done.

 

Gotta love it, the acurazine.com guys narrowed it down to Hondas previous atf had too much friction modifier, which is great for not feeling the car shift but horrid for everything else. Literaly the only way to "fix" the issue is to use redline or amsoil atf and drill out the oiling passages to 3rd gear.

 

With all this solenoid talk it got my brain going. They are powered by electricity obviously so let's look at the grounds to the tranny. A bad ground will screw with solenoid speeds as well as sensor voltage. As a matter of fact how are all the grounds in the engine bay?

 

Here it is! The ground in the engine Bay looks good as far as i can tell! (I havent looked at them very meticulously but Last time i noticed em they looked good

 

Replacing the solenoid pack involves pulling off the tranny pan, removing the valve body, and then you will see the solenoid pack. A new one is what, $400+? It involves some labor and careful working.

 

Is doing the valve body upgrade a good time when im there?

 

Yes, but that is kind of a hit and miss. It will either help or not. That's very expensive as well.

 

Cmon there is a solenoids kit for 200$ on eBay and a transgo kit for about 100$..

Anyway there is probably a way to test the solenoids before doing it.. so im gonna be sure to not miss

 

Glad I found this post, maybe you guys can help me too. I posted a few wks ago and only a couple of ppl responded but no help really.
I have a 00 gle almost 200k, I get no reaction in D R or 1 n 2. Omw to work 1 nite, stopped at the light and was about to take off and NOTHING lol. Car would just rev, turned it off waited a few mins and still nothing.
The strangest thing tho, is when the car is on and I shift back into P, I would get a noise from the tranny. It almost sounds like when you're pulling up the hand break.

 

If i base myself on some coments here.. with no response like that.. should be a sensor issue right?

 

Can't help you diagnose your transmission issues but if indeed got auto trans is bad I have one in Albany NY with 50k on it that I'm looking to sell for 50 USD

 

Interesting! Im down in QC so idk how the shipping works for a piece like that!

 

Sounds like your tranny is toasted.

 

I had a speed senor issue a few yrs back when I got the car. That was a total set of symptoms. I was able to dr for like 45 60 mins b4 it would act up and would have to pull over to let the car cool down for like 30 mins the n I was able to drive again.
But this new problem is totally different. The car would even roll in P with the keys out, like it's in N.
Someone suggested something to me to try, going to check it out this wknd and see. Keep you guys posted.

 

Your shifting bushing might be worn to hell, is it also hard to move?

 

I tough about all this.. i dont get why the tranny would start acting weird when i drive it hard.. i mean when i care for it, the issue is almost gone, a Lil bit of delay here and there and a bit hard shifting but like 75% better than after i drove it hard.. is it realy the solenoids that could freak after a hard drive?

 

Turned out it was only a bad ground (I think) i'll see how she act in the upcoming days!


Also, i noticed my throttle body air to air booth was torn in half! So yeah, i guess this didnt helped either!

 

Maf definitely matters (I know a guy that replaced his transmission b/c maf was bad). Ground would be dependent on the quality of the other connections, I imagine lol. Clean the others, too.
You probably finished off the intake tube and disco'd the wire with motor movement. Check the mounts.

Been more and more ppl with ripped tubes and busted grounds. I guess we can't assume that stuff is working when giving advice. Sorry. It is interesting that the symptoms are that bad, though (maybe goofy maf readings plus bad ground can do that).

 

Dont worry! I deconected everything just to make sure! As my maf is before the booth, i dont think i will need to clean it right? (Also this could take care of my ses light)

 

Maf is fine (at least same as before), but never hurts to try to clean it.

What's the CEL for?