I just got a new-to-me '04 Maxima yesturday; and it's my first. The car is awsome. I have driven other '04 cars in my search for this one, and I have a question about the automatic tranny. This car was a one-owner car by a 65 year old woman, so it probably was always driven easy and slow. What I've found this that when in drive (D) the tranny seems like it always one gear too high. At around 30, 35, 40, and 45 mph the tranny seems like it needs to be back a gear. When you are cruising thru town at 35 and just give it a little gas, the engine is kinda rough like it's bogged. Give it a little more gas and in downshifts and is smooth as can be until you let off again and it upshifts again. It's like it's always in 3rd when it should be in 2nd, or 4th when it should be in 3rd, and so on.

Is there a way to adjust this? Has the computer gotten used to a 65 year old woman that coasted around everywhere? Is there a way to reset the computer?

Hopefully I'm explaining this ok, but that is my problem. And it's not really a problem rather than just being annoying and makes the car not ride as nice. And again, no other Maxima I've driven was like this. But the other ones I've driven probably had the **** run out of them.

Any ideas?

 

disconnect the battery for lil over 10 minutes to reset the comp. After reconnecting, drive as you normally would so that the comp can re-learn all the parameters and adjust for your driving style.

 

you can do that? wow. gotta give it a try. it has adapted to my driving *pretty rough* and now i am driving different. and the car's reacting a different way. maybe i should do it soon to see if it can change my driving habits and the car it self.

 

4speed or 5speed ?

 

with the car not being driven "hard," there is a slight carbon build up in the throttle body, which would cause some bogging at times...the fix to this=drive a little crazy for a day or so and it'll rid of all that crap and will open that puppy up!

 

I'm just glad to hear it's no big deal...

It's a 5-speed auto.

 

cobrar - The 5speed on the 6th gen actually does act a little differently than auto trannies I have driven over the last 58 years. It is more likely to be in a lower gear (higher RPMs) than I am used to.

If I crest a hill at low speed under 25 or 30mph, then begin coasting down, the tranny downshifts to prevent the car from picking up speed. This is the way Nissan has it set.

In that situation, if I keep the acellerator down slightly instead of just coasting, the tranny is more likely to not downshift, so the car coasts freely.

Several posters here have mentioned this. It took me a while to get used to this, but now, even though it can be somewhat annoying in certain situations, I like it better than the usual tranny behavior. One advantage is that if one suddenly decides to speed up, the car may already be in the gear to do exactly that.

 

I would definitely try disconnecting the battery, it worked for me.