Automatic tranny stuck in 5th gear..
 

I put the shifter in manual mode to see if I could downshift and immediately saw the number 5 on the dash and I tried downshifting to 4 many times but nothing... just stays in 5.

I turned off the car and it was later hard to start again and still the same thing... stuck in 5th. I left it over night and tried again but same thing...

SES light came on that day and sometimes another light for the transmission (can't remember exactly right now what the light is called) but that light came on after this all happened.

Sounds like my tranny is done... anyone experience this before? I tried to do a search on the forum but didn't find any related topics.

its not done ... its probably your ECM that needs to be reprogrammed.

had the same issue a while back ... hope you can get this resolve asap its not good to drive the car in its safe mode

http://forums.maxima.org/6th-generat...nny-stuck.html

You guys are scaring me. I have an '04 with 121k miles and no issues... :nervous:

first signs of a tranny going .. ive gone thru 2 already and that was the last time i went with a 5AT

First of all, it's retarded and childish to go 120 on an expressway 'then try to floor it to keep up with a bike'.

There are 2 sensors on the trans that may send it into safety mode (btw, it's in 4th gear although it says 5th). Check your codes, replace the one that is bad, and see if it fixes your problem.

Stop driving like an idiot unless you do it on a track. If you wreck and kill someone else you have to live with that (in jail) for the rest of your life.

Now that's just ignorant.

Sorry should have specified... I am CANADIAN... 120 km per hour not miles per hour... big difference.. So I was doing around 70 - 72 MPH

For those of you who don't know... 100 KM = 60MPH

LOL Ok... that's a LITTLE bit better... ;)

Have your codes scanned. Probably a Camshaft Position Sensor failure. I would scan it, write down codes, reset ECU, start and let idle for a few minutes. Post the codes up so we can help troubleshoot.

btw, 5th gear is 5th gear not 4th. don't understand where the mixup on that one is but trust me I have 5 gears plus a reverse gear in my car. 5th gear feels entirely different than 4th on the highway. Plus if you were allready in D then shifted over to Manual mode, at about 45mph is when it shifts from 4th to 5th in D.

How many miles are on your car or should I say kilometers...lol if you cant reset the ECM and the sensors are good get ready to cough up 3500 to 4000k US the tranny is probably gone. These cars are famous for crappy transmissions. If that's it sorry for your pain mine started to go bad under warranty and I had it replaced before it expired.

If you get the code U1000 then that means there's an error communicating with your Transmission. thats the code i had where both of my CAM sensors are dead. It was located in Bank 1 and Bank 2. In addition to that my TCM was updated to the latest version. I hope you can get some codes read and see where the issue lies.

Keep us updated.

Good luck friend

Well it was the Cam sensor... changed that and changed the oil and filter on the tranny and it's been over a week and all seems good!

Oh ya, and the garage where I just bought the car not too long ago fixed it all no charge... plus did an alignment and balanced my wheels fro free too! Now just hope the tranny holds up...

My maxima did this about a month and a half ago and I drove it home then shut it off- after a few restarts, I decided to unplug the battery from the car and let it sit for 15 minutes.. came back- plugged everything back in and restarted and the tranny acted normal and started up just fine in first gear.. keeping my fingers crossed and hoping it doesn't occur ever again.. scared the crap out of me since I already spent 5k replacing the tranny 2 years ago...

I had this happen a few months ago. Tho I was parked turned the car on and it was in 5th, turned out to be a transmission sensor.

When you guys say "Cam sensor", do you mean the Camshaft Position Sensor?

yes there are two inexpensive and easy to replace

Yes Cam shaft positioner sensor... :D

well, odd how i read this thread last week and now i'm facing the same damn problem. i was driving to my clinic site and bam...it was stuck in 4th gear (even though it read "5" on the dash). it sucked donkeyballs trying to drive with the tranny like that. it shifted into reverse just fine, but once i put it into D...it goes back into 4th. :(

i pulled the code saying cam position sensor circuit is bad, so i swapped out both sensors...the tranny was shifting fine until later that afternoon. it locked back into 4th. :(

the car got about 115k miles, and i've kept up with the tranny fluid changes. i swear my 3rd gen never gave me this many issues. :(

2004 Maxima: Could someone please help me! Over the last 2 months my transmission has been slipping. It slips mostly when it gets warmed up. It then gets stuck in 5th gear. I can turn my car off and restart to make it come out of 5th gear. Then I drive it slips again and then gets stuck in 5th gear again! I borrowed a computer from a friend and it read PO 797 Pres. ctrl. sol. c circuit stuck on. Does this mean I need a brand new tranny or some type of shifting sensor. The tranny seems to be strong but don't know when to shift. Any help is greatly appreciated. It also started to make a rattle in the motor. I was told it may be the timing chain tensioner guides. Any input on that problem is appreciated as well. Thanks!

Timing chain dont cause a transmission to slip, shift solenoid error, you have a problem in your valve body, if it was the timing chain your would of hear a rattle noise on start up even if the car tires are not moving.

Mines doing the same - stuck in 4th gear (even though it read "5" on the dash). It shifted into reverse just fine, but once i put it into D...it goes back into 4th but with the "5" on the dash. Takes some time to get up and going, but it runs for now. What did you do to fix?

here is your answer

Had same problem stuck in 4th. Got home and disconnected the battery and waited an hour or so. That allowed time for the ECU to reset. Car started back up and in first gear. I suspect it's more of a computer than mechanical issue.

T had this same problem this morning. The car hesitated a bit and then started sounding strange. Also when starting off from a light it was lumbering along until it got up speed on the highway. Ran good on the highway from Queens to Manhattan. When I got off the highway same slow start from a light. Then I decided to try stickshift mode and that's when I saw it was stuck in 5th gear. I made it to work and worked my 8 hrs and when I left it acted normal. I'm going to try and get those sensors changed tomorrow. This car is killing me. Everytime I fix one thing something else pops up. I just changed motor mounts, then coils. How much do these sensors run? Rich.

Mine was doing that on top of hard shifting. Ended up being the valve body. Just picked the car up on Monday and its riding and shifting like butter now.