Hello everyone, I'm new on here. I've been driving Maximas for years but have ran across a problem with my latest ride I thought I'd share to either get some help or possibly help others that have had anything like this happen.
First off its an 04 Maxima 3.5 automatic with 100K miles. It originally started having the bang shifting common with some of these transmissions. I sent it to Level 10 and they rebuilt it. The bang shifting has stopped as far as I can tell but this is the funny thing.......

It will not accelerate in drive???(it was doing this prior to valve body rebuld). You can put it in park or neutral and it will rev perfect but once you put it in drive it acts like it does not want to pull the car. Almost like the transmission is slipping but the RPM gauge will only come up to 2000 rpm.
I do have a light on which the code says it is a faulty cam position sensor. I changed bank one with no improvements so I am in the process of changing bank 2.

It will eventually gain speed on the road and finally get up to highway speeds but if you stomp the pedal it will do nothing...like there is no passing gear at all????

I've checked the MAP sensor and its fine and it will rev throught the roof in park and neutral???
Any ideas????? Thanks

 

It is usually good practice to change both cam sensors at the same time. Be sure to use OEM ones, a few users have used aftermarket ones from autozone etc, only to have the same problem upon replacement.

 

Will do. Is it a possibility that the cam sensors would keep it from accelerating in drive? But rev great in park and neutral? Its almost like it is "limp-in mode" in drive.

 

just had this problem on my buddy's 6th gen also. turns out the cats were STUPID clogged. might want to look into that. We changed MAFS, cam/crank sensors, Throttle bodies, all to find out the cats were clogged, specifically the one after the y pipe.

 

The car goes into limp or safety mode if the camshaft sensors are bad. It happened to me and has been good since I changed mine.

 

This sounds similar to what I've dealt with on my 02 6-Speed. Revs fine in neutral and all that, but if you put it in gear it does not want to go anywhere.

You can do a vacuum test at the intake manifold to determine whether you have a clog or not.

Use a simple vacuum gauge and plug it into one of the vacuum ports directly stemming off of the manifold (I used the small vacuum stem that runs to the VIAS)
Start the car up cold and let it idle
Make note of the vacuum gauge reading
Allow the car to continue idling until the car has reached normal operating temperature
Note the vacuum gauge reading

If it has increased by more than .5 hg/in then you have a clog somewhere. Mine increased by over 2 hg/in indicating that I had a VERY bad clog. In between .5 hg/in and 1.5 hg/in indicates a moderate clog. Anything over 1.5 hg/in is considered pretty severe.

Hope that helps.

-Nathan

 

So far .......cats are good with no blockage, vacuum is perfect, no restrictions or vacuum problems anywhere.
My cam sensor should be in tomorrow....this then will be both sensors replaced. Once this is done I will update on what the results are. If this doesn't work I'm taking it for a visit to the transmission shop to let them drive it and see what they say about the situation.

 

Got both new cam sensors in....still no change. I took it to the local Nissan dealer and after he ran the codes again we traced it down to a no signal from the bank one cam sensor to the ECM. So it looks like I have at least a loose plug or bent pin......at most a wiring break somewhere. This, according to the mechanic, will cause the transmission to go into a limp mode even though it will rev in park and neutral. I will track down the wiring problem and be back on to update.......stay tuned.

 

Here is a quick update on the "no acceleration" problem. Turns out the NEW cam sensor on bank 2 was bad even though it was new. I replaced it and immediatly got my rev back. This led to another problem that was unseen due to the bad sensor. The transmission was still stuck in limp mode. Now this car has a brand new valve body from Level 10 that I installed myself,but was still throwing a solonoid "C" code. Called Level 10 and they immediatly rushed me out a new solonoid. I installed this new solonoid and it completely fixed the problem for about 3 days.....then another C solonoid code and back into limp mode. Called Level 10 and Pat told me the TCM may need the code cleared out....not just from the ECM but both ....TCM first and then ECM.
Will update.....

 

I am having the same issue. Going to have the dealer replace mine. I have been dealing with this issue for about (4) months and was about to dump my 04 Maxima.

 

Replaced my front one today. Car starts easier. Bought the part from Autozone for 67.00. I went back and bought the rear one for $84.00. Still cheaper than $2400.00 for a new transmission, which was what my mechanic quoted me.