I have a '90 Max with automatic transmission. I have recently experienced three incidents where I hit the gas and the engine revs as if in netural but the gear does not engage. On two occasions (starting from a dead stop at a stopsign) the gear quickly catches. On one occasion, while on a highway, I had to pop the shift into neutral and then back to drive to get the gear to engage. Othewise, the transmission shifts gears very smoothly.

I recently had a transmission fluid leak (some kind of cracked seal)and the dealer repaired and power flushed the fluid. However, the third incident on the highway occured after this repair. I've never owned a car with transmission problems so I don't know much about this.

Any ideas what may be wrong and what to do? Thanks

 

If you have over 100k miles, and that was the first time the trans was flushed, you need an new/rebuilt transmission. When you had the leak the fluid level probably wound up low for a while which is real bad for a trans. 3rd gen trans are not the most robust devices ever made.

 

I have had the tranmsission fluid flushed regularly (although not religiously over the years). Any idea what it costs to rebuild or replace a transmission?

 

Everyone is always so anxious to get a rebuilt tranny . It could be something simple like the solenoid pack thats gone bad. the solenoid pack is only a little over $100 and can be done with out removing the tranny. I'm not saying that this is definitly the prob, but there are lots of sensors and **** that could cause the prob. BTW there are problems w/nissan's solenoid pack for our third gen. and could very well be your prob.

If you dont have the experience to diagnose the tranny yourself. then go to a well reputable tranny repair shop, but not nissan b/c they only replace the entire tranny (dumb A!SSes). And see what they can find