I have a 90 Max with an auto trans. It is a remanufactured that was put in in 2002, it has 22,000 miles on this one, and it will not move forward or reverse. The car was being driven up a very slight grade when the motor just reved up on the car no longer was moving forward. This is the third trans that has been put in this car since it was new. The car is in to nice of condition to send it to the wrecking yard. I'm unemployed at this time and cannot afford an other trans. I'm capable of removing it and tearing it down by the book if I have to.
I did first run all the dianostics on the A/T control unit and it checks out.
I checked all the connectors that where listed in the dianostic procedures.
What could it be????

 

Fluid low, uphill turn sucks air on some trannys.

Electronics control via TCU:
If solenoids do not get their power or are broken, gears will not work.

Check the tranny control,
click here: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507/15

 

start car no drive or reverse: 1 fluid at proper level
2 sounds like a stripped torque converter

 

Bigbob; Is this a common problem with Maxima trans? If it is the torque conv. are there any good rebuilds. Where to search?

 

So what is exactly happening again? your falling out of gear when on an incline? I've had similar symptoms when my tranny shift cable bushings broke. Check to see that both your bushing are still there, they are white nylon (but dirty ) there is one where the cable meets the tranny and the other is located above the cat converter heat shield (slide the heat shield back in order to get at it). The bushings usually break and fall off the car, if one is missing then replace both of them, its like $5.

 

No, not falling out of gear. It won't move in any gear. It was being driven up a slight incline with it just reved and wouldn't go forwards or backwards under power. It will roll if you push it.

 

Wiking: I have checked TCU and ATC and get all good readings except the throttle sensor. I also get 7.7 ohms from the line pressure solenoid and the book says 4-5 ohms. Will this solenoid cause the tranny to ack like it is stuck in neutral?

 

Have u yet checked TPS throttle pos sensor from TPS connector? U should get linear 1-9KOhm depending on throttle position. Check out that first. TPS has to work regardless of tranny, so its good to have that problem solved first.


Arrange also for tranny pressure test equipment: cheaper to buy than to let stealership tst it... Crude tst is open tranny hose and try shortly with engine: oil must shoot out.

As I am no real expert on this tranny, cannot say as a fact if that 7.7Ohm measurement is crucial; general experience says its ok. Low voltage AND oxidized contacts are known to cause problems, cannot know about your problem. Check also out what eric says: tranny selector cabling and the actual selector movement at tranny.

One possibility is internal mechanical problem, but following issues must be checked.
Your checklist:

1. Voltage level at battery is what?
2. Voltage level at TCU pin4 is what?
3. TPS resistance measurement from connector.
see TPS http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507/6
4. Line press valve TCU pin1 readings?
Ign on Warm 1.5-2.5V Accelerator pedal released
Ign on Warm >0.5V Accelerator pedal pressed
--->My readings were 2.8V & 0.5V, tranny is ok.
If you do not get this, it has to be solved first.

Will return.

 

This is what I combed from the manual, check out. From the last diag, seems 50/50 chance u need to drop tranny. I just copied, no time for stilisation now...

Raw data

Line press solenoid valve: Regulates (or decreases) line pressure suited to driving conditions in relation to signal sent from A/T control.

The A/T has a fail safe mode. In this mode the vehicle runs in third gear and will not upshift, sluggish, poor accel.

Check:
Speed sensor
Revolution sensor


----------------------------------
P. AT-81
Inhibitor switch checkup:
Check connection between connector pins
P 1-3 4-6
R 4-7
N 1-3 2-4
D 4-5
2 4-8
1 4-9

Two connector & pins on the tranny

13 498
2x 567

------------------------------------
p. AT-88
Will not run in any position; on vehicle service:
Fluid level, ctrl linkage, Engine idling speed, line pressure, Shift solenoid valve B, Line press solenoid valve,

Will not run in any position; OFF vehicle service:
Torque converter, oil pump, reverse clutch, low clutch, one way clutch, band servo piston, parking components.

 

Hi I am having the same problem with the auto trans. I bought the car 1989 and they told me that the car was running fine, then it just went into neutral. The engine starts and runs fine but the trans does not do anything. It will not move into any gear. I bought a dervice manual and have started to do the tests but it will not let me do the self diagnosis. The power light comes on for 3 seconds but then when I depress and let up in the gas pedal the light does not come on - no flicker at all. Does any one how to get the self diagnoisis to run. The car is on great shape and my 16 year ld daughter loves it but it's gona go if I don't figure out this trans. I usuall only work on 1975 cars and older (no computers) so this is a real experiece. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Gary

 

I just went through this exact same thing with my 90 SE Auto. Definitely stripped some of the splines in the torque converter. $130 at Autozone (plus core charge). If you take it out, I believe you'll find that the splines furthest in are stripped clean.
Give it a good flush to boot, but I believe (if yours is like mine) that the small amount of shavings produced are inside the torque converter or have been caught by the magnetic tranny fluid plug.

Best of luck.

 

From my experience this could be a number of things. Be sure to check the most inexpensive stuff first, like Wikings electronics stuff. If all else fails;

- Have you ever heard any noises coming from the tranny area? I got a grinding noise just when I got this problem, no movement. It turned out to be a wrongly installed tranny or oil pump (not yet clear about which) that resulted in that the oil pump died on me. Needless to say I got no oil pressure = no movement.

- You might have Geerheds problem. A faulty torque converter. There's no other way of telling than to take the trans down and look.

My best advice if you can't get this trans to work properly (which is the cold hard fact in lots of cases historically) then convert to manual trans. It'll cost you about the same but will save you lots in the long run. Plus, it's much much more fun!

Here's a link to my auto trans takedown writeup and the manual conversion (5spd swap):
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/749143/2
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/749143/3

Good luck!

 

Donate to the .org and you'll be able to search for a lot of tranny stuff. That should give you lots and lots of info to go with.

For electronics regarding the ECU and TCU (tranny control unit) and any stuff like that check out Wikings cardomain site here: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507

For a writeup of how to physically take the tranny out look here:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/749143/2

It's really not that difficult with the extra computers that you're unfamiliar to. It's pretty much basic mechanical stuff you need to do on this car, in some cases you might need to diagnose the computers. And actually they can help you in giving you a hint on where to start looking for errors.

 

Note: overextended fun = pain [in this case 15min traffick jam]

 

Definitely check voltages and TCU codes first. I believe you'll find that they all check just fine and you'll need to pull the tranny, but follow Wiking's advice and check TCU voltages/resistance and eliminate the easiest stuff first.

Here is the complete thread where we went through this with me earlier this Summer:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=418622

Good luck.

 

I am back and still can not figure out about this auto trans. It does not have any gears. Motor runs fine but car will not move. You had mention strpped splines in the converter but I don't think tha applies here because I disconnected the lines to the radiatior and it pumps about a gallon of trans fluid in abour 12 to 15 seconds.
I tried to do all tests in shop manual and they seem to check out OK but I could not engage the self diagnosis procedre. the power light would not blink.
Any help would be appreciated because my next step might be with a sledge hammer for REAL repair. Thanks Gary

 

Check the linkage going from the gear shifter to the tranny. If it moves when a helper shifts the car from inside, then Your tranny is toast......Replace it along with a new t/c.....

 

there are several sets of splines. The pump may be working fine, but the engagement to the tranny (the output to the drive section) is probably stripped.. You are describing the exact problem that several of us have had here on the org.
Bite the bullet, decide if you want a manual or automatic transmission, and move forward.

 

I went through the same thing 2 months ago. Did you feel something snap at all? Mine felt like a sudden snap then I lost all gears. Had to rebuild the entire tranny for $1400. Sorry bro but your tranny is fubared. I hear you can do a 5 speed swap for cheap though.

 

Ive got a whole auto tranny and TC thats in great condition 166K miles and babied for 160K of them. Id sell it cheap, pm me if interested. and I think i may have a stripped TC I may be able to get a pic of if you want to see what they are talking about.

~Alex

 

You can strip the splines on the TC and still have the pump work. The spines engage the tubine and stator and the pump for the trans is engaged by the TC casing. So the pump can still work and go nowhere

 

It sounds like the automatic tranny is a real weak point with our cars. :-(

Mine seems to "slip" when cold or steep uphill, and I think it loses tranny fluid. Since I don't have a garage right now (living in an apartment, building a house), its nearly impossible for me to do this myself. I think it would be tough to find a service shop to tackle the manual swap, and even then.. suppose they charged me $75 an hour for 30 hours (just labor) = $2,250.00!!!

 

find a friend with a garage, invite him out on a night on town, make sure he drinks a lotta beer, get him really drunk, when he's beginning to see double, ask him if you can borrow his garage for a week or two. done!

no seriously try renting one from a friend or something?

 

alright guys... seem to be more faulty tauto trannys than working ones at the moment...

my experience from auto transmissions pre-maxima was a Ford one. now that sure was one beated up tranny but hell did it work fine... it had well over 300k miles on it (yes it's true) and all the service I did on it was replacing fluid and that was it. it kept working for at least a couple of years after that.

then I got the max. *iiik*. sadly nissan has built one of the weakest **** in car history and put it in a car that pulls 170hp with a powerful v6 engine. st00pid!! it wasw never meant to last, or they just didn't see the problem coming.

conclusion, now based on another faulty auto trans;
IF you've got a problem with your auto transmission that shows in anything like slipping, no pulling, etc etc... then just forget about that transmission. it's toast. it's history. it's a dead subject. yes really.
of course if you want to spend a couple of hours looking at self test lights flashing and going over endless feet of wiring, sure go ahead. but I'm telling you you're gonna end up back here anyways.

the moral of the story; go manual!!!

 

My second trans did the same thing and it was tourque convertor, if you have no movement in the gears and there is a whining sound comming from the trans,(only when it is in gear), It's the tourque! I never even priced one out I just swapped in a whole new trans

 

Feelings ok, immoral concl usion = ill usion ---> most max ppl dont write here. They just happily keep on driving with the excellent A/T, pay $tealership 2000$ for shock change...

Lessons to be learned here are:
- maintenance on time (oil change).
- anythin is ruined w/o scheduled maint
- any ol family car was never built for racing, will fail. Always.
- if any A/T starts slipping, dont drive, correct the problem before its too late: also to hlp, there are the snake oil additives, solenoid valve pack upgrade, the blocked screen cleanup(bad omen)...
- in Computerized Maxima tranny case, DIY harness PM, contact cleanup before problems arise

- I had a slippin tranny at 80k. In this case: DIY REPAIRED. = Solenoid valves in control, now receive adequate voltage. Clic on http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/1

 

for the record the worst trans ever produced (possibly still being used) is the chrysler "ultra-drive" A604 transmission. A close second was the AXOD from ford. After that I think it was the KM series used by mitsu, chrysler, and hyundai.
all of those trans are lucky to see 60k from NEW.
at least the VG max's tranny sees to 100+k normally.
and remember the VE takes a different trans

 

I also am having problems with my tranny. It is not the same as the OP's here though. I hate to hijack his thread but can't make an original post of my own for another 14 posts!!

Anyways, I have a 91 Maxima with 250k miles on her. One day my wife was driving it and stated that the it slipped coming out of second gear. Well I drive and find nothing wrong with it. This went on for a week or so, and finally I drove it from a cold start. Sure enough it missed going from third to into the higher gears. I figured it was a goner and let it sit for about six months.

The other day I finally decide to try and reserect her. The engine is very sound and has fantastic air and everything else. I need a car to drive 70 miles a day on the highway, that gets better MPG than my 350 GMC. I took the car out and after about 5 minutes on the road the slipping stopped, and didn't come back. I stopped and floored it twice, going from 0-90 MPH trying eather throw the tranny out or decide if it was sound or not, and it never slipped once after it warmed up. I also ran a diagnostic and all checked out there.

I have read Wiking's guides to cleaning the connectors and such, and HOPE that works. What are the actual chances for this to work though? I mean it sounds to good to be true when I was expecting to pay around a grand to get a used tranny put in it. Any other good advice or things to check? I changed the flued in it before I parked, but never did find a way to change the filter (or even see a filter to change for that matter). Is there a way to change the filter if it even has one?

 

Play with a 12V solenoid. Then drop supply voltage to 6V. Wassup?

Answer: if slipping was caused because of anemic supply to solenoid valve, gettin voltage up is - 100% cure. BUT. It does not hlp if oil is low. Too bad... For me, tranny keeps on.

The screen u may change. Meant for life. But if its blocked, may cause slippin. Why would it be blocked: tranny mechanically shot already, maybe. And solenoids, supply, oil etc will not hlp.

Read diligently: Theres also the slippin valve upgrade, 50$... AND The Favorite Links.

 

Not to do the same but i have the same crap going on with my tranny. Sliping or stayin in one gear, like second never geting to drive? Had shifts and total slippingin OD before it stopped all together, sometimes it acts fine. Drove it tonight and it accel and shifted into drive somehow. Tere is still something wrong with the trans, I can just tell. Where do i find out all the test and connectors to clean. Should i chage the torge converter first or just get a used tranny swap it out? 95 GXE

 

Not a single one of the above members is around anymore. That wiking guy was a little out there. Highly doubtful you have to clean any wiring connectors, that was just his thing. There is absolutely no reason to clean every connector terminal/pin in the car as he used to advise people to do. I can tell you with confidence that cleaning connectors is not going to magically fix your problem. So you can forget about that nonsense.

Your car is also a 4th gen so you should probably try the posting this in the 4th gen section. They would know about common AT issues for your car, they have more members anyway, you'll have a better chance at getting a solid answer.

 

4th gen = likely bad trans control module possibly drop resistor.
but first check the trans fluid level and condition