I have a 2003 Maxima with the AT. Recently, I have noticed that the torque converter does not unlock when I take my foot off the gas at highway speeds. In other words, instead of going to a pseudo-neutral when coasting, the transmission is leaving the engine engaged to the transmission thus engine breaking the car rather then letting it coast freely. I recently took it to the dealer and told them to fix it - should be warranty work as I only have 27k miles. They come back saying that there is no problem, and the car is designed to not unlock the torque converter at highway speeds. I seem to remember the torque converter disengaging before, and I have never drove a car where the torque converter doesn't disengage when coasting. So is the dealer trying to pass BS to avoid doing warranty work, or is this actually how the car operates?

 

bump someone has to have some insight on this?

Does the torque converter unlock in your maximas when you coast at highway speeds?

 

Can anyone help??

 

seems like you have a good torque converter.. tranny fluid goes round n round, round n round, round n round... go drive another car.. your car will downshift as it hits certain speeds.....
but i maybe wrong as i'm the idiot of the house
just do a 6spd conversion.. then you'll be fine =)
or just get one and give it to me so i can do a 5spd to 6spd swap

 

I think it's supposed to do that. At highway speeds it would be foolish for the TC to lock and unlock every time you took your foot on and off the gas. This would increase wear on the transmission and likely decrease fuel economy. The TC usually only disengages if you either (a) need to downshift; (b) hit the brakes.

As for the fuel economy question, because I'm sure to get a lot of HUH?
In some cars, especially manual transmission models, the fuel injectors shut off entirely while coasting or under engine braking conditions. When at idle, the injectors are releasing fuel so that it can obviously keep turning. Therefore, in some vehicles, and I have no idea whether this applies to an AT Maxima, less fuel is used when you leave it in top gear and coast down. I verified this in a friend's modified Honda which has an injector pressure readout on the dash.

In any case, my 4th gen does the same thing and I don't have a problem with it. It's been doing the same thing for 228,000 miles now and hasn't had any problems yet, so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

To the best of my knowledge that is normal, mine does the same thing. The only time I can feel the car go to the "pseudo-neutral" is at very low speeds when I'm coming to a stop. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

huh, ok. This is the first car that I have ever driven that does this. All of the other cars that I drove unlock the torque converter to let you coast freely. It kind of sucks to have to give the car a little gas going down hills that i could normally coast on because the maxima is engine breaking down them. But I guess it is good news that nothing is wrong with my maxima.