before
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWb75bi-2dM

after
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS3qWvcLDaw

You can see the drop resistor mod makes the 1-2 shift much quicker. In normal driving it actually feels more correct as the gears change with a snap, but no harshness is felt. I think this mod is very good for an old tranny.

 

is the mod a secret?

 

My wifes gxe shifts like your second video without disconnecting the drop resistor,in my opinion it looks like your clutches are slipping,yes this means your are going to need a rebuild soon on that tranny,and REALLY soon if you continue to run the drop resistor mod.




No,just no..

 

you should start looking for a tranny shop soon. the resistor mod is not for the weaker trannies.

 

wats the drop resistor and wat does it do? I have not considered this mod just wondering abouti t. How will it harm the trans?

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=219892

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=281662

 

so basicly do this if you want to screw up your tranny and just waste money...right?

 

precisely.

 

I think the drop resistor is a perfect solution for those that need a justification to do a 5 speed swap. So who's with me!?

Edit: I hope you all know I'm kidding about abusing my tranny like that.

 

The drop resistor is in circuit with the auto trans fluid pressure solenoid. fluid pressure solenoid is controlled by the TCU to give a comfortable gear change at low power levels, without allowing slipping at high power levels. By disconnecting the drop resistor, you are causing your transmission to run at full fluid pressure all the time, this makes the shifts at low throttle quite hard, but doesn't affect the shift quality as much at full throttle.
Hard fast changes will put more strain on internal transmission components and may cause weak components to fail, and although I haven't heard of it occurring on the maxima transmission, running full fluid pressure all the time can crack the transmission casing.

 

put it this way..

I HAD a perfectly healthy tranny in my GXE. then I put a switch on the drop resistor so I could disconnect it when I wanted the quick shifts. within 1 week my tranny was throwing codes at me every time I started the car. 2 weeks later and it was slipping noticeably. fortunately I totalled the car 3 weeks later and the insurance never found out about the dying tranny.

 

is there a possiblity that the drop resistor could go bad cause my shifts at lower speeds are kinda hard but not like head snapping hard

 

believe it or not i actually agree with you. If i ever get the money do perform a swap.... i may do that. It's the only way my family will ever shut up about me changing my transmission.

 

Possibly, I think there is a procedure for testing it in the FSM.

 

OK I reconnected the drop resistor, you guys scared me.

 

can we get a pic of it? I have a friends 3rd gen that was wrecked around the airbox area and he's got a hard shift and never had it before the wreck. I wonder id it got crushed or disconnected or something.

Thanks

 

This is what I disconnected.

 

thx, how can u test it?

 

The P light will flash on the Power/Comfort switch is this is disconnected.

 

not if your P light is out

 

Hol up a sec if u leave you car in P then its the same thing???? Cause after reading this thread i wanted to see how it felt when the tranny was not slipping man it was awesome but horribly hard shifting and definatly not healty for a tranny so i just flored it once or twice and put the switch back. Man i wish it didnt dmg the tranny it was awesome to drive with it.

 

No, it is not the same thing as putting your transmission in power mode. All the switch does is dictate what RPM's your engine shifts at under partial throttle, at full throttle the P/C switch is bypassed for full performance. The dropping resistor sends full line pressure to the automatic making it shift unnaturally hard and abusing the clutch.

Some people swear that the Drop Resistor is bypassed under wide open throttle and it is exactly the same as disconnecting the switch, but I notice a night and day difference between the two. Maybe it's because the clutch/torque converter reacts.

 

no not at all. When u put it in P all it does is change the shift points under normal acceleration. In comfort during normal acceleration it might shift around lets just say 2200, in normal i believe it goes up 400 rpm, and in power another 400 prm so ud shift into second at 3000 rpm under same throttle pressure. But when u floor the car it doesnt matter what setting ur in the car will go as fast as it can and the P light lights up. When u disconnect the drop resistor the P light flashes to let you know its disconnected. When in the normal P mode the drop resistor is still connected and working the same. Put ur car in C and floor it, the P will light up. so once again all C, P or Auto do is change shift points under normal acceleration.

edit, maxshima beat me...

 

my owner's manual states that 'auto' uses C mode until P is warranted. C locks it in C mode. P locks it P mode. But there's only 2 real modes, according to my owner manual.

 

Thanks for the clarification guys.

 

nothing will lock it into any mode, put it in C and floor it, it will accelerate just as it would in any mode if u floor it. Try different throttle imputs too, youll see.

 

well yeah anything 7/8ths throttle and up is in shift-at-redline mode. But under part-throttle (0%-87.5%) there are only two true modes, but Auto mode allows the TCU to choose between P or C. That's why it's called "Auto" and not "medium" or "balance" because it isn't a true mode. It's the lack of set mode. It's on FSM page AT-39 for the VG tranny. Basically if you depress the gas pedal suddenly or sharply, the TCU will recognize a more agressive driving pattern, illuminate the P light, and stay in P until you assume a more normal driving pattern, at which point it regresses to C mode.

 

i remember driving like 115mph on the freeway with my drop resistor off and then i saw the "P" start flashing and i got a fuel cut... before i would top out my car at 125mph and have no problem, no fuel cut..... i wonder if the drop resistor is the problem

 

No, you didn't get a fuel cut. what you got was the transmission shifting itself out of overdrive because of the high line pressures. it kept shifting between 3rd and O/D and wasnt' putting power down- so it felt like a fuel cut.

this is one of the many reasons you don't want to disconnect the resistor.

 

You guys have just solved a mystery for me that plagued my car since the day I bought it. The "P" light would flash at me everytime I started the car and it shifted hard at low rpm / throttle input, as mentioned above. I bought a line pressure valve solenoid pack shortly thereafter (as dictated by the tranny error code) but never got around to installing it. I bought the car at 87K and the tranny blew at 129K which is when I did the swap...It all makes sense now, thanks guys!