Hey everyone, first post in the 3rd gen forum. I've owned my 94 maxima for about 10 years, I had an 04 for a few years and now I'm thinking of going for the 09 murano.

I had a problem about 3 weeks ago with my Max. It would start fine and run in Park and Neutral with no problems, when I shift into Drive or Reserve the engine would stall right away and the car would die. However if I was giving it gas I could get the car going, again it would stall out and die when I stopped if I didnt shift into N. It was acting a lot like a manual (it's auto).

Its a 94 V6 SOHC. I took it into a auto shop near my home and they said the torque convert was found to be stuck in lock up causing stalling and that I may have a failed lockup solenoid.

Next their notes show "OHM checked solenoids and confirmed lockup solenoid to be bad"

"replaced value body assy with replacement solenoids. replaced nec gaskets and fluid reassembled and drives normal now."

I got the car back and drove it one day and it worked.. Next day it was back to the original problem. I hate having little to no car knowledge and I'm pretty sure I got ripped off, but I know the experts here will be able to tell me for sure if I did. I paid $500 for labor and $550 for parts (apparently they ordered a solenoid pack instead of just a lockup solenoid?? I don't F***ing know.)

I gave the car back to them on Monday and they took it to a tranny guy and tranny is ok. He fed me some bull**** about checking some value above the solenoid and maybe something is 'floating' around in there causing it to get stuck..

Ugh...

 

I have a dispute on file with American Express, should I just get my car from these guys and take it to a trusted shop that is 20 miles away or so?

The whole reason I took it to this shop was they are 3 blocks from my house and I didn't want to have it towed. I later found I could drive the vehicle okay-ish if I'm giving it gas when I shift into D.

 

If I paid a grand for my car to be fixed for a day they better give me the best ******* Ive ever had to go with it. Bring it to a shop you can trust. These guys arent it.

Edit: Sounds like it may be IACV. What do you guys think?

 

actually, on a GM the lockup solenoid issue would cause issues like you described, but I've only seen it happen on older GM FWD transmissions, and even then it was rare.

 

Its possible that there are several issues at play, so they found and fixed one of them only to expose another.

On my last car I had symptoms like these, this was like 8 years ago and I cannot recall what the problem was because a shop fixed it, but I know it wasnt a transmission issue. It was an Galant auto. I had to shift into N coming to a light and rev the engine to keep it from stalling with the right foot while braking with the left.

 

hell you'd have been better off taking the valve body off a JY car for $20. my TC solenoid only worked sometimes so i couldn't have sold you mine, but i'm sure that there's a JY or even a 5spd-swapped member on the org that could have hooked you up with a known-good solenoid or valvebody.

as for the shop, yeah, get your money back. the price was crazy anyhow. my brother got a fully rebuilt trans in his camry for $1800 (i think it was fully rebuilt. tho maybe just one of the clutch packs... ionno.) but his car still SLAMS into reverse so he didn't really get his money's worth either. you need to find someone who knows what they are turning a wrench on before they turn it. also you should pull ECU codes to make sure nothing is weird there (reminds me i should do mine today). if in neutral does activating a/c cause the idle to kick up like it should or does it sag?

 

By FSM, the VG30E type RE4F02A contains five solenoids, a solenoid pack having:
- shift solenoid A
- shift solenoid B
- Line pressure solenoid
- Torque converter solenoid

...then one separate Timing solenoid.


The valve assy contains following valves:
Lock-up control valve
Feedback accumulator valve
1st reducing valve
Torque converter valve
3-2 timing valve
Low clutch timing valve

Pilot valve
Manual valve
Pressure modifier accumulator valve
Pressure regulator valve
Shift 1-2 valve
Shift 2-3 valve
Shift 3-4 valve
Fixed valve
Servo release timing valve

... Sadly I cant find lockup solenoid in that group. Next I think its a miracle a shop can repair things that aint there. Furthermore, I can see more relation with spare tire pressure to your problem, than with lockup. Why didnt they 'fix' the spare tire? Because they could nor milk 1000$ from it.

Tranny structure on lockup:
In essence all I derive from the setup above, is that lockup (only for 3 & 4) is controlled indirectly, allowed to be ON when certain fluid pressure is achieved and oil temp is up.

Stalling Problem:
My guess is TPS and/or IACV problem. Start from DIY checking charge voltage, then run the onboard TCU self diag, see link below.

see http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/24


eDIT: ...now tHE umpteenth Tranny Ctrl Version 50b

 

I've had this exact problem with an Accord that the dealer couldnt even resolve. The culprit turned out to be the distributor which was replaced and has ran flawlessly after.

GL

 

fixed.
the torque converter CLUTCH solenoid is a lockup solenoid. if the converter isn't a lockup converter then it wouldn't have a clutch in it.

 

...btw, yes. Cant read... Loud and clear, TCU pin5. Stupid me...:



Translated: Torque converter clutch solenoid = Lockup Solenoid.

 

yes, and that's the wire that i had a switch sending 12v to. But i really don't think that it had the final say on my tranny's failure. I think mine was ready to fail anyways, and let go when it let go. I hadn't changed the fluid from when i got b/c i was going to take that tranny out soon anyways... i just wish it had given me a few more months before failing. My dipstick had black crap on it on the first wipe, and when I put it back in and re-wiped, came out red. But whatever, disaster averted (well not rly) and car is back on the road.

pic of said wiping (1st in the middle, 2nd on the right, 3rd-round blotch of fluid on left):

 

Youre sure its not your doggie periods?

Whatever. Question NO. 77: TCU self diag requires brake pedal usage. Where TCU gets that info?

 

no, i had no female dogs near me at the time of fluid checking

as for the brake signal i'd say that it comes from the green box for the shift lock. i don't have an FSM handy so i can't see the full TCU pinout (rather than just that listing above that skips some pins) but if i could it would probably be there somewhere, or so i'd think.

 

No GRN box for me... thus cant be so.

The ECU, TCU, ABS -computers work in sync. ALL Info missing, ? Bluetooth -link

 

wait so... does your EDM car not have a shift lock? you SURE you don't have a green box (on a USDM car it's in the kick panel, basically directly in front of the passenger side door speaker)

 

No. None. Its safety feature for blondies... No box but a weird tiny box with a resistor, cant figure out...

 

...this

 

So this has been a nightmare... I've had it back in and out and back in again.. The car was acting up with the same problem they 'fixed' (the solenoid).

A previous time they took it to a tranny guy who they said could see nothing wrong with the transmission.

TODAY.. they tell me they found metal debris in the transmission.. well how the fu*k did they miss that before? So I paid $1 to fix nothing and now I'm looking at needing to find a transmission if I want to keep this car. 146k total miles.

Anyone got or know where I can find a transmission for my 1994.5?

 

1994.5? I didn't know they had a .5.. anyhow VG trannies tend to have early failure by most standards, so unless you feel like risking it you may just need to get a good rebuilt, or perhaps see if you can get ahold of the parts necessary to do a VE-auto onto a VG engine (internetautomart and maxpwr91 have ideas on this). You can chance it on a JY VG auto but they don't usually last too long.

 

I think its a 1994.5.. I know it has a different antenna than the 94 and the dealer and this sh*t mechanic shop both say it a mid-year model

 

anything's possible. what's the MFG date (tells on doorsticker) mine's always listed as a 1990, built 5/90. what's your budget for fixing your car at this point?

 

if it is a 94.5 then it is in actuality a 95. the 94 production year ended in march for the maxima. after march they were 1995s. so you just have a plain 1994 GXE

 

I don't know what the sticker says since the shop still has the car.. They said they were going to try to 'clean it up' as much as possible, but the problem would most likely come back sooner than later. I should have the car back by tomorrow. The shop is going to give me back $350 or so...

If I could get the car repaired for under 1500 I'd probably consider it.. over 2k and not so much. I plan on buying a new car and having this one as a minimally used car, but in that case i still need it to be reliable.

 

Could you tell by the VIN?

My insurance card says 1994 SE 4d VIN is JN1EJ01F2RT******

Here's what some vin checking website gave me for my engine:
1.6L L4 (GA16DE)/3.0L V6 (VE30DE)

 

it is a car worth fixing IMO
it is a bit rare, because the transmission was used only on 92,93, and 94 SE model maximas, so it will be kind of tough to find a trans for it.

 

So.. pardon my stupidity, but is this what I would need?
http://market.autopartsfair.com/niss...item-1636.html

or this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-94...QQcmdZViewItem

 

for some reason i got confused as to which engine you have. You have the VE correct? if so, you want the Rwhatever4V, not 4A, not 2A. 2A is for 3rd gen GXEs and early SEs (89-91), and the 4A i believe is for non-VLSD a/t 4th gens or something.

 

don't touch either of those. do not even click the links again. if they cannot get the years right for their parts, they should not be doing business. 5 seconds of research would give the years they need, and they cannot do that...

 

Yeah.. I wasn't planning on buying it from either one of those sites, just trying to verify what I should be looking for.

 

Yes, I believe it is the VE.

What about rebuilding, any ideas on the cost?

Thanks for your help btw

 

rebuilt will be around $1000

 

the VE uses a transmission classified as an RE4F04V. it is mechanically related to the Quest's and later maxima's trnsmission as they share basic internal components.
The later maxima transmission will NOT bolt up to the VE at all. The Quest one will bolt up but I don't know about axles and you will lose your VLSD.
the best option is to have it rebuilt by a reputable shop that is local to you. you want one that doesn't instantly tell you that you need a whole transmission replaced. you want one that tells you they need to check it out first. you and they may know you need it rebuilt, but a good shop will always double check someone else's diagnosis.

 

wow I had my ve auto tragic tranny rebuilt for $600 parts and labor.
good friends uncle did it for me tho

its been running strong no problems at all for 3 years now.

 

What a bunch of BS. Your problem has probably nothing to do with the transmission. Engine is stalling because of the drop in RPM when in gear. I'd look at vaccum hoses and routing.

 

Actually, my vg auto had the same issue as the op's car, it would stall at red lights, then if you could manage to get it to not stall after restarting/putting it in D, then the car would take off in second gear. It would not stall in park/neutral, only when you put it in any forward gears, and only done it intermittently.

After a through transmission fluid drain= ( Drain/refill...drive for 50-75 miles...drain/refill..rinse-n-repeat..4 times total) it has not done this since.

IIRC, traxtar944 had the exact same issue as me/op, but his auto ended up failing completely, LvR also had a similar issue with a local buddy's maxima, he did the drain/refill dealio to that car with good results.

 

................ and since my own vehicle too (275Km original box) - hence my unwillingness to participate in any measurements/experiments involving placing undue stress on the animal in other threads here.

 

wait! my friend just had this problem in his galant and it turned out to be a bad mass air flow sensor. i know our cars have a limp mode, but its worth checking. unplug the MAF clean the connectors and then spray the sensor itself with some dedicated electronic cleaner from an auto supply store. or if u can find a .org-er nearby swap MAFs just to be sure.

 

that's actually a good idea if he hasn't looked at that already. i tested something once to see what happens when you unplug the MAF, and then pull a vac line. stalled outright. so maybe he's got a few things combined working against him.

 

I think Greeny said ask for parts of a 1993 Max because 1994 listed parts are 4th gen

???