So, I've had a problem with my '03 SE Auto that a few times I've been driving and the transmission suddenly is in neutral and the engine is revving instead of in gear. It'll last for a few seconds and then find a gear and move on. No SES, no code, no nothing.

Last week, it did this and wouldn't actually select any gear at all. It did not throw an SES, did not go into limp mode. When in Drive, it would just start in 1st, get to the first shift point, and the engine would just rev and no forward motion, no gear selected. Was able to put the car in First and just leave it there to get get home at 20MPH.

Had the car towed to the dealer the next day, and they said there were no codes anywhere. Also, they could not reproduce the problem. WTF? It worked fine for them. After reading here, I had them replace the speed sensor as the possible culprit - I had to have them do something, I don't want to get stranded.

So, it did the same thing this morning for just a second. I thought the speed sensor would fix the problem, but maybe it didn't.

Can anyone suggest what to do next? What problem can cause the tranny to shift to neutral and not throw a code? And, it only does it occasionally.

 

Does it actually shift into N, mechanically (shifter &/or green gear indicator move) or just slip and rev?

How's the tranny fluid look? Do you get an AT light flash when this occurs? Does the AT light stay on a bit longer than the other lights when first started?

 

Fluid level and condition would be the first thing to check. I would drop the pan, replace the filter and have a look at the solenoids for any issues.

 

The PRNDL still says "D". Only, it's not really in gear. When I started it the time that had the problem (going to work it slipped a few times), the AT Check did flash a few times but there was no stored code. It never came on during the time I was having trouble. The AT light doesn't do anything special now.

The tranny fluid is fine - pink.

 

Happened to me. It was the beginning of my tranmission dying. Check fluid and such first.

 

Sounds like the tranny is slipping and on its way out. Lots of miles?

 

I know ill get flamed for this but when my 4th gen tranny started slipping, I put some zmax tranny additive in it. I figured I had nothing to lose and hey, its carrol shelby lol. I swear it stopped the slipping within 100 miles. lucky probably

 

No, it's an '03 with 91K miles.

So after the slip this morning, it was fine on the way home, although it did drop into first a little hard once when I stopped for a red light.

Dealer had it for three days a couple of weeks ago and couldn't find anything wrong. Fluid looks fine. No codes. Shifts okay.

 

There is a TSB from nissan but its for the 2000-01 maxima. Check the valve body and the solenoids. I believe you can drop the transmission pan and remove the valve body (nissan calls it the control valve assembly). Then you can check the ohm readings for the solenoids. The symptoms you describe I have also been dealing with. Even after paying for a rebuild in June 2009.

I'm trying to do this myself but I got stuck on disconnecting the A/T solenoid harness connector on my 2002. In the AT FSM, page 227 step 3. It's the second diagram.