Hey everyone, new member here.

Here's the situation. I have a 1998 Nissan Maxima that I bought off someone. The car has less than 100,000 miles showing on the odometer but has lived a hard life of not much maintenance done.

Currently I'm trying to get the transmission working right. Here are the symptoms I'm experiencing. Transmission hangs onto 1st gear way too long and if I want it to shift I have to lift off the throttle. However I believe the tranny then shifts straight into 3rd gear skipping 2ng gear. The rpms in 1st gear will be around 4000 rpm and after the transmission shifts they drop to under 2000 rpm.

Also the transmission is real reluctant to kick down into 2nd gear under engine load and throttle. For instance if I'm cruising at 50 mph and I give it a lot of gas the car doesn't want to downshift. One time the car did try to downshift, and the tranmission acted like it went into neutral. The revs shot up real fast and the car didn't pull at all and I had to let off the throttle until the transmission caught a gear again.

Other symptom is the torque converter can't seem to lock. If I get up to over 50 mph with the O/D on then I can see the tachometer needle hunting back and forth between revs as engine load changes. So I'll see the tach need dancing between 2500~3000. Also if I let off the gas, such as going down a long hill, the rpms drop to idle. If I hit the overdrive off button this behavior stops. However I'm doing 3000 to 3500 rpms near 60 mph.

My ecu is throwing intermetent torque converter code and knock sensor code.

So far after searching I did the transmission self check test and all the j flashes showed no codes.

First thing I tried was a transmission filter change and new fluid. That didn't help. I then did the solenoid swap with the $90 solenoids people link here. I used dexron III if anyone is curious.

These are the guides I followed after searching:
NTB98-049d

NTB98-043

valve-body-install

Replacing-tranny-solenoids


After this has been done the tranmission still seems to skip 2nd gear. Torque converter still isn't locking up. I have a knock sensor on the way to see if that helps. After I swap the knock sensor I want to clear all the check engine codes and wait to see if get new codes.

My questions are, do you guys think I need to get my transmission rebuilt? If you don't think the transmission needs to be reubuilt, then after the knock sensor is replaced what should I try next? If you guys do think I need a tranny rebuilt, then does anyone have a shop they recommend in the Metro Atlanta area?

I see the Aamco on Pleasant Hill Road has good reviews.
https://plus.google.com/103390123257...gl=US&hl=en-US

Also Christain Brothers Automotive in Grayson.
https://plus.google.com/103884512323...gl=US&hl=en-US

I appreciate any help you guys can give me.

 

NEVER GO TO AAMCO

I don't need to repeat myself.

Find a local shop, preferablly a non-National branded one that can perform the necessary work.

 

Is the check engine light on, does it work?
Being the trans is electronically controlled, skipping a gear sounds more like an electronics issue rather then mechanical. The TPS and Vehicle Speed sensor signals need to be accurate for the TCM to make the correct control functions for the transmission.
A good transmission shop should be able to see live data on both the ECU and TCU to determine what the issue might be coming from. Shop around, ask smart questions and don't let them say "needs a rebuild" until they can pinpoint to you what's causing the problem.

As far as the Aamco comments, a good friend of mine is an Aamco franchise owner. He's also one of the most respected transmission rebuilders in NNJ with a huge warehouse of assorted transmissions and hard to find parts. It's not the franchise, but rather the owners that make the shop what it is.

 

I had my manual rebuilt at aamco and they used a 3rd party rebuilder and inferior parts, they tried to drag me over the coals financially until I told them keep the tranny I'll just pick one up from the junkyard for 1/3 the price they tried to charge me. The only thing wrong with my tranny was the main bearing. They did a full rebuild (they said) and used garbage synchros now I have to slightly let up when shifting into 3rd. I only went with them because it was right before a cross country move and the warranty would be honored at other stores.

 

Normally I would agree with you. But I was reading this story on Motoiq, who I respect a lot, and this is what they said about another national franchise, Maaco.

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_artic...-makeover.aspx
Check engine light is not on at the moment because we cleared the check engine lights, or diagnostic trouble codes, which ever you prefer. So I would need to drive the car for a while to get the codes to come back. I don't want to drive the car much because I'm afraid I may be damaging the transmission driving it like this. But yes the CEL does work.

Also, I have not done another transmission self check procedure since we replaced the shift solenoids, the one posted here: http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...procedure.html

 

Most people don't know what is going on inside a transmission, Maaco does paint and bodywork..body damage is easily observed, it's 2 different things and the techs operate different. They basically told me my tranny was grenaded when it was common main bearing noise from the tranny having 180k miles, they said they found shavings in it when there were no shavings because I drained the gear oil and pulled the tranny myself. A lot of mechanics are liars is the point. That's why they can take a brand new car off the showroom floor and a majority of "repair places" can find $1800 worth of repairs that need to be done. All we are saying is shop around and be careful if you need to take it in.

 

Only reason I posted the link about Maaco, even though they do paint, is to show that with franchise businesses is that one location may be a lot better, entirely different from another.

However, that's really an off-topic discussion. Unless someone has some local knowledge of a shop in Atlanta lets not talk about it.

And at this point is it time to say rebuild it or do you all know of anything else I should check?

 

Thisdamncar--

I don't have any solutions, just my own experience. As you probably saw in my replacing solenoids thread, I've had the same problem with the torque converter apparently not holding. The tranny will hunt between gears at freeway speeds, and often drop down to idle if I get off the throttle going downhill. Turning off OD fixes it. And the solenoids didn't fix that problem. All I can add is that I've had the problem for 6 or 7 years now, maybe more, and it doesn't really seem to be getting worse. It does seem like it gets better for a week or two if I change a lot of the fluid, but I'm not going to put in 7 or 8 quarts a month for as long as I own it...

So I just turn off OD when the problem shows up, and then turn it back on a while later. If you can get it to where that's the only problem, you can probably hold out for quite a while.

it sounds like you fixed the delayed shifting from 1 to 2. New solenoids fixed that on mine too. I don't have the skipping gears or downshift issues though. But I don't think a new KS will fix any of that. I've replaced 2 or 3 of them, and it never made a difference in the shifting. A bad KS will usually just reduce your power.

 

The thing is I really think the car is not shifting into 2nd. I'm pretty sure its going straight from 1st in 3rd. In my searching on here someone said replacing the knock sensor helped. To me they seem they would be completely unrelated but if I have DTC for one I figure might as well. Then I can clear all DTC's, wait for the CEL to come back on and see what the new codes are. After that I'll try to do the transmission diagnostic and see if I get anything.

Spoke with Aamco on the phone and they didn't want to quote me the price of a rebuild over the phone, want to take a look at the transmission themselves. Said they offer free diagnostics.

 

Its been said many times before, but just remeber the Knock Sensor will never throw the CEL by itself. It is a Ghost code. It likes to piggy back off of any other codes that might be present. SO most people don't see the code until another shows up. A bad KS with just retard your timing and take away some of the car's "pep-ness"

 

Well, replaced the knock sensor, didn't help.

Took the car to Aamco on Pleasant Hill Rd. in Duluth for them to do a free diagnostic. They're wanting $1500 to $2000 for it. I ask them what's wrong with it and they tell me a bunch of stuff I already know, car's shifting from 1st to 3rd and the torque converter won't lock up. I ask them why and Tim, one of the guys working there, says he thinks the torque converter wore out and particles went through the trans and clogged **** in the valvebody, etc.

Thing is, a local junkyard wants a little as $250 for a transmission with 130,000 miles on it. So I may take that gamble and just get a used transmission and swap them out.

In the meantime, anyone know where I should look for a torque converter? So far I've only seen them at Autozone.

 

Sooo... What happens when you move the shift selector to 2nd gear? Same neutral like characteristic?

 

Its been a while since I've done it but I believe the car just stays in 1st gear if I accelerate from a stop. I don't think I've tried it with the car at speed. What are you hoping to find out from this?

 

$1500-2000?

**** that! junkyard time!

 

Try it. It's called diagnostics. If it doesn't shift on its own, but you can "force" it in by doin what I said, maybe it's a tcm issue.

Not sure though, only guessing.

 

I know this thread is really old, but just wanted to update everyone on what I did. Ended up getting another transmission from junkyard and pop and I swapped the trans.

Since then we did the valve cover gaskets, throttle body gaskets, map sensor and solenoid thing ****s, another idle air valve, new spark plugs, and an air filter. Also changed oil and trans fluid. Just got an emissions test and the car also shifts through all the gears.

 

I had this problem on my '99 SE auto and I changed the solenoids with the kit and it didn't solve my issue. Swapped the trans with a fresh rebuilt one and had no problems. BTW if anyone needs a fresh automatic transmission let me know. I can also install it.