The automatic transmission on my Nissan Altima 2000 (137,000 km) had a
glitch the other day. It wouldn't engage in reverse fully one morning
at zero degrees Celsius outside and I got stuck in my driveway.

I pushed it around in neutral, and it would go forward without any
problem but there was (almost) no torque for the reverse. The problem is
NOT in the linkage, both P and R were properly positioned on the tranny
housing and when flicked to "R" one could feel the tranny tried to
engage but there was no effect in terms of torque available.

After it heated up a bit it would go in reverse only very slowly, as if
it was slipping. I checked the fluid (it was NOT burnt) and it was at
the low mark (after idling on flat surface for 10 mins). I then added
500ml ATF which made the level rise to the top mark. After about 20 mins
fooling around with it, the problem almost went away, but
intermittently, it would sometimes fail to provide torque for the
reverse, other times it was OK. The zero reverse torque event did NOT
re-occur since.

 I took it to a tranny shop for an estimate and they told me it is
positively an internal tranny problem, likely a seal, since the reverse
section has no consistent pressure.

I was wondering if there is anybody with similar experience on Altima
2000 and whether there is a NISSAN RECALL on this problem. I don't think
one should pay for tranny overhaul $2000+ after only 5 years...

Any insight will be highly appreciated.
Thank you.

pls remove the NOSPAMPLEASE from email address.