 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / General Car Topics / March 2009How to maximize transmission life? 1996 Maxima GLE automatic transmission maxima. 125k miles.
I have a 1996 Nissan maxima that I love owning, driving, and maintaining. I do not know how many miles are on the car as the odometer was replaced about 6-7 years ago. It has been at least 35k miles since I had the transmission serviced, so I figure its time to do something. The only tranny related problem is as follows; When I first start the car, I shift it into reverse and back it out of the driveway. No Problem. When I put it in drive and gently step on the gas the car does not go anywhere at first. I need to shift in and out of drive and gently accelerate again to get it to move. Once on the road, it is 100% fine. It runs fine and shifts smoothly. When I last had the transmission fluid drained and filled, I used the good synthetic stuff. I check the fluid regularly and the color and level are exactly where they need to be. Is this an indication that my transmission is on its way out? Any preventative maintenance I can do to extend transmission life at this point? The car has always been absolutely babied, always been driven VERY gently. VERY, VERY gently. I have been told that the problem described above might be a linkage problem. If you have any knowledge of this, please let me know. I have read that this transmission has a 'valve upgrade' available. Any knowledge on this? When doing a routine 25k transmission service on this car, what is the best way to go? Just a drain and fill? If a 'full flush' is advisable, how do I know the machine the shop uses will have the best kind of fluid in it? What is the most advisable type of fluid to use to maximize longevity and reliability? Any adivce on how to make this transmission last forever is greatly appreciated. Here are pictures of my beloved maxima that I want to last for the rest of my life; http://forums.maxima.org/members/tonyinclearwater-albums-clean-black-maxima.html "TonyInClearwater" wrote: (clip) When I first start the car, (clip)I put it in drive and gently step on the gas the car does not go anywhere at first. I need to shift in and out of drive and gently accelerate again to get it to move. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Have you ever seen the inside of an automatic transmission? Very complicated. It would be nice for it to be a linkage problem, but I see that as unlikely. Your transmission won't go into drive *when it's cold.* It could be one of the pistons that's sticking, or any of a number of things. Best to have a transmission shop look at it. Find one that has a good reputation, or talk to your regular mechanic for a recommendation. A good transmission specialist can probably diagnose it by driving the car. Also, they can plug it into a computer and get a diagnosis. Stay away from the big chains. On Dec 7, 9:48 pm, TonyInClearwater <tonyinclearwa...@yahoo.com> wrote: > I have a 1996 Nissan maxima that I love owning, driving, and DO NOT flush. Drain and fill. Older trannies often fail after a flush. Drain and fill will maximize (Excuse the pun:) the life of your older tranny. An even better idea to make it last, keep the fluid as fresh as possible. Instead of putting synthetic fluid in there, you might try using regular tranny fluid and drain/fill once a year. The biggest advantage of synthetic is longevity, and if you change the fluid frequently, the synthetic advantage is wasted, so save some money. I saw your pictures on Maxima.org. Did you know that the tail section is not OEM? Your 96 Maxima has a 97-99 Tail section. I've always been a big fan of the 97 thru 99 Look. Actually, I still think the 97-99 Maximas are the best looking Maxima ever, even when compared to the new 2009, 300 HP Maxima. Anyhow, enjoy the ride. CD > On Dec 7, 9:48 pm, TonyInClearwater <tonyinclearwa...@yahoo.com> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > CD Very observant. Yes, when I had the car painted I had the tail lights replaced with the 1998 lights. I also had the GLE front spoiler replaced with the spolier with the fog lights. On Dec 8, 2:57 pm, TonyInClearwater <tonyinclearwa...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > On Dec 7, 9:48 pm, TonyInClearwater <tonyinclearwa...@yahoo.com> > > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > replaced with the 1998 lights. I also had the GLE front spoiler > replaced with the spolier with the fog lights. By the way, that valve body upgrade you see on maxima.org, is catered to the performance oriented enthusiasts who want to make their tranny shift faster. I'm not so sure it will enhance reliability of the tranny, though. CD >I have a 1996 Nissan maxima that I love owning, driving, and >maintaining. [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] >rest of my life; >http://forums.maxima.org/members/tonyinclearwater-albums-clean-black-maxima.html Are you sure that synthetic fluid is made for your tranny? I'd ask a dealer. Dont rely on what it says on the bottle. They just want to make a sale, they dont care if it works or not. > On Sun, 7 Dec 2008 18:48:22 -0800 (PST), TonyInClearwater > [quoted text clipped - 57 lines] > I'd ask a dealer. Dont rely on what it says on the bottle. They just > want to make a sale, they dont care if it works or not. Synthetic oils do everything thing that dino oils do, but better. Compatibilty is not an issue. CD You probably did this already but I'm just going to suggest it anyway. When you check your tranny fluid level, do you do it per the FSM? Engine warm, at idle? I didn't know I had to check it that way so my level was off. Luckily not by much so no problems from it. I helped a friend drain and fill their Caravan but we didn't know it also had to be checked when warm and at idle. The level was off and kept slipping pretty bad. Fill up properly and no slippage. I changed to Amsoil at around 40K. I flush my tranny by running the engine method. I try to flush it every 30K. Over kill but I too like the OP want my car to last forever. Now at 137K and the tranny still shifts smooth. I've read that the valve body upgrade extends a tranny's life. Another thing that could help is put in an AT fluid cooler > Another thing that could help is put in an AT fluid cooler What's interesting on several Nissans, Maxima included, is that the radiator is also a tranny cooler. Upgrading to an independant and more effective tranny cooler is a cinch because all you need to do is disconnect the 2 tranny fluid hoses from the radiator and plug them into your new tranny cooler. CD |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.