Nissan Maxima - AT - Transmission stalls when car stops quickly or slows down ...

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

SGOWDA - 20 Sep 2004 16:55 GMT

Hi,

I have a 1992 Nissan Maxima with Automatic Transmission. I have
noticed that in the last couple of weeks, when I brake and if the car
stops quickly, the transmission sort of stalls and the whole car seems
to go to neutral and a couple of seconds later, the car downshifts to
its lowest gear - the gear you go into when you start to drive from a
complete stop. Any idea as to why this is happening? Otherwise, the
engine seems to be running fine. No warning lights.
If I brake slowly, the car seems to downshift smoothly. But on
congested highways it is hard to brake slowly :-) Also, on no occasion
has the engine stalled and turned off.

Any help or advice would be deeply appreciated.

- SG

Reply to this Message

jjjsan - 21 Sep 2004 04:27 GMT

How many miles, and when was trans fluid changed out.

Reply to this Message

Jon Smith - 21 Sep 2004 04:55 GMT

Torque converter is not unlocking. You could change the fluid to see if
that will provide the fix. But, ther eis a valve actuator that applies
and releases the lockup torque converter. It is probably going to be
that electronic valve. It is not the torque converter but the valve
that tells the converter when to lock and unlock. A quick fix is to
unplug the sensor and then the converter will not lock up. But, this
will cause the transmission to run hotter than normal so it is only
temporary. You will need to get the valve replaced. If memory serves
me correctly you will have to drop the drivetrain to get access to the
side cover as the frame rail on the driver side is in the way of getting
that pan off. The valve is inside...

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> - SG

Reply to this Message

me - 21 Sep 2004 12:48 GMT

It the control valve. You have to drop the trans pan and a few bolts that
hold the Valve Body to the trans. The part runs around $385.00 and is not
really that hard to change.

Here is a link on how to get to the Control Valve.

http://www.vqpower.com/v2/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=60

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> - SG

Reply to this Message

SGOWDA - 22 Sep 2004 06:40 GMT

> It the control valve. You have to drop the trans pan and a few bolts that
> hold the Valve Body to the trans. The part runs around $385.00 and is not
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> >
> > - SG

Thank you for the information. Since two posts confirm that it is the
control valve, that must be what is going on. Since I am not very
mechanically inclined nor do I have the tools to change the valve by
myself, I will have to go the local auto repair shop and have them
look at it. Anybody have any idea what the cost of getting this
control valve changed would be? Thanks again for yours and Jon
Smith's help. I really appreciate it.

One more question: The car has approx. 165000 miles on it. The last
time the transmission fluid was changed was approx. 2 years ago - at
approx. 120000 miles. The car is worth approx. $3400. Do you think I
can live with this problem till the car gives out? Is there any
danger with driving the car as is? The only reason I am bringing this
up, is if the car repair runs around $600 or something in that range,
do you think I should get it repaired? :-)

- SG

Reply to this Message

SGOWDA - 20 Oct 2004 15:02 GMT

I just wanted to update this thread on what has happened recently with
my Maxima. I had posted a question as to how to change the
transmission fluid on my Maxima and somebody suggested that he instead
got a transmission flush done for around $60 - which in turn also
helped his gear slippage issues. I thought it wouldn't hurt to do the
same on my car. I have waited two weeks since the flush was done.
And the car transmission has been only getting better and smoother.
And haven't had the gears slip not once so far. Touch wood. But it
seems to have fixed the problem. I would like to suggest this to
other folks before they attempt to do other repairs. Thanks.

- SG

> > It the control valve. You have to drop the trans pan and a few bolts that
> > hold the Valve Body to the trans. The part runs around $385.00 and is not
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
>
> - SG

Reply to this Message