99 Maxima Automatic Transmission Slipping?
Jamm
miles on it. If I come to a rolling stop then accelerate it seems like
the transmission "slips". Almost feels like a clutch going bad on a
manual transmission. If I am at a complete stop then accelerate
everything seems fine. This seems to be worse when the engine is cold.
I never really noticed it when the car was brand new, but then I was
going from a crappy Saturn SL1 to a Maxima. Is this something that
could be traced down and fixed? Or is this just a characteristic of
Maxima auto trans.
Another thing I notice is between 45-55 Mph. If I am holding a steady
speed then let off the accelerator to coast, the car jerks slightly
then coasts. It doesn't just go from a steady speed to a nice coast
like I think it should. Is this normal?
Any help/tips/advice/ideas greatly appreciated.
Jason
ten.etg@mmaj (email backwards)
GZ
quite often when starting to move from a full stop, I get a slight jerk.
Have to work really hard to make it smooth, like in no other car. Brought
to the dealership, and, of course, they don't feel that. Do you get
anything similar ?
Regarding the second point, I get exactly the same thing. It has nothing to
do with O/D on/off, I always get it (go steady at 45-60, release the gas
pedal, there it is, then again a slight shudder when stepping back on the
gas) I found something like that in the Maximas service bulletins
(http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/). I asked the dealership about
that, they seemed to hate me just for telling them I know about the service
bulletins. Asked me to give the exact number of it, didn't have it then,
but now looked it up and will go back with that. Here's the title of the
bulletin:
Service Bulletin Number: NTB98-111
Bulletin Sequence Number: 395
Date of Bulletin: 9901
NHTSA Item Number: SB603932
Make: NISSAN
Model: MAXIMA
Year: 1998
Component: POWER TRAIN:TRANSMISSION:AUTOMATIC
Summary: AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION ON/OFF THROTTLE SHOCK. *YC
I've seen the body of the bulletin at another dealership while investigating
my move from the stop problem, it think it says the shock exists between
50-60 mph, and it can be fixed by replacing ECU. If you get it fixed sooner
than I do (and I'm not fast at all), please tell me about how it went and if
it helped.
Gedas
Jamm <*tw...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:37f0b590...@news.gte.net...
dt
I'm used to driving jap cars so I expect the usual shifting jerks. Did you
ever floor it at about 20-25 mph... it'll do that big jerk and take off like
you'd expect in a sporty car.
GZ <gedim...@nextagetech.com> wrote in message
news:7smq22$9...@journal.concentric.net...
Jamm
my story now. As for your question of a "jerk" from a complete stop,
I'd have to say no. When I take off from a complete stop everything
seems fine. I seem to only have probs when taking off from a rolling
stop or coasting around 45-60mph.
Jason
Mark Wilson
jerk from stop and the 45-60 jerk. I'll elaborate:
1. Jerk from stop. This problem was apparent when the car was
purchased. Its my wife's car so I don't drive it full time. It was so bad
that I would have taken it back, it doesn't seem to bother her. After
driving it off and on for over a year, I know it better. If you float a
stop sign (approx 2 mph) you will get the jerk from stop every time. I've
learned to compensate for it by slowing down a little more. About a second
before an average brake pressure stop I can feel the transmission go into
1st gear (feels like a quiet thump). If you start up before this thump you
will get the startup jerk and the acceleration will be tempered. If you
start after the thump, you can generate a good acceleration without the
initial jerk.
2. The 45-60 Jerk. This really drives me crazy. We have a lot of 40
mph roads where I live and typically go around 50. At this speed, the
transmission shifts for very minor accelerator changes. So as attempt to
drive at a constant speed, you invariably provide the gas pedal a little
more, then a little less, a little more, etc. I have attempted to make
smaller and smaller corrections to no avail. The slightest increase in
pressure changes gears, then as you accelerate, the slightest decrease
shifts again. Even when trying to avoid this, It is typical to experience a
shift every three seconds.
I used to have a 91 Nissan Maxima SE that had an electronic transmission
switch (the current SE may still have this ???). The switch selections were
P (power), C (comfort), and N (Normal). When the switch was in C, the
transmission would shift soon after accelerating from a stop thus keeping
rpms down thus making a more comfortable ride due to smaller transition
shifts. When in P, the transmission would wait a little longer and enable a
faster start (which I preferred). N always felt like C to me. The reason
for all this background is that my present day problems with the 98 Maxima
seem a lot like driving the 91 Maxima in C-mode - shifting when you don't
want it to. You can compensate somewhat with your foot, but it really takes
the fun out of driving.
Perhaps the old technology still resides in the newer cars and they are just
limiting our choices - making the SE always in P-mode and the GXE always in
C-mode (I'm curious to know if your 98 is a GXE) If so, there might be a way
of exchanging chips or adding or removing an electronic jumper somewhere.
In conclusion, I think the problem might be with me. I could be driving a
GXE like its an SE.
I wish we had bought an SE.
Mark
-----------------------------------------------
Jamm <ten.etg@mmaj> wrote in message news:37f3f4c7...@news.gte.net...
GZ
spent half an hour demonstrating the problem, they thought I'm stupid. I
test-drove my friends 97 SE (automatic), it doesn't have the initial jerk,
didn't have a chance to test the 45 mph speed.
I don't have many places to drive at 45-50, so I don't experience the other
jerk so often. However, I used to have the frequent transmision shifts (not
jerking, still annoying, as though the car can't make up its mind) between
35-40, for that reason I'd always drive with O/D off in the city.
I wrote about this service bulletin, regarding the 45 mph jerk. I finally
got the dealer to replace ECU (as the bulletin says), and now the frequent
shifting is gone (no need to touch O/D), the transmission acts quite
differently at low speeds, shifting is smoother. Right after the fix I
thought the move-from-the stop jerk dissapeared, but it didn't. Maybe I am
too used to it (my wife is good at reproducing it, though), and the 45 mph
jerk did not disappear. Still, the ride in the city has improved, and
that's something.
G.
Mark Wilson <mwi...@mmcable.com> wrote in message
news:rdmN3.9943$o_2....@typhoon2.kc.rr.com...