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Auto Tranny Issues When cold


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Hey guys,


I just moved to Denver from Phoenix AZ, and a problem which affected me once in a blue moon (like twice in 2 years, when i went to Flag in the winter) is giving me alot of grief here now its cold.

 

Basically, when the truck is dead cold (first start after an overnight), if I shift into drive or reverse, the truck stalls. If I gun it and do a neutral drop, it will go, but its very obvious that its working harder then normal... Once I'm moving - it rushes to 2nd or 3rd gear waaaaay before it should and then grumbles about being at super low RPM, like 800RPM while doing like 20MPH. It feels very...mushy at this point.

 

Basically, it feels like to me that the torque converter is locked - that explains the stalls. Maybe a shift solinoid on first causes to move on too quickly?

 

This only happens below...oh.....20F. (hence the twice in two years in PHX), and goes away as soon as the truck has rolled a 1/4 mile - the first stoplight by my place- it then operates like normal. If I sit and warm the truck up for 10 minutes before I leave, it doesnt do it (torque converter pumping warms the fluid?).

 

Fluid was changed at 170K, and at 205K with OEM Nissan Jmatic. Truck has 208K.

 

Again, this is nothing new - and its been doing it for the last 40k miles...except it hasn't, because it was never cold enough lol.

Edited by Inyourface1650
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I think its got the right stuff in it.....is that an option though, maybe I should switch fluids. What i'm hoping is I dont need a valve body cleaning or something, though it would make sense if there wasnt enough pressure somewhere due to a valve being blocked or something....

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Ever done a pan drop and filter change? The pan filter is a rock catcher, so it probably hasn't caught much, but it wouldn't hurt to rule it out either.

 

Lubeguard Red is a transmission additive that may help with your issue. Many transmission shops use it and can back it up. I also use it in my trans and it seems to have smoothed out shifts, especially in and out of overdrive.

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Started right up in -17 this morning and shifted no problem. I Dont get it. I appreciate the advice on the additive, but these vehicles were designed to start and drive at -40F with OEM fluid and no driveability issues.... Since I'm running OEM fluid I still think something is not quite right. I'd rather not add something if I dont have too...

 

Though it is my understanding that the newer Matic isn't quite the same as the old original stuff.

 

MIke

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Interesting update -if I am double foot the thing, left foot on the brake, right foot on the gas, ~1500RPM - I can go into drive/reverse no issue - so maybe its not a Torque converter thing at all and possibly the tranny trying to start in 2nd or third. Definitely does work, makes getting out of my parallel parking spot in the morning a bit noisy but hey....

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Sounds a lot like something mine pulled a while back. I left the lights on in a parking lot, killed the battery, and then when I got a jump it ran fine... until it warmed up and I took my foot off the gas, at which point it stalled. It ran fine cold, but I had to drive two footed once it warmed up. Then it cleared up. My dad and I had been messing with the MAF and TPS wiring, and he swore he'd done something with the airbox that had done the trick... I packed the MAF and TPS connectors with dielectric and haven't had a problem since. All I know is that it wasn't a problem with the fluid. Maybe the trans computer got confused by the battery dying?

 

Anyway it couldn't hurt to check the plugs for the engine sensors and the transmission, make sure they're still making good contact. Maybe it's just a bad connection somewhere.

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  • 9 years later...
On 1/9/2013 at 2:58 AM, Inyourface1650 said:

Hey guys,


I just moved to Denver from Phoenix AZ, and a problem which affected me once in a blue moon (like twice in 2 years, when i went to Flag in the winter) is giving me alot of grief here now its cold.

 

Basically, when the truck is dead cold (first start after an overnight), if I shift into drive or reverse, the truck stalls. If I gun it and do a neutral drop, it will go, but its very obvious that its working harder then normal... Once I'm moving - it rushes to 2nd or 3rd gear waaaaay before it should and then grumbles about being at super low RPM, like 800RPM while doing like 20MPH. It feels very...mushy at this point.

 

Basically, it feels like to me that the torque converter is locked - that explains the stalls. Maybe a shift solinoid on first causes to move on too quickly?

 

This only happens below...oh.....20F. (hence the twice in two years in PHX), and goes away as soon as the truck has rolled a 1/4 mile - the first stoplight by my place- it then operates like normal. If I sit and warm the truck up for 10 minutes before I leave, it doesnt do it (torque converter pumping warms the fluid?).

 

Fluid was changed at 170K, and at 205K with OEM Nissan Jmatic. Truck has 208K.

 

Again, this is nothing new - and its been doing it for the last 40k miles...except it hasn't, because it was never cold enough lol.

 

Hey Inyourface1650,

did you every resolve the issue? very keen to understand if/how you fixed it. 

i have a very similar issue, stalling when ever the vehicle has sat off for a period (say ~8hrs), it doesnt seem to be temperature related for me (NZ temps, around 10degC min (50F)),  the stall occurs in any gear and when revs ~1500rpm. once it has occurred and the TC unlocks itself? it doesnt occur again. if i let it warm up for a few min before revving it up it typically doesnt occur, if i creep down the road it eventually does that jump up in gear that you mention and feels like it may stall, once i stop at the first intersection it doesnt happen again.

 

any help would be epic, been battling away with this for over a year or so.

 

Cheers

Mike

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