FeelthePathos95 Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 So I'm still driving my rusty '95 while continuing to look for a replacement. It's had a tranny issue for 6 months or more that I've had several places look at with no one able to give me a satisfactory answer. Thought I'd turn to the board and see what opinions are. The issue is that it started sometimes falling out of highway gear and back into third, then staying there in failsafe mode. So I'd be going say 55 or 60, rpms normal and I'd feel it shudder a bit and fall back into 3rd and rpms jump to 4,000 or more. Took it to Nissan dealer. They said they couldn't reproduce the problem and shrugged their shoulders. Thanks, Nissan. Took it to two indys since then. Told them my guess was bad shift solenoid. One looked at it and said he verified that tranny computer is OK, wiring OK, solenoids OK. They changed fluid and filter, said they found a small piece of metal in pan. They got it shifting normally again but recommended new tranny. After a short while, the tranny went back into limp mode. The second guy I took it to changed fluid again, said it looked burnt. Recommended new tranny. I wonder if he thought it was burnt because I had added some Lucas transmission additive to it over the summer to see if that would make any difference. I also had started having a problem with neutral safety switch not engaging, so had him replace that. Lately, tranny has gone back to normal operation. Not getting the flashing indicator light when I start it that indicates problem with tranny. Could this all just be electrical somewhere that no one diagnosed? Trying to figure out why this intermittent problem would persist and then actually get better rather than worse. Car has 158,000 miles on it, so not high mileage on tranny. Driving it with O/D off now, as last indy told me tranny won't engage into O/D anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 What fluid was used by the shop? Lucas transmission additive is gorilla snot that thickens up the fluid and nothing else. I suggest getting 3 gallons of fluid (SuperTech Dex/Merc is fine) and doing a cooler line fluid exchange so you know the fluid is fresh and what type is in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelthePathos95 Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 Gorilla snot! Love it. Yeah, guess I learned a lesson there. At the time, though, was being told the tranny was a goner, so figured why not. Last Indy put the proper Dextron fluid in it. It's an automatic, by the way. Frame rust may take vehicle to Pathy heaven before the tranny at this rate. Just stumped over what's really going on and thought a board member or two might have seen or heard of similar issues and resolutions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 3 jugs of SuperTech should be under $40, it may be worth a try. If nothing improves, maybe adjust TPS, clean MAF, change fuel filter, ensure dropping resistor for the transmission has the proper resistance... can't think of anything else that is cheap and easy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelthePathos95 Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 Thanks much! Educate me, if you will: How would fouled MAF or fuel filter cause tranny to go into limp mode? Wasn't aware there could be any such interaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 It seems like a few things are possible. You may have an intermittent short or poor connection that someone moving wires about might have 'improved', the transmission might have needed a flush/new/proper fluid badly, and flushing the tranny might have removed blockage from the cooler/pathways allowing the tranny to run cooler. Hard to tell at this point... My recommendations for everyone with an auto tranny is put in some type of in line filter and a temp gauge. Watching the temp gauge will probably make you install an after market cooler in some configuration... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelthePathos95 Posted November 28, 2013 Author Share Posted November 28, 2013 Where I live the temps get below freezing on a daily basis this time of year. Noticed the tranny doing better coincident with the temps falling.Maybe no more than coincidence, but ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RF600 Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 Clean out your cooler as well. You can use mineral spirits to clean it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pav Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 How old/strong is your current battery? Were you putting any load on your electrical system when the transmission when into safe mode? The only time this ever happened to be was because of a weak battery...fixed that and never had a problem again. If you check the FSM there is a way to reset the transmission computer as well as do a diagnostic check in case its something more complex. Same flashing light principle for reading codes off of the main computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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