is this an indication of a transmission problem?

[vtecluvr]

for the past week or so my car has been acting funny. i have a 93 nissan sentra (automatic) every time i go to start my car i need to play around with the shifter, keep pushing it into park. and its been getting worse. sometimes i have to play around with it to turn my car off. also the shifter has been sticking alot, it doesnt slide into drive or reverse ect. easily (which it always has). im wondering if this might be a problem with my tranny or if its just a problem with the shifter itself. i would really appreciate any input anyone could give me. thanks a bunch.

[fritz_269]

It could be either, I honestly don't know too much about your particular tranny - but the first thing I would do is to check the fluid level.

Low fluid in the tranny can cause all sorts of strange behaviors.

[enginerd]

If you are not able to shut the car off unless you fumble with the shifter, the shift linkages are worn/ out of alignment/ hanging up on something. What my guess is that a pin in a linkage has fallen out of place and is hanging and thus allowing the rest of the assembly to move in ways it is not designed to do.

[vtecluvr]

thanks for the info. i appreciate it.

[texan]

You might also want to check the trans lock, I am almost positive that car was built after every car sold in America had to have the "brake pedal being pushed in order to engage any gear" switch (possibly not the mechanism's official name ). An old Volvo that was in the family was notorious for being difficult to shift, especially out of park, becuase the switches were poorly designed.

[Rich]

Originally posted by texan
You might also want to check the trans lock, I am almost positive that car was built after every car sold in America had to have the "brake pedal being pushed in order to engage any gear" switch (possibly not the mechanism's official name

I had a similar problem on a chevy 1/2 ton, and it turned out to be that switch.

btw, i think its technical name is "Brake Shift Interlock"