Slipping Automatic Transmission

[paulesz]

1998 Nissan Maxima SE
75,000 miles

I have had my car for five years and I have put on about 20,000 highway miles so far this year. Last month I noticed that the automatic transmission was shifting at higher RPMs than normal. I also noticed that the transmission was slipping when I accelerate. At first the symptoms were subtle, but they progressively got worse. The transmission had not been serviced since I bought the car at 10,000 miles, so I figured that was my primary problem. I drained the fluid and replaced the transaxle filter on Sunday and that helped it from shifting at higher RPMs, but it's still slipping. All the electrical wires inside the transaxle looked good, but the magnets in the pan were pretty fuzzy with metal shavings. The repair manual made it sound like that was normal and I didn't find any chunks on the magnets or in the filter, so I'm not sure if that's an issue or not. I've gone through the Chilton Repair Manual and it really doesn't give me any other ideas for troubleshooting the transaxle. Any help in solving this problem would be greatly appreciated.

[jmd102]

Sounds like the damage has been done sir. Sometimes changing the fluid can aggravate a slipping problem.
Was the fluid brown or burnt partially? If so, not really a good thing. I would take the car to a reputable transmission shop and have them raod test it and see what their opinion is. Could be good news or bad news...but i'd expect the latter. Good luck and hope you find someone qualified and reputable to check it out for you.
Mark

[Pick]

NIssan's 4-speed auto certainly isn't the strongest transmission, and it sounds like you may have aggravated that. I'd have that looked at pronto. It can only get worse from here. Like as mentioned above, take it to a shop and have them look at it. It wouldn't be far-fetched for you to possibly need a new tranny.......let's hope not.

[paulesz]

I drove my car again today and it didn't feel as if it was driving any better. I checked the ATF that I took out originally on Sunday but it didn't have a burnt smell to it. I took out some of the fluid in the AT because I think we put in a little too much, but I don't think that has solved my problems. So I contacted Nissan today and I will bring my car in to have it checked out. I bought the extended Service Warranty originally when I bought the car, but it expired on 11/29/03. The Consumer Affairs department said they may be able to work something out with me so I won't have to pay for all the repairs. Keep your fingers crossed. PS