Nissan Maxima question

[TheGrey]

We have a 2001 Nissan Maxima. It's an automatic. For some reason, it's been giving us some problems shifting into gear. It's only happening intermittently; one mechanic couldn't find the issue, another ran a diagnostic and did a radiator flush. That shut off the "check engine" light, but the problem persists. I checked online and it could be electrical, mechanical, or gremlins. Anyone have suggestions or experience in these matters?

[ray1970]

I say trade it off. It's fourteen years old.

[ray1970]

Maybe get yourself a nice Murano or something.

[zteknik]

How man miles on it when they did the transmission flush? Most of the times if a vehicle has high mileage -over 100k a transmission flush usually makes an issue worse. The old fluid acts as a binder and when new fluid is put in it is more slick and whatever parts are worn start slipping because it has no gripping materiel so to say.
Could be worn bands, valve body, and or solenoids.
Does it have a hard shift or is it more like a slip into gear? Only real way to tell what is going on is with the proper scan tool and a pressure gauge. Some vehicles may not throw a check engine light but still have some sort of codes in the transmission control module memory. I do not know Nissans well enough just only the basics.
Wish I could help more..

[MrPrena]

My sister recently bought 2002 Accord with some transmission issue. After driving it, I told em that it is most likely from previous putting regular ATF instead of Honda ATF DW1.
After changing it twice within a month (not through the pan, but through the plug), it works great.

[TheGrey]

Trade her in? No can do- this is hubby's 'baby' and he's pretty attached. I understand- I wouldn't want to trade in my Jeep.

It's a hard shift from reverse to drive...and it says "CLUNK." When driving, there are times when it won't go into a higher gear. He has to pull it over and put it into park, then into drive again and it's fine.

I appreciate your responses. I suppose we'll have to take her into a place specializing in transmissions. I found a place called "Budget Transmissions" in Centennial that had pretty excellent reviews. Has anyone been there before? Oh, and Goodyear did let us know that changing the fluids might cause some issues. We'd changed the fluids in the radiator before and were mindful of the possibility, but it needed to be done.

[Irving]

Changing fluids in the radiator is no issue with age, just the transmission.

[Dave]

I don't know that model very well, but shouldn't there be neutral in between reverse and drive? Try backing up, coming to a complete stop, shift to neutral for a couple of seconds and then shifting to drive. This kind of problem can happen in cars where people back out of a parking spot and throw the car into drive while still rolling backward as it can damage everything from the bands, the gears, the torque converter or the shift linkage.