Questions and Answers
Another Shiftless Nissan Sentra
Q. All of a sudden, the car won't shift gears. It will go up to about 60 Km (40 mph) and then nothing. Wish I could be more help, but that is the only symptom. We've taken it to a mechanic and he says to take to a transmission expert because he can't figure out what's wrong.
1995 Nissan Sentra
Automatic transmission
95000 km (I live in Canada)
Carb
ABS brakes
P/SAny ideas?
Thanks.A. Two things come to mind here, the first is the kick down cable is too tight. That cable goes from the carburetor to the transmission and is adjustable.
The other, and I think, more likely possibility is a stripped governor gear. Open the hood and look at the top of the transmission. You will see a black cover held by a big clip. Pop open the clip and take off the cover. That is the transmission governor. You may or may not be able to turn it by hand, if you can, then it's definitely stripped, if not, pop it out and look at it. There are a couple of bolts holding it in, take out the bolts and pull the governor straight out. There is a bronze gear on the bottom and if it looks like a half moon, then it's stripped. if it's nice and straight, it's okay. That gear is replaceable separately. There is a roll pin that holds it in place. Using a suitable tool, tap the roll pin out and slide the gear off. Go to a Nissan dealer and get a new gear (replacement gears are a hard plastic). Slide it on and replace the roll pin, with a new one if possible.
Slide the governor back in, bolt it down and replace the cover and take it for a ride. That should take care of the problem. There's no need to mark anything, there is no special alignment for the governor. I really think this will fix you up because this is a common problem with that car.
