Questions and Answers

Maxima Won't Move In Drive Q. My 1994 Nissan Maxima has recently developed a strange characteristic and I have not been able to determine the cause. The auto transmission will not engage in drive. It will however, engage in low 2, I can then shift up to drive and it seems to be fine.

I checked the fluid and it was a little low, so I topped it off. The problem still persists. The fluid looks fine it is still red and appears to be clean. Can you give me an idea of what the problem could be?

Sincerely,
Scott

A. Okay Scott, lets try to put this puppy into self-diagnostic mode and see what we get.

1. Start the engine and warm it up to normal operating temperature.
2. Turn the ignition switch OFF.
3. Set the A/T mode switch to AUTO.
4. Turn the OD switch ON.
5. Move the gear selector to PARK.
6. Turn the ignition switch ON. (Do not start the engine.)

If the POWER light comes on, continue on. If not then the A/T Control Unit is probably bad.

1. Move the gear selector to the D position while stepping on the brake pedal.
2. Turn the ignition switch OFF.
3. Turn the OD switch OFF.
4. Turn the ignition switch ON. (Do not start the engine.)
5. Move the gear selector to 2.
6. Turn the OD switch ON.
7. Move the gear selector to 1.
8. Turn the OD switch OFF.
9. Depress gas pedal fully and release it.
10. Read the POWER lamp.

The POWER lamp will start blinking to indicate the stored codes. There will be ten flashes in all. The way it shows the code is by a long flash. So a code three would flash like this:

Short - Short - Long - Short - Short. The short flashes are one second and the long flashes are two seconds long with a one second pause between flashes. When you get the code. let me know and we'll go from there.