01gle auto transmission problem - caused by bad tcm??

*unrealii* · 04-05-2008, 11:54 PM

Hi all, here's my novel with the atx in my 2001 gle. Build date is oct 2000. IIRC, the dealer's computer says Oct 26, 2000 build date. I missed the date to be included in NTB00-039a TSB Flushed the fluid at ever 25k miles. Currently at 104100 miles.

35.5k - bought this car from my dad. Transmission shifted smoothly. It was precise. I let off the gas, it would immediately upshift in a nice and crisp way. Felt there was a direct connection with my brain, foot, gas pedal, transmission - it was pure sex.
45k - Shifts became a little sloppy - seemed almost to happen over night. There would always be a slight bump with most shifts...wasnt as precise as it was 10k miles ago. Also my car would cruise at ~2300 rpm while at 60 instead of 2100 when it was cold. Eventually it would drop down to 2100 where it should be. I wasnt able to convince the dealer anything was wrong.
59k - purchased nissan security plus warranty thinking if its going bad, it will fail within the next 3/36k - covering me through 95k miles
95k - warranty expires. Transmission is still crappy like it was at 45k...barely got any worse so I assumed thats the way it would stay.
101k - fluid flush from the dealership
103k - transmission has trouble catching 1-2 and 2-3 when on cold start and driving in neighborhood. The car repeatedly tries to catch the gears and keeps trying until it does while shaking the car - gears are not slammed. However, once the car is warmed up, if I push it hard it will slip on at least the 2-3 and slams once the rpm goes 500-1000 higher.
104k - Had an independent shop look at the car. They said all electronics are fine. Fluid is smells burnt even though color is good. Said there is mechanical issues and transmission needs to be rebuilt. They gave me a price of 2250 where they would take the trans out and sent it over to a partner shop near by. Replace all what needs replacing, then send it back. 2 year, 24k mile warranty. This shop is AAA approved ..not sure if that meant anything. Not sure how I feel about this shop since 1) They forgot to slide the rubber piece between the spring and the strut when installing my eibachs...made them redo it since I didnt want the noise of the strut hitting the spring.
2) The guy working on my car this time backed it up into a sign while parking it. No damage, but kinda stupid to do since he works at that place and should know not to back the car that far back.

Rough estimate from the dealership without looking into the computer was 3500 for a rebuild. I did not take it in yet as I do not want a record of this problem in their computer. They will get a rebuilt unit from nissan. Not sure if that is the better way. I'm pretty sure I can get it done cheaper by that dealership.

Driving habits: I push my car hard, but do not abuse it. I always let it warm up before pushing it hard. It rarely sees redline. Often gets 4.5k-5k when merging onto these california freeways. I have flushed the fluid by the dealership at 25k intervals. This car gets pushed much harder on turns and braking as that is where all of my mods are. Drivetrain is 100% stock.

I'm concerned about two things:
1) Who should I go to for the rebuild. Should I get a transgo shift kit installed too? Anyone have any experiences with the dealership installing one on a nissan rebuilt transmission.
2) Are the days of the precise shifting which my car did at 35.5k gone? If I'm dumping money for this repair, I would like it to be exactly like new. I am wondering what caused the sudden change...Is it a possibility for a bad tcm? I am not sure which part number I have in my car. I can pull my radio out and check. Can the TCM be reprogrammed. My dealer checks my ecu to make sure I have the latest software anytime I go there for any major service.

*SoonerFan* · 04-05-2008, 11:58 PM

sounds like a bad TCM...but by now, it probably wore the tranny out and it may need a rebuild.

first, call daveb and get a new TCM (around $490) and go from there

*Scottwax* · 04-06-2008, 12:05 AM

If the TCM doesn't do it, then look for a low mileage used transmission first.

*SoonerFan* · 04-06-2008, 12:08 AM

btw, my info is from experience with my old 00 GLE

tranny went out soon after i bought it and it was changed under warranty...i was still new to maximas so knew nothing about the TCM...about 1 year later i got the same symptoms on the new tranny which made me realize the TCM caused the other one to go out. replaced it and never had a problem.

*unrealii* · 04-06-2008, 09:53 PM

Just curious...what do you guys attribute the tcm to?

1) Transmission failing at 104k
2) Transmission becoming sloppy at 45k
3) Both of the above.

*SoonerFan* · 04-06-2008, 10:34 PM

the problem upshifting

*unrealii* · 04-11-2008, 01:09 PM

Driving the car this week was a pain. I babied it to the bone. When starting the car, drove around in "2", then bumped to "D" once it was warmed up. Kept it out of "od" until on the freeways. Avoided all type of shifts as much as possible. I'm sure my gas mileage took a hit.

Installed the new TCM today. Took about an hour. Having an aftermarket stereo just makes things worse as there are more wires in that area to work with. I came across a black box which said shift (computer or unit..dont remember) which I thought was the tcm until I held it next to the new TCM and realized the plugs were different. TCM was underneath that shift computer. Model number of the old TCM: 31036-4Y901 - which is the unit referenced in the TSB. New replacement unit is 31036-4Y960. Good thing is that I double checked all my wires and found 3 crimps on my steering wheel audio controls to the swi-x which were loose, so I recrimped them. That explains why my steering wheel controls would randomly not work.

Went for a drive. Car was already warmed up, so did not have a chance to test the 1-2 mis-catch/shift. I was able to get it to slip on a 2-3, but the tcm/ecu knew what to do and didnt slam the gear. Upshifts are still a little sloppy, not sure if it is better than before or not. Not concluding anything at the moment until all monitors in the ECU are ready.

My trans fluid looks ok...but smells a burnt. Should I have it flushed or just leave it? I was thinking of flushing it after I do the TCM A-B test.

hi-tek22 · 04-11-2008, 01:55 PM

One question ive always wondered, and maybe some one can enlighten me. BUT, how do you determine if the transmission fluid smells burnt.....

*unrealii* · 04-11-2008, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hi-tek22

One question ive always wondered, and maybe some one can enlighten me. BUT, how do you determine if the transmission fluid smells burnt.....

I have the same problem. I am going from what the mechanic is saying. I have a bottle of new atf. I'll take a whiff of that, then what's in my car and I'll know.

*SoonerFan* · 04-11-2008, 03:45 PM

fresh ATF is pink

old is brown and smells different

the pink appearance is a dye that is made to go away as its used. when its brown, its time to change it

http://www.aa1car.com/library/atf.htm

*nsnrider* · 04-11-2008, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hi-tek22

One question ive always wondered, and maybe some one can enlighten me. BUT, how do you determine if the transmission fluid smells burnt.....

I would assume you have to smell it?

dineth00i30 · 04-11-2008, 07:07 PM

please dont think im thread jacking but my question is you said that you made sure that you always have the latest software. so does that mean our cars ecu need to updated like a computer and that the dealer just do it for free or you have to pay for it?(i did search but nothing helpfull really didnt come up, maybe i searched with the wrong words.) you symptoms kinda sounds like the symptoms of my car i hope they go away after my tranny fluid change.

a question of the op: were shifts not smooth under 2ooo rpm?(my car the shifts are hard under 2k and and smoother in higher revs)

*unrealii* · 04-12-2008, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dineth00i30

a question of the op: were shifts not smooth under 2ooo rpm?(my car the shifts are hard under 2k and and smoother in higher revs)

Looks like its not the TCM. 1-2 has some trouble catching when cold. 2-3 & 3-4 can slip if I push the car. Looks like its a new trans for me.

Also, forgot to mention, the car jerks at approx ~37 mph while decelerating (braking). This also started happening around 45k and magically went away some time after. I seem to be noticing it again now.

My shifts were not smooth all over. Sometimes the trans shifts smoothly, sometimes not.

Nissan does not make ECU updates that often at all. My dealership just does it as a courtesy to me since I had brought my car to them for a lot of warranty work, & major maintenance items like brakes, trans flushes, etc.

njmaxseltd · 04-13-2008, 10:42 AM

Wasn't there an issue with valve body's on early 5th gen transmissions?
My parents had a 2000 Max that had sloppy shifts. It went in for a recall and if my memory serves me correctly a new valve body was installed in the trans. The car shifted perfectly ever since.

*unrealii* · 04-13-2008, 01:22 PM

Yeah, there's a tsb for new solenoids which go into the valve body as well as a new tcm. My car doesn't fall under that tsb.

Decided I am not going to flush the fluid. No point dumping money on this trans. Still trying to decide if I want to go with a junk yard trans or a nissan rebuilt. Car drives fine and as long as I feel it wont strand me anywhere, I'm going to keep driving it.

RR5 · 04-13-2008, 09:22 PM

This sounds like exactly what is happening in my 2002 SE.

Cold start, from Reverse into Drive, the car just crawls so slow. When accelerating off, the transmission becomes sluggish. It does not want to smoothly shift from 1 into 2, and has problems with 2 to 3.

Then when everything warms up, the problems are gone.

I am kind of lost as to what I can buy/replace to fix this before I tank another auto trans.

*unrealii* · 04-22-2008, 04:54 PM

RR5, sorry I cant help you. Not too good at these things.

Anways here's a car update.
-rough idle when waiting at signals for more than 10 secs or so. (as of this weekend)
-car has stalled a few times when I put it in park (as of this weekend)
-Sometimes still has trouble on the 1-2 while cold
-2-3 slips when driving the car hard
-slight jerk when decelerating 40-35mph
-shifts are still jerky
-replaced tcm, no change
-Fluid smells burnt, but color is ok. I found a very small metal chip in the fluid on the stick when I checked it.

Got a quote from the dealership:
$1000 labor
$1950 reman nissan trans

It was originally 3371, I haggled with them on the part since it was marked up quite a bit so I was able to get it down to $2950. Does that seem like a reasonable price. I dont have time to deal with any other shops if they dont do it right. I think the labor seems a bit on the high end What do you guys think? Quoted a full day's worth of work to r&r the trans.

Probably going to do a throttle body cleaning and fuel injector cleaning to take care of idle. It has been a while since I have done this.

*Scottwax* · 04-22-2008, 05:14 PM

$1000 is insane to install a transmission. Shouldn't be more than $400 or so. Good price for a reman though.

*unrealii* · 04-22-2008, 05:33 PM

Thanks Scott. Much appreciated for your feedback.

Anyone know how many hours the nissan book says for transmission r&r?

*unrealii* · 04-22-2008, 07:57 PM

Another dealer said 10 hours after talking to the master tech. Other one had given me an informal number of 9. Since the rate is around $100 per hour, I guess thats ok?

5 hours does see like a long time to either remove or install a transmission. I've had too many other mechanics and dealers mess simple things up. This dealer so far has an exceptional track record with my car at the moment. I'm thinking I may just go with them unless some says (with backing of a related tsb or flat rate manual) the entire job should take less than 5 hours tops.

Thanks for all of your help!!

Torgus · 04-22-2008, 10:36 PM

i'll do it for $800

*unrealii* · 08-13-2008, 01:04 PM

Forgot to give an update.

Took it to the dealer back in april, they looked at the car and said trans is ok. I'm not seeing any shavings in the fluid and fluid looks ok now. I'm guessing next time I flush the fluid these problems will occur again.
Dealer replaced maf for the rough idle issues. Car also feels better on the top end and I gained 1-2mpg back.

Shifts are still a little sloppy, but car hasn't slipped. On cold start, sometimes 1-2 takes a little long to engage, but not as bad as it was a few months back.

One thing which concerns me is while decelerating, at exactly the the 37.5mph mark, I usually get a jerk from the car. Is that the tc unlocking or what? This has been happening for the last 50k or so miles.

*sublime258* · 08-13-2008, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unrealii

Forgot to give an update.

Took it to the dealer back in april, they looked at the car and said trans is ok. I'm not seeing any shavings in the fluid and fluid looks ok now. I'm guessing next time I flush the fluid these problems will occur again.
Dealer replaced maf for the rough idle issues. Car also feels better on the top end and I gained 1-2mpg back.

Shifts are still a little sloppy, but car hasn't slipped. On cold start, sometimes 1-2 takes a little long to engage, but not as bad as it was a few months back.

One thing which concerns me is while decelerating, at exactly the the 37.5mph mark, I usually get a jerk from the car. Is that the tc unlocking or what? This has been happening for the last 50k or so miles.

So you're saying that you think these problems were caused by flushing your transmission fluid??