rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

Here I go again...

I've been thinking a lot of your advice/opinions (from TCU thread) and I definitely agree with you on many things, it's just a common sense: I need a new Mechanic.

so before asking for advice from you, please allow me to clear something up: First I live on apartment complex, means no garage, not allowed to work on the car unless is just plug-in a sensor or changing a hose, a 20-30 minute thing.

Second, my knowledge have seen some improvements but still I'm not an expert or don't have even 10% the experience most of you guys have.

So, that being said, I was planning to post an ad looking for a Maxima Mechanic around South CA, but I'm also thinking just walk in a few shops and ask how much they will charge to take a look at my car, but before doing so (walk-in blindly into a shop) I would like to hear your opinion/advice.

I think I can't change inhibitor switch (which is bad for sure) because mechanic said he have to lift the car and drop the tranny to replace inhib sw because if fits sideways, is that true? or is BS too?

I know that has nothing to do with the acceleration/shifting issue but at least I would like to get the self diagnostic running.

based on your experience, what could be causing my problem? I mean I have no power at takeoff, but once I get to third gear the car seems to pickup speed very easily, sometimes (if I floor it) tranny stays on 2nd gear for too long (it even doesn't shift) however if I don't floor it I can feel the shift at about 4-4.5k rpm that's from 2nd to 3rd. is this a tranny problem for sure? or engine? please remember I've changed (well the mechanic) TPS, EGR, IACV, and no help.

I can't drive the car like that, I'm not using it right now, I'm worried you know when sometimes you are waiting at green light yield for a left turn, and then you have some space to make it but the car in this situation barely moves if I floor it and takes forever to make it, I think I'm gonna get hit from the incoming traffic. so I don't drive it anymore but I surely need my car.

Thanks in advance again to all for your valuable input.

maximaman1313

VG motor, or VE? check to tranny fluid? also you can smell the fluid to see if maybe something is burned up inside the tranny. compare the smell of the fluid to your other cars tranny fluid. can't really explain how it will smell if its bad, never smelled tranny fluid from a bad tranny.

so basically, at take off, sometimes, its like your starting out in 4th gear(overdrive) ? if thats the case, your tranny is in LIMP mode...meaning it willstay in the last gear, 4th(o/d), meaning you can go 0-140mph in one gear.

I had the problem of my VE auto being stuck in LIMP mode after I had the tranny rebuilt...turns out the guy who installed it bumped the inhibitor switch completely out causing that.

If you know your inhibitor switch is bad, that is the problem with your tranny. it either needs to be adjusted properly, or replaed.

You don't need to take the tranny off or any of the crap as far as I understand. Definately get a new mechanic. I'd reccomend looking for shops that only do transmissions. Talk with them, tell them you think the inhibitor switch is bad or needs adjusting, tell them your problem see what they say.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1206989944

tough call as to whether it's accessible with that mount there or not... but anyhow that's where it is, just below the brake master cylinder.

also does your speedometer work properly? see most of this crap you can test yourself with a DMM and maybe a helper. like the TPS, the other thing, and the stuff. and by that i mean the iacv and EGR. did your so-called mechanic even MENTION vaccuum lines to you?

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

limp home mode is 3rd. both solenoids are off in 3rd. i posted a page in the FSM on the other thread that says so. i even tested it by cutting out my solenoids and then turning them back on but it stayed in 3rd.

main thing is we need a video to see his RPM/speed relationship, narrated by him, to indicate throttle position.

maximaman1313

ah I always thought it was the last and final gear. but ya +1 on a video of him driving around so we can see rpms vs speed

also, is that a pic of the ve or vg switch?

rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

I have a VG, that pict is froma VG too, I will try to make a video and narrate as accurate as I can, but I'm also bad taking video while driving last time I ask my dad to hold the camera for me but he's video was even more shaky than mine LOL

BTW, the so-called mechanic didn't mention vacuum lines, when I mention the hoses he was like... Ohh! I see ok then this one goes here and this one there, he looked like he knew but I guess he was just trying to impress or something.

Oh and he wasn't even able to adjust the idle speed, even tough he was moving the IACV adjust and the throttle body he make it RPM at 1.5rpm when on P and on D was 900rpm which was ok but then he messed up again moving and moving the adjust and it was back to 1k on P and 700 on D causing a huge shaking on the steering wheel, then he said we'll adjust that later, and then he blame my ECU, he said the idle speed gotta be adjusted by the ECU and doesn't matter how he tried to adjust it mechanically the ECU is readjusting it causing the shaking, so, more BS right?

But that's another issue, (one of many) my first concern right now is the acceleration.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

veegee

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

you have to unplug the iacv to adjust it properly... what a tard he is. i mention vaccuum lines b/c several things, like the egr, are controlled by vaccuum. Plus vaccuum leaks cause weird things to happen. But i haven't driven with a vaccuum leak so i dunno if that's your problem here or not, since i don't know how a vaccum-leaky car behaves.

Wiking

Pls no new cooks ... You need an experienced Maxichanic. Don't pay for training.

Make do the TCU pin tester setup that I did draw just for you - multimeter hookup. Then look/test all TCU pins, one by one, and verify the signals according the list... Explain each here, that ensures you know what u see. This is painful as life - but smtg you can do.

rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

Don't worry, I learned the hard way, I make mistakes but never twice the same one, I won't hand a single dollar if I don't see my car running as strong as a corvette (ok not like that but I know how a V6 should perform)



No kidding huh?

one hour laid down over the carpet of the Maxima without any succesfull reading frustrates me so much, pedals, clips, probes of DMM, etc all PITA on this position. should I get the same readings if I disconnect completely the TCU connector and measure it directly when disconnected?

Wiking

When I was young, I was proud and stupid. Nowadays just stupid - everythin else is just smoke screen... Will make same errors ... need new hornet helmet.

I came to the same PITA conclusion. This is why I routed the cable to passenger side (just during 'operation'), gouged each wire and added parallel parasite wires to most signals - then the LEDs. Now I just enjoy the fruits = Christmas lights. See http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/15

Building this parallel diagnostic cable will take '2hours' in decent conditions on your knees - much less than finding the Maxima pro. Do it, it will pay later... just some 25-30 wires. I get by with the selected 16.

You may also take TCU with cabling on the passenger side floor - for testing.

TCU cable out: Cant get 'same' readings but only some switch -closed- 'info'.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

remember not to touch the probes together and randomly short stuff. ground one to the body, touch the other DMM probe to the pin you are testing. on occasion you may have to have the harness plugged in to do this, which makes life harder, as the TCU may have to be 'operable' and communicating with the transmission in order to provide the results you need to see.

andy21

wow i've been having the same exact problem with my car as you describe and its really starting to aggrivate me...i have a 91 VG auto

i had the tranny rebuild about 9 months ago and it rides a little stronger but not always...he repaced the torque converter i believe (the problem goes away and comes back sometimes...does that happen to you?)

what is this inhibitor switch you speak of and should i just take my car into a local nissan dealer rather than some jokester who fixes transmissions from my town?

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

inhibitor is the thing that tells the TCU what gear you're in. It's right there where the shift cable hooks into the tranny, and it just detects what position it is and sends a signal to the TCU.

andy21

so where can I order a new inhibitor switch or is it something that just needs an adjustment (can you tell i dont know too much about this stuff? lol)

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

well are you sure the inhibitor is the problem for you? you'll need to do a continuity test on the harness to see if that's even your problem or not. Each gear will have its own wire output, and share the same input. So you'll leave one probe on the same wire the whole time, and just have a buddy shift each position and you touch the probe to the proper wire, and make sure that the continuity is present and exclusive to that pin pair. If two outputs come up for a single input, or none, or three, four, a million (gross exaggeration..), whatever, then you got a bad switch. Should be one per gear.

have you gotten the FSM from the network with copacetic infiniti sentra-clones?

rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

I'm sorry, I've been so busy and unable to take that video, but I'll try to do that tomorrow!

Easier than measure the inhib sw terminals, put your shifter selector on D, R, 2, or 1 and try to start the car if it does start then you test those terminals according to the FSM very similar to what capedcadaver said, the FSM specify which pins belong to each gear, if it doesn't start I guess you shouldn't worry about the inhib switch, I worry about that because that is preventing my self diagnostic to run and therefore I have no idea where to look for the problem, and my car does start on gear, and my so-called mechanic told me the inhib sw was properly adjusted and it might be dead.

But this inhib sw (I guess) has nothing to do with the acceleration problem, and you are right sometimes the car pickup speed very fast but this happens randomly, so according to the fake mechanic and electrician that worked on my car they said I have a burned TCU so I bought one and replaced it and problem wasn't fixed, now I have a spare working TCU just because this tards don't know what they were dealing with.

Keep reading the thread andy, we might figure it out soon.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

and that's why my friend always tells me that I always take the hardest route...

andy21

yea i actually went into my manual and looked up exaclty what an inhibitor switch was and yea it has nothing to do with the car when it is in drive, just park and neutral.

thanks for the help though and i guess ill just keep a lookout on the thread over the next few days...see if anyone else can help solve our problem

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

well the inhibitor has 2 totally separate circuits. one for PN only, and another for all of PRND2L. And the P of PN and P of PRND2L are 2 totally different wire, meaning one could work and the other not (in the event of, say, a snapped wire) and their signals go to different places. I tapped the PN portion for my clutch switch. the PRND2L goes to the TCU, PN goes to the interrupt relay.

andy21

so then IF that were my problem it would clearly be on the PRND2L circuit then? seeing as how the car is in D when I'm experiencing a problem

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

well, not necessarily. in what gears do the problem occur for you? well, i guess on what shifts do you notice the symptoms the most?

andy21

primarily the problem is really bad when i stop and try to accelerate again...

so im thinking that the car doesnt know it should be in first gear and it probably stays in third...

sometimes though when i am on the highway it seems to not want to kick into overdrive (which from what i remember should be after about 45mph with normal everyday driving acceleration) and now that i think about it, i was having this problem the other day, it was at about 3500-4000rpm at highway speed with the overdrive ON, so i clicked the button and nothing happend. It was clearly in third gear and never hit overdrive yet.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

actually the car can be in overdrive as low as 25mph. 45mph is for tc lockup in overdrive, and 55mph in 3rd. what will help me the most is to know, after your car seems to be stuck in a higher gear, what happens to the tachometer as you accelerate to 45mph? does it hi 2300rpm and stay there until about 30mph? does it show an rpm variation as though a shift occured, or do you feel a shift?

if you don't know the answer to my question, drive with the OD button in the OFF position until your car does the sluggish thing, post-warmup. when it starts acting up, stop the car completely, then FLOOR IT. then report back to us.

I did a demonstration of this, but unfortunately the speedometer was only reading 20% of actual speed (read 15 at 75). the speedo USUALLY read properly, but sometimes dropped to 20%. really annoying. i stopped using it and reverted to my old GXE gauges. but keeping in mind that regardless of what you see on the speedometer, the video shows a 0-45mph acceleration, in failsafe 3rd gear, at WOT (holds at 2300, as you'll see), you can compare my RPM behavior to yours. i can't make another one of these videos with a good speedometer, as my car is now a 5spd. anyhow, here it is:
http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=MVI_1165.flv

andy21

no it defineltly highs at about 2300 like you said then eventually you feel a shift...

but the tach never shows that a shift happend that didnt actually happen if thats what your referring to

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

i edited that post and added a vid for you to watch.

andy21

yea that seems similar to mine....ill try what u said tommorrow but i have tried that in the past and i can have my foot all the way to the floor and i still get sluggish acceleration up to a certain point and then the car will suddenly shift

Wiking

'All' starts from checking charge voltage, then supply at TCU. Next TPS, (Comfort), Inhibit switches are verified - then if those pass, self diagnostics.
see http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/15

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

from another thread

i'd check the ground on the tranny, tbh. there's a black wire that clips onto a little flat terminal on the seam of the 2 halves of the tranny. it's on the top somewhere, but i forget where precisely... just follow the seam and you'll find it.

also there are like 4 connectors on the tranny. one for the speedometer, two in the inhibitor, and one on the front for the valve/control stuffs. I don't know if the tranny can function without them, but then again, it could possibly go into a failsafe induced by a lack of signal from TCU, at which point you'd be stuck in 3rd always with no real way to regulate anything (no drop resistor, not TC control, no solenoid control)

question - does your power light blink on your power/comfort switch when you turn the key ON?

rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

which makes perfect sense for my problem since the shiftings are so weird and even sometimes it just can be picking up speed very slowly until 35-40mph where the car behaves much better. I might be wrong but that sounds like getting stuck on 3rd.


Sorry to be on the other thread, it was just because the question about the code 34.....

Yes! the P turns on, but doesn't blink, it just turns on for about 2 seconds

BTW, if there's still daylight when I get home today I'll try the video

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

didja check the wiring yet? they can't be mis-wired except the speed sensor CAN fit in the other 2x2 plug but the way they are positioned, only an absolute total moron would hook those two up wrong, b/c the PN plug won't even reach the car-side of the speed sensor harness, so it's basically impossible to mess up.

p light on for 2 seconds is normal. mine used to blink b/c i rewired some stuff on my a/t (which may or may not be responsible for its ultimate and total failure), and when i used the rewired stuff, it would go "um wait what the heck?" and blink at me.

rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

Nope! to be honest....I don't know where are the 4 connectors, should I be under the car? or I can reach them by just taking out the intake tube? the only ones I was able to see are the ones from the inhib sw which I was testing the other day and one more under.....ummm I don't know how to name that... will try to take pictures tomorrow, too dark now and no flashlight available (dead batteries )

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

two by inhibitor, one more farther back by the place where the brake booster hose, fuel filter, and all that jazz are, and the last one (the one that you really need to check for) is under the intake tube/battery area... tho it should be pretty easy to get to from where it is. i got pics. actually it's 5 total

Wiking

To be honest - you have never taken a look into the links & pics I gave you.

rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

Don't say that Man! I did look and read your whole write up, I checked and download the PDF documents for the FSM you PMed me, but please remember that I'm not as experienced as you are, so when I see a picture or draft of some parts (if it's a close-up) I'm still lost.

For example, if you give me a picture of your house I'm not gonna be able to get there because of that picture, I need a guide, references and map of the adjacent streets.

I do really appreciate everybody's help and patience with my Poor mechanical knowledge, Thanks

Wiking

...ok... but these connectors under intake tube [no ? see] is a mystery to me...

... see my house ... get bigger pictures =goto: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/15

rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

Hey! you upload more pictures on your page! I like the explanation on the inhib sw, that's easy to understand

I finally take that video, but I can't upload it, photobucket says limit is 100MB(5 minutes) mine is 130MB and 8 minutes, tried youtube but it's down everytime I tried to upload, where else can I try?

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

use windows movie maker and split it in half. click "split" at the 4 minute marker and save the project. then delete the second half, save vid as xxxxx_1.wmv, click "undo" or re-open project w/o saving and this time delete the 1st half and drag the 2nd half back to 0:00:00 and save as xxxxx_2.wmv

at least, that's my free-fix for long videos. i've done it a few times for the Org.

Wiking

Good to hear - I tried so hard...

rmdl51

iTrader: (4)

Finally!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43M6r7cslU

I live on an apartment complex so sorry for all the turning, first I film since the engine start so you can hear the vibration of the steeting wheel, you can see the idle needle how erratic is at start and if the vibrating noise is gone is because I'm holding the wheel.

On 3:55 I finally get to an ave and start accelerating gently, can't floor it there because there's a lot of traffic, but you can see my rpm going up and my speedometer barely moves.

Now after the next right turn (after a change of lane) there is the first time I floor it completely which is at 5:14 and I keep it floor it until 5:47 where stop light hold me on to keep doing it.

Next time I floor it is 6:10 and you see the car takes about 2 seconds to really start moving the needles.

Finally I park on a car wash and tried to film the noise on the engine bay just to check what do you think about it, but there's a lot of noise from the pressured water around,

Hey, it's my first video and I know I need to improve but that was the best I could to at the moment