[RivuxGamma]

Ah, I hate being a newbie, but everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?

To the point: I just got a '93 Maxima GXE used at an auction, so I wasn't able to take it on the highway or anything. The instrument panel acts wacky (the wackiness being that the temp gauge fluctuates, usually higher, depending on what electrical thing is activated, there is no tachometer response whatsoever, and the speedometer is off by seemingly random amounts), the radiator fans run all the time, and it only uses 1 forward gear and reverse. Oh, the horn doesn't work, either.

The tranny fluid doesn't smell burnt and is pink, but I'm a little confused when the stick says Dexron. I thought I'd see something to indicate Nissanmatic. Maybe I'm just a tard.

Also, for what it's worth, it's hard to tell how high the engine revs by ear because there's a super-quiet aftermarket exhaust on it.

I'm thinking that I'll have to hunt down a bad ground somewhere to solve the instrument problem, or maybe at least replace the temperature sensor. After doing a little hunting around, I seem to think that the ECU is the most likely culprit for the transmission problem. Either that, or one or more of a dozen or so problems.

Everything else seems to work OK; lights, wipers, brakes, no leaking fluids, no funny-smelling or funny-colored exhaust, and none of the idiot lights come on. Which brings to mind a question: Will the check engine light come on if the ECU goes bad?

Also, if the wrong tranny fluid is in it, will the tranny go into failsafe or will it just ruin it?

Sorry for the long post, but I've come to realize that as much info as soon as possible is a good idea in most cases.

edit: also, sorry for interrupting the previous guy