QuestionQUESTION: Yesterday I was driving my 2009 Nissan Sentra (Automatic transmission, 95,000 miles, very good condition, regularly serviced) on the interstate, relatively flat drive,speed between 70-80mph. About 2 hours into the drive, we came to low hills. About 20 minutes into a slight incline my car lost ability to accelerate to pass. This has never happened before. No warning lights/sensor lights came on. I'd heard some whining but not anything unusual for a 4 cylinder trying to move forward on a slight incline. The car didn't stall out, didn't power down... just was very sluggish to accelerate, and didn't want to increase tach from 2 to 3. It was hot outside, and I did have 2 adults and several suitcases in the car. But I've done this before and not had a problem. After pulling off the road, the car sat for several hours, the load was reduced. Test driving showed no problem, so I proceeded home, a 2 hour drive, and the car performed perfectly.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks.
ANSWER: Aloha Jeanne -
Can you tell me when you had difficulty accelerating, was the engine at high RPM's or was the RPM's relative to the speed the car was travelling at?
LMK -
Aloha
Calvin
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for your response, Calvin.
The RPM's were relative to the speed the car was traveling. (But it did not want to shift from 2 to 3. I hope that makes sense).
Thanks,
Jeanne
AnswerHi Jeanne -
This sounds like a transmission issue. Have you checked the trans oil? Sometimes under load the transmission could do strange things.
I would change the trans oil if you have not done it recently, and put an additive called AT205 to help it along. Here in Hawaii they sell it at Carquest, I don't know what kind of autoparts store is near to you.
Hope this helps -
aloha
Calvin
