Nissan Repair: Transmission, 2003 nissan maxima, neutral safety switch

Question
I own a 2003 Nissan Maxima.  Currently, when putting the car in Reverse or Drive the dash will light up that the Car is in Gear 3.  I have no issue reversing, but the car feels that it is in Gear 3 when driving at highway speeds.  When accelerating on the highway the car feels that it does not change out of third gear.  Additionally, if driving at a speed close to 75 or 80 the car will be pushing 4000 plus RPM’s (seems too high if car was actually in Drive).

This issue happened once before and than it corrected itself.  When it was corrected and I put the car in Reverse the dash lights up in R.  When I put the car in drive the dash will show D.  When the dash shows D the car has a different feel when driving on the highway.  It will run at much lower RPM’s and feel that it shifts out of third gear when necessary.  For example if going 75 or 80 it will run around 3000 RPM’s.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Shaun

Answer
Hi Shaun,

I believe you have a bad Manual Lever Position Sensor. This is a fancy term for a neutral safety switch. Located on the transmission, they get corroded inside from water on the roadway and salt if you live where they use that. Replace the MLPS. But before you do this, you didn't tell me if the Check Engine Light was on. If it is, have the car scanned before you replace any parts. If the computer sees a problem it will put you in what we call "fail safe". This allows the transmission to only shift into 3rd and reverse. It is actually protecting itself from further damage in this mode. If the light is on, please have it scanned and give me the code number that shows up. Then we'll take the next steps.