Nissan Repair: Automatic Transmission, 2000 Nissan Maxima,GLE,57000Mi, bought new., nissan maxima gle, nissan maxima

Question
I sent a question earlier and you responded on 9/22 wed. to briefly refresh your memory; I was driving easterly across the Sierras on I-80 with A/C on and 90 deg outside air temp the car shifted to 3rd on an upgrade and then as the grade flattened out it went to O/D and no O/D revs fell to 500 or so and car began to coast. this was at elevation 6500 feet or so, and traveling at about 70mph, this happened 3 times, then I locked out the O/D and slowed somewhat to keep revs in the 3500 range, and went on to the next town. There was a noticable drop in power which I attributed to the elevation.I stopped in Truckee looking for a Nissan dealer, after about 30 miles of this,Didn't find one. After about 15 minutes I restarted the car and the problem went away. I had the system scanned but since the CEL didn't come on there were no codes.Your first thoughts earlier was that I was looking at a transmission overhaul. Does that seem reasonable that there should be a failure with 57000 miles. Car has been serviced and driving is about evenly split between city and country driving. Most other cars I've owned (fords primarily) had an electric lockup in the transmission at about 30mph, this one has not, or if it does it's been inoperative since it was new.at highway speed when I lift the accelerator the rpm's drop about 200 to 250 or so, so i'm sure that there is no lockup. Could that contribute to the problem? what would you do if the car were yours. I'm certain that Nissan would have no interest in participating in a repair. I found that out with the replacement of 6 coils at 37000 Mi.That was my last exposure to Nissan sevice. The mechanic that looked at the car and drove it told me that these transmissions have been around for a long time and are pretty much "bullet proof", He was surprised that a problem existed but he says there is one and he's not sure if it's transmission or engine related.The suggestion was to drive it and see if the problem becomes more pronounced, guess that what I'll do.

Answer
Hi Richard,

Sure, I mean anything is possible. Though low milage for that unit, you do have a serious internal transmission problem. It is not an engine issue. If you continue to drive it you will cause more damage to the internal workings of the transmission. Since we establish pricing of overhauls to the amount of damage that has been caused, I suggest you have a transmission expert diagnose the problem right away. Codes are actually stored in the computers memory. When you turn off the key, whether for 10 seconds or ten minutes, the computer resets until it sees the problem again. I believe in Nissans it will need to see a problem 5 times in a single cycle before falling into fail safe, which is second and/or third and reverse only. BTW, Lock up, just so you know your terms, is when the computer sees the car at or above 45 mph. It then instructs fluid to flow differently to the converter and causes the lock up clutches to apply making a solid link to the engine. The transmission comes out of lock up when you let your foot off the gas, floor the gas, hit the brake or drop below 45 mph. This lock up device is designed strickly for increased milage on the highway. The no lock up you are discribing is what we call free wheeling, whereas there is a bad clutch assembly in the transmission and possibly a broken sprag allowing the transmission to neutralize. I'm sorry, wish I had better news for you. Expect to pay around $2500 or a little more for this repair. If you continue to drive this car like this, it might approach the $3000 range if a catastophic failure occurs, meaning you needed a tow truck to get it to the transmission shop. Hope this helps.