Nissan Repair: Nissan repair, lockup torque converter, nissan bluebird

Question
I have a 1996 Nissan Bluebird auto and now have no top gear. What is the problem?

Answer
Peter,

Fourth gear (overdrive) is activated under the following conditions.  The computer reads that the car is at operating temperature and there is a light load on the engine.  So, there are two sensors in play that the computer reads to put the transmission in fourth gear.  Then, the lockup torque converter applies.  I would check the vacuum line to the load sensor and that the temperature sensor is working properly.  If these are good then the transmission computer might be bad or lastly, the solenoid that applies fourth gear could have failed.  Those are the steps, in this order.  Now, if you have a Nissan shop that has a scanner for the transmission you might get a head start on finding the problem.  They can read the codes the transmission computer are storing and see if you have an issue that they might pick up.  Otherwise, checkout what I wrote and do the inspection.