In-reply-to: Your message of Wed, 30 Dec 92 16:21:00 +0000.
<1992Dec30.162100.25646@julian.uwo.ca>
Newsgroups: rec.autos.tech
Lines: 38
Date: 31 Dec 92 02:38:03 GMT
> In <1992Dec29.220622.3334@balrog.dseg.ti.com> keith@balrog.dseg.ti.com writes:
>
> > In article <9212280134.aa14948@Bonnie.ics.uci.edu> dpark@Bonnie.ICS.UCI.EDU writes:
> > >
> > >I own a 1987 Nissan Maxima with 87000 miles. When my engine is
> > >cold(usually morning), the automatic transmission does not shift to third
> > >gear. It is only after about a mile later when the car is warmed up that
> > >it finally shifts to third and fourth gears. After the initial difficult
> > >shift, the car shifts to the third and fourth gears without any difficulty.
> > >
> > >Is this something to be concerned about? Or is this common among older
> > >transmissions and something I should live with?
> > >
> > I don't know alot about automatics, but my Maxima (87 75K) is the same
> > way. It doesn't take a mile to warm up, but may take a couple of
> > blocks to get into 3rd.
> >
>
> Are you certain it isn't the OVERDRIVE that's not kicking in when the
> tranny is cold? My '90 Nissan Stanza can take up to 5 miles on really cold
> mornings before going into o/d. When it does, it's not unlike going from
> 2nd to 3rd gear. You can tell it's the O/D because clicking the O/D button
> on and off has no effect.
>
> According to my dealer this is normal for my Stanza (tho I've never driven
> any other vehicle that behaves this way). It's done it since it was new.
> It's a bit of an annoyance, tho, as I live in the country so I'm travelling
> along at 60mph within 30 seconds of leaving my driveway. The engine loudly
> roars away at 3500rpm for a few minutes every morning until the o/d finally
> kicks in.
>
> Perhaps this is a "feature" of all Nissans with O/D automatics.
I am not sure for the Stanzas but for the Maximas, the dealer told me that the transmision is temperature sensitive. He explained that the transmission will only shift to its gears if an only if its at its appropriate temperature. I think he said the temperature the transmission need to be in to shift to third was 130 degrees F. I am not exactly sure on the temperature.
Being on the subject of O/D, when should one turn on the overdrive switch?
Is it optimal to leave the O/D switch off during regular city (Stop and Go traffic) driving? Or does it not really matter.