v6 2 wheel drive 208k mi.

trans will change gears every other second while cruising...like 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 4th...really annoying. and will sometimes start off in 2nd or 3rd gear instead of 1st. sometimes it "forgets" to shift into neutral when i stop and it will stall. and then some days it will shift perfectly fine for hours. when its messing up, if i put the shifter in "1" or "2" it seems to actually do it, but it still hessitates before it shifts. a shop told me they thought it was a short in a wire or a bad shift solinoid. anyone have any other ideas? and where are the shift solinoids on this trans? in the pan? also is the TCM inside of the ECM for this vehicle? or is it that other/smaller module that is under the seat? all that one says is "nissan control module".

thanks

 

It could be a bad shift solenoid, I took a quick look at Auto Trans diagnostics in my FSM, Ceck the revolution or speed sensor curciut. if thats not it check The Throttle position sensor. It could also be the trans fluid condition and the shift solenoid valve, shift valve Pilot valve and and pilot filter.

I downloaded the FSM in pdf file form from this site,
Free Car Service Manuals

I hope this helps you out.

 

i doubt the v6 would be too much different than the i4 tranny wise, so the TCU should be separate.
The FSM should tell you how to do the tranny diagnostic mode.

I'm assuming you've ruled out the possibility of it just being shitty fluid and a bad filter
personal experience, 95% of auto tranny issues start with old fluid and a bad filter. a good overnight drain/drip and some fresh fluid, maybe throw some lucas in there and a new filter usually solves the problem.
I forget how to test the condition of the fluid. my rule of thumb is if it isn't blood red, then it is bad. It'll get a little bit darker after some use, but if it even starting to change from red to brown then its done.

 

^Yeah I was gonna ask if he even checked his fluid levels but I didn't want to sound like a dick you know.

 

Fluid looks a little dark. That shop said they pull the pan and check the wiring and solinoids for $50 if I bought the gasket, filter, and fluid. Sounds like a good deal to me. What do you think?

 

If you ask me, $20 should be the price to pull the pan and check the wiring and solenoids if you bought the gasket, filter, and fluid. I haven't personally done an auto fluid and filter change but its what, like 10 bolts to remove the pan, then you change the filter? and idk if your car is obd1 or ob2 but I believe either way a bad sensor will show up on either of them diagnostics test, either way you should be able to run the ecu signals, if you have the right FSM for your vehicle and test it yourself.

 

How do you check the solinoids? I could prolly do it myself.

 

That link I provided a couple posts ago, has a FSM for your vehicle, if not, whats your engine code and what vehicles was it offered in, figure that out and DL that one if they dont have it for your Hardbody. It'll tell you how to run codes from the ecu.

 

The check engine light isnt on. And I have the manual, but all it says is how to remove them. Then it says to "inspect them". But didnt tell me how.

 

if it is a little dark, that could be the source of all of your problems.
To me, for 50 bucks, I'd pay someone else to get nasty with old tranny fluid. That's less than the average shop charges for 1 hour of labor, so I'd say it is a good deal. especially if they know what they are looking for. Most places charge upwards of 100 bucks for a tranny filter change.

yeah, it sounds that simple, but trust me, that shit gets everywhere. and it continues to drip for hours and hours afterwards. The pan doesn't hold it all. a lot of the fluid stays suspended in the tranny. I've done a simple filter change and it only took about 45 minutes of actual working time, but I was a mess. My tools were a mess. took forever to let it drip enough just to see the wiring. To take it a step further and inspect shit, that's even more of a mess.
It isn't like dropping an oil pan and cleaning off the pick up.

the check engine light won't come on. You have to do a series of things to get the tranny into diagnostic mode, then it will display any codes the tranny might be throwing.
find a different FSM?
or hell, go to a dealship and see if one of the techs has the time to talk to you about it. Most of the time, if you're nice, they will help you out, assuming they aren't busy and their boss is looming over their shoulder.




have you don't much towing with this truck? could be something really dumb like the torque converter taking a shit if you loaded it down too much.
Is the 5 spd swap really that much of a problem to do?
I just don't like autos. they are great, while they work, but once something goes bad, it seems like there will always be a problem.
personally, I'd start with paying that shop the 50 bucks to check shit out. Worst case, they don't find anything and all you get is a fluid change (which could solve the problem) best case, they find something actually wrong and can easily fix it.