05 Maxima Transmission / Shifting Problems

I am the original owner of an 2005 Maxima (bought in 2004), which now has 111,025 miles on the odometer. For approximately the past 2,000 miles, I have been experiencing the same problems everyone else has noted. I can feel the transmission shift at about 15 MPH, but get a hard shift at about 25 MPH. It really gets noticeable if I'm stuck in slow and go traffic - if the speed varies around the 20 MPH range, I get hard shifts back and forth between higher and lower gears. I experience lag time between gears and actually had it feel like it slipped into neutral as I was making a left turn, which was scary/dangerous due to oncoming traffic. My gas mileage has been affected since the car is not always in the correct gear and tends to run at high RPMs. Like many others, I've had the transmission flushed hoping this would "fix" the problem, which of course it has not. I love my Maxima, but NOT this transmission problem. I will be filing a complaint - paid about $40 grand brand new and expected a much better car for this price! Don't think I'll ever buy another Nissan - never had these types of problems when I owned Toyotas!

It is probably your solenoids that are sticking. I just got new Rostras for $255 which are supposed to be better designed for longer service life than fixing OE w/ Transgo shift kit. Please note that to change to solenoids, it is not necessary to remove the transmission or the valve body. Just drain the oil, remove the pan cover, and you have access to the solenoids for replacement. Watch the video below to get an understanding of the issue with the solenoids. The guy explains the issue extremely well!

[YOUTUBE]
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rB5Mw8lGh7A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
[/YOUTUBE]

[Okra84]

I have an 05 Maxima with 100891 miles on it, and an extended warranty for 60 Months or 100K miles and the transmission just started showing the same symptoms as everyone else in the forum. My wife has driven this car for 6 yrs on the highway 20 miles each way to teach school, almost all the miles are highway. We bought the car new from McCarthy Nissan in Olathe, Kansas and it will be interesting to see what the dealer says. We have had the car serviced at a Valvoline quick lube place since the 10 free oil changes were used up and have not had any issues. They (valvoline) did a transmission flush and replace and obviously that didn't work like everyone has found. I'll report it to the NTHSA and BBB along with the others and it is very obvious that Nissan has a recall issue that they need to own up to and resolve. This is our second Maxima and third Nissan. If they(Nissan Corporate) don't handle it and replace it, it will be our last. I'll repost as soon as I have a resolution.

[Rose City Max]

Most of these problems are due to the valve body. A valve body change will most often be enough to cure these problems, but some will need the tranny redone. Nissan has upgraded the VBs. The latest version is Nissan PN 31705-8Y00B. Or you can get rebuilt ones from Level 10.

[daygo31]

I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima, it has started jerking really bad and also revving up the rpms to like 7000 in between shifts. there is a slight hesitation when putting the car in Reverse and Drive and when it does go into gear it jerks really hard. Does anyone have any solutions?
Please contact me at [email protected]

[scifan]

After reading this thread, I have to wonder if this applies to the trans in the Altima line as well... (and am feeling REALLY good about having bought a 60k warranty on my 06... I'm currently at 55k miles... and will have warranty through ~ 115k)

Remember the old Chevy's transmissions like the 70's? Well, they ran their transmissions mechanically with the go hard or go home attitude; well as an American we do our research on our cars. This is what's going on, the electronic is trying to operate with the solenoid. All you have to do is just run the transmission on Mechanic mode and everything should run slow but smoother. So one solution you can take is to do the following:
***Cut the BLACK wire on the DRIVE transmission harness which is located on driver's side near the battery under the Air Filter (the set with the wire that has a set with only one stripe BLUE and YELLOW color) and the rest with solid colors like YELLOW, LIME GREEN, GRAY, and BROWN that harness set if you cut the Black wire you'll be running on Mechanic American Mode/Toyota Convert Mode/ Safe Mode (the CVT slow upgrade)and this should eliminate the jerking.
Hope this was helpful!
Looking to sell your items,
visit: ShopHarder: The Buy and Sell yours free site

[Rose City Max]

Originally Posted by Saleharder

Remember the old Chevy's transmissions like the 70's? Well, they ran their transmissions mechanically with the go hard or go home attitude; well as an American we do our research on our cars. This is what's going on, the electronic is trying to operate with the solenoid. All you have to do is just run the transmission on Mechanic mode and everything should run slow but smoother. So one solution you can take is to do the following:
***Cut the BLACK wire on the DRIVE transmission harness which is located on driver's side near the battery under the Air Filter (the set with the wire that has a set with only one stripe BLUE and YELLOW color) and the rest with solid colors like YELLOW, LIME GREEN, GRAY, and BROWN that harness set if you cut the Black wire you'll be running on Mechanic American Mode/Toyota Convert Mode/ Safe Mode (the CVT slow upgrade)and this should eliminate the jerking.
Hope this was helpful!
Looking to sell your items,
visit: SaleHarder: Buy and Sell yours free!

^^^^^SPAM!!! Do not listen to this crap. Moderators please delete.

Originally Posted by Rose City Max

^^^^^SPAM!!! Do not listen to this crap. Moderators please delete.

please don't confused this with spam, if you didn't try it

I own a 2005 Maxima. Took her to she shop today and was informed of some bad news! I am facing a new torque converter and transmission for the car. It started acting weird about a year ago. It has 114,000 miles on it now and no warranty exists of course! But here are just a few things I've notice that have been acting differently in my car~
•it takes 7-10 seconds to go into drive or reverse when you put it into gear
•there is a hard jerk between gears that will nearly throw you through the windshield
•smell of burnt oil exists
•it drinks gas bad!
•the service engine soon light stays on
•and sometimes when going up the smallest inclines the rpm's will go up as high as 5 and when the car does take off it is so sluggish I'm afraid I will be ran over by someone in traffic!!!

Nissan Transmission Failure - Altima, Maxima, and Quest Vehicles | Chimicles & Tikellis LLP - Class Action Law
PLEASE PLEASE CONTACT THEM...IM TRYING TO SPRED THE WORD ABOUT THIS CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT

My 05 maxima transmission jerks really hard between 1st and 2nd and when down shifting to the point it scares me to drive it for fear of getting hurt on the interstate. I filed a complaint with consumer affairs, has anyone else had any success with Nisssan owning up to this widespread problem?

Originally Posted by rmarton

My 2005 Nissan Maxima (Build date of 08/04) has 69000 miles and has started showing signs of what may be serious transmission problems. I welcome any feedback as to the best course of action to correct these intermitent and random symptoms that include:
1. Takes about 5 seconds to click into gear after the shift lever is put in "D"
2. Very hard jerky shifts between 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 1st and accompanied by loud clunking noise.
3. Transmission slips out of gear during regular driving allowign the engine to rev freely then jerking back into gear with a loud clunk. The is followed by a burnt oil / electrical type smell that gets inside the car and evident outside after stopping.

Sometimess I go for days with no symptoms at all and other times it may happen a dozen times in a day. I took it in to the dealer and none of the problems showed up for them but they noted that the engine mounts were broken but that would not cause these symptoms. They suggested a new transmission and motor mounts for $4,000. I drive mainly on the freeways in Southern California and have maintained and babied this car since it was new.

This is my first Nissan and I have loved this card until these symptoms. Please suggest what course of action should be taken to correct this and restore my faith in Nissan. I have been eyeing the new 2009 Maxima's but now I am not sure of this car's long term reliability.

I can be contacted at [email protected]

Thanks
Rob

***I am having the same issues. Have you had any resolve?

I am having the same issues, any suggestions?

Have you had any success with Nissan, I am having the same issues with my 05 max