My 1994 Nissan Extended Cab pickup started dragging before it would go into 2nd gear…this went on for a while (mostly when it sat for a while…especially overnight) then it continued to have trouble going into second gear but when it did change gears it would intermittently jump to 3rd gear and of course my truck had to catch up to 3rd gear speed. The problem going into gear on initial take off started to take longer and longer…first it would only take a few seconds to go into 2nd gear (or third gear) then after time it wouldn’t go into 2nd or 3rd gear for a few blocks…that’s about the time that reverse went out completely. I got a referral from my mechanic to go to a no name transmission shop who estimated around $1500. I thought that was too much so I called AAMCO (big mistake) he said he could do it out the door for $1300. and would tow it to his shop for only $80. at this point I was like okay … I had $1100. and told him I would scrape up the other $200. next day he said it would be more like $1500 to $1700 … I told him I didn’t have that amount of money…he said well there is a CarCare Credit Card so I said okay…I was approved for $2800. and all of a sudden my price went up to $2300. then when all was said and done the final price was $2600…if that wasn’t bad enough the morning after I picked up the truck I went to run some errands…and believe it or not the truck would not go into 2nd gear and when it finally did it jumped to 3rd gear …EXACTLY WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHEN I FIRST TOOK IT INTO THE SHOP!..(reverse did work)…I had to wait for Monday and called the corporate office … they were rude and condescending and tried to say this was a different problem and to take it back to the shop and give them a chance to fix it…so I did but this time I picked it up in the rnorning instead of after work and had them give me a test drive with me in the car and it took slightly a bit longer to go into second gear but nothing like before so I took the truck home…it occasionally has slight trouble going into 2nd gear when it’s cold but it works. Now nearly 9 months later and colder weather setting in and the first day of condensation on the windows…I pulled out from the driveway and my truck once again had trouble going into second gear but once it warmed up it was fine. Now I have never had this problem in the 7-8 years I’ve owned this truck…what the heck is happening?
IIRC a lot of the chain transmission repair shops have the mechanical part of the transmission overhauled at the corporate plant. The mechanical unit of your rebuild is probably not the one that came from your truck but a rebuild of someone elses. The existing valve body is removed from the old unit, disassembled, cleaned, reassembled, regasketed, and installed on the rebuilt mechanical unit. It is the valve body which is specific to the configuration of your truck and determines the operating characteristics of the transmission.
If the valve body is not closely inspected, it is possible that the problem that caused the mechanics to fail still exists in the valve body. It could be a sticking line pressure regulator; sticking shift valve; nonfunctional shift modulating valve; whatever. This transmission does use solenoids to effect the shifts. It could be a bad solenoid or sticking spool valve. Since the PCM is managing the shifts, a scan of the PCM would show if a 1-2 shift is being commanded when it doesn’t shift. Here is where you need a well trained and equipped dealer or independent shop to make the diagnosis.
This is what makes transmission repair so expensive.
The reverse is fixed, yea. I would leap to the conclusion it is something other than the transmission at this point. My car when cold seems to stay in first gear longer than it should, but does not have the jump to 3rd problem.
I would think a second opinion about possibilities for the problem might be good, as it may not be a transmission problem.
You need to take the vehicle and have it inspected by a long-established, reputable indpendent transmission shop.
The fact that AAMCO charged you a bunch of money for a transmission rebuild does not necessarily mean the rebuild was done correctly. They may have done nothing more than throw a set of clutches and seals in it and called it good.