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Tuning a Nissan Transmission

General Discussion
#21

if 2019 Frontier is at all related to R51 generation of Pathfinder, I can easily see how its 5-speed automatic transmission can be frustrating for somebody with “easy going” driving style

if you accelerate slowly, it tends to “hang in gear” a tad bit longer than one would expect, where I would prefer it to shift and be done, but no… it waits for 1-2 more seconds, while the engine’s belt-driven cooling fan makes a VHUZZZZZ!!! sound of a dump truck :slight_smile:

a little bit of tap/raise with your right foot makes it shift where it hesitates and in few weeks it becomes almost instinctive, so it does not make me sweat anymore

unlikely you would be able to do anything with it, just learn to live with it.

2 Likes
#22

@ohiyesa232_164625
Rather than void your warranty, spend money, and mess with the way your truck’s transmission is engineered and programmed to work, why not learn the oh so simple, easy, basic driving technique of when to fractionally ease off the gas pedal for a second to change the shift point? ??

2 Likes
#23

Wow, You really actually understood me perfect. Thanks

#24

the good news is, it’s not a malfunction, “they all do that” :slight_smile:

#25

That’s good!
Now, could you respond to a question that I posed two days ago?

2 Likes
#26

Yes, Its a good driving truck and has no problems. It just doesnt fit my exact needs

#27

So as I said before, Im an easy driver. It takes me on average 10 to 15 seconds to get up to 45mph. I just dont get in a hurry and dont see any reason to. My truck, a 2019 nissan frontier sv 4x4, has a 4.0 L V6. I believe about 268 HP. Plenty of power for what Im looking for. But because of the way the transmission shifts, my engine has to work harder than It needs to to perform the job I ask of it. For example, going down my driveway, (about 100 yds). In order to get into 2nd gear I have to reach 11 mph. That engine is more than capable of pushing that truck down the driveway at 7 mph in second gear with no problem. But my transmission forces me to push it to 11 or 12 to get it in second gear. If I want to go 10 mph down my driveway I have to have my engine at 1600 rpm, on the verge of shifting, or push it to into second gear and then let off the gas a little. If I could bring my shift points down so that at minimal tps (Throttle percentage sensor? Or something) it would shift into second at 8 mph instead of 11. The truck would not unnecessarily rev so high in first gear. This also carries over into second to third shift. Easing down a flat or even slightly declined roadway, I have to go 20 mph to shift to third, that is 2000 rpm in second gear. When third is more than capable of pushing my truck at 15 mph. I dont see why, when trying to accelerate slowly, I should have to push my truck beyond a reasonable point to have it shift and continue.
The other thing is the TCC, the torque converter lock-up. When getting up to speed rather quickly (for me) it isnt noticed, but when 3 or 4 seconds is spent in third gear, the TCC locks up. Which is no problem except for that when it shifts into fourth it unlocks and will not lock back ever. The problem with this is that when climbing a hill in third gear I losse power upon the shift into fourth because the TCC unlocks. This causes forth gear to run at a higher rpm that third, (I shift into fourth at 1500 rpm and after the shift Im running 1600) which if you understand, the higher the rpm the more gas required to turn the engine. So I start to decelerate in fourth gear up the hill. So I give it more gas running it up to 1700 rpm until it shifts into fifth at 30 mph, where it also immediately locks the TCC, bringing me down to 1100 rpm where I can (not kidding) then let off the gas and keep accelerating up the hill. So I would like to set the TCC to lock in fourth gear to remove this “Dead zone”. in my transmission. I hope this helped you understand what I mean.

#28

After reading that post above. You can see that if I were to accelerate faster and not care, I would see no problem at all with these things. And the times when I do get up rather quickly (jumping into traffic) I dont notice anything unusual, the truck handles fine. But when putting along I find myself having to pour gas to the engine just to get it into third gear. then let off the gas to continue accelerating at the same pace

#29

Have you checked with the dealer to see if there’s any update to the programming?

1 Like
#30

I hope you don’t do this when you’re on a two-lane road and people are behind you.

5 Likes
#31

Bottom line, you regret buying an automatic transmission truck and prefer to have a manual transmission that would allow you to lug the engine.

4 Likes
#32

For crying out loud all you are doing is irritating people behind you . You might save 2 gallons of fuel a year this way but you will not make your engine or transmission last any longer.

4 Likes
#33

10 to 15 seconds for 0 to 45 MPH seems like the normal flow of traffic here. If you said that you go from 0 to 45 MPH in less than 10 seconds these guys would accuse you of wasting fuel and call you a reckless driver.

#34

One of the worst things you can do is to have the engine pull the vehicle when the rpms of the engine is too low. If you have ever ridden a multi-speed bicycle, you don’t have to pedal as hard in the lower gears. The same is true with an engine. When an engine is turning faster in a lower gear, that doesn’t mean that the engine is working harder or even running more economically.
Years ago, an option on many cars was the Borg Warner overdrive. The overdrive wouldn’t engage until the car was rolling about 30 mph. I often wondered why one couldn’t manually engage the overdrive at any speed. I assume that the reason is so one wouldn’t lug the engine.
My 2017 Sienna has an economy mode. Sometimes I think it lets the engine shift to a higher gear too soon.

#35

Huh, two people criticized me and one agreed with me. Just for the record, I dont drive easy to save fuel or the transmission. (Though it does both) I drive slow because people who drive fast are idiots and are incapable of being patient. I wont be that way. It might take two extra minutes on a half hour drive.

#36

Purebred, yes pretty much. I like an automatic but being able to decide when to shift is nice.

#37

Thanks for the input. Triedaq. Now as I said before, in fifth gear it runs from 1000 to 1200. So I see no reason for the lower gears to have a problem running at 1000. When it comes to towing you would. But thats where the throttle position comes into play. If I have to give more throttle then I would want it to shift later.

#38

I wasn’t criticizing your driving, 0 to 45 MPH in 10 to 15 seconds is normal.

They guys are not auto mechanics, they are only proof reading your post to make sure you use the correct verb (handling should be replaced with performance).

#39

Yes it would because you’re not accelerating much in fifth gear, you are in the lower gears. That’s probably why Nissan used higher shift points on the lower gears-in order to give the truck the acceleration most folks want.

RPMs = HP

#40

@ohiyesa232_164625. The perfect vehicle for you would have been a Chrysler product from the 1940s through 1953 with the “lift and clunk” automatic transmission. One out the transmission in drive range, and accelerated up in the lower gear. When the speed was anyplace above 11 mph, one let up on the accelerator and there was a “clunk” when the transmission dropped into high, which was direct drive. At any speed below 45 mph, one could floor the accelerator and the transmission would shift back to the lower gear. My parents had a 1952 Dodge with this transmission. It was also available on some Dodge trucks. I liked driving this car on a date because I didn’t have to shift gears. There was no tachometer–I just accelerated up to the point where it felt right to release the accelerator so the transmission could shift into high.
With my present vehicles, I really don’t think.about when the automatic transmission.shifts to the next speed. I rarely look at the tachometer.