Hey everyone,

My '03 is having trouble with the transmission, and I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Maybe someone else has had this trouble?

After sitting overnight, the car starts up fine, but the gear display doesn't illuminate. The AT Check light comes on and stays on and the check engine light comes on and stays on as well. The car shifts into Reverse/Neutral/Drive just fine, but any shifting is really hard. (The manual override shifting is disabled). Each time this has happened, after driving awhile, the gear display will come back on and at the instant this happens, the AT check light goes off. The problem is, it keeps switching back and forth. It sounds to me like something electrical isn't making up good contact. We pulled the diagnostic codes and it came back as U1000 and U1001--both CAM Communication problem codes.

Any ideas what I need to do to fix this?

Thanks!

 

bump

 

I've never heard of this and doesn't seem anyone else has either considering no response yet. I'm not sure what to tell you... maybe try the ECU reset procedure? http://www.technosquareinc.com/350reset.htm

You should ask be able to take your car to a autoparts store and most of them will let you barrow a code reader, plug it in and see if the computer is throwing any codes, then you can use those codes (once you find out what they are) to diagnose the issue.

Otherwise you have to take it to a Nissan dealer to have them check it out...

 

any time the AT check light comes on,I always check the fluid level.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. My first thought was to check the fluid level, but everything on that front looks good. Our code reader gave us the U1000 and U1001 codes for the CAM failed communication, and a diagnostic procedure I found in the service manual gave me a CAM malfunction as well as an error with the accelerator pedal position sensor. I'm considering replacing the sensor, though it seems unlikely to me that it's what is causing the trouble. If it's a relatively inexpensive fix, I think it would be worth a shot anyway...

I guess I need to buy that part from the dealer though?

 

wow, first the headlights now the tranny. seems like you got a bad one.

 

Yeah, don't remind me... the highbeam problem ended up just being a relay, and we've got that taken care of, fortunately.. What's amazing to me is that nothing came up when I was trying it out. Ah well, the guy at the car lot said he would get his transmission people to check it out, so that's nice considering it's not under warranty. We're gonna check the throttle position sensor later today I think...

 

Any updates? I'm having the same problem on mine now and I'd love to hear any feedback you have. I assume you got this resolved.

 

It's a wiring or grounding issue given the CEL code. Need to check the harnesses and connectors between the center console, HUD, ECU, and TCM.

 

MRG1981,

I hope your's is as simple as a wiring issue. After having the Z checked out at 3 places (a transmission shop, a transmission specialist, and the dealership) they determined the valve body had to be replaced to resolve this issue on mine. They tried several other approaches, including checking the wiring under the hood and even inside the transmission. They tried cleaning the contacts to these connections too. Since the problem popped up on mine the first week I owned it, the lot I bought it from paid the majority of the bill, which was close to $1200. Good luck with yours. There is a diagnostic test you can run on the transmission that is detailed in the service manual--you might want to try that.

 

Jessica- thanks for the update and info. It's a good thing they took care ofyou without too much hassle.

RCDash- thanks for the advice. I think it is definitely a wiring issue. When I go over a bump it throws the light and the stereo goes out as well. I will take it in and have it looked at. I will update here when we discover the cause, in case anyone else runsinto this issue.

 

OK, so my issues seems to be the main power wire that comes off the battery to the starter. It was run on the wrong side of the cooling pipe and was too close to the headers. It melted, which was causing a short. They are replacing the wire and the fuse on my battery right now. Will update when I drive it again.

 

The melted power line was definitely the cause of my issues. If anyone runs into this, I'd recommend they check their wiring before anything else. This was a relatively quick and easy fix for me personally. Glad it's not an issue with the tranny!

 

Glad to hear it wasn't a big issue!

 

i think i recall that someone else had posted about this same exact issue, i dont remember who but try searching, i am pretty sure they resolved the problem.