1993 Altima Electrical Problem

Bladez382 · Oct 30th, 2003, 10:25 AM

I've been having this problem get increasingly larger since last winter. It seems like there's an electical problem in my car that's encompassing a number of different things, but only when it's cold out. These things include:

-Speedometer getting stuck at 38mph while idling.
-Airbag light flashing (this doesn't go away)
-Automatic Transmission not shifting. It feels like it's getting stuck in 3rd gear. When i start the car and proceed to move, i have to practically floor it to get it to move, it's very sluggish. Once i get up to 45/50 mph, it's still in the same gear it was when i was going 10 mph. When i attempted to shift it into 1st and 2nd gear, it stayed in the same gear it started out in (my autos teacher discovered this, this is why he thinks it's electic.) When i turn the car off and then turn it back on, it works normally. The speedometer works fine once the car starts moving, and stops getting stuck at 38 while idling once the engine warms up.

Also something new I decided to add - I just did a load test on my battery earlier this morning, and at 250 amps it was giving 9.5 volts, which i guess is marginal and not gonna start in really cold chicago weather. i'm pretty stupid when it comes to cars, but do you think that this might have something to do with these problems? there's a pretty good deal of corrosion on the battery itself as well. Any info anyone here can give me is greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!

-Alex-

**Asleep** · Oct 30th, 2003, 02:12 PM

not sure about your speedo, could be the vehicle speed sensor on the tranny. airbag light could be on because the sensor in the front of the car behind the grill might be bad or you have a short somewhere in the srs system. the auto sounds like you have either a bad torque converter or its locking up and staying locked up. i believe theres a lock-up solenoid, might want to check it and run the diagnostics for the tranny. that battery is too marginal. should be no lower than 9.75 on an average day. replace it before it leaves you stranded.
best thing you can do for yourself is to go out and get a Haynes Manual for your altima.
you can also try www.altimas.net , its exclusively altimas. good luck and welcome to the board.

Bladez382 · Oct 30th, 2003, 06:47 PM

9.75? holy crap... i'll get to checking out all that stuff, thanks a lot i've gotten more info on this board than a year of research.. haha

**Asleep** · Oct 30th, 2003, 11:04 PM

lots of good info to be had on boards like this one.

Nismo5042 · Nov 17th, 2003, 11:00 PM

yes there is a solenoid for the tranny and if that goes out it could stay in lockup mode. and what it does when it locks up it makes at straight path from crank to wheels. it only locks up though while cruisin like down the interstate or crusin on the open road. but if it was locked up all the time it would stall when you came to a stop like on an standard tranny when you don't use the clutch