Nissan Sunny Fb14 Auto Gear Shifting Problem And Fuel Efficiency

[HarshaAG]

Hi guys,

I’m having a FB14 1500CC, YOM – 1996, Auto, Mileage - 163,149. (Brought it one month back) and recently I’m having the following issues.

When I start the car and shift the gear to D (Drive), the car won’t move forward. If I paddle the accelerator then the engine races like it’s in the N gear. Then I move the gear to the 2 (2nd) or L (low) and car start moving. After that if I move it to D again, no problem car moves smoothly. This is occurring only when it stop for more than few hours. Usually in the morning when I go to office and evening when I’m going to return home.

This problem occurs after I did a full service (changed oil filter and engine oil) at Auto Miraj.

After that service run, handbreak indicator in the dash board is always turning on. My friend told me that it might be a problem with the handbreak switch. I have checked the break oil and it’s between Max-Min levels.

Also my car does average 10-11 Km per liter on both outstation and traffic without AC. (I have travelled Colombo city area and Colombo – Badulla last time and got this figures. Most of the times speed between 60 - 80). Is it a normal KMPL value for this type of car? If it’s not, what should I do to increase fuel efficiency?

I’m new for this car and looking forward to see professional help from you guys.

Thank you.

[CJ5]

Did you get the ATF changed at the service or do you know when the ATF was last changed? If no, get the ATF changed ASAP and see if the shifting problem goes away. If it doesn't then there is definitely a problem with your AT. Usually ATF has to be changed every 25,000-30,000kms as recommended by most manufacturers. Neglect this and you would soon have a deep fried AT. Also, once you manage to get it into D are the shifts down and up smooth or do you sense any thuds or jerks?

The handbrake light coming on could be due to many things, start of by opening the brake fluid reservoir and check whether the float is stuck. Once this happened to me and when I opened the cover I found the float inside was stuck so I rectified it and I closed the cover and the light went off. It could also be that your brake pads/shoes need replacement or it could even be a defective handbrake switch.

Your fuel consumption seems a bit strange keeping in mind that it usually drops by about 2-5kms in stop and go city traffic compared to long continuous runs in most vehicles. Is the engine in perfect tune? ie. After a few minutes idling @RPM 750-900 on a morning cold start do you get water dripping from the exhaust? The inside of the exhaust end should be free from heavy carbon deposits and is usually a light greyish color. If so the engine would be in perfect tune and you need not worry much about it, but if you have thick black carbon deposits in the exhaust line and you also experience rough idling with missing and jerking accompanied by a strong smell of petrol then I would reckon a tune up is due with new plugs filters etc etc and you would see an improvement in the fuel consumption figures.

Hope my two cents worth helps

Edited January 8, 2014 by CJ5

[nano31]

Internal O rings (rubber) are shot!

PM me I will let you know a good place to repair

[HarshaAG]

Thank you very much for your quick response CJ5,

I got the previous service records from last owner and it says ATF changed in 149,058 and again in 151,867.

More specifically,

149,058 –
ATF 2 D 4 liter
ATF textamatic 4 liters
ATF textamatic 1 liter

And in 151,867 –
ATF textamatic 1 liter.

And once I get it in to D, shift down and up is very smooth, no thuds or jerks.

With respect to the fuel consumption, I didn’t do any engine tune up after I brought it from the seller (one month back). I don’t see heavy carbon deposits on exhaust end but not quite sure about the water dropping happens in my car as you mentioned. Need to check it tomorrow morning.

Also I would like to know a good place in Colombo to get engine tune up and solve this shifting issue. Please let me know any suggestions if you have.

Thank you.

[HarshaAG]

Internal O rings (rubber) are shot!

PM me I will let you know a good place to repair

Hi nano 31,

Just sent you a PM.

Thanks.

[maheshw]

Thank you very much for your quick response CJ5,

I got the previous service records from last owner and it says ATF changed in 149,058 and again in 151,867.

More specifically,

149,058 –

ATF 2 D 4 liter

ATF textamatic 4 liters

ATF textamatic 1 liter

And in 151,867 –

ATF textamatic 1 liter.

And once I get it in to D, shift down and up is very smooth, no thuds or jerks.

With respect to the fuel consumption, I didn’t do any engine tune up after I brought it from the seller (one month back). I don’t see heavy carbon deposits on exhaust end but not quite sure about the water dropping happens in my car as you mentioned. Need to check it tomorrow morning.

Also I would like to know a good place in Colombo to get engine tune up and solve this shifting issue. Please let me know any suggestions if you have.

Thank you.

the numbers i highlighted in the above is not clear for me. as nano state it can be a oil ring issue. anw if car has not changed the ATF for the last 15k kms i wouild suggest you to do it asap.

for city driving wih a\c 10-11km\pl is ok & for long distance it should do at lease 12. this can be due to various reasons including your driving pattern. when was the last EFI tune up

[HarshaAG]

Hello maheshw,

149,058 and 151,867 are mileage values that I have found from previous service records.

I got all service records from previous owner and went through them. Then I have found the above mentioned details where the service records point out the ATF changed in 149,058km and 151,867km.

Current mileage is around 164,000.

For city driven 10-11 is ok with AC but my AC is not cooling well so I used to turn it off. So I feel it’s too much of fuel consumption without AC.

Honestly I don’t know when the last EFI tune up did as it’s not recorded in previous records of my car.

Thank you.

[CJ5]

Thank you very much for your quick response CJ5,

I got the previous service records from last owner and it says ATF changed in 149,058 and again in 151,867.

More specifically,

149,058 –

ATF 2 D 4 liter

ATF textamatic 4 liters

ATF textamatic 1 liter

And in 151,867 –

ATF textamatic 1 liter.

And once I get it in to D, shift down and up is very smooth, no thuds or jerks.

With respect to the fuel consumption, I didn’t do any engine tune up after I brought it from the seller (one month back). I don’t see heavy carbon deposits on exhaust end but not quite sure about the water dropping happens in my car as you mentioned. Need to check it tomorrow morning.

Also I would like to know a good place in Colombo to get engine tune up and solve this shifting issue. Please let me know any suggestions if you have.

Thank you.

Wonder why it needed another 1ltr of ATF after just 2000kms!? Could it be that there were issues with the AT and that the previous owner got it repaired but then preferred to sell it off for obvious reasons????

Anyway I am no expert as to even speculate as to what could exactly be the matter inside the AT box. May be as nano31 has mentioned it's the O-rings.

(Touchwood! ) I have had no experience with an AT repair so far, so cannot comment on who would be ideal other than the agent. However for engine tune-ups I have always taken the vehicle to the agent ( whatever the vehicle) and have had absolutely no complaints as they have all the service manuals, exact specs etc etc and any special tools that may be necessary.

[maheshw]

Well guess your'e resident in Colombo? normally km\pl will decrease when running with ac. not with out ac.

and your service records indicate that with in around 3000km's owner has change ATF twice. a\c coolin issue is not a large repair.it can be due to a gas leak or problem in compressor. any good a\c technician can do it.

give ur priority to auto box issue.others can be sort out easily.get some assistant from nano31

.....

[HarshaAG]

Hi guys,

Got a great help and assistant from nano31. He pointed me to a repair place near Nugegoda (Nilwala Mortors). Sounds they are good in automatic gear boxes.

http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/10985-automatic-gearbox/

I just call the place and they informed it’s a common issue of Nissan models like FB14, FB15.

Also it will cost around 25,000 – 30,000 to fix this issue.

Still I’m thinking about replacing the GB with recondition one or repair would more helpful in the long run?

Any way I think it’s time to find my wallet.

[XBeat]

Repairing the gear box is less costlier than purchasing the entire thing. The effect on long run will be same if you replace all the necessary components after inspection.

BTW I doubt the amount quoted may exceed when the gear box is dismantled and inspected. I did a repair of the gearbox of my FB 15 two months ago from Indika @ Kolonnawa. It ended up costing me for around Rs. 55,000/=. Of course as I've already said cost depend on the extent of the repair.

However I can guarantee this guy. He did a good job. Gives 06 months warranty. Keeps to his words.

[VVTi]

I would repair it. I refurbished my Forester AT for less than 40K. replaced all O-rings with ones bought from Senok and changed a few clutch packs.

Edited January 10, 2014 by VVTi

[cefiroA33]

yep the same nightmare I had quite sometime back. Unfortunately I wasnt a member of Autolanka at that time and ended up replacing my gearbox with a reconditioned one.
beleive me you could just try once with repairing your gearbox with any of the above mentioned mechanics its still be worth than replacing the gearbox with a reconditioned one, specially considering the cost difference of the two options. I still regret not being a member at that time.