When driving the car wil lose power and start jerking badly, cutting back like losing power. It feels as if it is going to stop in the middle of the road. I took it to a well know transmission specialist and was told that this is a problem with several nissan cars including mine. There are several recalls including the 2003 but not my year,I'm confused and it's getting worse. But it's a known issue. I don't understand. My safety is warranted???
2004 Nissan Maxima: jerking or lurching
538 of the 1,426 complaints about the 2004 Nissan Maxima describe jerking or lurching.
- owner complaints
- 538
- of this car's complaints
- 38%
- typical repair cost reported
- $3,500
- typical mileage
- 85,000
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 6 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below
Jerking or lurching by model year
What owners say
Whenever I accelerate and the speedometer hits 20 MPH the transmission jerks or if I'm going 60 MPH on the freeway and start to brake and as my speed is decreasing when the speedometer hits 20 MPH it jerks. The transmission must be slipping or have an issue.
Transmission jerks from p to dr, jerks when down and up shifting. Does not seem safe. 73, 0000 miles on vehicle
The transmission is jerking when it's trying to shift
I just purchased the vehicle this year as a used vehicle. The vehicle has started to jerking and would not accelerate when I press the gas. It takes at least 1 minute then the RPM shoots up. Sometimes I feel that I am going to get whiplash from all the jerking this vehicle does. I should not have to pay for a new transmission when nissan knew about the transmission in these vehicles. They should be hold accountable for their actions and replace all the transmissions in these vehicles and pay other individuals back their money that has already paid to replace their transmission.
Vehicle has 91000 miles on it and transmission is failing.(jerks when vehicle takes off from stationary position. Front end gives rough ride, after replacing struts.
Transmission is stuck in 5th gear when going forward. Shifting to reverse or attempting to downshift causes serious jerking (thump). The problem seems to be electronic in nature because restarting the vehicle would fix the problem when it first started occurring. Now, restarting the engine does not fix it. Nissan has certainly known about the problem for years, since many complaints occurred when the vehicles had fairly low mileage.
Problem with transmission started soon after I purchased car, I would say in the first year I had it which was in 2003, although it is a 2004. I took it in more than once when the transmission started causing trouble. It would act (and still does to this day) as if it had/has been knocked out of gear, RPM goes up and then the transmission picks back up. When that happens it will jerk really hard and take off. As I said, I took it to my nissan dealer and each time was told they did not find any thing wrong with it. This is my 5th maxima, and have to say it is my last. The son of a woman I used to work with had the same problem with his 2004 maxima, which he bought used. He traded it for something else. My car is still going, although the problem does not seem to be happening more often, but does seem to be more severe when it does happen.
My car is jerking and bucking really badly while into gear also while coming to stops and driving along. The take off is slow and hesitant and it loses power at times while driving. While putting it in gear it jerks really hard as well. Please help! I can not afford to fix this problem and I need my transportation for work
When giving gas to accelerate, the car will jerk/jump going from 1 to 2 rpms
After 100,000 miles transmission started shoes of failure. Shifting past second grar would cause the car to stalll, then buck. Car would also buck when accelerating at high speeds. Also the car would stall and the accelerator would become unresponsive when shifting at high speeds. Forced to release the acceloratot and the press it again, until the transmission would shift correctly and "catch" the gear. Massive gas consumption caused by faulty transmission. Most errors caused when shifting in high speed or uphill. Specifically when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. Car would slow down and work harder to accelerate after driving at high speeds for any period of time. Transmission shifts would cause bucking and the body of the car to jerk and shake.
I was pulling out at a stop sign for a left turn when all a sudden the car jerked and I heard a loud bang. This was my transmission letting go. I was stuck in the middle of the road. Luckily someone stopped and helped me push the car to the side of the road.
Service bulletins that may apply
- Nissan: the vehicle has a slower than normal acceleration from a stop
- Nissan: ECM replacement procedures with consult III plus
- Nissan: 2004-2006 maxima
- Nissan; special automatic transmission fluid requirement. 2004 to current nissan vehicles. nj
- 5 speed FWD a/t left side oil leak diagnostic
- The automatic transmission (a/t) shifter control knob does not unscrew as in previous years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2004 Nissan Maxima jerking
Is jerking or lurching a common problem on the 2004 Nissan Maxima?
538 of 1,426 owner complaints about the 2004 Nissan Maxima (38%) mention jerking or lurching. The model year with the most reports is 2004.
How much does it cost to fix jerking or lurching on the 2004 Nissan Maxima?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $3,500 (median of 75 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2004 Nissan Maxima?
There are 0 recalls and 6 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2004 Nissan Maxima
Slipping 186Transmission failure 180Harsh shifting 73Stalling 73Hesitation 61Check engine light 50ABS 44Won't shift 38Knocking 27Tire blowout 24Sudden acceleration 19Grinding brakes 18Sunroof shattered 17Fire or smoke 14Loss of power 14No deployment 10Won't start 10Engine failure 7Headlights 7Door locks 6Whining noise 6
VIN decoder
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