2001 Nissan Sentra / trans issue?

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I'm posting this here praying to God this isnt tranmission related. A week ago i had the ATF drained and replaced. All was good. Car even went to Chicago and back..no problem. All of a sudden, yesterday its started hesitating really bad upon acceleration and I have to give it a lot more gas peddle for it to accelerate. Took it back to the mech and it was almost a quart low. Topped it off and better... but only slightly. Left the car there today and they will check it out. He did say they washed the engine down and there could have been water in the plug but it's been running fine up till yesterday. The spark plug wells are very deep although....so is there a chance something could have worked it's way down?

Bottom line does this sound more like ignition or Trans in anyone's opinion?
 
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I owned a 2001 Sentra many years ago.

Is the check engine light on? Have you scanned it for codes?

Trans drain/fills are easy given the drain plug and disptick on these. It's likely not transmission related.
 
Never wash your engine.

Generally if it's the transmission the engine will run faster than expected but the car won't go.
 
Could it be there is still some moisture under the plug boots causing spark voltage to short to ground, or another similar ignition issue?

On both my Pathfinder and Frontier I spray off the engine compartment a couple of times a year and have never had any misfiring issues. Now both engines are V6 variants.

If the mechanic had the special dipstick and warmed the fluid up to the specified temp in order to check the fluid level, how could he have left it a quart low?

Could a fluid cooler hose have loosened? If that were the case then there should be indications of fluid spray underneath.
 
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To me, it doesn't sound like a transmission issue. My GUESS is you have something going on unrelated to their work as it ran fine for a week.

Does seem interesting that it was down a qt of ATF a week later. I'm assuming this is a dipstick'd AT. Either you got a bad leak or you have a less than desirable mechanic. I would definitely check the ATF level every couple of days.
That way you can determine if is leaking. Out of curiosity alone, what ATF did your mechanic use?
 
Uuuugh...problem solved. Not u related to their work because they washed the engine down. All water removed from plugs as a couple of you suggested may be the problem. Runs perfect now. Thank you all for chiming in on this
 
Originally Posted by Mark72
Uuuugh...problem solved. Not u related to their work because they washed the engine down. All water removed from plugs as a couple of you suggested may be the problem. Runs perfect now. Thank you all for chiming in on this


A good Italian tune-up on the Freeway should cook off any moisture in the Plug Wells.
shocked2.gif
 
Yeah great idea to (try to) blast down a freeway misfiring like crazy and either get rear-ended or melt down your cat, or both.
 
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