So my 95 300zx A/T has stopped going into reverse. It happened once over the weekend, but I didn't think anything about it, just turned the car off and restarted it, which seemed to do the trick. Then this afternoon at school, the same thing happened and I ended up having to push the car out of the parking space. Besides embarrassing, it is extremely frustrating that things keep going wrong with this car. First $1500 worth of engine maintenance (timing belt, timing belt tensioner, etc.) then $1100 for a new exhaust, then $700 for new tires, $300 to have a new starter put in. I'm about at my wits end right now with this car and am pretty close to calling it quits and selling it and buying a wrx or e36 m3.

From what I've read, it could be the Reverse Checking Assembly but I have no clue where it is or how to fix/ replace it nor do I have the time with school, soccer, and college applications.
I tried to check the transmission fluid after I got home from soccer but it was too dark out to really see anything.

Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated.

How many miles are on it? A 300ZX is an older car and will have problems. You run that risk with any older car but any new car you buy is going to require normal maintenance also. When you hit that 60k mile and 120k mile point you will need to spend money. My wife has a 2008 Saturn Ion and it has been in the shop more than my car. New doesn't mean better. I don't know but a WRX but I know an STi has a number of problems if you mess with it too much. Also BMWs have this 8 year plan...basically after 8 years ANYTHING can go wrong...but I guess that's the case with most cars. Basically you need to decide if the Z means enough to you to put money in or would you rather put money into another car down the line.

Hey man first gotta say, if we are talking about in the same price range as your car, any E36 M3 will be just as much to maintain as this car. WRX probably isn't too far away either. It's a sports car thing - unfortunately, you gotta pay to play.

Where are you located? You may be able to find someone who can work on your car for a lot cheaper. $300 for the starter is a little crazy IMO.

Transmission fluid is the place to start - and you know that. Let us know what you find!

Also, have you had any signs of transmission trouble? Slipping, harsh engagement, hard to move shifter, etc?

-Ethan

Remove your dash, lift the cover, unlug the hardness and check for corrosive. Since you can stil be able to push your car backward in Neutral, it's clearly just electrical problem.

Initial R wrote:Remove your dash, lift the cover, unlug the hardness and check for corrosive. Since you can stil be able to push your car backward in Neutral, it's clearly just electrical problem.

Why wouldn't he be able to push his car backwards in neutral?

The transmission fluid looked fine when i checked it, so I don't believe that's the problem. The car has 172k miles on it so I'm just going to assume that the whole transmission is shot or on its way out. With that being said I have a $1500 budget to fix this problem. Right now I have 3 options:

Option 1) Buy a rebuilt/used auto trans and replace
Option 2) Do a 5spd swap (an idea I've been playing around with)
Option 3) Buy crashed (but running) 300zx and swap out trans and engine and possibly switch some other parts around http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nissan-3 ... 19c07295ff

Es.Biggs- I'm in CT and the starter I thought was a far price, just for the peace of mind that comes with having the best Z Mechanic on the East Coast Rich @ RDZ Motorsports working on it.

It's jsut a starter, it's not like you have to specialize in Z's to be able to remove the starter.... They ripped you off. I know a place around here that will take the starter off and rebuild it and put it back on for less than half what you paid OP.

I'm willing to say the tranny is shot. You say the car shifts fine in all the other gears, it just won't go into reverse? Sounds like the tranny is gone.

If it has problems staying in gear, aka slipping, i would change the transmission filter and see what that does, my auto trans in my 1990 had 173k on it and the tranny filter got clogged. It wouldn't let me use any gear and if I got lucky enough to get the car moving everntually it would just slip bad going down the street, to the point the car would just rev and not move. Also the tranny made a noise being that it was trying to pump the fluid but it couldn't.

I would try a flush, if nothing happens then swap another tranny in there, manual (chyeah!) or auto, up to you!

You will probably spend as much on getting it repaired by a transmission specialist as you would on another known good transmission. Your call on it tho, good luck

FYI, the RE4R01A was used in over a dozen Nissan's from the '90's, so if you're just gonna swap to another auto you don't need necessarily need one of a Z. Something tells me a 240sx auto could be had for pennies on the dollar.

car nut wrote:FYI, the RE4R01A was used in over a dozen Nissan's from the '90's, so if you're just gonna swap to another auto you don't need necessarily need one of a Z. Something tells me a 240sx auto could be had for pennies on the dollar.

Indeed. Only difference I think is the bellhousings. But yeah, alot of nissans used the RE4R01A, the tranny gets alot of flak but really i don't see where it's that bad. The later models like the RE4R03A are better though.

Dear intermilanrox,
I have the same problem and i would suggest looking into the reverse checking assembly as i plan to in the following weeks!
Good luck on you car!

if the transmission fluid has black spot, don't do a flush or you will instantly require a new transmission. I suggest either swap or find a part out 300zx and replace it directly ( low miles + newest year you can find). on my prelude I had the transmission rebuilt and it just doesn't shift and feel the same, not sure if its the work done badly it just isn't as fluent as when it was original.