300zx tt - auto transmission and smoke questions...

[FEMAPCO]

Hello, new to the forum. Bought the car about april of 09. It is a 1992 300zx tt. Auto transmission. Just over 100,000km (about 60,000 miles)on the vehicle. It was important from japan back in 2007. After I purchased the vehicle and drove it for a while i noted a few things. The transmission shifts strange about 90% of the time but only from 2nd to 3rd gear. It is something that the average person probably wouldnt notice at slow speeds. I will explain as best as possible. At regular acceleration it is almost like it shifts to third back to second then to third again. This sequence happens pretty quickly. At higher speeds and faster acceleration, the shift from second to third is a bit diffrent. The transition from when the vehicle shifts from 2nd to third seems to be slow and it is almost like it slowly 'falls' into gear. NOT like a slip where the rpms raise and the car doesnt accel. The other 10% of the time she shifts MINT! Anyone had this issue before?? Another issue i noticed after a few weeks was as follows. WHen i start the car first thing in the morning, after the vehicle has run for approx. 2 minutes I begin to get smoke from the driver side (remember this is a rhd model) tailpipe. It doesnt look blue but rather white/grey. It does not smell of coolant or oil. This smoking last for about 5 minutes or so, then nothing. I have guessed that it would be a turbo leak but really a turbo leak at 60,ooo miles??? Another issue is the engine seems to make a sound that is comparable to the bouncing of a pingpong ball on a table. It is not very loud and sometimes not at all but i notice it in fact more with the hood closed than open. Any ideas? Im running mobil1 synthetic 5w30 in the engine. The car pulls lke a dream and handles amazing. I just want to get these litle issues figure out. One other thing, there is an older hks boost controller and boost gauge , none of which are working. If a boost controller is installed , would that mean that the ecu has been chipped?? I have heard you need this in order to use a controller. I am a little green on this stuff (use to be a bmw guy) so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Ace2cool]

Well, first off, welcome to NICO.

Now, as far as the A/T shifting oddly, it may be your overdrive, not your actual gear. M/T is a lot easier to diagnose, seeing as you know exactly what gear you're in and whatnot. For mine, it was in 4th gear OD and it would seem like it shifted out of OD and then almost immediately back again. Try this:

Start driving, and turn OverDrive "off". You should get an indicator light on the dash in the upper right hand of the gauge cluster. If you don't, or if it intermittently lights, then either the bulb is burned out/burning out, or your overdrive is not functioning properly. I'd replace the transmission fluid and filter.

When my transmission went out on me, it turned out to be a clogged filter that burned the pump out, and fried everything from the torque converter back, so I had it rebuilt, and was able to reuse the factory gears. Since it was rebuilt it hasn't made the "odd" shifts.

As far as the smoke goes, is it cold out when you're warming it up? It might just be condensation evaporating. Check to see what it smells like and let us know.

Lastly, the "ping pong ball" noise might be a lifter. They are a common issue with Nissans. Where are you hearing the sound mainly from though? Does it increase repetitions with engine RPMs? Could also be an exhaust leak from the manifold if it's coming from the wheel wells.

Hope this helps. And once again, welcome to NICO. We'll help you get your baby running right.