Got Stuck in Snow broke my Maxima :-(

[lucasjsr]

Ok here is one for the books. I got stuck in the snow today in my 95 Maxima. I was able to rock it free but he ABS light came on. I shut the car off and restarted it and the ABS light went off. I tried starting out again and was stuck again. I attempted to rock the car out again and something let go. I hear a grinding when I put in in gear but no power to the wheels. What ever it is when I put it tin gear must be there is something broken to the axles because whenI try to put it back in Park, I hear the grinding like the trans is spinning and the parking pin thing is ratttling then goes in to stop the transmission. I had to have the car towed. The transmission does not hold the car in place. Any ideas where to start (stripped half-shaft? busted transaxle?) I will update when I find out more. Thanks for any help

[mattynicks3]

sorry...no idea

maybe just the transmission?

[lucasjsr]

Welllllll a little investigating and I discovered I broke a CV joint. No good but not near as bad as I originally thought it might be. SO I must have really been torquing it to snap it. Oh well it is warrantied for a year and I just replaced it about two months ago so all I have to do is take it back to NAPA and do the work.

[davskins97]

Do you think it was defective? I don't think that is normal. Especially if is brand new. Can it be installed wrong?

[audtatious]

By "rocking it" were you slamming it back-n-forth between reverse and drive with an automatic transmission? If so you are extremely lucky it's only a broken CV as that can easily be the death of a transmission.

[NutriaforBreakfast]

Yeah I get mad at my wife when she puts the car in driveafter backing up but not coming to complete stop

I did get her to start putting on the E brake on hills beforeputting the car in park (prevents binding transmission)

You are going to want to replace your transmission seal(s) (8.00 eachat Nissan)when you change out your CV joint(s)

[lucasjsr]

I really think I just broke it and that there was nothing wrong other than I pushed it to the extreme and it was not made for that and broke. The tow truck driver told me lots of cars were breaking (20.4" of snow is tough on any passenger car). Thankfully the shaft was under warranty and I am up and running again.

[lucasjsr]

Oops too late now, car is back together and on the road and it is still cold here so I am not tearing it back down right away. If it starts to leak I will do it then. For now, I am happy to be up and running and not buying a transmission. Next time I will not push it so hard and break it in the snow.

[lucasjsr]

Jeff I will bet you know about "rocking" a car since you are in Louisville. Snow sucks so bad for driving and it is even worse when you break something.