Wont Shift!

[Z32man]

I have a friend with 300z with an auto transmission and it wont shift out of 3rd gear. It will go in park, neutral, and reverse and work normally but when it is in drive, 1, and 2, it wont get out of 3rd gear. Would this be a wiring problem with the transmission or would it be something inside the transmission that is messed up?

[speedeast]

I read something about a "safe" mode. I don't know if that car's equipped. If this is the case, then resetting the ECU could possible fix the issue. If the fluid is brownish or develops a strong burning odor, then there are some worse problems. Fluid level is the most common culprit.

[Z32man]

we already tried adding fluid and it did not do anything. do you know how to reset the ecu?

[Mikey_ZX]

You can try doing transmission diagnosis check to see if the tcu gives you a code , just look it up in the FSM, you might just have a bad solenoid. If you have a burned smell to the fluid or the fluid is brownish like what was stated above, there can be some burned clutch plates that have lost friction material in your clutch packs. Also, your valve body could be dirty! These are different possibilities!