Hesitates when put in gear

GREY ALFORD

MEMBER
2014 NISSAN ALTIMA
2.5L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
80,000 MILES

Two weeks ago the fuel pump went out so I got that fixed at a local auto shop. Everything was fine until about 100 miles later I started the car and put it in reverse and it hesitated then jerked a little and then when I put it in drive it it hopped until I reached about 8 mph all issues ceased to exist till I stopped at a red light I could feel the gears engaging and disengaging while idling in drive. When I applied throttle there was no response for approximately five seconds. I let the car sit for about two hours. Then it started right up like always then when I put it in reverse it stalled that repeated seven times then on the eighth time I put it in reverse and gave it a lot of throttle and it ran fine after it reached approximately 5 mph. I took it to the mechanic that did the fuel pump he test drove it said he is not sure but if he had to guess it would be the transmission. I started it up to leave the mechanics and I put it in gear and had no response from the throttle at all there was no response from the rpm and it wouldn't click into gear then all of the sudden when I applied throttle the gauge went up to 4 rpm's Whit the accelerator pedal held down in one position (about half way down) the rpm's started bouncing between 2 and 4 whenever I applied throttle no matter how much I applied that's all it would do is bounce RPM and it wouldn't go into gear still. I turned the car off and back on and put it in gear it hesitated to engage but after a few seconds it worked and was able to drive home. The car kept hopping in and out of gear whenever we came to a stop but once in gear if I applied gas it would go without any issues. Please help! Also there are no warning or check engine lights on.

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

Welcome to 2CarPros.

When you say it is jumping in and out of gear, do you mean it jumps into neutral and the engine revs and then jumps back into gear or does it just feel like it doesn't want to go?

When you mentioned there was no response when you pressed the accelerator, that has nothing to do with a transmission issue, but rather, it sounds like an issue with the throttle control actuator, motor, or one of the sensors related to the system.

There is a sensor on the gas pedal which sends a signal to the ECM. If the pedal sensor is bad, the engine won't respond.

Here are the directions for testing one. The two attached pictures show the sensor and the 3rd pic shows voltages that should be seen from the pedal.

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The accelerator pedal position sensor is installed on the upper end of the accelerator pedal assembly. The sensor detects the accelerator position and sends a signal to the ECM.

Picture 1 and 2

Picture 3 indicates voltages.

Accelerator pedal position sensor has two sensors. These sensors are a kind of potentiometers which transform the accelerator pedal position into output voltage, and emit the voltage signal to the ECM.
In addition, these sensors detect the opening and closing speed of the accelerator pedal and feed the voltage signals to the ECM. The
ECM judges the current opening angle of the accelerator pedal from these signals and controls the throttle control motor based on these signals.
Idle position of the accelerator pedal is determined by the ECM
receiving the signal from the accelerator pedal position sensor. The
ECM uses this signal for the engine operation such as fuel cut.

Here are a few links that may help if you want to test the sensor:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-test-light-circuit-tester

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-voltmeter

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-wiring

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Let me know if this mirrors what you have experienced or if the transmission disengages and the RPM's raise. Keep in mind, there are other components that are related with this system. However, this is my first suspect.

I will watch for your response.

Take care,
Joe

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