Only 3 gear selections

[Fiji Nissan]

I own a Nissan March K10 iz (1994) and it's got an automatic transmission with a total output of 987cc. In normal driving it changes only 3 gears. I thought it was ok and maybe it did come with a 3 speed gearbox until someone pointed out that the engine basically screams as you reachup to 100kmph. Can someone tell me if the automatics did actually come with 3 speed gearboxes or whether there's something wrong? Here in Fiji, no one seems to know much about Nissan March gearboxes. Help Please..!!!!

 

[Ems]

I was told by my dad not long ago that it does infact only have 3 gears!!! Was very suprised!!

 

[Turtle]

Yeah and the 4 speed manual is noisy enough on the motorway...

Ear defenders on the xmas list...... if you celebrate xmas in Japan fwn

 

[Ed]

Many auto boxes are only 3 gears. Thats quite common from cars of this era.

 

[RaptorRVL]

As already said, it does indeed only have 3 gears.
As for screaming, the most easy way to check is to use a (simple) rpm counter. I know that a manual 4 speed box does around 4000 rpm when going 120 km/h.
Not quite sure what a 3 speed automatic will do, but I guess they would have kept the ratios the same at the end.

When it does waaay over 4000 rpm driving 100-120 km/h there could be something wrong. But I guess with that I'm getting a bit too far ahead with this So not to worry.

 

[Fiji Nissan]

Thanks for your advice Raptor RVL, Ed, Turtle and Ems. Since RaptorRVL, Ed and Ems say it's got 3 gears, I suppose it does have 3 gears. But the funny thing is if the car is rolling at 80kmph (in neutral) and if you select "Drive" it seems like the car goes into 4th gear for 5 seconds and THEN comes back to the normal screaming 3rd gear!!! Which is what made me wonder even more whether there would be a 4th gear as well. Would you know what's causing this? And by the way, inbetween gear changes, the engine revs quite high. It's not a normal gear change where the engine rev drops smoothly as the gear selections go higher. It's as if from 1st the car goes into neutral for a second then changes to 2nd!!! Is this normal?

 

[Andrew]

Do you know the history of the car? Auto boxes are quite sensitive to oil quality as they use the oil for control and actuators inside the box - if it hasn't been changed it could be causing problems.

I don't know about the Micra auto box (I only know one person who has owned one), but most automatic gearboxes only have a small number of gears on them compared to manual. It's because they have a thing called a torque converter before the gear box which multiplies the torque when there is a difference between the speed of the engine and the road wheels. Normally the highest gear on the gearbox is designed for motorway driving.

 

[Fiji Nissan]

Thanks Andrew. You actually make sense. The oil in the gearbox IS quite worn by now. But tell me (I don't know much about gearboxes), in automatic transmissions, isn't the gear oil also called Transmission oil? As for the history of the car, it was bought from a re-conditioned car dealer way back in 1997 and it was brought into Fiji as a Japanese import. It was initially owned by my brother and then sold it to me when he migrated to New Zealand. Thanks again, Andrew. I think I'll start with changing the gearbox oil (or Transmission oil?) and see if things work out.

 

[Alienfish360]

a Gearbox is another name for a Transmission.

Gearbox oil is the same as Transmission oil

 

[Fiji Nissan]

Thanks for the clarification, Alienfish 360. I'm an accountant by profession and will surely need you guys help to keep me on the road. Once again "Vinaka Vakalevu" (which is 'Thank you very much' in the Fijian language). Till next time, Thank you ALL who've been of assistance to me.

 

[Ed]

You need gear fluid specifically for automatic transmissions. "ATF" fluid. You can not use normal manual gearbox oil.

 

[Fiji Nissan]

Ed, mate, thanks a million. For all I know, I'd have filled cooking oil!! Thanks again, pal.

 

[banksy]

sounds like the gearbox is 'seeking' - are the idle revs are 'hunting' up and down? ... i've seen this in an old ford sierra 2.3 Ghia (auto) and just before it went to the knacker's yard ...

 

[sonic]

I know that a manual 4 speed box does around 4000 rpm when going 120 km/h. Not quite sure what a 3 speed automatic will do, but I guess they would have kept the ratios the same at the end.

ma10 manual final drive ratio is 3.81:1 (4 speed), 3.591:1 (5 speed) and the auto is 3.737:1, I once owned a K10 1.0l auto, its top speed was an indicated 105 mph (170kmh) I had trouble with it in the same way as Fiji Nissan has, I did what the Haynes says and adjusted the brake band, this does need adjustment with time, especially if the gearbox overheats and I believe it gets pretty warm in Fiji so that would help a gearbox to overheat, it can be done with the box in situ from under the car, other symptoms are a jerky change (especially 1st to 2nd) and the kickdown not working properly or on time, I would suggest you buy a Haynes manual though, it'll be a great help.