My car will shift into gear but won't drive, what's wrong?

Asked by DawnHa Sep 23, 2013 at 03:47 PM about the 2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My car will shift into gear but won't drive, what's wrong?

26 Answers

6,715

If its an auto, check the oil level in the gearbox. If the gearbox is low on oil it can cause the torque converter to stop working. Seeing as a torque converter is the equivalent of a clutch in a manual car if it stops working you get no drive. Which brings us nicely to the next suggestion, if It's got a manual gearbox the clutch may be dead.

100 people found this helpful.
6,715

Take your pick. Could be anything from a dead gearbox to a dead differential. Or it could be as simple as a broken drive coupling on the propeller shaft or a broken drive shaft. There's a few different possibilities.

43 people found this helpful.
1,260

Mine just started doing same thing today, it is 2006 Altima, I can do reverse just fine, but have to put it in low to get started, then manually shift to next level, the into to drive - 3rd gear. It runs fine doing that. But when trying to start off in 2nd, 3rd or drive - does not go.

121 people found this helpful.
860

Try the 10A fuse through bat saver in the left side fuse compactor.

86 people found this helpful.
1,400

My car will rev when in neutral but when in reverse or drive I sits at idle

140 people found this helpful.
430

I have 2013 altima that die when I put it in rev and drive

43 people found this helpful.
1,050

I got a 2015 nissan sentra,starts but wont drive or reverse it only gots 80 thousand miles when in drive it just rev's upand wont move

105 people found this helpful.
690

Mine drive fine for about 10 minutes then it looses all power wont accelerate and looks like breaks are stock, than i let it cool down in it works again.

57 people found this helpful.
800

Just purchased a used 07 Nissan Altima 2.5S. It will drive in reverse but won't drive in (drive). Pleaseeee help!!

80 people found this helpful.
840

Mine is a 2012 Altima and recently, on hot days (with A/C running) after I've been on the freeway for an hour, I'm pressing the accelerator but I'm not accelerating. It's not overheating, and like someone else on here said, when I stop and let it cool off for a while then it seems to be okay again. But this is happening every day and it might be getting worse. Is it my tranny or something else?

59 people found this helpful.
220

2007 altima 2.5 tranny swapped and no fwd drive gears only reverse like the transmission that was in the car before.

22 people found this helpful.
610

Hi I have a 2009 Nissan Altima and I can put it in drive but it wont go what's wrong with it

61 people found this helpful.
840

My problem was the transmission. It's a CVT, and they're crap - especially for years 2008- 2012 (approximately). Nissan has at least 4 different class action suits pending against them for these problems. I tried to get Nissan to cover part or all of the cost of repair or replacement, but because mine is a 2012 and had over 120,000 miles on it, I was out of luck. I paid $3,700 for a rebuilt one (which carries a 3-year, 500,000 mile warranty) at a local tranny repair shop. It works fine so far. I will never buy another Nissan. The only reason I switched from Toyota is that the Nissan was a few thousand cheaper, but...well, you know the old saying: "You get what you pay for..."

25 people found this helpful.
420

I’ve seen multiple threads on this but have yet to find someone with a solid solution. My ‘05 Altima auto tranny is doing exactly as the first person’s was. Cooler outside. Fire up the car, shifts into drive, hit the accelerator, and nothing. Just revs up. Shift to reverse, works fine. Back into drive, nothing. Just revs up. Drop it down to “3”, nothing. Down to “2”, nothing. Down to “1”, finally it engages. Manually shift it back to “2”, nothing. After about 3 minutes of this back and forth, finally it’ll work fine. Doesn’t happen all the time. Maybe once or twice a week. Tranny fluid is at the right level. Doesn’t appear to be all that dirty. Car just passed 100K miles. Doesn’t shift hard. Surely someone has to know what’s going on here.

42 people found this helpful.
1,260

Just to let you know, on my 2006 Nissan Altima (Post in above) had 163,000 miles on the vehicle. Had offer to replace transmission with rebuilt for $1200, went ahead and sold the car.

5 people found this helpful.
90

My 2003 Nissan Altima has same problem as every one else, it wont start in drive, But if i start of in low gear then drive 50 ft then shift into 2nd gear and drive for 50 feet not super fas t it can shift into drive, The car never had a reverse problem, i drive it every day and once warmed up in drive it will go into drive gear correctly but only after driving it for a while. i refuse to replace the tranny im just gonna drive it untill it dies--PS i use synthethic oil and change the oil filter- and replace the spark plugs to keep it spunky it still kicks ass tho.

9 people found this helpful.
120

I have a 2005 nissan quest 3.5 and it does the same thing. After we drove for more than an hour the gear suddenly stopped engaging. I was revving the engine but the gear just won't engage. I put it in Reverse and still won't engage.

12 people found this helpful.
40

I have a 2016 Nissan Altima my car would not go over 15 miles per hour without me manual switching then it was stopped and it just started doing this it would not go past 15 unless I ride for a while if I stop it acts up

4 people found this helpful.
20

Thank you mgisalive. I have the same problem too. It would appear that others have come to the same conclusion. There is no easy fix. You either have to pay more than $1000 to replace or rebuild the transmission or sell the vehicle.

2 people found this helpful.

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