CiViCKiDD

I just bought a MINT 2002 Maxima SE w/58k miles on wednesday, it's always been dealer serviced and is in amazing condition.

However...my driveway is on an incline and the gearshift is pretty hard to move from P to R when parked that way. Absolutely no problems when parked on level ground, or if I reverse park.

Any ideas as to what it could be? I'm hoping it's not the transmission, shifts while driving are smooth like butter...

gtr_rider

iTrader: (50)

Use the handbrake to keep the car from moving, that will help

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

^^+1. Pull the brake to hold the car in place before you put it in park. It will put the stress on the brakes and not the transmission.

CiViCKiDD

Thanks guys, I figured I'd do that for now but if it was something relatively inexpensive to fix I'd go that route. Technically it's my wife's car so I'm trying to make it as "foolproof to operate" (if that makes any sense).

Brandenr331

There is a simple fix for your problem and that is before puting your car in park preform these steps 1. apply the emergengy brake 2.shift into neutral 3.let off of the brake 4.then shift into park. This is accually better than just using the emergengy brake and instantly shifting into park because it allows the car to "roll" onto the wheels (the movement of the vehicle you feel after you put it in park without doing this.)in turn alloing brake to do the work of holding the car not the transmission. Hope this helps!

*some vehicles may not have a strong engough emergency brake to do this however i am pretty sure all maximas should have one strong enough to do this *

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Srsly??

Rolling onto the wheels is exactly what is stressing the transmission!

Disagree.

T_Behr904

Yup that's exactly what you do. When you're ready to drive off, put your foot on the brake first, then disengage the parking brake, then put the shifter in R or D depending on the direction your facing. When I park my 5-speed car, I always set the parking brake first, then put it in 1st when facing upwards, or reverse when facing downwards. It's not good to let a manual trans car rest on the gears. To sum it up, park your auto in a way you would park a manual.