I have a 1990 nissan maxima ( automatic ) . I recently was told my transmission is going and recently the car stopped going into reverse then worked in reverse for one day and now it's back to not going into reverse at all . Now even in reverse or nuetral the car will not roll back if pushed ( even by 3 gorwn men ) it doesn't even budge in either gear . While sitting in the car it feels as if the gears are locked up and the car only wants to move into drive . Tonight I put the car into reverse ( didn't move ) , then put the car into nuetral ( didn't move ) then tried reverse one more time and the car jumped forward as if it were in drive . Yes , I have put tranny fluid in by the way . Please someone explain to me what is the issue so that I can decide to junk the car or is it worth fixing . I once read that the cable that connects your gears to your transmission could be the reason your car won't react in the gear you place it in .

Some of the car experts should be along, but there are a few reasons for a car not properly going into gear or for it not going out of gear ( if it will not go into neutral or reverse and even goes farward when it says reverse, it appears it is staying in forward, and not actually changing gears.

I guess
1. who told you it was the transmission ( which is a good guess of course)
2. the person who told you this, did they inspect the car,and see what the actual issue was and give you an estimate to fix it ?

The link below may help:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-t...ml#post1838065

Meticulously test each under hood and under dash fuse with a test light or multimeter. Check for a faulty Automatic Transmission Gear Position Switch.

If it actually is the transmission, the car is 22 years old. Is the car worth $2000-300) it will cost to repair/replace the transmission? How many miles are on the car? How well does it run otherwise? These are things you need to assess before spending a lot of money. I may get chew out for this but I would take it to AAMCO or a Lee Myles. They are TRANSMISSION SPECIALISTS. That is all they do. It really is your only option to have it checked professionally.