[66Notchback]

The missus drives a 1996 Nissan Quest. It's in seriously good shape for the year, and low mileage.

She came home with a very interesting complaint this last week, and I figured I'd get a straighter answer here than trying to find one else-wise.

Someone cut her off in traffic, and she hit the brakes, hard. Of course, the van lurched to a very sudden halt. Imagine her surprise when she put her foot on the gas again to proceed, and the vehicle had put itself into NEUTRAL. Just as she realized this, the front tires chirped, the transmission "grabbed", and she was off again.

She tells me she was able to make the van do that again when she repeated the sudden braking as an exercise.

What on earth could the brakes have to do with the transmission????

[SABL]

I'm not aware of any "problem" other than fluid transfer/shift from the sudden deceleration. The fluid "sloshes" foreward and away from the sump (pick-up) area causing a low pressure situation and loss of tranny function. Once the fluid settles back in place and pressure is regained in the system the tranny will operate as it should. Only in extreme cases have I heard of this happening and most often the tranny is low on fluid. Please check the fluid level in the tranny!!

[66Notchback]

It's full: that's the first thing I did.

I suspect a seal may be going, and in combination with what you said, is causing the issue.

I am 'hands off' when it comes to transmissions, I leave those to the pros!

[66Notchback]

The missus tells me that she topped up the transmission fluid before I checked it, that while it was low, it wasn't below the "add" line.

The van apparently did it again after that.

I'm going to take it out and drive it myself and see what the Heck she's talking about.

[66Notchback]

OK, I bit the bullet and took her van for a drive - I usually drive it in the Summer months only, it's got the tow package for my boat....

Tranny is full, and yet that behavior of shifting to neutral upon hard braking is still present. That tells me it's got to be a seal or a gasket or something, and likely something I'll have to pay someone to address, darn it. It will also do that on a hard corner if you don't keep the gas to the engine, so it is positional, so to speak.

And it's just what I didn't need right now.