torque converter not staying engaged?

[driftphenom]

have an auto 95 s14. runs, drives fine when o/d is off. but when i put it in o/d, it shifts to fourth, then when the torque converter kicks in, it keeps jumping in and out i think. or engaging and disengaging. it feels like the car is studdering. but it only does it while trying to mantain a speed. not while accelerating. it also doesnt do it at speeds below 45 or so mph. i read the fsm and the diagnosis instructs me to pull the oil pan, which im not a fan of. was just looking for advice or someone that had the same problem. im hoping to do a 5 speed swap eventually so i dont really want to pull a tranny if i dont need to. is this torque converter a gear or shaft or what? just need to know if this is chewin up the gears or just a solonoid or what. thx in advance.

p.s. i googled how an auto tranny works but it made my brain hurt to try to comprehend. i need lamen terms

[s13boy89]

have you checked the fluid and mybe if you do pull your pan change the filter

[driftphenom]

well, i was low on fluid, put about a half a quart. helped. but didnt eliminate it comepletely. sort off hesistant to keep adding fluid tho.the dipstick is confusing. know it sounds stupid but the hot/cold marks are on opposite sides and they overlap. there is some sort of like waffle design up to the line and some of the pits will have fluid in them and some wont. im thinknig the stick should be COMPLETLY covered to the line, right? i just want to make sure befoe i put too much in. it was hard enought to get it in there. im sure its much harder to get it out

[s13boy89]

welll i heard with autos you have to check with the car on and the auto tranny takes like 10 i think takes a shitload if its low it wont shift right

[driftphenom]

yeah i drove around to heat up the car before i checked it. it was pretty much dry ( the dipstick, not the whole tranny). but after pouring in the atf, i think the dipstick may be picking up atf residue of the sides of the fill tube, thus giving me a false reading, i.e. - the- waffle pit -thing. im going to wait until i go to work then check it in the parking lot. just to make sure it all drained down. if you knew what the dipstick looked like youd understand. fyi, the fsm says 8.3 qrts, but i have no idea of knowing how many qrts are in there already

[koukikrisp]

park your car on a flat/level surface(important). let it idle for about 5-10 min. check the dipstick for a SOLID fluid line(it may take a minute or two before all the fluid finds its way down). splotchy means that it indeed is just picking up from the sides of the tube. 8.3 qts is the fluid fill if your tranny is bone dry not on a regular drain/refill, which is more like 4 qts maybe less. as for the hot/cold fill line, the cold fill line would be when you just start the car in the morning and the entire engine/trans hasnt warmed up to full operating temp. hot would be when u let it idle for about 10 min. as long as u get a solid line in any of the ranges you should be okay, but shoot for full.

as for your problem, i would definatly start with fluid/filter(use nissan!). other possibilities can include valve body control solenoids being bad or possibly a sensor.