FYI A new Tech Service Bulletin was just released to address the surging behavior of the CVT under light load acceleration that some owners experience. Nissan claims this is normal but they will remedy the behavior upon request.

I have a 2008 Rogue with the same QR25DE 4 cylinder and CVT that does this and it sucks pretty bad, I'm not so worried about now but if and when I try to sell my car privately it might make it tough to explain that "the weird tranny surging is normal, really, trust me!". But, there is no bulletin for my Rogue, perhaps it's coming. For now, Alty owners can eliminate this if these choose:

NTB10121
IF YOU CONFIRM There is a slight vehicle hesitation type feel and/or a surge type feel when all of the following conditions are present: Speed between 10 and 45 mph, and Transmission torque converter clutch is engaged (lock mode), and Engine RPM between 1200 and 2000, and Light acceleration. IMPORTANT NOTE: Very slight vehicle hesitation type feel and/or surge type feel under these conditions are a normal operating characteristic of this vehicle and are within design specifications for the vehicle. However, for those customers who are particularly sensitive to this characteristic of their vehicle, the actions in this bulletin may be performed for customer satisfaction. ACTIONS 1. Refer to Step 2 in the Service Procedure to confirm this bulletin applies to the vehicle you are working on. 2. If this bulletin applies, make sure the customer is informed of the Customer Information in this bulletin. 3. If after informing the customer of the Customer Information, the customer voluntarily choosesto have the condition addressed with the specification change, then: Reprogram the TCM, and Install the Torque Rod Service Kit listed in the Parts Information. See this bulletin for further detail

Thanks for the heads up. I have been trying to get the surging sorted out since I bought my Altima back in '07, it's very annoying between 30 and 40 mph. Now I have some hope!

Thanks again kerrton.

No problem Mr. Music, hey if you take your car in for this TSB would you mind getting back to us? I'm curious how labor intensive this is for the dealer and how your car will perform after....thanks.

I will definitely get back to the forum on my experience with this; I'll post back in this thread. I'll call the dealer I'd like to take it to, see what they have to say, and I'll go from there.

Hi All,

I am new to the forum but wanted to join up to discuss the CVT surge issue. I bought a certified '08 Altima 3 weeks ago with 41K on the clock, and this problem has been making me crazy. Otherrwise, beautiful, clean car that came off lease. I previously had an '05 which is not CVT, so I was disappointed in the new tranny, even though it is nice technology. However, I bought it from a very good dealer who wants to make it right and is installing the torque rod kit free-of-charge to make me happy. The parts are back-ordered because they are very popular, I would assume. So, when the job is done I will report back with the results...Oh, I had their Master Tech drive the car and he verified the surge issue. I guess this is something that needs to be done before they do the kit. Catch up later...

Can you describe the surge? I've noticed with my 3.5 CVT, whenever I take off from a start, the car - about 70% of the time - jerks forward before actually accelerating smoothly. Is this just something I have to get more used to (meaning the throttle sensitivity) or a problem with the transmission?

mattyfo0z,

The surge in my car, which is the 2.5 with the Jatco JF011E belt CVT (3.5's have the Jatco JF010E), happens between about 32-37 mph, more or less. It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens in light throttle conditions, as if maintaining a certain speed. It feels like the car is lugging, slightly jerking back and forth. It's not very severe, but imagine it as if you were moving your foot on and off the gas at a quick, constant rate.

So, what your experiencing isn't the CVT surge as far as I can tell. Just to be clear, when you accelerate from a stop, the engine gains some revs and then the car suddenly jerks into motion? Sounds like an issue with the torque converter to me, but I'm no expert and I don't fully know what's happening with your car.

Has anybody on here tried to get the surge issue resolved before this TSB? If so, what were your experiences? I tried resolving the issue soon after purchasing the car in late 2007 and well through 2008. At first, the dealer I purchased the car from just told me not to drive at the speed that the surge occurred after weeks of trying to figure it out. Obviously, that wasn't going to fix anything and that answer got me quite cross. After many phone calls with Nissan Consumer Affairs, I ended up taking the car to another dealership. With one of Nissan's engineers on the phone, I was told that this was a normal operation CVT. Basically, the transmission is unsure of whether or not to "change" into it's highest gear ratio, causing it to slightly fluctuate back and forth between gear ratios.

Normal or not, it's annoying, and I don't think it should be happening. Obviously, I'm not alone with that thought. I haven't had a chance to contact the dealership I want to take it to, but I still plan on posting back here with my experiences once I've spoken with someone at the dealership.

Just wanted to report back like I said I would after the torque rods were installed and the TCM was reprogrammed on my 2008 Altima 2.5, as described in the NTB bulletin we are discussing. I am happy to say the surge problem is gone, period. The car runs as smooth as it should and as we expect it to. I have been driving it a week now and I have forgotton I ever had the problem. Plus I may have picked up a gallon or 2 on the MPG, primarily because I am no longer fiddling with the gas pedal to make the car go or to get rid of the surge. I would recommend that anyone with this surge problem demand that the dealer make the fixes according to the NTB, at no charge, if you are not past your warranty miles. Hope this helps everyone, this is too nice a car to not be able to enjoy....

Is this for the 3.5 cvt as well? I think i may have the same problem. If i try to conserve gas and go lightly on the gas pedal, the car feels like it has no power or something is holding it back. Then once i hit about 20 mph it feels like it shifts gears or something and then it goes normal... The problem only happens from 0-25 mph and from about 1200-2000 rpm.

The TSB is only for the OR2.5 motor with CVT.

Altisimo wrote:I may have picked up a gallon or 2 on the MPG, primarily because I am no longer fiddling with the gas pedal to make the car go or to get rid of the surge.

Any update on MPG? The dealer told me a 2-3 MPG hit so I'm not sure if I want to do it if that's the case.

Was charged a 50.00 deductible, but all the parts and labor fell under warranty.

Torque Rod
Lower Torque Rod
TCM Reprogram
Price looks like it would've been 123.36 plus 1 hr of labor.

11250 – ZX60A is what needed to be ordered. My car drives like new again, there is no longer a surge of power when I accelerate and decelerate around 30mph. Before the car would shake as though it wasn't sure what I wanted it to do.

As for mpg it may be a while till I have a real indicator. I used to drive about 50 miles a day, but since I moved I'm lucky if I drive 5. Hopefully I get hired somewhere soon and can let you know...

I just wanted to follow up on this myself.

I am struggling against dealerships right now who are saying I am out of warranty to have this done.

I have 55,500 miles on my car. They are saying the parts in question (torque rods) are under the 36,000 / 3 year bumper to bumper, not power train.

So I am not sure what I have to do to make a dealership agree to cover this for me, but I am definitely experiencing the hesitations and surging exactly described in the TSB and this forum post.

So I brought my "dream car" in June 2011. It had about 35000 miles and ran fine until about one week post purchase.The brakes squeeked,had to get rooters repleaced, left wheel had to be replaced.Blah blah blah.BUT I started noticing that in the lower speeds and sometimes at 60 mph my car would jerk hard,very annoying I took in to the dealership about 4 times before they told me in August that a new bulletin came out and I could get this torque rod that would eliminate the issue Well just two weeks ago I got the torque kit[ very first car ever to get this at two nissan dealerships in san diego] So how about two days later ....I FEEL THE JERKING.People it did lower the feeling but the crap is still there.And I feel like there is this constant shaking undertone with the car.At least I don't believe I noticed any loss of mpg.I called the dealership and they were like well we never said it would eliminate the jerking. . I hate my car and I'm paying $18000 for this crap.Please someone help me!!!

Altisimo wrote:Just wanted to report back like I said I would after the torque rods were installed and the TCM was reprogrammed on my 2008 Altima 2.5, as described in the NTB bulletin we are discussing. I am happy to say the surge problem is gone, period. The car runs as smooth as it should and as we expect it to. I have been driving it a week now and I have forgotton I ever had the problem. Plus I may have picked up a gallon or 2 on the MPG, primarily because I am no longer fiddling with the gas pedal to make the car go or to get rid of the surge. I would recommend that anyone with this surge problem demand that the dealer make the fixes according to the NTB, at no charge, if you are not past your warranty miles. Hope this helps everyone, this is too nice a car to not be able to enjoy....

PLEASE where did you take your car to get serviced.I think the people at my dealership kindof made the issue worse

sdmama04 wrote:So I brought my "dream car" in June 2011. It had about 35000 miles and ran fine until about one week post purchase.The brakes squeeked,had to get rooters repleaced, left wheel had to be replaced.Blah blah blah.BUT I started noticing that in the lower speeds and sometimes at 60 mph my car would jerk hard,very annoying I took in to the dealership about 4 times before they told me in August that a new bulletin came out and I could get this torque rod that would eliminate the issue Well just two weeks ago I got the torque kit[ very first car ever to get this at two nissan dealerships in san diego] So how about two days later ....I FEEL THE JERKING.People it did lower the feeling but the crap is still there.And I feel like there is this constant shaking undertone with the car.At least I don't believe I noticed any loss of mpg.I called the dealership and they were like well we never said it would eliminate the jerking. . I hate my car and I'm paying $18000 for this crap.Please someone help me!!!

bummer man, sorry to hear that. I get the hesitations but its not so bad I don't want to drive the car. Only issue I am finding is the Torque kit is NOT covered (at least for me) as it falls within the 3 year / 36,000 and not the 5 year, 60,000 powertrain

so it will probably run me $300 to have the kit installed. Not sure if I want to pay that or not. I can always argue a point with Nissan NA Consumer Affairs.

I started a website so I could post about this specific issue. Check it out here: Nissan Altima CVT Problems – Hesitations – Surges – Jerks Blog Archive 2007 – 2011 Nissa Altima Slight Vehicle Hesitation or Surge Type Feel at Low Speeds

the goal is the attract lots of Altima owners who have this issue and get them posting their experiences with it. I will try to add a form as well for people to submit their info almost like a petition.

I want Nissan USA to address this and not force the Altima owners to have to be responsible for paying for this fix they have available.

$435 is what I got quoted for (and I rejected), and even though others are lower in the mid $300's, I still find it unacceptable and something that should be covered.

So if you want, please check out the post and leave a comment with your hesitation issue.

Thanks guys!

So printed out the NTB and took it to my nissan dealership today and they decided to do it for me free of charge.

So my question is what does the TCM reprograming change if anyone knows? They had to order the parts so they ended up just reprograming till the parts came in.

Thanks