All, I have a peculiar issue and am wondering if some one can help. Here are the details-

Model: 2009 Rogue FWD

Repair Work done so far: CVT replaced , AC clutch assembly replaced , Brake Rotors resurfaced .Up to date on recalls.

Issue : When hard braking and coming to a stop from a moderate speed say 30 MPH, the car makes a popping / striking noise and jolts between 8~12 MPH. The RPMs take a dip to around 900 RPMs and then shoot up to 1200 RPMs at that point .The noise appear to be coming from tranny area though it is a tricky one. The noise is pretty loud and jolt is similar to what we feel during a gear change in a stick shift.

This does not happen when I shift to N mode while driving and apply brakes. It works just fine. Also , when the AC is on , I rarely see this issue.

Not sure if it is related but , I also hear a gurgling sound and slight vibration coming from front left when my Rogue is at Idle, in D mode , brakes are applied and I use headlights or roll power windows. It goes away when I release brakes or switch off any electricals or shift to N or P Mode.

I have been to the dealer for this and they resurfaced rotors to see if it resolves the issue(and it hasn't). Will make another trip soon. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

Sounds like more CVT issues... don't let up on them, make sure a service manager (not a tech) drives the car with you and feels the problem.

I agree, specifically that sounds like the torque converter, it unlocks around the speeds that you mentioned when decerlating. I'd make an appointment with your dealer.

2 years in and you got CVT replaced? damn How many miles are on the Cluster?
Are Nissans CVT really that bad? Is it the Clutch that wears out or just the Steel belts that go bad. Sorry I Don't Really know about CVTs.
I've been researching about when does the clutch engage or disengage in a CVT so I know how to drive my rogue with out early problems. but I got no luck on the research.


I noticed on our Murano and Rogue when you bring RPMs up to 5k+ the car starts smelling like firecrackers. (only did that once to test Acceleration)
Is that the Clutch burning or belt?
but i don't think its the clutch that makes that smell. Cause Burning clutch smells different.

Come on TaiLuu, just because you hear one story about a problem with a CVT tranny doesn't justify leaping to the conclusion that all CVT's are "bad".

There are tens of thousands of CVT's in Nissan vehicles including the Versa, Cube, Sentra, Rogue, Murano, the new Quest and most of them will have no problems at all.

Take a look at any other car forum, Dodge, GM, Ford, even Toyota or Honda and you'll see reports of people with major problems including conventional transmissions. The large Ford and GM shops in my town have full time transmission tech's, and all they do is work on tranny's due to the large volume of tranny problems. But does anyone say "I know someone with a conventional tranny that went bad and had to be rebuilt, therefore all conventional tranny's (or Ford tranny's) are bad and should be avoided". Of course not, that is just bad logic.

I'm not saying the Nissan CVT is the absolute best tranny, I'm just saying we need to be fair and realistic here. In published reliability data including TrueDelta.com who publishes real-world reliability most Nissan vehicles including the Rogue are above average quality including the CVT.

Thanks everyone for the insight.

As such I am pretty satisfied with the Rogue. I drove a leased Rogue for six months before buying my own so I was aware of what I was getting into and I am pretty satisfied with my decision.

Having said that, tranny remains Achilles heels for otherwise a great car. CVT is comparatively a newer technology and manufacturer will take time to make it perfect and I am ready to try it.

What frustrates me the most is callous attitude of Nissan dealers. It took me quite some time and repeated visits to multiple dealers to make them acknowledge that there is something wrong with my first tranny, AC System , Front Suspension and so on. The problem is they rely too much on fault codes and sensor responses and are under pressure for profitability. I had to talk to Nissan and when they too started giving standard reply " that's the way it works" I had to inform them about my plans to get small claims courts and BBB involved.

I am going to a nice dealership this time, pretty proactive in dealing and resolving issues so hopefully it will be easier. Will keep you all posted on developments.

kerrton wrote:Come on TaiLuu, just because you hear one story about a problem with a CVT tranny doesn't justify leaping to the conclusion that all CVT's are "bad".

There are tens of thousands of CVT's in Nissan vehicles including the Versa, Cube, Sentra, Rogue, Murano, the new Quest and most of them will have no problems at all.

Take a look at any other car forum, Dodge, GM, Ford, even Toyota or Honda and you'll see reports of people with major problems including conventional transmissions. The large Ford and GM shops in my town have full time transmission tech's, and all they do is work on tranny's due to the large volume of tranny problems. But does anyone say "I know someone with a conventional tranny that went bad and had to be rebuilt, therefore all conventional tranny's (or Ford tranny's) are bad and should be avoided". Of course not, that is just bad logic.

I'm not saying the Nissan CVT is the absolute best tranny, I'm just saying we need to be fair and realistic here. In published reliability data including TrueDelta.com who publishes real-world reliability most Nissan vehicles including the Rogue are above average quality including the CVT.

I've heard more then one story. but I Didn't mean to throw Nissan out there But CVTs in general.
I'm just hearing stories of Manufactures ditch CVTs and just going for geared Automatics. Just cause they frequently have problems.

I hear ya, and I've done a lot of searching and reading on the subject of CVT's over the years too, but what I was disagreeing with was your statement "they frequently have problems". This may be a percepton but the actual numbers don't support this. Look at published reliability ratings, specifically for the CVT component and you'll see that they don't frequently fail. And don't get me wrong, I'm not biased here, if anything I was like you and biased against the CVT until I really studied the numbers and put perceptions aside.

And I believe that CVT's are becoming more widely used in some cases, not less. Most hybrid vehicles are using or plan to use CVT's.

The conclusion I've come to is that the CVT is AT LEAST as reliable as a conventional transmission and in a lot of cases it is superior, depending on the specific manufacturer you're comparing too - basically CVT is middle of the pack and to be fair conventional tranny's have lots of problems too. A lot of the bad perceptions of the CVT come from early "trouble spots" such as the 2003 first production Murano - this CVT was very bad and the complaints were well documented.

Here's the key point I'm trying to make, if today you research "CVT troubles" you'll get a lot of 03 Murano hits because a lot of people complained. But you'll see very few later model Murano, Rogue, Cube, Altima, Sentra etc. problems because the current CVT design is quite different and vastly superior.

If you search "tranny problems" for any other manufacturer you'll get a lot of hits, just like for the CVT. I had a friend who purchased a 2007 RAV4 and his tranny was replaced 3 times before he finally traded it in and who knows what eventually happened to that vehicle.

My questions is, based on my story and other horror stories of bad Toyota RAV4 transmissions (a simple google search will reveal a long list of complaints against the RAV4 tranny), should we conclude that conventional transmissions are "bad" and should be avoided?

Again I'm not biased, I don't work for Nissan and I'm not really brand loyal, I buy from whoever gives the best product at the best price. But if you put perceptions aside and just look at the stats, Nissan's and the CVT are never below average and in most situations are above average in reliability. There are probably some better products out there but there are also those that are worse, I have cousin who works on Ford tranny's all day long, they have a very high rate of trouble.

No issues out of our CVT for 26K miles.

Then we pulled it out and replaced it with a 6MT.

kerrton wrote:I hear ya, and I've done a lot of searching and reading on the subject of CVT's over the years too, but what I was disagreeing with was your statement "they frequently have problems". This may be a percepton but the actual numbers don't support this. Look at published reliability ratings, specifically for the CVT component and you'll see that they don't frequently fail. And don't get me wrong, I'm not biased here, if anything I was like you and biased against the CVT until I really studied the numbers and put perceptions aside.

And I believe that CVT's are becoming more widely used in some cases, not less. Most hybrid vehicles are using or plan to use CVT's.

The conclusion I've come to is that the CVT is AT LEAST as reliable as a conventional transmission and in a lot of cases it is superior, depending on the specific manufacturer you're comparing too - basically CVT is middle of the pack and to be fair conventional tranny's have lots of problems too. A lot of the bad perceptions of the CVT come from early "trouble spots" such as the 2003 first production Murano - this CVT was very bad and the complaints were well documented.

Here's the key point I'm trying to make, if today you research "CVT troubles" you'll get a lot of 03 Murano hits because a lot of people complained. But you'll see very few later model Murano, Rogue, Cube, Altima, Sentra etc. problems because the current CVT design is quite different and vastly superior.

If you search "tranny problems" for any other manufacturer you'll get a lot of hits, just like for the CVT. I had a friend who purchased a 2007 RAV4 and his tranny was replaced 3 times before he finally traded it in and who knows what eventually happened to that vehicle.

My questions is, based on my story and other horror stories of bad Toyota RAV4 transmissions (a simple google search will reveal a long list of complaints against the RAV4 tranny), should we conclude that conventional transmissions are "bad" and should be avoided?

Again I'm not biased, I don't work for Nissan and I'm not really brand loyal, I buy from whoever gives the best product at the best price. But if you put perceptions aside and just look at the stats, Nissan's and the CVT are never below average and in most situations are above average in reliability. There are probably some better products out there but there are also those that are worse, I have cousin who works on Ford tranny's all day long, they have a very high rate of trouble.

I Gotcha now lol.
I guess Nissan just wants to meet todays Standard.

AZhitman wrote:No issues out of our CVT for 26K miles.

Then we pulled it out and replaced it with a 6MT.

In a Rogue? Did you Just the Altima Coupes Tranny?
Interesting.....

So I visited the dealership today...The Service Director went for a test drive with me. All he wanted to do was to dismiss my concerns. All he kept saying through out the drive was " I do not feel a thing". He did not even feel the normal TQ lock engaging. I asked for someone else to test drive . He asked one of the techs to do so but not before prompting him by saying " I don't hear a thing but you give it a try". How is a tech supposed to defy a service directors verdict? Of course he too did not "hear " or "feel" anything. At that point I asked them to not waste my time and release my vehicle so that I could directly go to Nissan and deal with the issue. Luckily ,Service Manager/ Adviser was a nicer guy and he had the courage to go for a ride with me. He did feel a "second grip" or in other words the peculiar behavior that i described though he is short of defining it as an issue. I showed this post to him and he has referred this to Nissan Techline. Will let you know the outcome.

I overheard their conversation and they did not want to work on this issue because they thought they might lose money on it . This was until the Service Manager intervened. I think the dealerships are scared of touching Trannys for some reason.

This probably is the reason why I and probably many of us have so little regards for dealerships. All they care about is making money and all Nissan cares is how to procrastinate issues and avoid warranty work.

After being in the forum for awhile, I was under the impression that if it was a Tranny problem or any recall for that matter, I thought Nissan pays the dealership for the work.

Which is the very reason they might WANT to find a problem.

Unless the dealership was plain lazy that day.

On a side note, Nissan just releasted a technical service bulletin for the Altima with the same powertrain as the Rogue - it relates to the surging feeling when the torque converter locks and unlocks. This isn't exactly what you're describing but I think it's referring to the same component, the CVT lock-up torque converter. I'll be intersted to see if they extend this to include the Rogue as well, see details here:

http://nissan-techinfo.com/TSB/TSB_xml/ ... modelyear=