Replace your CVT yet? I did...

[cl1chicago]

150K miles on a 2009 Rogue AWD...

I don't like these CVT trannys. I did all the correct maintenance to the dotted letter i... and still lost the transmission. I do put a 100 miles a day on it but I drive highway and am easy on her... my tach is always running very low...

A transmission shop told me to repair it I was looking at at least $2500 up to 3K
I found a used transmission 60K on it and with labor it would have been close to $2500

Had the dealer put in a new one for $3600.

I'm not expecting a reply on this, just sharing my disappointment.

If I had to say there was a sign it was going, I think I had one. When I would drive on highway and stop at a stoplight, the engine would not rev up until about 30 seconds. I thought it was the brake stop sensor so I changed it.

Was driving one day home from work out in the middle of no where, engine RPM's went down... I rolled into a empty lot. Good thing I had Triple A motor club premium member. The $400 tow was free with my membership.

I'll probably put 300K on this vehicle and get rid of it and never get another JATCO CVT again. This is my work car, I drive 100 miles a day. I also have a BMW and a 4X4 SUV but do not drive them to work.

The engine on this should last I used synthetic oil and change it every 6K. I have all the maintenance done, and it checked over regularly so I do baby it but still lost the darn transmission...

Last year I had to have the AC compressor changed too with a new replacement...

My advice is don't buy a Rogue

Rant over...

Reference: Nissan CVT JATCO transmission: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/ho ... ck-feature

[ezb57e]

Yeah, the CVTs have been a bit disappointing.
Unfortunately Nissan is all in with them and other makers are using them too.
Since all things being equal, they are good for some percentage of fuel mileage gains, I don't expect they are a passing fad.
They are better than when they came out in the first Murano I think, but still fail too much.
The Rogue should have had a cooler from the beginning, and there is an expensive factory kit to install one.
The truck was even made to accept it, but it failed their cost/benefit analysis.
The new Pathfinders were also designed with an auxiliary cooler on all models, but it was reduced to only 4WD or tow packages IIRC.
There was talk of a new CEO at Jatco, to improve quality.
I guess we'll see.

[DTASFAB]

How frequently did you change the CVT fluid, and did you drain/refill or flush completely? If it was the latter, what substance was used to flush the fluid out?

I think doing frequent drain/refill cycles (every 20-30K, and stick to the lower end of that range if you really want to baby it) is preferable to occasional flushing at longer intervals because you don't want any residue from the flushing substances to remain in the transmission. Unless you're using actual NS-2 OEM CVT fluid to flush, which is really expensive, I wouldn't ever flush a Rogue's CVT.

The CVT fluid doesn't have to be 100% sparkling clean to be effective at both performing its mechanical function and protecting the moving parts. It just has to be more clean than dirty and filled to the correct level, which is really, really important in this vehicle.

[JLD94]

While I can appreciate disappointment in needing to replace, and I really hope that mine will last 200K. I don't think 150K is terrible....not great by any means, but not terrible....unless of course you were having problems all along the way for the 150K. Any problems along the way?

For some reason I thought I had heard CVT's were less expensive to replace as well, but doesn't sound like it.

[soccerfan]

My daughter bought a used Rogue in June 2012 to replace a totaled vehicle.

She was in grad school, and just beginning to flex her muscle about making her own choices,
and decided she wanted this 2009 rogue with approx 60K on the clock. I did all the research, and
was really put off by the transmission issues, but allowed myself to be persuaded by the factory
increase in the transmission warranty to 120K. She graduated in May 2013, got a job, moved out, you know,
the usual drill. This past June she called me, upset, and said that her Rogue needed a new transmission.

Apparently it went into limp mode while her future mother in law was driving the vehicle from
Wichita Falls to Fort Worth. She took it to a dealer in Weatherford,and, as it had 108K miles
on it and the warranty was 120K, replaced it with a new one. Lots of fussing ensued, and I reminded
her that I advised against buying this vehicle in the first place, but this was her first "big girl" decision.
The factory warranty on the replacement is 12 months, Not exactly a ringing endorsement for reliability.

She is now newly married and trying to decide whether to dump this. She owes about $3K on the vehicle
and it's worth maybe $6K, so she's not gonna lose money, but her plan was to drive this thing into the ground,
which she had hoped would be 200K.

It's not really my place anymore, but I'm pondering advising new son in law to drain and fill the transmission regularly,
and maybe we should install an auxilary cooler? Anybody have a specific cooler they have installed and recommend?

[Foxlane]

Now you have me wondering if I am looking at replacing my CVT AFTER I spend $1,500 adding a coolant part...which has YET to arrive from Japan - Back ordered and no word ...well maybe October...before they ship it.

The issue you experienced is the same I did but my transmission showed it was fine. They were puzzled and started looking at bulletins and came across one that said under three conditions, all at once, or individually, if the fail safe system is invoked then the car MIGHT need the coolant part added. For $1,500. BY they I mean the dealer. A pretty good dealer too so I trust them actually. My Rogue had 135K on it and never any issues until this summer.

The problem I am having is that the car cannot be driven and is sitting at the dealer...since late July. They are trying to get information from NISSAN Japan but so far, no one is responding. The best information they have is that the part...which MIGHT solve the issue...is on back order and that is ALL Japan is telling them.

In the meantime I am using a loaner car and have put about 3,500 miles on it. I cannot smoke in that car like I can in mine. Which I am getting used to. Probably better for my health anyway. But the picture gets complicated now because I was in the middle of a move to another state, had the new state insurance started AND waited for my car to be returned to register it. But now it COULD be October before they find out how long the part will take to get here and in the meantime I am driving a loaner car, with a different state insurance in a different state.

Oh sweet Lord. This is ridiculous. Never EVER buying a Nissan again.

[DTASFAB]

Just read the posts from Ddflosrt and kerrton on the first two pages of this thread

rogue-cvt-issues-fail-safe-and-whining- ... 63940.html


You'll find that the following steps are required:

(1) make sure you have the correct transmission fluid dipstick

(2) make sure the fluid is around 1/2 to 3/4 between the hash marks on the dipstick when the engine and CVT are warm; make sure you have enough fluid to run safely, but DO NOT OVERFILL

(3) drain and refill CVT fluid every 20,000-30,000 miles

(4) only use Nissan OEM NS-2 CVT fluid and never install an aftermarket radiator, since the original Nissan radiator is more efficient at cooling the engine and transmission, with or without the extra cooling contraption that's so difficult to find

(5) only use long-life engine coolant in the radiator such as blue Nissan OEM coolant (Honda or Toyota extended life coolant should probably be ok too), and although it comes pre-mixed, use a refractometer and mix with distilled water to set your freeze protection to exactly -25 degrees fahrenheit

All these steps should prevent any malfunctions and extend the life of your CVT at the same time.

[JLD94]

My daughter bought a used Rogue in June 2012 to replace a totaled vehicle.

She was in grad school, and just beginning to flex her muscle about making her own choices,
and decided she wanted this 2009 rogue with approx 60K on the clock. I did all the research, and
was really put off by the transmission issues, but allowed myself to be persuaded by the factory
increase in the transmission warranty to 120K. She graduated in May 2013, got a job, moved out, you know,
the usual drill. This past June she called me, upset, and said that her Rogue needed a new transmission.

Apparently it went into limp mode while her future mother in law was driving the vehicle from
Wichita Falls to Fort Worth. She took it to a dealer in Weatherford,and, as it had 108K miles
on it and the warranty was 120K, replaced it with a new one. Lots of fussing ensued, and I reminded
her that I advised against buying this vehicle in the first place, but this was her first "big girl" decision.
The factory warranty on the replacement is 12 months, Not exactly a ringing endorsement for reliability.

She is now newly married and trying to decide whether to dump this. She owes about $3K on the vehicle
and it's worth maybe $6K, so she's not gonna lose money, but her plan was to drive this thing into the ground,
which she had hoped would be 200K.

It's not really my place anymore, but I'm pondering advising new son in law to drain and fill the transmission regularly,
and maybe we should install an auxilary cooler? Anybody have a specific cooler they have installed and recommend?

Thankfully it was still in warranty. Hopefully mine will last 200K...time will tell.

My parents bought a 2001 Accord new....recieved the notice in mail that the warranty on transmission was increased. At 89K miles it went out. When they put the new one in, my dad asked about the warranty... till the car reaches 100K, so the same as the first one. They ended up giving the car to my sister a couple of years later. At about 160K miles it started acting up again, mainly reverse though, she ended up keeping it another 30K miles....it just became harder and harder to reverse....so as long as she parked right it was ok.

[deevel79]

I have a 2012 and at 38k miles the transmission starts whining after about an hour of driving when accelerating. Does this mean its on its way out? Thankfully this is a lease and I'm turning it in in just a few months. These Nissan/Jatco cvt's are terrible. I have a 2014 Honda Civic with a cvt and it's much more refined than the one in my Rogue.

[ezb57e]

All the newer Nissan CVTs are back to the 60K powertrain warranty limit, so things should get interesting.
In CONSULT III Transmission Data Monitor, the last two items are CVT A and CVT B.
These will show how many times the transmission has gone into protection mode.
These are used as a justifying parameter for installation of the factory cooler kit under warranty.
It is detailed in the bulletin concerning the cooler.
I would strongly recommend the installation of some auxiliary cooler if the factory one is not an option.
Fun Fact: There is a removable paper filter inside the cooler canister of the Rogue CVTs.

[Living-N-Faith]

So your saying that the transmission fluid is cooled through the radiator like on many vehicles, And you added an external transmission cooler. I don't know if ours has a cooler or not...

How did you mount the external cooler? Are there brackets from the manufacturer, as an option?

We have taken 2 summer vacations (1st transmission) that included many hours on the road each day of the trip, during late June, first part of July. Our transmission began acting up (whining) during our 2nd trip so I called the dealer near our hometown. Thankfully it was at 58,000 miles and still under warranty. They replaced it after we got back and no problems so far. But we are past the warranty now on the 2nd transmission (12,000 miles). The dealer said it was probably an internal bearing that went out but the fluid was burnt.

Do the Rogue's have a problem with overheating the CVT transmission under normal driving conditions, without pulling anything?
Can you use just any external cooler or do you have to use Nissans?
So Rogue's aren't a long term vehicle to have?

Thanks!

[ras_oscar]

I have a 2012 CVT Rogue. Did the first trans fluid change at 60K after it began whining a little. The whining stopped. Asked for a consult readout on the trans fluid life. The standard said anything less than 240,000 it needs to be changed. I was at 1,600. You bet I'm going to change it again at 90000!!!

[lne937s]

came across this on RockAuto for Four Seasons coolers.

"The applications that we carry for transmission coolers are intended to be used in
conjunction with the OE cooler for added cooling. As a general rule, the transmission
cooler is placed in series with the OE cooler. The transmission fluid flows from the OE
cooler into the add-on cooler for best results. The add-on cooler is normally placed in
front of the radiator. It should be placed where the most air will flow across it. On front
wheel drive cars, be sure to place the transmission cooler in front of the fan for maximum
air flow."

http://www.4s.com/Upload/Four%20Seasons ... OOLERS.PDF

I have a feeling that even a $25 add-on cooler will help off-warranty cars.

[phmichel]

This is a very valuable thread guys, especially the conversation here:
rogue-cvt-issues-fail-safe-and-whining- ... 63940.html

Mine is a 2013 S purchased from Hertz in July. Great vehicle, but I noticed that the CVT whines when climbing hills hot. At 30k I took it to my local dealer in NW Oregon for the 30k service. I noticed oil seepage on the back motor mount and they said a transmission seal will be replaced under warranty (they also fixed an annoying rattle from the heat shield on a TSB under warranty). They had to order the seal and I am having it replaced and a drain/fill done next week.

I also had a long discussion with the service writer about the CVT whine. Because the problem only occurs at speed after a long drive when hot, they said they would not be able to duplicate the situation with a tech in the vehicle. The CVT has never gone in to limp mode.

I agree about duplicating the conditions, but I'm guessing that just because I present a condition to the dealer that could lead to a failure later, and they tell me there's nothing they can do, that I would be liable for the repair or replacement outside of the warranty if the CVT fails?

[seldomseen]

I have a 2012 and at 38k miles the transmission starts whining after about an hour of driving when accelerating. Does this mean its on its way out? Thankfully this is a lease and I'm turning it in in just a few months. These Nissan/Jatco cvt's are terrible. I have a 2014 Honda Civic with a cvt and it's much more refined than the one in my Rogue.

I agree....Honda's CVT seems to operate much smoother and seems to be a better design than Nissan's CVT. A lot of this most likely has to do with Honda's extensive background in engineering and R&D

[phmichel]

This is a very valuable thread guys, especially the conversation here:
rogue-cvt-issues-fail-safe-and-whining- ... 63940.html

Mine is a 2013 S purchased from Hertz in July. Great vehicle, but I noticed that the CVT whines when climbing hills hot. At 30k I took it to my local dealer in NW Oregon for the 30k service. I noticed oil seepage on the back motor mount and they said a transmission seal will be replaced under warranty (they also fixed an annoying rattle from the heat shield on a TSB under warranty). They had to order the seal and I am having it replaced and a drain/fill done next week.

I also had a long discussion with the service writer about the CVT whine. Because the problem only occurs at speed after a long drive when hot, they said they would not be able to duplicate the situation with a tech in the vehicle. The CVT has never gone in to limp mode.

I agree about duplicating the conditions, but I'm guessing that just because I present a condition to the dealer that could lead to a failure later, and they tell me there's nothing they can do, that I would be liable for the repair or replacement outside of the warranty if the CVT fails?

UPDATE - The service writer at my dealer said that my CVT issue has been logged under my VIN, and if there is a failure that arises (even outside warranty) that it should be covered because:
- I brought the vehicle to them with a specific CVT complaint inside warranty that is not uncommon to the model.
- The conditions cannot be realistically duplicated with a tech in the vehicle.
- There was no evidence of abuse.

As far as the duplication goes, you could do it with a chassis dyno, but not many dealers have one (mine doesn't). All you'd have to do is run it for 10mins, let it get hot then put a load on it at 3k.

Also - I would suggest that you check under your Rogue for oil on the rear motor mount which is a sign of the transmission seal leaking. I'll post more detail in a separate thread.

[scott9050]

Our 12 Rogue with 52,000 miles has been in the shop since July 8th due to the overheating fail safe problem. The cooling kit is on national back order and due in the October/November time frame. At least Nissan North America has been paying for the 3 rental cars we have used so far.

[spaceguy85]

Very sorry that you had so many problems with your Rogue. We have a 2008 Rogue SL AWD that is our baby. At 55,000 miles, our transmission was acting up with the following problems:
• When starting from a dead stop, accelerate to about 2400 rpm, and hold gas pedal at this position. As the car accelerates, RPMs go up, and can get as high as 4500 -5000 RPM at about 50mph. If you notice this, you can let off of the gas, and watch the RPM gauge until it drops below 2000- RPM. If you then accelerate, all works normal. Driving at 60 mph shows about 2200-2400 RPM. However, if you start out from a stop, with RPM’s at 2000 – 2100 RPM, and slowly accelerates; the transmission seems to be shifting as designed.

• Rattle Noise when driving slowly, or slowing down at a traffic light. (Recall programming already performed on this car.)

• Steering wheel vibrates between 32 and 40 mph affecting steering ability. I read that there a TSB on this, and it suggested the CVT. Not sure if this is true, but, this needs to be checked.

So, after several trips to the dealer, I finally got one of the techs to ride with me, and I was able to re-create the issue. Nissan replaced the transmission, and all of the problems went away. This car now has 98,600 mile on it, and we have had no other problems at all! I still believe in NISSAN, but, I am still going to take my 2008 Nissan Altima in to the shop for a check. The trans on her is starting the whining sound, so I am sure it needs to be replaced. So, while I am sad to hear so many people are having problems, if you can get a good transmission, and keep the fluid changed every 30K miles, you should not have any other problems. At least my Frontier will never have this problem. Never hear a peep from that manual 5 speed!

Spaceguy85
2008 Nissan Rogue SL AWD
2008 Nissan Altima 2.5S
2003 Nissan Frontier XE (Manual)

[KC Rogue]

I just had CVT issues on my 2012 Rogue S. I was driving from Kansas City to Denver, cruise set at 84 mph, outside temperature 71 degrees and suddenly the car slowed down to about 55 mph. Pushing on the accelerator did not increase the speed. Fortunately, traffic was very light and I was able to limp along for 20 minutes or so and then the speed returned to normal. Our trip eventually took us up to I-80, to Reno, Lake Tahoe and then Monterey. I didn't have any further problems even with all the climbing, but the outside temperature was cool in mid November. My wife said that she had noticed that the car did not want to take off from a start about a week before our trip.

I read up on this issue in this forum and then took it to a dealer in Monterey for a trans flush, $220. They also checked the codes and saw that the CVT had overheated about a dozen times, code P0744. They then followed the flow chart in TSB NTB16-090 which recommended installing a CVT cooler kit, $900+. My mileage was 55,000, so it was covered by the warranty after they filled out the paper work and faxed it to Nissan. It took them two days to get the parts.

No issues returning to KC along the southern route (Flagstaff, Albuquerque), but it wasn't hot in early December. Two years earlier, we took nearly the same trip in late July and had no issues when the mileage was about 24,000.

[ImStricken06]

sorry to hear about everyones cvt issues. i got rid of this car, and wrote off nissan as a whole. out brand new infiniti g37s 6mt had the transmission go bad in less than 5,000 miles. had to fight nissan corporate for 3 months.

[qwertio12]

hi im new to this forum i have a 2010 Rogue my bearing is whining only when you moving. what i want to know is what year cvt can i install. i read on here you can use a 11 12 13 Rogue cvt is this true.

[Rogue One]

hi im new to this forum i have a 2010 Rogue my bearing is whining only when you moving. what i want to know is what year cvt can i install. i read on here you can use a 11 12 13 Rogue cvt is this true.

YES. You have a 1st gen Rogue, therefore you can use the CVT from ANY year 1st gen model (although I wouldn't take one from an '08 or '09).
We have an incredible SEARCH feature on this forum. Merged with existing thread.

--------> READ BEFORE CREATING NEW THREAD! <--------

[qwertio12]

thank you for the reply im going to drive it till it break and get one from a 2013.