2009 Altima CVT Issues .. Information .. Story

[Drift N Dragg]

So I am on my Second Transmission from Nissan...

Car is a 2009 Nissan Altima Sedan w/ QR25DE and CVT Transmission ... 63,000 Miles ( First Transmission Took a Crap @ 51,000 Miles .. Was replaced with a New one )

Issue: Won't Upshift. Absolutely Random/At will persay ..

What Happened: I was driving home ( I Drive 170 Miles Round Trip, FYI ), Outside Temp was around 105 - 108 .. First part of the drive home was fine .. Speeds around 75 - 85 .. about 30 Miles into my Drive the I started a uphill journey .. Car would not down shift .. I punched the throttle and nothing .. sat at 3,000 RPMS and decresed .. So I take my foot off the Gas and shift it into Manual Shift and attampt a 1 Step down ( For everyone, that is from 6th to 5th ) to see if it is stuck again.. and It was .. would not shift.. I Pop it back into Normal Drive and it sharts to upshift very slow and only, at the most , 1,000 Rpms.. So from 3,000 RPMS to 4,000 RPM ...

SO then it decides it wants to stop this insane Shifting problem and move on to its next issue ( which on this Second Transmission is the first time It has done this ) .. I would rev up ( Like as if it had a Clutch depressed ) and no forward momentum at First .. then VERY SLOWLY start gettign that forward drive ... and I get a whining noise at 3k - 4 k..

When I got off the freeway closer to my home .. the first stop sign was a pain.. No Power, just Crappy .. All of a sudden .. she starts working fine again ..

Now at this point are you asking yourself, Why haven't I called Nissan and made an appointment? I did once already when it started this on the Second transmission... They said there was no problem and it wasn't acting up for them..

So I wanted to wait a day to see if the Transmission would do it again.. The Next day, as If I were to take it to Nissan.. Sure Enough, Not a DAMN Problem.. Now it is drive Ok.. 2 Days later ..

Has anyone else experienced this Problem?

The Dealer Serviceman said that he had 2 Cars the previous day ( when I took it in on the second transmission ) had the same issues as mine and could not be reproduced..

As much as I love my CVT transmission for Gas Mileage .. It is a Effin Pain in the a**!

[Jlinz20]

So the transmission is just unresponsive when you put your foot on the gas? Theres no fluid leaks is there?

[Drift N Dragg]

the Transmission is not responsive...

No fluid leak ..
It got worse yesterday ... this time it was Screaming... ( high Pitch noise )

BUT I called Nissan .. they told me to bring it...

They took there SWEET a** TIME too look at it .. By that time.. it works as normal.. I was Pissed the Heck off!!

[beeristasty]

Sounds like it was going into "limp" mode from what I have read. When it overheats it becomes sluggish and unresponsive. The dealership knows this, and likely took their time to let it cool down before taking a look at it. Sounds like you need to schedule an appointment and drive around until you hear the noise, then have a tech hop in and test drive as soon as you get to the dealership.

[Jlinz20]

Heh id even go as far as to video it with a phone or something when its happening.

most of these techs are just sneaks theyll let the car sit for a while take it down 1 street and back, charge you for looking at it and send you on your way.

[Drift N Dragg]

Thanks for both posts ... I video'd it yesterday.. the Loud Whining from the Transmission at 5 k.... Also it took 45 secs from a stop to get to 15 mph and it would go faster...

then it start cooling down and it would go faster...

after a off and restarts ( approx. 10 mins ) it was like nothing ever happened...

I recorded the not shiftign and everything...

The Service Tech told me and I quote " Record all you want, That will not hold up, it MUST be happening when a tech is driving it " ... although he stated 2 mins later and I quote " Nissan has told us directly, ANY issues with these Transmission at ALL are to be sent back asap and swapped. "

So I get to this point WTF! .. I am already talking with a sales person about trading in for a Brand New 2011 Genesis Track edition... I love Nissan, but this has left a sour taste in my mouth.

[Ranga14]

Man, I'd go to a different dealership, they sound like complete d!ck there.