2015 Rogue high revving on cold winter start

[Bluesburglar]

Happy New Year to everyone!

It's been pretty cold for Nova Scotia this last week or so and I noticed something new on my 2015 SV Rogue that I bought new in Jan 2016. One morning going out to work it was minus 16 C. I started the car and without allowing any warm up time I drove out onto our street. Going along the street at 50 km/hr in Drive, the tacho was reading 3000 rpm like it was in a very low ratio. On the main road, the car was straining to get up to 80 km/hr and at first I thought the parking brake must still be engaged. Eventually, after about 10 km, things seemed to return to normal, with engine rpm typically below 2000 rpm. This happened again the following morning with a temperature of about minus 14 C. After that I gave the car 5 minutes idling to warm it up in the mornings and there was no problem. I didn't notice anything like this during the first winter that I owned the vehicle (2015-2016) or last winter (2016-2017) though that one was pretty mild. Could this be a transmission fault or a design feature to facilitate a quicker warm-up? I did look back through the posts but couldn't find anything like this mentioned.

Thanks in advance
Steve

[Rogue Jarhead]

We have the same thing on our 11. I just ran down town a few minutes ago 4F above 0 and I just putted along the 2 miles or so. I don’t like to get that rpm up to 3k when it’s this cold. Take it easy the first couple of miles and let it get warm.

That’s one of the things I don’t like about the CVT transmission.

[drummerguy]

My 2015 rogue is the same in cold weather. I mentioned it to the dealer and he said this was normal.

[Rogue One]

This is completely NORMAL. This has NOTHING to do with your CVT.

Why Do Cars Idle at a High RPM When It's Cold?

One cause for concern many drivers have during winter is seeing their vehicles have a high RPM when starting the car. This can be troubling to see simply because it is out of the ordinary. Fortunately, there is a simple answer for why this phenomenon occurs.

Why Does It Happen?
High RPMs in the cold is a result of combustion taking place in the engine. Your car is able to start because gasoline and air are coming together to form a spark. This spark is only possible if fuel and air are combined with the right timing and proper ratio. Gasoline vaporizes much more easily in warmer temperatures to get that spark.

In colder temperatures, fuel is more likely to get bogged down and thicken. Therefore, the vehicle overcompensates for this by producing a higher RPM initially to move gasoline more quickly. As soon as the vehicle turns on, the RPM goes back to normal, but that initial bump in RPM speed can take some drivers by surprise.

Is It Normal?
You have absolutely no reason to fear if your vehicle produces a higher RPM in cold weather. This is a perfectly normal occurrence. It is simply something your car needs to do so that it can start properly. You should not be concerned if your car jumps up to 1500 RPM and then shortly afterward goes back down to a normal 800 RPM.

When Should You See a Professional?
If your car starts at a high RPM and then goes down when you are actually driving, you have no reason to worry. However, if your car starts high and remains that way throughout the remainder of your commute, then that is cause for concern. This could be an indicator that you have a vacuum leak inside your vehicle, which needs to be addressed, as it could lead to internal damage within the engine. Other culprits for why this occurs include:

• Broken vacuum hose
• Broken vacuum booster
• Broken EGR valve

Ultimately, there is no reason to freak out when you see your car with a high RPM as soon as you start your vehicle in cold weather. It will likely decrease within a few minutes. However, if you are truly concerned for the well-being of your vehicle, then you can take it to a service center to get it checked by a professional. A qualified technician will let you know if there are any underlying issues that should be addressed.

[Bluesburglar]

Thanks very much for the replies. On the one hand it is a relief to find that this is normal behavior and that my transmission is not toast. On the other, this seems a retrograde design feature for a new car. I have a 2006 Matrix 4 speed auto that has always started flawlessly in cold weather, just jump in and drive off with no need for warming the engine. My wife has a 2017 Corolla with a CVT and that doesn't need warming up to behave normally either. I was already highly pissed off by the Rogue doing the CVT engine braking thing that kicks in when going down hills, so this is another irritant.
Cheers
Steve

[Maximus099]

We have some -20c to -30c near Montreal for the last 10 days and my 2014 does the same. What helped a bit was to plug in the car during the night. The next morning instead of hanging around the 3000rpm range it was about 2000rpm and the heater was much quicker.

[prj]

I had a 2003 Camry that didn't have a CVT transimission. In cold weather driving down the road the tach would be at 3000+ until the engine warmed up.

Completely normal.

[colonelcasey]

Yup...it's perfectly normal. I started my car in the 10 degree weather we had here and started driving after a couple minutes of idling. I drove slow on my local roads and it would wind up to 3k RPM at 20MPH. It settled down to normal operating range after about 5 minutes of light driving.

[Sigster]

here's a previous discussion regarding this:
cvt-on-cold-weather-t597860.html

with some additional links to other threads it had been discussed in