How to know if CVT final drive is damaged, CVT symptoms?

Detailed information can be found in this thread: Concerns about CVT Trans

What the folks in that thread are discussing is Torque Converter lockup, we had lots of complaints about it on early Rogues and early gen5 Altimas. It's actually a fuel-saving device, once the TC is locked up, the TCM is programmed to keep it locked for as long as possible. So it's reluctant to unlock when light throttle is applied at low-to-middling road speed. The people in the thread who described "running in too high a gear" were spot on, their engines actually were lugging because of the locked converter. Hitting the pedal a bit harder would unlock it, but not everyone drives that way. On the Alties it actually caused a drumming in the exhaust and rear panels that we came to call "the old lady noise", because people with heavier feet on the pedal never noticed or complained about it. Nissan later updated the TCM firmware on both models and we rarely hear the complaint anymore.

im not talking about a lil vibrations im talking massive. my mechanic states with drivers side front wheel off the ground, hand rotating the wheel you can see the tranny jimp up and down.
what does this sound like to you experts?

See if it still jumps with the driveshaft disconnected. Sounds like the AWD coupling is locked.

my guy still insists it the final drive, im a carpenter, so i can swap parts to some extent, entire vehicle vibrates all the way back....get to 40mph and dissipates, takes off like a champ.no slippage at all....can a final drive be replaced? whats involved?

The coupling can be replaced but not easily, it's part of the rear diff. The easiest way to find out if that's the issue is to remove the driveshaft and make the car FWD. If the problem disappears, the coupler was causing the issue. It's harmless to drive it that way.

i read that it can be electrically disconnected to see if that is the issue, can you point me to location? much appreciate your help

You can pull the connector easily enough, but disconnecting it electrically will only help if the coupling is still functional mechanically. Most of the time they aren't. The connector will be right there on the diff.

thank you but it is step one.lol where is it located? so a dummy like me can find it? i realize the final test is the drive shaft.

The AWD solenoid is located in between the driveshaft and the rear differential, see #5 in the diagrams here on page DLN-9:
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... %2FDLN.pdf

It will be a 2-pin connector with a Blue and a Lt Green wire. My recollection is, on a gen1 the connector is pretty much right on top of the solenoid.

ty

I have a similar issue with my 2012 Rogue, was driving one day and all the sudden after making a right turn it began a shaking/wobble feeling only when accelerating, once you let off the gas pedal it goes away and drives smooth. As you accelerate faster from 20-40 it gets worse. Have already replaced axle, transmission motor mount, torque mounts, lower control arm and rotated tires and still have the same issue. I noticed when I put the car on the lift and put it in drive it has the same shaking from the drivers side cv axle joint so that’s why I replaced the axle. Also when in neutral the drivers side tire feels locked up and the passenger tire will spin freely. Does this sound like the cvt trans is the culprit? I just want to have some more reassurance before spending $2k+ on a used transmission.

my issues turned out to be the electric controlled coupler, I unplugged it which puts it in fwd only, symptoms gone. the connector is on top of rear diff. hope this helps you. i gave car to my daughter. Nissan cvts are only good for 160k to 180k avg ive read.

ChanceyFab wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 7:35 am

I have a similar issue with my 2012 Rogue, was driving one day and all the sudden after making a right turn it began a shaking/wobble feeling only when accelerating, once you let off the gas pedal it goes away and drives smooth. As you accelerate faster from 20-40 it gets worse. Have already replaced axle, transmission motor mount, torque mounts, lower control arm and rotated tires and still have the same issue. I noticed when I put the car on the lift and put it in drive it has the same shaking from the drivers side cv axle joint so that’s why I replaced the axle. Also when in neutral the drivers side tire feels locked up and the passenger tire will spin freely. Does this sound like the cvt trans is the culprit? I just want to have some more reassurance before spending $2k+ on a used transmission.

If it's AWD, problems like that are almost always in the AWD coupler. If disconnecting it electrically as @mattadams did doesn't improve things, remove the rear driveshaft as I originally suggested. They aren't difficult to drop, and removing it will tell you positively whether the problem is in the coupler or not.

Thank you for the update, mine is a fwd with 135k miles

Sounds like the transmission diff, then. It's all part of the tranny, so it kind of doesn't matter which part is failing. The diff isn't serviceable without splitting the trans open.

VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 8:47 am

ChanceyFab wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 7:35 am

I have a similar issue with my 2012 Rogue, was driving one day and all the sudden after making a right turn it began a shaking/wobble feeling only when accelerating, once you let off the gas pedal it goes away and drives smooth. As you accelerate faster from 20-40 it gets worse. Have already replaced axle, transmission motor mount, torque mounts, lower control arm and rotated tires and still have the same issue. I noticed when I put the car on the lift and put it in drive it has the same shaking from the drivers side cv axle joint so that’s why I replaced the axle. Also when in neutral the drivers side tire feels locked up and the passenger tire will spin freely. Does this sound like the cvt trans is the culprit? I just want to have some more reassurance before spending $2k+ on a used transmission.

If it's AWD, problems like that are almost always in the AWD coupler. If disconnecting it electrically as @mattadams did doesn't improve things, remove the rear driveshaft as I originally suggested. They aren't difficult to drop, and removing it will tell you positively whether the problem is in the coupler or not.

Is the coupler in the rear diff? if so is it easier to just get entire rear diff or change out coupler?

VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 2:56 pm

Sounds like the transmission diff, then. It's all part of the tranny, so it kind of doesn't matter which part is failing. The diff isn't serviceable without splitting the trans open.

Thank you, I just wanted some reassurance from someone who deals with the cvt’s regularly before I went ahead with buying a new trans

mattadams wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 3:30 pm

Is the coupler in the rear diff? if so is it easier to just get entire rear diff or change out coupler?

It's attached to the front of the rear diff and not all that hard to replace. I think we get 1.5 hours provided there are no rust issues. See DLN-107 for how it's done:
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... %2FDLN.pdf

ChanceyFab wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:39 pm

VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 2:56 pm

Sounds like the transmission diff, then. It's all part of the tranny, so it kind of doesn't matter which part is failing. The diff isn't serviceable without splitting the trans open.

Thank you, I just wanted some reassurance from someone who deals with the cvt’s regularly before I went ahead with buying a new trans

You're most welcome. Sorry it wasn't better news, but if the axle is known-good, there's nothing on a FWD that can make the tranny jump around that isn't catastrophic.

PS - If it doesn't already have a trans cooler, use the opportunity to add a 4-port beehive and cooler while the tranny is out. The new tranny will thank you.

ty

ChanceyFab wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 7:35 am

I have a similar issue with my 2012 Rogue, was driving one day and all the sudden after making a right turn it began a shaking/wobble feeling only when accelerating, once you let off the gas pedal it goes away and drives smooth. As you accelerate faster from 20-40 it gets worse. Have already replaced axle, transmission motor mount, torque mounts, lower control arm and rotated tires and still have the same issue. I noticed when I put the car on the lift and put it in drive it has the same shaking from the drivers side cv axle joint so that’s why I replaced the axle. Also when in neutral the drivers side tire feels locked up and the passenger tire will spin freely. Does this sound like the cvt trans is the culprit? I just want to have some more reassurance before spending $2k+ on a used transmission.

My mom has 2012 Rogue AWD with 150K on it and at some moment she experienced exactly the same symptoms that were getting worse dramatically. Firestone confirmed that the issue was with one U-joint on the driveshaft and they asked $2K to fix it. Next day right after getting of the driveway on the way to another shop the vibrations became so strong that the car stopped in the middle of the street and wheels were locked. The tow truck guy made some tricks under the hood so the gear box could be switch to the Drive mode and the car was driven to the side of the street.
Yesterday I desided to check what is going on there, I put the car on 4 jack stands and get under it. So the driveshaft U-joint which is next to the CVT transmission assembly was completely broken. I spent half an hour removing the driveshaft, put car down and started engine, but I could not drive it. When I put gear lever from P to D or any other position it does not engage. When I put it on R the lights are not on, so it looks to me that lever is going back and forth, but the gear box is still in parking mode. I would really appretiate any ideas on what should I do in order to fix this issue. Thanks!

First see if the cam at the transmission end of the shift cable is moving when you work the shifter. It's a nuts-and-bolts setup, so it wouldn't be the first time one got loose. That may be part of what the tow driver fiddled, too. If the cam is rotating but it isn't changing gears, then something in the tranny is busted. Reverse on the '10A/10D trannies is direct drive (no belt involved), so that would mean either a broken shaft (any of several) or a failed front pump (no pressure for the reverse clutch).

Thanks!

it was the electric coupler that was the issue. unplug it and it will be gone. its an expensive part.

Update:

as I thought removing electric coupling from the rear differential did not help to solve my issue. I managed to dig to the manual lever that attached to the CVT transmission body under the hood and found out that the cable is still on it. When the lever is shifted from the inside the car I can see under the hood that the cable with something attached to it is moving but not enough to switch gears. I could change gears manually under the hood and drive. So far using the lever inside the car I can only put gear box from any gear to P position.

That sounds like either the nut on the tranny end of the cable is loose or the cable gland is popped off the shifter under the console. Could also be a busted cable that makes a little contact at the extreme of movement. Any way you cut it, it sounds like a cable issue.

The car is fixed now. So apparently broken driveshaft somehow touched the CVT shifter cable and broke the cable mount underneath the car and cable mount to the body of the CVT shifter module. I've got new mount bracket and new cable and now it is running in FWD mode.