engine revs but no acceleration

[Ironfang]

When I use the paddle shifters for my rogue, the engine revs, but it hardly moves. Is there something wrong with my engine?

[philipa_240sx]

Hello Ironfang and welcome to NICOClub Rogue Forums!

I do not think there is anything wrong with your engine or CVT transmission. The CVT does take some getting used to. I also found the manual mode on a demo model I drove very unnatural.

Just drive it normally, after a few weeks you will become accustomed to the CVT sounds and sensation. After years of driving where engine noise = acceleration it takes some time to un-program your brain. Eventually you will discover the vehicle accelerates just as fast as a normal car... but without the abrupt gear changes.

Go out and enjoy your Rogue!

[arvsden]

Hi - I am new to the forum and got the 2011 Rogue less than 2 weeks ago and I kind have the same problem. Mine will rev between 2.5 to 3k rpm but I noticed that I am not getting good acceleration and noticed this happening when it was cold. I phoned the dealer today and asked me to bring it for an overnight inspection. Hope it is noting serious. Will post whatever the finding is.

[kerrton]

When it is extremely cold, -30 C or colder, my Rogue makes A LOT of engine noise and the CVT maintains a very low gear ratio which results in high rpms and difficulty accelerating past 30 or 40 kph. This is short lived, however, and the situation quickly improves as the vehicle warms, or if I allow the vehicle to idle and warm up more before taking off.

I believe that this is within design parameters, the CVT is protecting itself from damage when extremely cold by maintaining a low gear ratio and avoiding pressures from higher gearing. I'm interested to hear what you dealer tells you , thanks in advance for sharing the results.

[philipa_240sx]

I believe that this is within design parameters, the CVT is protecting itself from damage when extremely cold by maintaining a low gear ratio and avoiding pressures from higher gearing.

Yup, this is totally normal and is the way the CVT is designed. By running more rev's the pressure/torque applied on the CVT internals is reduced which helps prevent excessive wear and damage. During very cold mornings, it may take as much as 10 minutes of driving before the revs will drop.

BTW, the increased rpms are the result of the TCM preventing the torque converter from locking up on low CVT fluid temperatures.

[Leo2005]

It is been known that you should warm up your car before you drive. I usually wait until I see the first square and then slowly drive next couple lights. It is also not a bad thing to warm up a little bit even during a hot weather like 10 sec rather than drive right away. My father's Versa don't have the thermometer but it has blue sign that the is still cold and once the car warms up it goes away. It doesn't go away in the summer right away but as I said in about 10-15 sec while other lights like check engine goes away in 2-3 sec.

[kerrton]

Letting the car warmup definately addresses this issue, I just don't like to let my car idle for 10-15+ minutes because it wastes fuel and is hard on air quality.

And I'm not really convinced that idling is better for the vehicle mechanically over the long term, as idling is known to be hard on exhaust components such as the catalytic converter, and contributes to engine sludge accumulation over time. I prefer to let the car warm for 5 minutes in very cold weather, then drive slowly for the next 5 to 10 minutes until the car approaches normal operating temp.