That was me.
Ever since I had my right boot and eventually left boot repaired for leaking a couple of years ago, I had been experiencing the feeling that I was running over some rumble strips on the right front side. Of course I was in denial and said to myself I must be hitting a rough patch in the road, or it's because of the rain, ....or perhaps the road was in a messed up shape.
It would happen intermittently. Well, I just kept saying to myself.... it was just the badly paved road. And it usually happened around 30-40 mph.
But I then soon realized, all these smooth roads can't be doing this, because soon after it practically seem to do it everyday.
It might even be related to the vibrations thread and that guy suing Nissan, who knows.
I soon literally got depressed, well not really, but the feeling that this sucks.... and I kept remembering asking the dealership to change my axles since the repair was so priced that it might as well be replaced. Of course they didn't.
So I'm thinking, WELL that's the reason for this vibration. So I kind of accepted that I needed to replace these axles and dreaded it, since I already had the boots repaired.
Anyways, out of whim, I decided to research ..."feels like driving over rumble strips" online.
Just google it, and it seems to be prevalent with many models of car brands.
It can happen from Honda's to even a non-cvt Ford150.
What really encouraged me was the Honda Element forum, that this vibration or shudder was torque related and people were saying a transmission drain and fill helped get rid of this rumble strip sensation.
So I said what the heck, I bought 5 quarts of Nissan ns-2 CVT fluid on ebay since I was planning all along to drain my transmission fluid since I have been getting paranoid on my original 75,500 mile CVT. Knowing these are ticking time bombs, I wanted to do a drain and fill to keep my CVT as possible.
Well the Pine Hollow Auto Guy said there is a inherent design flaw with the pulleys that could lead to catastrophic failure by 185k miles
So depressed again, ....but wait, I am still under warranty and I still have another 100k miles to go on my 2009 Rogue.
Okay maybe HOPE for awhile.
Anyways, I went about and Drain and Fill (a little over 5 quarts for my AWD was drained) Got it perfectly in middle of hash marks during the fill part.
AND to my surprise and NOT surprise ( because of my research and hoping) ..... I am happy to say the rumble strip feeling has disappeared completely. Bought an extra quart as backup from a local dealership.
I was so happy with THAT results, I soon bought another 5 quarts on ebay to do another drain and fill.
Since of course, 40% of the old fluid was still in the torque converter (etc.)
But this time I took it to the next level and decided to dropped the pan!
I actually did this last night.
So here is some tip:
I used a floor jack and jack stands.
Drain while flat, and Jack it up to remove pan.
When removing the 10 mm bolts, supposedly you are suppose to get new self sealing bolts, but I didn't know if the ones at Advance auto were right.
So I did research and some said that the gasket will do fine enough for the job.
Also as it was getting dark outside where I was working, I thought I had all the bolts out but I soon realized that there were some under the front bottom cover, hence you need to remove it, I just took enough of the plastic rivets on the right side and push it down. I laid on it most of the time.
You need a 3 inch extender and maybe a 6 inch. BUT there is ONE screw because of the angle, you will only be able to untighten with an extension but not fully grasp it of course, I was afraid I would Round the screw .....so you will have to get a screwdriver attachment for the 10mm to get it off in the end.
After removing the pan, I was surprised another 3/4 amount of fluid came out. Seriously, it seemed like alot considering one would assume the pan would be empty after the plug was removed. WRONG. Still a lot in there. Must be the angle or something not doing a complete drain from that point of location.
Pan seemed clean but the magnets had a lot of slimey slurry material. I just used brake cleaner to clean them and the pan.
I saw a nail point of sludge I think hanging up in the transmission bits on op of a screw looking part. It was embedded a bit and I just wiped it off any anything that looks like oil up in there.
Other then that, everything seemed okay. Even after my original drain and fill a a couple weeks, it looked like black darken oil but a thinner consistency.
Seriously, maybe I should have done this earlier, but I didn't have the know how back then or I thought it unnecessary. If I could go back in time, it probably would have been better to do this earlier.
Another tip is to use petroleum jelly to adhere the gasket to the pan so it wont move while installing it. Learned this online!
This was actually not that hard, and I am not a car person really. So anybody can do this project.
It was actually an impulse to drop the pan. If only I could find a gasket yesterday, I was gung ho..let's do this!
So I actually found the part online at Advance Auto. Use the coupon code for 20% off and saved on it and some brake cleaner.
The part was: Felpro Automatic Transaxle Gasket
Part No TOS 18755
At first I thought the gasket melted away into the metal and I was scrapping away and asking myself what the hell did I get myself into. Because it really looked like it melted or was painted on and I assume because of the heat. But after 30 minutes scraping I was very surprised itctually came off in one piece and not IN PIECES like a sticker falling apart and stuck. YES! I was in my HAPPY PLACE late into the evening.
So got the pan back on. And feeling good at this point.
Next the fill.
I always try to go as close to the first notch or minimum to play it safe and fill from there when needed. First drain was great. Got it right to the middle of the hatch marks.
Again I did 5 Qts, and I drove again this morning and my dip stick was bone dry after a good 15-20 min drive.
So I filled another half quart from my back up and drove another good 20 min with the air con on .. and it barely was under the first notch.
Then I added another 1/4 or half of a half quart. Then I drove a good 20 min during this mild low 80's summer day and this time it read just at the high notch!
So after driving while out and about, I checked again, .....and now it's just oh so slightly above the middle part of the hash marks.
You always have to check your reading to be safe which is why I keep my dipstick at a 180 degree turn so its unlocked for now to always check.
Realistically, you need to have a computer and temp gauge to do it right, but I had to do my best as its better then nothing.
Which bring me to my torque wrench, I read it should be around 6 pounds for the bolts, but since my torque wrench I had was for my lug nuts really, the 18 inch was too cumbersome. And my old fashion torque wrench was still to much for my taste under the vehicle so I just went by feel in the best star pattern I could make.
So far no leaks, and the shifting seems to be WAY better and smoother. It no longer slips, or jerks a second after you press the throttle.
I actually accepted this for my transmission because of their bad history.
I am now also more aware of the CVT, and give it time to adjust between gears instead of rushing it like before.
ANd now I realized the slight angle on the driveway is stressing the transmission, so I try to lightly release the brakes when parking it.
If you have read this far, thanks for reading!
If you have skipped to the end, no problem either.
The point is....a DRAIN and FILL....just might be the CURE your looking for to get rid of the rumble strip driving sensation!
Good luck.
