Help is needed ASAP (Transmission)

[bladfin]

ok, so one of my friends who works at nissan was helping me out changing oil. instead, he pulled out transmission oil and did never realize. i was pulling my car out of the lot and hit the gas pedal and the car wont move and making weird sound. about 30~40 feet just strolling the car, he found out what he did wrong. straight up, my question is, would my CVT be damaged because of that? he said it would be no problem bec i didnt really drive off but im scared. (i did hit the gas at park or neutral mode just to hear what the noise was)somebody help me please!

[Driving Instructor]

WOW! CVT......... not sure man. Prob not much but being a CVT..this all new. I know if you had a reg transmission, not a big deal as it needs the fluid to get things moving.

But hey, let me know when you know!

Just wondering............where did he put the 3.9 litres of engine oil if it never was emptied?????

[bladfin]

Just wondering............where did he put the 3.9 litres of engine oil if it never was emptied?????

into the engine.

[Red Devil]

ok, so one of my friends who works at nissan was helping me out changing oil. instead, he pulled out transmission oil and did never realize. i was pulling my car out of the lot and hit the gas pedal and the car wont move and making weird sound. about 30~40 feet just strolling the car, he found out what he did wrong. straight up, my question is, would my CVT be damaged because of that? he said it would be no problem bec i didnt really drive off but im scared. (i did hit the gas at park or neutral mode just to hear what the noise was)somebody help me please!

.....yeeeeeeaaaah. Ummmm, how exactly do you mistake an engine oil plug for a transmission drain plug? Does your friend just work at Nissan or does he work on them? Was this done at an official change interval at a dealer or done with your buddy in a garage? I ask because it will affect warranty repair if your transmission is shot now or later down the road .

To answer your question, I'm not entirely sure. CVT's are a different animal than normal transmissions. I know it isn't good that you tried to drive off with no transmission oil. I'm sure the metal belts and pulley assemblies have good wear on them now. Which begs another question. When you tried to refill and check the engine oil level and change the filter, how didn't you notice? When you pulled the filter oil should've started to come out. Plus, if the engine wasn't smoking and smelling from the extra oil then it had to be noticed on the dipstick. It would've set off some flags if you would've checked the engine oil.

I don't think you should take your car to your buddy anymore. Sounds like he has no idea what he's doing.

[Red Devil]

WOW! CVT......... not sure man. Prob not much but being a CVT..this all new. I know if you had a reg transmission, not a big deal as it needs the fluid to get things moving.

I don't think the Versa's CVT works that way. I'm not sure the fluid moves anything. The Versa's CVT is pulley based if I'm not mistaken.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cvt2.htm

Does the fluid move the pulley's? Like I said, I'm not 100% sure how the pulley based cvt works.

[bladfin]

.....yeeeeeeaaaah. Ummmm, how exactly do you mistake an engine oil plug for a transmission drain plug? Does your friend just work at Nissan or does he work on them? Was this done at an official change interval at a dealer or done with your buddy in a garage? I ask because it will affect warranty repair if your transmission is shot now or later down the road .

To answer your question, I'm not entirely sure. CVT's are a different animal than normal transmissions. I know it isn't good that you tried to drive off with no transmission oil. I'm sure the metal belts and pulley assemblies have good wear on them now. Which begs another question. When you tried to refill and check the engine oil level and change the filter, how didn't you notice? When you pulled the filter oil should've started to come out. Plus, if the engine wasn't smoking and smelling from the extra oil then it had to be noticed on the dipstick. It would've set off some flags if you would've checked the engine oil.

I don't think you should take your car to your buddy anymore. Sounds like he has no idea what he's doing.

he is one of the mechanics at a nissan dealership and i have no freakin clue how he messed it up. obviously, this wasnt an official service (it was that "homeboy hookup" if you know what i mean). i wouldnt even post a thing up here if this were a nissan service cuz all i need to do is let them fix the issues.

because of that, my car is still sittin at nissan waiting for him to do the rest. he couldnt refill any t-mission oil cuz he didnt have the right one and now have to wait till tomorrow. like i said i only drove about 30~40 feet from the service lot. my car wasnt even moving. i didnt even see the rpm going up as i hit the pedal to the peak.

i really damn hope my car is ok man. im praying now.

[alonsorules8]

after he fills the fluid to your cvt have hi, or another tech at Nissan run a diagnosis on the CVT with the Nissan scan tool to check for codes and to check the transmission life left after his mistake.

If he says that the transmission is shot make him pay the $3k to $7K it going to cost to replace the transmission. Or you can try to have it covered by Nissan by going to the service manager at the dealer to see if they can help you out due to the fact the mechanic screwed up you car at their shop.

[Red Devil]

If he says that the transmission is shot make him pay the $3k to $7K it going to cost to replace the transmission. Or you can try to have it covered by Nissan by going to the service manager at the dealer to see if they can help you out due to the fact the mechanic screwed up you car at their shop.

I really doubt they'd cover it. It'd actually probably get the guy fired from his job if he went to the Service department. He helped service a vehicle that wasn't taken directly to the dealer service department. It's worse if the car was still under warranty.

In this situation, if the transmission is shot, he's screwed. It wasn't an authorized service(if it truly was a "homeboy hookup"). In that situation he could try to have his friend pay for it. The big problem is both parties are to blame here. The OP for taking it to get a so called "homeboy hookup" and his bud for screwing up major.

This should be a very expensive lesson for you.

[justmerging]

Wow, that just blows my mind that a "mechanic" could even mistake the two. Even the guys at jiffy lube aren't that misguided. I don't think anything will be permanantly damaged. The engine oil needs to be drained. and then refilled to the proper level on the dipstick (which your homeboy should have looked at before even starting the car). Your engine rpms did not raise because your oil was way over full. and the crankshaft was trying to turn completely submerged in oil. Your car also did not go anywhere because there was no fluid pressure in the tranmission. The cvt uses belts and pulleys but the pulleys are engaged by the pressure of the trans fluid inside the transmission.

All in all you should be fine but i would consider double checking that your buddy is even putting cvt fluid in your trans and not just regular trans fluid. There is a difference and the CVT fluid is about $25 a quart.

[jackg35]

budy can u pls tell me what dealership he is working on i dont wanna bring my car to them .i know no one is perpect but not like this.

[marlin29311]

Ok, just so I get the story straight:

Your buddy was supposed to do an oil change. Instead, he drained the transmission and filled it with engine oil.

Correct?

If so - your transmission is bombed. The Nissan CVT requires a special fluid made by Nissan, called NS-2. It's a proprietary transmission lubricant that is designed to lubricate the metal belt CVT that you have in your car. The CVT requires a different level of lubrication than a standard automatic transmission or manual transmission because of the unique moving parts internal to it that you don't have on a regular transmission (ie, expanding/contracting metal belt). If you page through your manual, you'll see that using anything other than NS-2 in your transmission voids the warranty on your CVT.

In this situation, was this "service" done at the dealership? If so, you might be able to use that to get your transmission replaced (note replaced - Nissan cannot repair the CVT's without having to go back to the factory).

[biggie]

Ok, just so I get the story straight:

Your buddy was supposed to do an oil change. Instead, he drained the transmission and filled it with engine oil.

Correct?

If so - your transmission is bombed. The Nissan CVT requires a special fluid made by Nissan, called NS-2. It's a proprietary transmission lubricant that is designed to lubricate the metal belt CVT that you have in your car. The CVT requires a different level of lubrication than a standard automatic transmission or manual transmission because of the unique moving parts internal to it that you don't have on a regular transmission (ie, expanding/contracting metal belt). If you page through your manual, you'll see that using anything other than NS-2 in your transmission voids the warranty on your CVT.

In this situation, was this "service" done at the dealership? If so, you might be able to use that to get your transmission replaced (note replaced - Nissan cannot repair the CVT's without having to go back to the factory).

Apparently instead. He drained the transmission oil and filled the Engine with more oil without draining it. In that case both engine and transmission could be toast.

[Onyxblue]

ok, so one of my friends who works at nissan was helping me out changing oil. instead, he pulled out transmission oil and did never realize. i was pulling my car out of the lot and hit the gas pedal and the car wont move and making weird sound. about 30~40 feet just strolling the car, he found out what he did wrong. straight up, my question is, would my CVT be damaged because of that? he said it would be no problem bec i didnt really drive off but im scared. (i did hit the gas at park or neutral mode just to hear what the noise was)somebody help me please!

Is this a joke or it's true? I doubt a mechanic can drain the CVT oil and add 4qts of oil into the engine. Was the tech guy high?

[Knightro2]

Well, it wouldn't be the first time something almost like this has been done I'm sure. Hell, when I was changing the oil on my Bronco II one time I accidentally started to drain the transmission fluid. Both pans were near each other and looked almost the same. I wasn't paying attention until it started to drain and I noticed it was red. I was like, "why the hell is my oil red?!" Then I realized what I did and popped the plug back in real quick. I only lost about a quart.

But atleast I caught it.

[bladfin]

the result has come. he filled the fluid back into the CVT with genuine nissan CVT fluid (ns-200p) at his own cost. he double checked and test drove it. I got my car back this morning. No weird sound or anything like that seems normal as it was before the incident. nopefully my car will still be running alright after all. thanks all for your concerns and answers. I learned a big lesson today.




Modified by bladfin at 8:53 AM 1/21/2009

[marlin29311]

Umm, from the look of that slip it says he only put in about 4 quarts of NS-2 - your CVT (assuming you do a flush and not a complete drain) needs about 7 - 8 quarts to fill it properly....

Did he fill your CVT with engine oil? Or did he overload your engine with oil and leave your CVT bone dry? Either way, I think you are in for some more problems...

[Andrews Chalmers]

The CVT pulley belt gets its necessary stiffness to grip via the transmission fluid beads & the metal plates... take out the transmission fluid and the metal belt loses its rigidity to pull.

My guess? What happened was the metal pulley belt was looser than spec and the pulley system just spun by itself as the belt just flapped around without tension.

The CVT has a self-diagnostic system.. drive it around and see if an engine code pops up.

[bladfin]

Umm, from the look of that slip it says he only put in about 4 quarts of NS-2 - your CVT (assuming you do a flush and not a complete drain) needs about 7 - 8 quarts to fill it properly....

Did he fill your CVT with engine oil? Or did he overload your engine with oil and leave your CVT bone dry? Either way, I think you are in for some more problems...

Engine was done properly, and i actually called the nissan and asked the cervice dept what the proper quarts for CVT is. he said it's between 4~5 and i just have to see and check the deepstick while im fillin in the fluid. so i think im in the safe line.

[biggie]

Was the engine oil eventually changed and checked for amount in the engine? If he put engine oil in the engine without draining it, it needs to be completely drained and filled again. Also if nothing else the level needs to be check to make sure you don't have an overfilled engine.

[Knightro2]

There is no dipstick for the CVT.

[alonsorules8]

Knightro2,

The CVT does have a dipstick but you need a special tool from Nissan to unlock the clip holding the stick in the CVT. Nissan locks the dipstick tube so that you or you backyard mechanic doesn't put the wrong fluid in and trash your transmission..

[Knightro2]

Well, what I meant was that there is no dip stick for the user. It's there for techs only.

[CPS]

Nissan CVT's go into fail-safe mode when low on fluid to prevent permanent damage. That's why you were hearing noises and the car wouldn't move. No harm, no foul, but I wouldn't let this guy work on it again.

BTW, the belt does not get it's stiffness from the fluid, the fluid creates a cystalline-looking structure on the belt to prevent premature wear. That's why they tell you even a teaspoon of anything else ruins the transmission, because it breaks up that molecular bond of protection in the transmission. The belt is metal and the cones it rides in are metal. Low fluid puts it in failsafe so you can't tear it up. The wrong fluid makes it tear up rapidly.

[Andrews Chalmers]

BTW, the belt does not get it's stiffness from the fluid, the fluid creates a cystalline-looking structure on the belt to prevent premature wear. That's why they tell you even a teaspoon of anything else ruins the transmission, because it breaks up that molecular bond of protection in the transmission. The belt is metal and the cones it rides in are metal. Low fluid puts it in failsafe so you can't tear it up. The wrong fluid makes it tear up rapidly.

The steel belt plates lock with the aid of the transmission fluid - which creates a crystalline structure that helps the pulley push the belt. Drain the fluid and the belt will not catch on the pulley enough to retain stiffness.

[DrivingHabit]

Versa comes with no dip stick for Transmission Flush? Isn't that kind of a rip off just go to the dealership just for Transmission work? Everyone loves to save some money and go to a non dealer location to get work done.

[Slither]

There is no dipstick for the CVT.

Good point - first day I got my V I was under the hood looking for 20 mins for it - what a dipstick I am. Seem to remember I couldn't find the hood prop either... And then there was my glovebox thing - my first post.

[alonsorules8]

The CVT transmission requires special fluid you local garage wont carry so to do work on these transmissions you need to go to the dealer to have it properly worked on. Maybe in the future some of your local shops will carry the cvt fluid, but not many do now.

P.S. if your local shop uses a transmission fluid flush machine that flushes the entire transmission you can't mix the CVT fluid with regular transmission fluid or you'll do terminal damage to you trans.