I have a problem with my 2003 Murano Transmission

[Timmbo]

Awesome! If you need any help posting the pictures, just let me know. Welcome to the Murano forum!

[mandmthome]

I'll try this weekend....didn't see much of the car nor the wife last weekend!!!!

[Timmbo]

Haha, she got the new ride and is out enjoying it!

[complete]

I'm glad I'm not the only unlucky one with bad transmission on the 2003 Nissan Murano. I have 70K miles and for the last month, I've had the same problem all others have reported, press the gas and the car doesn't move for a few seconds then jerks forward. Could be very dangerous when in traffic and trying to change lanes. In fact, I only discovered this problem when I was in stop and go traffic lately. I took it to the dealer, they charged me $105 to diagnose the problem. Acted like they've never heard of this problem. Called me back the next day saying they advice on replacing the "Valve Body", for $1750. I was upset that only a 5 year old car has transmission problem that requires this expensive repair. I did some research on the internet and found that I'm not alone. In fact, there has been a complaint filed to NHTSA in 2005. And another one filed in 2007. I filed mine today and have spoken to their rep. What she tells me is that not all complaints lead to investigation and not all investigation leads to recall. However, I believe more complaints of the same problem, the better chance that it will get noticed which will lead to investigation and I'm sure once they investigate, they will find that too many Murano owners had been screwed and this issue is a safety hazzard that should be recalled, and all previous owners who had to fork over thousands of dollars for repair should be reimbursed. So, please go ahead and file the complaint with NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ) and they will assign you an ODI (Office of Defects Investigation) number. Mine is 10232062. The website to file the complaint with NHTSA is http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/c...h.cfm Also, other forums where people have posted exact same problems is

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.f133968/111 Nissan has known this problem and they are not owning up to it. We need to all stick together and not let them get away with endangering the motorists and reaping millions of profit from all those costly repairs.

[complete]

Here is another place where people are reporting exact same problems thinking their situation is unique.

http://nissan.justanswer.com/m...o-cvt

[CPS]

I see all these posts and nobody has said anything about having preventive maintenance done at any regular interval. Transmission fluid needs to be changed or problems will arise.

At my shop, the only CVT problems we've seen were from lack of fluid exchange or having fluid exchanges done by somebody who didn't know that it took special fluid and burned up the CVT by putting Dexron in it. Neither of those situations is a warranty issue, it's lack of and/or improper maintenance.

[Timmbo]

I see all these posts and nobody has said anything about having preventive maintenance done at any regular interval. Transmission fluid needs to be changed or problems will arise.

At my shop, the only CVT problems we've seen were from lack of fluid exchange or having fluid exchanges done by somebody who didn't know that it took special fluid and burned up the CVT by putting Dexron in it. Neither of those situations is a warranty issue, it's lack of and/or improper maintenance.

Very good point!!!!! Have service done at a Nissan dealership, they know what they are doing, and it stays on record, that way if you do have an issue in the future, everyone can see how well you maintained your Murano.

[complete]

So, you automatically assume that all these people who are having the exact same transmission problems are due to not changing the transmission fluid? I can't speak for others but I had the 60,000 miles service done at the very same dealership less than a year ago and I got a clean bill of health at that time. Not to mention that I've had the entire fluid system reflushed/refilled 2 years ago. So, I doubt it's the transmission fluid issue.

[CPS]

Most of the time the problems I've seen were people gawking at the fact that it takes 7-8 quarts of fluid for a drain and fill with the fluid being 20-23 bucks a quart. They fail to realize that what is a $250 job can save them $6,000 in the long run. On top of that you have people that do all their driving in-town and even tow with their Murano, yet do services at intervals as if it has all highway miles. Preventive maintenance is the key to making vehicles last.

If you did have the fluid completely exchanged at some point, then there is always the possibility that the part failed. But the problem I see time and time again is that you have a recurring problem that people complain about but they leave out the part where they didn't maintain the vehicle. So the ones that have a legitimate part failure get bunched in with the ones who treat them like crap. What is Nissan to do? Warranty everything that goes wrong regardless of maintenance intervals? All that would do is encourage people to NOT maintain their vehicle since they'll give you a new powertrain regardless of what you do to it.

I can tell you from firsthand experience that those who do preventive maintenance have far fewer issues than those who don't. And the ones that do that maintenance and have proof of it stand a far better chance of making a valid point when trying to get something warrantied that doesn't normally have a problem. The CVT has been around for quite some time in other countries, and if there had been a persistent issue, Nissan would have fixed it by now instead of putting a known bad part in a vehicle that they take pride in as being more advanced than the competition in the same vehicle category.

[complete]

I agree with you that preventive maintenance is important and should be done by all Murano owners, as specified by the owner's manual and schedule of maintenance. I can't speak for others but I've followed it. However, if more and more people are complaining about a same problem, where the transmission fails on them at 70 - 80K miles, I'd say it's time to take a look at the design of the car, as I'm sure Nissan did not design their transmission to fail right after the power train warranty runs out at 60K miles. And if it's just a matter of flushing the transmission fluid that differentiates someone needing a $6000 transmission replacement or not, Nissan should put that in their manual and should be part of either 30K or 60K service, where I got done at the dealer.

[CPS]

I don't know how things are done at other dealerships, but at mine, a 30K includes a transmission flush or drain and fill, dependent on the type of vehicle. This obviously creates a significant price jump on the CVT versions, and 99% of customers opt to not have it done. I can only think of two drain and fills we've done on a Murano in the past 3 years because of the drastic price jump due to fluid costs.

We've got at least 2 customers with over 100K on their Muranos with no issues, and I've seen probably a dozen come in with less than 30k because somebody tried to top it off with Dexron and completely annihilated the inside of the transmission less than 20 miles after leaving some shop that didn't know any better and didn't read the manual.

[murano2004owner]

I have a 2004 SL model with 54,000 miles on it.Jiffylube did put the regular oil in my transmission.I realized it immediately and took the car to dealer within 2 days.I drove like 35 miles on the regular oil. Dealer is not flushing the oil twice ($600+). I did not have any problems with transmission before. Now I am thinking I should take Jiffylube to court and have them pay for a new transmission as it is probably ruined!Did any one had a similar experience? Any opinions if the transmission is doomed? Any advise on how to take Jiffy lube to court, which court?

[ukebandit]

jiffy lubee,ooh no,i wouldn,t take my Rambler there,i here they have CCCTV links in their shops,,,,,what are they watching?????????

[CPS]

That trans is probably ruined by now. The CVT fluid makes some sort of crystalline structure over the internal moving parts, and less than 1 teaspoon of any other fluid will break that structure apart causing rapid wear of the components. I'm actually surprised it made it 35 miles. We've had them come in our shop with huge chunks of metal and aluminum in the pan with less miles than that contaminated with Dexron.

[alexa1228]

Hi. I am a proud owner of a 2003 Murano. I have 92000 miles on it. Just a couple of months ago, I started having problems with the CVT.

When it first started, it only happened once every couple of weeks and then it started doing it all the time. I would drive and I would lose acceleration. Or if I was stuck in traffic, and I would hit the gas to go, it wouldn't engage.

I took it to my mechanic and he pulled the codes for me. It turned out to be a problem with the cvt valve assembly. I ended up taking it to a nissan dealership and they had to do a partial transmission replacement. It cost me $1800.00.

Hope this helps. I've had several issues lately with my murano and I haven't even hit the 100K mark yet.

Good Luck

[muranoboi]

I took my 2003 Murano into the dealer for an oil change (appx 95000 miles) and the dealer stated there was a small leak at the transfer case seals, nothing big, but could become a problem. He assured me that this would prevent future issues when fixed. After a $2200 repair, I am back at the dealer with a broken transfer case. The dealer states that he does not anticipate it being covered by warranty because it was the actual gear, not the seals that are the problem. I am at a loss, short of court, for how to deal with this group. Any advice is much appreciated.

[Q45tech]

Nissan like all other brands offers a 100k extended warranty that you have the option to buy.

[heehee247]

You're not alone!!! I had to replace the transmission on my 2003 Nissan Murano at around 70,000 miles. I was completely shocked because I had brought it into the dealer about 2 weeks before because the "check engine" light was on. They said they had to "reteach" the computer something, and it was no big deal. Of course... it ended up being a huge deal. Luckily my warranty lasted just long enough to cover the cost -- $6,000!

[arlington]

03 Murano with 66,000. The CVT/Trans went out and cost $6,000 to get fixed. After filing a complaint with Nissan of America, they came back to me and decided they were NOT going to contribute a dime. Now that's a company standing behind their product. I will NEVER own a Nissan product again as long as I live. I had to have it fixed, what else can you do? I will drive it into the ground, then when it's on it's last leg, I will drive it thru the showroom window!

[Timmbo]

03 Murano with 66,000. The CVT/Trans went out and cost $6,000 to get fixed. After filing a complaint with Nissan of America, they came back to me and decided they were NOT going to contribute a dime. Now that's a company standing behind their product. I will NEVER own a Nissan product again as long as I live. I had to have it fixed, what else can you do? I will drive it into the ground, then when it's on it's last leg, I will drive it thru the showroom window!

Welcome to NICOclub. I hope you find the Murano Forum both entertaining and informative.

I removed your duplicate posts. I understand your frustrations with your 2003 Murano. You don't need to repeat the same post over and over again. Members would appreciate more of the history of your Murano vs: simply stating it is "junk" and that you shouldn't buy any Nissan product. No one is going to be receptive to that, but explain your situation in detail, others are much more willing to listen and provide their feedback and their experiences.

Thanks a bunch!

[whansen]

My 2003 Murano has 40,000 miles on it. I moved to Mexico in 2005, and that nullified my warranty. Shortly after I moved here, I got an e-mail notification of a recall on the alternator, which I had to pay for. Two weeks ago, the transmission gave up without a fight. I now have a new one ordered from the Nissan factory in Nuevo Laredo. The good news, if there is any, is that since the factory is here, I only have to pay $2,100 for the new one, and $400 for installation.My next car will be a Honda. Our other car is a 1997 Honda Del Sol and the only major thing I've replaced in 120,000 miles are the struts.

wayne hansenPuerto Vallarta

[Ravent25]

My mother-in-law just bought a 2003 Murano about 1 month ago and she got the best extended warranty you can get. She just got back from vaction to FL and the trans gave out twice, once on the way there and once on the way back, after it cooled down the trans worked fine. took it to the dealer and they told her that the trans needed to be reprogramed??witch was not covered under here warranty!! the sales manager is going to talk to nissan about getting her money back.. her car only has 39k and Ihope the warranty covers her trans!! Im going to call tommorrow and ask if the trans is covered??

[pm_page6776]

If you are having a strange acceleration issue with your murano, before you have the CVT replaced you should check one thing. Open your hood and check to make sure your air intake tube has not seperated. I have had many complaints about lack of acceleration and "shifting" issues which I traced back to an intake leak after the mass airflow sensor. This repair takes 2 minutes to fix and can be done with only a screwdriver.

[mwieland]

I am having the exact same problem with my 03 Murano. Whenever I get into any kind of traffic, ill step on the gas and the vehicle wont move and after like 8 seconds it will violently jerk forward. I used your link to file a complaint and I received a complaint number. Just curious did you ever get the murano fixed and if so what was the problem ? No one can tell me what the problem is and so I dont know what needs to be fixed. Any help would be great !!

[muranostheworst]

We took our pampered 03 Murano in under warranty for transmission problems that started at 55,000 miles. They sent us out with new valve body and told us howling was "tire noise", that oil smell was road tar on exhaust. Within the year, our struts failed, our exhaust manifold cracked in half (they said that sound was exhaust supports), cat conv. failed, transfer case cracked in half (that was the whine and smell, the seals leak), and transmission failed. $10,000 in repairs and Nissan will do NOTHING even though we had it in for the shift trouble, howling, grinding, etc. etc. while it was under warranty. Have read hundreds of posts from other Murano victims of same. When the transmission went, we were almost rear ended, dangerous situation, owner need to organize and make Nissan take responsibility before someone is killed. Worse vehicle I have ever owned, never had any major trouble with any of my vehicles under 250,000 miles. This is outrageous!

[Muranomae]

To muranotheworst,

I feel for you. I did everything to get help from Nissan I got nothing!

It's a long story I think we need to band together and make them pay for selling lemons to their consumers. It's been a while sense I've thought about this again. I think it is outrageous too.

muranomae

[spiderpena]

Mine just went out. I am at 109K miles. Oh joy!

[mikey1951]

Bought 2003 sl last year with 54k on odo - got 5 miles from dealer and cvt failed - it would not shift out of low gear. Dealer replaced cvt under warranty. Now have ~77k now with no cvt issues. Will replace cvt fluid at 30k intervals.

Of the many thousands of 2003 muranos sold I wonder what % failed ?

Mike

[spiderpena]

Good luck to you. Looking online, it does seem as though the 2003 had its fair of problems. I'm guessing this was way above the average or common tranmission failures with a car that old.

i was big on Nissan and the Murano but will look to go another route with my new car.

[muranofixed]

Just to let everyone know I ended up here because I thought my transmission was going out. It would start bucking and "slipping" when I would accellerate. The harder I would accellerate the worse it acted up.I read in a one of the posts a guy fixed his problem by tightening up the rubber boot that connects the air filter chamber to the rest of the intake (easily accessible and easy to check). This was the fix to all my "transmission" worries and I believe that many more could have saved themselves a major mechanics bill with the gentlemans advice. I hope by reposting this advice many more people will once more feel good about their murano and their bank account.