CVT Transmission Issues. (Fail safe, Whining, Temps, & FIX!)

[mpveillon]

Awesome! thanks for the reply. I need to double check but if I recall the current fluid is pretty clear in color. I bought this car used so I have no clue on if fluid has been drained but the color may have an indication that it has been. I do know that when I checked fluid level it was a hair past the full mark. Im thinking its over filled. Fluid was checked after about a 15 min. drive. Manual says it takes about 10 min. for transmission to be at right temp. to check fluid. Hope thats accurate enough. I thought about draining a little fluid from the plug, for the meantime. So does clear fluid indicate anything? What color is the bad fluid?

[lne937s]

Awesome! thanks for the reply. I need to double check but if I recall the current fluid is pretty clear in color. I bought this car used so I have no clue on if fluid has been drained but the color may have an indication that it has been. I do know that when I checked fluid level it was a hair past the full mark. Im thinking its over filled. Fluid was checked after about a 15 min. drive. Manual says it takes about 10 min. for transmission to be at right temp. to check fluid. Hope thats accurate enough. I thought about draining a little fluid from the plug, for the meantime. So does clear fluid indicate anything? What color is the bad fluid?

Nissan NS-2 CVT fluid should be light green in color, to avoid people using the wrong fluid. If the fluid is clear, then they may not have used fluid that meets NS-2 specifications. If the color is red, then there is a chance that they used ATF fluid, which will ruin your transmission. However, some non-Nissan CVT fluid is red/orange (Eneos dyes it both green and red), so if your transmission is working properly, they may have used a different brand.

Overall, color of the fluid is not very good indicator of if it is still working properly. It is better just to keep with a schedule of no more than 30k/2yr between drain and fills (which removes about half of the fluid at a time).

[zoolhouse]

Everyone, today I walked into the Nissan dealer in regards to this same issue and they are now aware of the problem. As they stated, they figure out that the temperature of the transmission's forces the sensor to a fail safe mode which removes/disables high gear torque. The solution is a cooling kid designed for these vehicles which can be replaced free of charged if under warranty.

Symptoms:
Loss of power when going up hill for more than 6 miles.
Unable to speed up after as no torque is available.
Must stop the car, wait 5 minutes before you can drive again in order to reset the sensor.

While at the dealer, several owners of similar vehicles (Rogue, Murano) were there due to the same reason.

Please make sure that even if you don't currently have that issue, you must take your car to the dealer, otherwise you will find yourself with this problem when traveling in high heat/long drives.

Best regards

[makaveddie]

Everyone, today I walked into the Nissan dealer in regards to this same issue and they are now aware of the problem. As they stated, they figure out that the temperature of the transmission's forces the sensor to a fail safe mode which removes/disables high gear torque. The solution is a cooling kid designed for these vehicles which can be replaced free of charged if under warranty.

Symptoms:
Loss of power when going up hill for more than 6 miles.
Unable to speed up after as no torque is available.
Must stop the car, wait 5 minutes before you can drive again in order to reset the sensor.

While at the dealer, several owners of similar vehicles (Rogue, Murano) were there due to the same reason.

Please make sure that even if you don't currently have that issue, you must take your car to the dealer, otherwise you will find yourself with this problem when traveling in high heat/long drives.

Best regards

Hi, could you provide more details as to what your dealer did? Unfortunately, I've had this issue for some time but the dealer was never able to replicate it because it takes hours to start kicking in, but I cannot go on long trips for fear of overheating. Stopping the car and letting it sit for a while definitely fixed the problem. It would also start with a faint whine, which would get louder as my car lost power. I'm beyond frustrated.

Do you have the part # for the cooling kit? I'd be interested to know if there is one available for the Altima.

[Unicorn]

The part number is in one of the posts on the first or second page along with the service bulletin for it.
On the Rogues it only applied to 2012 and older, not the 2013 which I was told has not had this problem.

It's a supplemental transmission fluid cooler and the tech at the dealer I went to dais an oil cooler as well. None of the local dealers had one in stock.

Even though I don't need it, I still want to get one for peeve of mind. The cost will likely be insane though add is not a warmth issue for me. A four to five hour install, plus the price of the kit, fluids, etc.

[kerrton]

This is the recent Nissan Tech Service Bulletin regarding this issue, and prescribing the new fix of the installation of a transmission cooler:

Subject: SB 2008-2012 Rogue; Reduced Performance Due To CVT Fluid Temp Protection Log

Summary of NTB14002:
IF YOU CONFIRM: The maximum vehicle speed is, or was, reduced by the CVT fail-safe logic after continuous operation under the following conditions: - High RPM and/or high speed driving (RPM of 4000+ or speeds of 65 mph [104.6 km/h] for 1.0 - 1.5 hrs.or more) - Driving in ambient temperature of 96 degrees or higher - Climbing steep or extended hills for 6 miles (9.6 km) or more - Whine or rattle type noise occurring during reduced engine performance (vehicle speed decrease) NOTE: Before applying this bulletin, check and repair any DTCs first. ACTION: Install SERVICE KIT-COOLER ASSY (see PARTS INFORMATION). NOTE: This kit is on part restriction. Use the order form at the end of this bulletin. See this bulletin for further detail.

Just to be clear, unless you have the code indicating that your CVT went into limp mode, I think it will be pretty much impossible to get this service performed. Like previously stated this is a big job to install the cooler assembly and parts are likely not cheap either - it states parts are on "restriction" which translates in to "good luck trying to get these parts". It seems some owners have had the limp mode experience but a code was not registered, leaving no evidence, or so the dealership says - this would be a very frustrating situtaion to be in.

Myself I have the annoying whining noise in warmer weather, made much worse with higher loads and rpms, but I've never gone into limp mode or had any codes registered indicating a problem. I'd love to get this cooler installed, but don't want to invest big cash in my 6+ year old Rogue, and know I have no hope of getting it covered under warranty even though I'm still well within my 10-year CVT warranty (which applies to all 08-10 CVT's).

[darylzero]

Well I'm glad my Rogue has the transmission cooler. I don't understand how they can make this a restrictive kit. This is a clear safety issue and should be a recall at no cost to the customer.

[kerrton]

I asked my dealer for a cost estimate, I know it will be shockingly high but it can't hurt to ask. I agree this is an obvious deficiency from the factory that should be remedied, it's too bad they can't come up with a more cost-effective solution i.e. less install time, more reasonably priced parts, then they might just offer it as a recall or it could be affordable for owners to consider footing the bill themselves. Adding a simple aux transmission cooler isn't rocket science.

[Colorado_Al]

Crazy timing!
I bought my 08 Rogue S AWD 30 days ago in St. Louis, MO. Yesterday I drove it home to Boulder, CO and about 6 hours into the drive at 70 MPH, the cruise control suddenly went off. I pressed the accelerator pedal and I could not increase speed. I pulled off at the next exit, in the middle of nowhere (Which is anywhere in Kansas) and turned it off. No apparent damage, no fluid leaks, nothing. I crossed my fingers and turned the car back on and it worked normally for a few miles, then same problem. The next exit happened to be in Hayes and I decided I would get lunch and look on this forum for some answers. Came across this thread. After lunch I passed through a cold front and the temp dropped from 94° to 35°. The rest of the trip went without a problem.
I took the car in to Boulder Nissan this morning. They scanned the car and they confirmed that the transmission went into limp mode due to heat and reduced speed to prevent damage. They saw the TSB noted above and ordered the parts for the transmission cooler. Said they should be in on Wed or Thu.
He also said that if I am just driving around town, it should not repeat, but mountain driving or extended trips might trigger it again until the transmission cooler is installed.
A few notes - the Rogue was getting 23 MPG for the first part of the trip. Driving with it in limp mode reduced mileage to 15 MPG. I hope I didn't do any transmission damage while driving in limp mode.
Also, since I am a new owner of this Rogue with 85,000 miles on it and unknown provenance, I intended to get the CVT fluid replaced this week anyhow. Due to the install of the transmission cooler, I will be getting new fluid courtesy of Nissan.
I will keep you posted!
Al

[keitarosan]

Where is the transmission cooler located? I have a Canadian 2010 Rogue SL. I'm not sure if this cooler comes standard with the SL. I'd like to check under the hood to make sure.

[MercuryAlpha]

Hey all! After lurking on the forum for a few years, I finally decided to make a NICO Forum account and join in.

I have a '08 AWD Rogue S with 75k miles (120k+ km) on it. I have been experiencing whine/a grinding like sound if I'm at highway speed and accelerate (like I'm overtaking). The sound isn't like the heatshield sound from the video ImStricken had previously posted. When I first heard the noise it was at about 3000-3200 RPM and would stop after only a second or two. I had a dealership check the status of the CTV (back at 60k miles) and all they did was a fluid degradation check. They said everything checked out, even after doing a road test. The noise had mostly gone away, but recently it has come back, but now at 4000-4500 RPM. It still only lasts a moment or two, but is still disconcerting. I tried to search the forum for any similar post, but didn't see anything (if a post exists, I'm sorry I've failed at searching thoroughly enough). I have never had any issues with overheating or gone into fail-safe mode, so I'm not completely sure if the issue is really in the CVT or somewhere else, but it seemed like a good first place to start.

Am I being paranoid and a few seconds of whine is normal for a CVT at this level of life or do you guys recommend investigating myself? I'll try to get a video up shortly with the sound to clear the issue up further.

Cheers!
~MercuryAlpha

[lulimet]

Hey everyone, my first post here.

My wife has a 2010 Rogue and she has been experiencing the dreaded CVT whine, and in the last 3 or 4 long trips the CVT goes into fail safe mode. It happens after about two hours of highway driving @ 65-70 mph speeds. We have had to pull over and wait for about 20 minutes before it would be ok to drive again.
Then yesterday it happened again but this time after I pulled over and waited about 5 minutes, I shifted into D but the car would not move. I shut it off and let it cool down for 15 minutes and then started it and it drove ok for the rest of the trip (an hour and a half).
One thing different this time is that the check engine light on came on. This morning I hokked up my code reader and it's throwing code P0744 which I think it says torque converter intermittent or something like that.
What is the transmission warranty for the 2010 Rougues? I think it's 100k miles but I am not 100% sure. Our Rogue has 96k miles right now.

*update*

We didn't have time to drop the car off at the dealer when I made the first post and we kept pushing it because we were so busy during the whole time. Last Sunday it happened again, so we dropped the car off yesterday and got a call from the dealer today. The dealer said that it needs a new transmission and they got the approval from Nissan to replace it. Car has 101,000 miles now so the transmission was still within warranty. The transmission should arrive on Monday and we're getting the car back on Tuesday.

In a way we are relieved that Nissan is replacing the transmission, but I still feel that Nissan should issue a recall because this is a very dangerous issue. It's a very widespread problem.

[lulimet]

We got the car back this morning. I didn't have time to look under the hood for a new shiny transmission but it better be there when I do

[Colorado_Al]

Update:
Still waiting on transmission cooler parts to come in to Dealer. I spoke with the service manager and was told that they now have 5 of the kits on order for me and 4 other owners. I put in a call to Nissan customer support and lodged a complaint.
No idea when the transmission cooler will come in, but I have had the problem several more times since the first time last month.
NOT HAPPY.

PS- report your issues to NHTSA:
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2008/nis ... oblem.aspx

[roguer27]

Hi,
Thanks for all the info.

I have an issue and would love it if you could give some feedback.

I have a 2008 Rogue.
After an hour on the highway, My Rogue won't accelerate anymore.
I push the pedal to the floor and it doesn't do anything.
I travel at 70mph and it won't go past that.

If a car is next to me and I need to accelerate and from the travel lane to the middle, I can't.

The car will not go past 3 rpms.
The only way I can get the car to go back to normal, is to pull over and wait about 15 min.

I'm pretty sure it's the CVT and that it has a safety something in place.

Can you tell me what's wrong?

Thanks!
roguer27

[lulimet]

^ Time for a new CVT for you. I hope your car is under 120,000 miles. You should take it to a dealer ASAP.

[zengshengliu]

Hi,
Thanks for all the info.

I have an issue and would love it if you could give some feedback.

I have a 2008 Rogue.
After an hour on the highway, My Rogue won't accelerate anymore.
I push the pedal to the floor and it doesn't do anything.
I travel at 70mph and it won't go past that.

If a car is next to me and I need to accelerate and from the travel lane to the middle, I can't.

The car will not go past 3 rpms.
The only way I can get the car to go back to normal, is to pull over and wait about 15 min.

I'm pretty sure it's the CVT and that it has a safety something in place.

Can you tell me what's wrong?

Thanks!
roguer27

I wouldn't say you need a new transmission just yet.
Go to the dealer and check (if you are still within the warranty)
Its probably overheating and goes into fail safe mode.
Cause of overheating could be: CVT fill to wrong level (it happens) and long drive + high temperature

[keitarosan]

[/quote]
Cause of overheating could be: CVT fill to wrong level (it happens) and long drive + high temperature[/quote]

I just can't believe Nissan has overfilled the CVT fluid from the factory. Mine looks overfilled as well. I wonder why they do that.

[snaik69]

anyone have any advice for me .....i clearly have this problem, the dealer also acknowledges that i have this problem but refuses to do anything about it (under warranty) because my engine light never came on! So im expected to pay for the cooler out of my own pocket.
What can i do???

[LordVersa2012]

I have a 2012 Nissan Versa with CVT. It's got 100,000 miles on it. When i drive it one freeway, it was running fine until i exit and slowed down then it won't let me accelerate. I brought ig to the local Nissan dealer and they told me that my tanny failed internally. I still drove the car to work for two weeks the an engine light went on. Couldit relly be transmission problem or worse? Thank you very much.

[seldomseen]

How many miles does your car actually have on it? Did you purchase it new? Was it purchased used from Nissan as a certified used vehicle?

It could very well be that your CVT failed. The CVTs on '11+ Nissan's are supposed to be more reliable than it's predecessor CVTs. Exactly how it's supposed to be better, I do not know.

Did you by chance have your CVT fluid inspected by Nissan at 60k to determine if your vehicle needed to have the CVT fluid changed? You may want to call Nissan Corp to determine if Nissan is willing cover the cost of replacing the CVT under a good will warranty program. Nissan does not cover '11+ vehicles under their extended 120k miles CVT warranty program.

[Colorado_Al]

Hooray! The transmission cooler parts finally arrived at the dealer!
I brought my '08 Rogue S AWD in to Boulder Nissan this morning and they installed the transmission cooler and replaced the transmission fluid. They even washed the car!
I have not had a chance to test to make sure that this has fixed the problem of the transmission going into safe mode but certainly the new fluid has already made a difference in the way it drives. More responsive and much quieter. No more whistle/whine coming from the transmission!
I'm heading up to the mountains this weekend and every other time I have gone up this summer, the transmission has overheated. I'll report back if I have any problems.
A+ to Boulder Nissan - great service!
A- to Nissan USA - fixed under warranty! unfortunately it took 3 months to get the parts.
On the plus side, I was planning on doing a transmission drain and fill but Nissan has already done it for me with the transmission cooler install!
Al

[LordVersa2012]

How many miles does your car actually have on it? Did you purchase it new? Was it purchased used from Nissan as a certified used vehicle?

It could very well be that your CVT failed. The CVTs on '11+ Nissan's are supposed to be more reliable than it's predecessor CVTs. Exactly how it's supposed to be better, I do not know.

Did you by chance have your CVT fluid inspected by Nissan at 60k to determine if your vehicle needed to have the CVT fluid changed? You may want to call Nissan Corp to determine if Nissan is willing cover the cost of replacing the CVT under a good will warranty program. Nissan does not cover '11+ vehicles under their extended 120k miles CVT warranty program.

I usually drive about 150 miles per day to work and back home. Usually freeway

[time2sing]

I have a 2013 Nissan Rogue. It will be a year old on September 27th and has 13,000 miles on it. I recently started driving to work everyday and it has started having transmission issues. I noticed something early on, but was not driving it long distances prior to July. It will drag or feel like it is slipping when I accelerate. I describe it as it almost feels like it has trouble going into gear. It has gotten worse since this past Friday. It happens about 2-3 times when I am driving on the highway. Almost like it is slipping. It was really bad last night when I was accelerating to 60, right at 60 is slipped and felt like it was going to completely give out. I have an appointment at the dealer tomorrow to drop it off (they are giving me a loaner) and I am going to have them drive it all day until they recognize what is going on. I did not realize there were such issues with the CVT until I started experiencing this.

[Rocket930]

2008 Nissan Rogue 2WD with 91,000 miles. It's our daughter's car that we bought used at the start of this summer.

Did a search and don't think we've got the whine/fail safe mode issue, but yesterday, our daughter left the house (with a cold engine and 75* temps) and within a mile, she heard a "whirling" noise, followed by a shuddering. She immediately pulled over and put in park. Engine was running fine with no check engine light.

I went to check it out and found that the shifter would only go from P to N. No Drive and it wouldn't move in Reverse. Starts in P and N, but not R. Called a tow truck and they sent a roll back. Tried to roll it on the rollback, but it would not roll in Neutral. Shifter feels like it's not working right, but I'm not used to it. Trans or shifter has it stuck in a gear maybe?

Got a regular tow truck and had it towed to the dealer and will get a diagnoses Monday. Hopefully it's something simple and not a trans. If it is a trans, what's the usual cost to replace?

Any thoughts on this?

[Colorado_Al]

Transmission is under warranty. 10 years, 120,000 miles.
http://www.nissanassist.com/ProgramDetails.php?menu=2

[Rocket930]

Nissan is replacing the trans under warranty.

Are they adding an aux trans cooler under any kind of warranty, TSB, recall, etc?

[Colorado_Al]

Trans cooler is also a TSB for transmission that goes into overheat mode. Not sure if that is included with the transmission replacement. Have them pull your codes and they may be able to do both.
Keep us informed with what happens for you.
Thanks and best of luck!

[Armandos70]

hey fellas I have a 2010 Rogue with obviously CVT problems.
I live in Vegas so its pretty hot here.
I had my CVT replace December (2013) and Aug (2014).
Now it seems like its failing again!
legally what are my options now since it seems like its an ongoing problem?
I know it cant be consider a lemon anymore since its 4 years old but can I do?
The car is under warranty 10years/120,000 or somthing like that so its no cost to me to have the CVT replace

[Rocket930]

Transmission is in, but got a call from the dealer wanting to know about the shifter. After the Trans failed, the car was pulled over and placed in park. Then it would only go in park, reverse and neutral. Car would not move in reverse.

Now I'm wondering if the trans wasn't bad, but the shifter system is bad. This won't be covered under warranty.

I'll update when I hear more.