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

[Wiulax45]

I been dreading this day since I first heard about the problems with the 2008 Rogue CVT. Now I'm sitting at 126,000 miles with a broken CVT that's going to cost 3,600 wto replace. Nissan is refusing to offer me anything to assist with the repair cost. I should have gotten rid of the vehicle before the warranty expired. Good luck to anyone who has not had a failure yet. Your running on borrowed time. Has anyone else been burned by this yet?

[scott9050]

We are finally getting our Rogue back tonight as the cooler parts came in. We originally dropped the car off on July 11th and have been without it for over 3 months. The only thing that worries me is that they say the fluid does not need to be changed after it overheated multiple times.

[Ferrisfan]

Do the CVT problems occur equally between FWD and AWD trannys?

[Eugene@]

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

Same thing here. I live in Southern Cali. Bought my Rogue'08 in 2011. My transmission was replaced twice, in 2011 and 2013.
My relative bought his Rogue'11 brand new, and got his transmission replaced twice also, he is less lucky as 2011 Rogue doesn't have extended transmission warranty. Nissan dealers do a great job, they replace transmissions instantly without any hassle and/or argue.
Just keep replacing the transmission every year (usually it lasts 1..2 years before whining/whistling noise and loss of torque comes back) and when the mileage is about 120,000 get rid of the car.

[LucasM]

Hi guys, i bought a 2008 Nissan Murano and it seems as though the belts on the cvt gearbox actually slip when it gets very hot or driving the car for a long period.

We drove back home after our holiday which was about a 14hr highway drive and after about 7/8 hrs highway driving, when climbing hills or overtaking other vehicles with the cruise control on and without is when i noticed the CVT slipping as the car would change a gear and slips at 3000rpm's and wont stop unless throttle is released and kept at a steady position making it very difficult to pass other vehicles, it feels like " grip, slip, grip, then slip slip slip" then have to take my foot off the accelerator and gently give it some throttle just to maintain the speed and wait till the road is level and only then could the Nissan pass the other vehicles.

but when the car has been standing for about an hour then its back to normal until the cvt gets hot again?

The Murano has 146000kms on it, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[LucasM]

Also does anyone know what color the CVT fluid is supposed to be? the dipstick displays a Red ATF fluid, is that the right color of the NS-2 fluid?

[ChuckyVee]

Also does anyone know what color the CVT fluid is supposed to be? the dipstick displays a Red ATF fluid, is that the right color of the NS-2 fluid?

The OEM Nissan CVT fluid NS-2 should be a light, translucent green color. That's assuming it's new and right out of the bottle.

[JWMaloney]

Also, in case anyone is wondering- NS-3 CVT fluid is backwards compatible with NS-2, but not the other way around.

Just a heads up, NS-3 CVT fluid is backwards compatible with previous generation CVTs, but you can't use NS-2 in vehicles that require NS-3.

I've seen this posted several times online, but I've recently asked several Nissan dealerships about this and they've told me the fluid is not backwards compatible. Would you happen to have a source?

[Justin1]

I'm gonna start off saying that I work at a Nissan dealership and I'm gonna explain what I see on a daily basis and I will give you input from a dealer perspective. Fail safe happens when the transmission overheats. That's what it's designed to do. Cvt fluid level is a huge factor. I don't know if this has been covered but there is a special way to check the fluid. We use consult 3 and monitor a temp count. After the temp count is where it should be the fluid is set. The fluid is not set at the full mark though. If its set there it's overfull and will cause it to whine and go into fail safe. Usually when it whines it's because the fluid is aerated. The fluid is usually set in the middle of the crosshatch marks to 3/4 depending on fluid temp. This is why we see so many people with transmissions that are over full. Coolant protection is also a factor. There are tools out there to check freeze protection. Nissan recommends -34 degrees for proper cooling of the transmission. I seen some overheat at -48 degrees. I live in Colorado so it usually doesn't get that hot. The hotter the climate the easier the transmission will overheat if the coolant protection isn't set right. If your doing it yourself try to mix the coolant and water to -25 degrees. That would be more ideal. Seems to cool a lot better. And so everyone knows This is for all cvt equipped nissans. Rogues aren't the only one with these issues. Altimas and sentras have the same issues. Now if anyone has been in a front end collision And the radiator replaced make sure it's a Nissan radiator. Here is an example. Customer came in had the transmission replaced 30k miles ago. Transmission kept going into fail safe and whining. Level was good on the transmission but coolant protection was off. Set freeze protection where it should be and took on a long test drive. Same issue. Found out that it was in a front end collision 6 months earlier and a aftermarket radiator installed. Aftermarket radiators don't cool as well as oem ones. We replaced with a Nissan radiator and problem never came back. Now I have a 2005 Nissan altima. You better believe if my radiator cracks I will probably replace it with a aftermarket radiator because I don't have a cvt transmission. These transmission are so sensitive to heat its crazy. Now there are always times that it may need a transmission and if that's the case then it will be replaced. Usually when this happens a check engine light comes on or there are some codes stored In the ECM.

Now I want to talk about aftermarket fluids. Don't use them. There are some fluids out there that are suppose to be compatible but I wouldn't trust it. Talking to some of the engineers I have talk to said these aftermarket fluids Dont have the same qualitys and will cause the transmissions to overheat and or damage it. Plus at my dealership if you have different fluid and a transmssin concern you can kiss that warranty goodbye. Now I know people think that most dealerships think of ways to get out of warranty repairs. Well that's not all true. There are def some out there though. I get paid for warranty work. If I could replace a transmission daily under warranty I would. Thats how we get paid. Now nissans calls these things back to inspect to see what has failed. . If you cover something under warranty and Nissan calls it back then it had better have some sort of failure. If nissans finds out that it not they kindly send it back to us and charge us for the repair. It's really s*** sometimes even when it's Nissan fault. I see a lot of chrome pieces have tiny rust spots on them on a lot of armadas and pathfinders and Nissan won't warranty it. Nissan has charge the dealership I work for numerous times stating that it's not a defect when it clearly is. What I'm trying to say is that not all dealerships are trying to get out of warranty work. We do however have to protect ourselves so we don't get charged back for repairs. I hope the people on these boards can find trustworthy dealerships. From hearing some the of the stories on here it's no wonder why dealerships have bad names. In the meantime if anyone has questions own anything feel free to message me anytime.

Kindly tell me Ddflosrt, exactly HOW I can use a refractometer to measure the coolant/water mixing ratio for -75 degrees. Thanks

[ParkRNDL]

I've done a lot of lurking here, now I'm signing in to share my experiences on this. I have a 2007 Altima that was starting to whine loudly under certain conditions. After doing research online and especially after getting all the information that I could from this thread, I had the Nissan cooler installed by my local mechanic and the problem seems to be fixed.

More detailed information for anyone who might need it:

My car is a 2007 Altima 2.5S. I got it with around 35k on it and was very happy with it in general (still am, actually). Around 70k I started hearing the CVT whine at highway speeds. Started poking around online and found information about the warranty extension. Brought the car to the dealer... no questions asked, they diagnosed it as a faulty CVT and replaced it under warranty at about 75k.

Seemed fine for about a year, but then I started hearing a whine again. My memory is hazy on this, but I'm pretty sure the whine came back during a long, mountainous trip through Ohio and West Virginia. Brought it back to the dealer with about 110k on it, but autumn was setting in, and the problem only happened on warm days. They saw the car on a cool day and never heard anything, and proclaimed the car fine.

I was pretty concerned, as I knew that by the time the weather warmed up again and the noise came back consistently, it'd be spring and I'd be past the 120k warranty. Sure enough, just over 120k, we had a few warm days, and a half hour trip home on the highway at 75-80 mph would produce the whine, as would driving hard on hilly back roads. I never got the fail-safe mode, but I didn't want to wait till the problem got that bad. So I started reading everything I could online about the problem. This thread proved extremely helpful, and I did a search at this site too:

http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/Home.aspx

I clicked the option to search Technical Service Bulletins. A search using Altima as the model and "cvt cooler" as the keywords got me to a summary of an official Nissan TSB, NTB13079. I'll copy/paste the text here:

Subject: SB 2007-2012 Altima; Reduced Performance due to CVT Fluid Temp Protection
Summary of NTB13079:
IF YOU CONFIRM: The vehicle speed is, or was, reduced by the CVT fail-safe (reduced vehicle speed) 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- 1.5hrs 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) ACTIONS:Install the SERVICE KIT-COOLER ASSY. See this bulletin for further detail.

I couldn't read the whole TSB because I don't have a subscription, but I brought the code number to my mechanic and it got him a part number for the cooler kit from Nissan. Our local Nissan dealer had it in stock. It cost me something like $250 for the part, and he installed it in a couple of hours.

Now this past weekend, I have taken the car on several highway trips from 45 to 90 minutes at speeds up to 80-85 mph. The temperature all weekend was in the 60s and 70s. (Previously, the whine could have happened anytime the outside temp got over 50-55 degrees and I got on the highway.) I have been listening for the whine, even trying to push the car a little to get it to happen. I though I heard a trace of it a couple of times, but it was only after heating up in stop-and-go traffic, never at highway speeds, and I'm not really even sure that's what it was. At any rate, the problem appears to be fixed. The cooler kit mounts behind an opening in the front bumper on the driver's side and looks factory-installed. Thanks to the original poster, Ddflosrt, for all the useful information.

As a side note, in all of this I noticed that the front bumper of my car appears to have been repainted or touched up at some point before I got it. I wonder if, as Ddflosrt pointed out in the original post, the car was in a front end accident and the OEM radiator was replaced with an aftermarket one, which didn't have the same cooling qualities as the original and brought this all on to begin with...

--rick

[sspavone]

Had all of the CVT problems described in these complaints. Was in the truck slow lane for most our 5 hour trip home that turned into 8 hours because we had to keep stopping to let it cool and be able to crawl up another incline. Was very close to being hit on more than one occasion and felt very unsafe. Took the Rogue in first thing this morning and all was confirmed that the CVT is overheating but we have a 2011 so they won't honor a transmission extended warranty - only goes up to 2010... and they want 2k to put a cooler on the transmission. Nissan KNOWS this is an issue and is sticking it to their customers to cover the cost for this poor design and endanagering lives of both their owners and others sharing the roads with us crawling up the hills in our Nissans. NHTSA Administrator Rosekind and staff need to know about this and force a recall before we have to sue for lives lost.

[scuba00]

I too am now joining the CVT problem fun. I have a 2010 Nissan Sentra SR with 144k miles on it. In May 2014 it first went into fail-safe mode on a trip to Ohio from NC. We were somewhere in the mountains and it started doing the thing where it won't go above 60-70mph and at very low RPM's. I didn't think much of it back then as we were driving mountainous roads and such. Over the past year it has done this now on almost every road trip longer than 1hr or so, where it goes into fail-safe mode. The most recent road trip threw a check engine light while we driving in fail safe mode. I was just trying to limp the car home so it could cool off and maybe it went too far, not sure. The code was P0744, TCC (torque converter clutch) solenoid valve fault with probable causes as follows: low fluid level, open/short circuit, poor connection, failed solenoid. When the light came on the car had significantly reduced torque/speed, but once I got home and the car cooled off, again it was fine. I checked fluid and it seemed a little low so I added some fluid (maybe the wrong move from what I've read on here, I'm considering taking some fluid back out). I took the car to the Nissan dealer and to a transmission shop and told them what code I had and they both instantly just said, replace the transmission for $4,000. They didn't want to hear much about my research about overheating transmissions, fail-safe mode, and everything else I've read in this thread. I was considering changing the fluid and filter myself to see if this helps, but the more I read the less I know which direction to go. The very first post on here says to use only Nissan CVT fluid. I'm not even sure I can buy it from them without letting them change it for me. Also what about the filter in the transmission? Do people just not change those anymore? Also I've read that when you have transmission issues, sometimes changing the fluid can make it worse. And then there's the coolant issue, with maybe I should change the coolant in the car to see if it help's or to add an extra cooler for the transmission as someone mentioned here. The car seems to be working fine now on short trips (1hr or less) and the check engine light was cleared and has not returned yet, which is good news I guess. I just paid this car off less than two weeks ago and recently got the title in the mail...go figure right? Any advice, guidance, experience fixing this issue would be great.

[darylzero]

I too am now joining the CVT problem fun. I have a 2010 Nissan Sentra SR with 144k miles on it. In May 2014 it first went into fail-safe mode on a trip to Ohio from NC. We were somewhere in the mountains and it started doing the thing where it won't go above 60-70mph and at very low RPM's. I didn't think much of it back then as we were driving mountainous roads and such. Over the past year it has done this now on almost every road trip longer than 1hr or so, where it goes into fail-safe mode. The most recent road trip threw a check engine light while we driving in fail safe mode. I was just trying to limp the car home so it could cool off and maybe it went too far, not sure. The code was P0744, TCC (torque converter clutch) solenoid valve fault with probable causes as follows: low fluid level, open/short circuit, poor connection, failed solenoid. When the light came on the car had significantly reduced torque/speed, but once I got home and the car cooled off, again it was fine. I checked fluid and it seemed a little low so I added some fluid (maybe the wrong move from what I've read on here, I'm considering taking some fluid back out). I took the car to the Nissan dealer and to a transmission shop and told them what code I had and they both instantly just said, replace the transmission for $4,000. They didn't want to hear much about my research about overheating transmissions, fail-safe mode, and everything else I've read in this thread. I was considering changing the fluid and filter myself to see if this helps, but the more I read the less I know which direction to go. The very first post on here says to use only Nissan CVT fluid. I'm not even sure I can buy it from them without letting them change it for me. Also what about the filter in the transmission? Do people just not change those anymore? Also I've read that when you have transmission issues, sometimes changing the fluid can make it worse. And then there's the coolant issue, with maybe I should change the coolant in the car to see if it help's or to add an extra cooler for the transmission as someone mentioned here. The car seems to be working fine now on short trips (1hr or less) and the check engine light was cleared and has not returned yet, which is good news I guess. I just paid this car off less than two weeks ago and recently got the title in the mail...go figure right? Any advice, guidance, experience fixing this issue would be great.

I'll let someone with more knowledge of this answer your questions, but a quick check of that code is not good.
http://engine-codes.com/p0744_nissan.html

When the a transmission solenoid is working intermittent, in most cases the problem is not the electrical part of the solenoid; the problem is foreign material obstructing the mechanical function of the solenoid or the flow of the fluid through the transmission valve body.

From that it sounds like a mechanical issue and the trans is toast, especially if Nissan said to replace it.

[scuba00]

The code came on after it was already in fail-safe mode, so maybe I overdid it trying to limp it home? Everyone keeps saying new transmission, but until it won't go anymore I am not buying into that just yet. I think it probably threw a code because the transmission/fluid was overly hot and tricked the computer into thinking it was something else. From what I've read if that code was the real problem I would be sitting on the side of the road somewhere calling AAA. Let's hope that code doesn't reappear again :-). I guess from doing some more research I need to install the service kit cooler assembly.

[kots1]

The code came on after it was already in fail-safe mode, so maybe I overdid it trying to limp it home? Everyone keeps saying new transmission, but until it won't go anymore I am not buying into that just yet. I think it probably threw a code because the transmission/fluid was overly hot and tricked the computer into thinking it was something else. From what I've read if that code was the real problem I would be sitting on the side of the road somewhere calling AAA. Let's hope that code doesn't reappear again :-). I guess from doing some more research I need to install the service kit cooler assembly.

I would change the fluid since it overheated on few occasions and fluid probably smells burnt. Do a drain and fill so it's only half of the fluid and you are not changing it drastically. The cooler kit which includes a mini-radiator for the trans fluid will help with the overheating issue. I installed it myself. It was not too bad. It took me 4 hours to install it the first time but with proper guide, I can probably knock it off in 2 hours or less.

[scuba00]

Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like only about 3-4 quarts or so will come out through the drain plug which is about half. I will look into the cooler kit. I called Nissan about trying to get one of these and the guy had no idea what I was talking about so I told him to go read NTB13095 for himself. I guess if you add the cooler kit there's no use in going and changing out the coolant as previously discussed in this thread?

[kots1]

Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like only about 3-4 quarts or so will come out through the drain plug which is about half. I will look into the cooler kit. I called Nissan about trying to get one of these and the guy had no idea what I was talking about so I told him to go read NTB13095 for himself. I guess if you add the cooler kit there's no use in going and changing out the coolant as previously discussed in this thread?

That is correct. Some member even added another radiator in series with the engine coolant and that didn't help. Which leads me to believe that coolant mixture really doesn't contribute much to cooling the transmission fluid. Messing with the coolant/water mixture is really not worth the time.

You can get the kit from eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131348020329

There's also a cheaper alternative here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271888776181

I was considering the cheaper alternative but I'm glad to have bought the whole kit instead because it has everything you need to make the job easier. The hoses were already precut and pre-molded to make routing easier. All brackets, bolts and more were included to make it look it came from the factory with it.

How many miles on your Rogue now and what year? I am closing to the end of CVT warranty so I bought 12 quarts of Valvoline CVT on Amazon for my 2008. I know the consensus here is Nissan NS-2 only but I have not heard of a single failure based on Amazon reviews, BITOG and other Nissan forums - Sentra, Murano and Altima. I actually poured in half a quart already to make up for CVT fluid loss during the installation of the cooler kit. So far, no problem. When I have the time, I will flush all fluid through the cooler lines and replaced with Valvoline CVT and will report back. I am confident that there won't be any problem.

[scuba00]

Thanks for the additional info on this. I will definitely look into the kits and links you provided. I actually have a 2010 Nissan Sentra SR with the exact same problems. I posted under this thread since I assume the issues are the same. I'm not sure if the kits work for any model or are specific to a one car, etc.

[darylzero]

scuba00, kots1 gave you some good information. I was more reserved at wanting you to throw money at a problem when 2 different mechanics told you to replace it.

Did you ever have the trans fluid serviced in the cars lifetime? I'm all for you to keep driving it, but be prepared if it just fails one day.
If you don't have a problem spending ~$100 for the 5 qt CVT fluid then go for it. Just remember to get Nissan CVT fluid ONLY.

[scuba00]

The default answer by Nissan for anything related to CVT is just to replace it. That's piss poor customer service and engineering if you ask me. If it's under warranty then great but for those who have passed the 120k mark you are left holding the bag for Nissan. I'll prolly try and fluid drain and refill but that's not gonna help a poorly designed transmission that has cooling/overheating issues. I'm having a difficult time with Nissan even trying to find this cooling kit that is mentioned in that NTB.

[Shoeless356]

I came here after Googling the transmission issue on my husband's 2011 Nissan Juke. Well a few days ago it left us stranded. Whining and then losing acceleration until we were only able to go 20mph on the highway. Very dangerous. We limped along for as long as we could but ended up pulling off at an exit to call AAA who towed us to our mechanic.

They assessed the situation and told us the transmission is SHOT. It's going to be $3300 to replace the thing. On a FOUR year old car with 90,000 miles on it.

Such a piece of crap. We JUST paid the freakin' car off too a couple months ago. ((sigh))

I am going to contact Nissan and see what can be done. Not that I have high hopes. (( double sigh))

Thanks for listening.

[scuba00]

Is it still under warranty? Nissan extended the warranty to 120,000 miles on Some Cvt models.

And the transmission may not be shot. Have you tried to drive it since it cooled off? If so, did it function like normal?

[Shoeless356]

It is not under warranty but I am speaking of the 5 year / 60k mile warranty that came with it when we bought it new. I didn't know there was an extension. Have not driven it since it cooled off. Perhaps I should try taking it to a dealer, as Nissan is telling me that I have to first take it to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. If I can drive it to one, it might be worth it. How will I know which models are under the extended warranty? Thanks!!

[scuba00]

Apparently it was only 2003-2010, https://owners.nissanusa.com/nowners/na ... ntyContent.

I was told by a transmission shop and Nissan that I need a new cvt transmission for $4200 but I'm still driving it. It's a bunch of bs because no one can work on cvt's so the only option is to replace the transmission when in fact it's a cooling issue. Did your car throw a check engine code? Also were you on a long road trip? Chances are it just overheated and went into failsafe mode. If you drive it and it seems to work okay again then it's definitely an overheating issue (bad design by Nissan). You really have nothing to lose by driving it other than towing expense. If you have AAA that's not an issue :-)

[Shoeless356]

Interesting. Thank you for your story. It definitely seems like a cooling issue. I am very tempted to just pick it up from the mechanic and see if it drives okay and SELL THE STUPID THING. So sad because otherwise we love the car!

[scuba00]

Your transmission in fact may be shot but before I paid that kind of money the car would have to be in a form where it will not go at all. Is this the first time it's done this? If you want give me some more info and I will help if I can. The cooling issue is referenced is two of the Nissan technical bulletins. Nissan in fact has a cooling assembly kit they recommend putting on cars that go into fail safe mode. Essentially the transmission fluid cooler on the car is not sufficient and the fluid overheats. The transmission is smart and tries to prevent damage by going into fail safe mode. Hence why Nissans tech bulletin says install an external cooler. However it's not that easy because of they way the car is designed there is no way to route the transmission fluid through an external cooler unless you get Nissan to do it which is difficult bc they will just tell you you need a new transmission and you don't know what you are talking about. Me being an engineer and loving to research stuff found a machined part on eBay that will allow an external cooler to be installed. Even if you aren't interested it's worthwhile to read this guys write up on the part to give you a better idea of what's going on with the car. http://m.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-rogue-juke ... nav=SEARCH

Hey I could be all wrong with you car but It might be worth a check to see if you car still works and shifts normally when cool.

[CapeCodChips]

2014 Rogue 63,000 miles. CVT just went, at the dealership now getting replaced.
Definitely a heating problem, the 2 tmes it went into safe mode were during extensive stop and go driving.

[CapeCodChips]

2014 Rogue 63,000 miles. CVT just went, at the dealership now getting replaced.
Definitely a heating problem, the 2 tmes it went into safe mode were during extensive stop and go driving.

CVT is being relaced under an extended warranty I purchased.
I'm furious, the warranty company is putting a used CVT in. Probably a wreck. The ambiguous (is that the right word?) contract allows them to.

[Kiehtan]

Interesting. Thank you for your story. It definitely seems like a cooling issue. I am very tempted to just pick it up from the mechanic and see if it drives okay and SELL THE STUPID THING. So sad because otherwise we love the car!

In response to CapeCodChips and Shoeless356, I bought a 2013 Rogue. It has 73,000 miles on it. Several times over the past few months, in warm weather stop and go driving after being on the road for an hour or so, it gas gotten sluggish in its response to acceleration. Each time it has been near the end of my drive and each time the issue was gone when I got back in my car later. Today, after an hour drive on a 90 degree day, I got into a traffic jam. About 20 minutes in, the sluggishness Returned. About 10 minutes of that the whine came and it wouldn't want to shift. I found a Nissan dealer 2 miles away and drive there at 15mph. They checked it out and told me I needed a new transmission at $3800. However, while sitting in the waiting room, I discovered this post. I decided to take my car for a ride after my three hour wait. I drove about 100 miles with no issues. The Rogue has had a chance to cool down and the temp had droped to about 80 degrees. Moreover, there was no stop and go driving. My next step is to flush the transmission and see if fresh fluid solves the issue. If not, in considering an aftermarket external transmission cooler.

[scuba00]

Kiehtan,

See this thread as well for additional info I have provided:

topic592673.html

I found a fix for my 2010 Nissan Sentra for $150 if you have some DIY car skills. I was told the exact same thing as you above, and that was two months ago. A buddy of mine helped me install the cooler, no more overheating, no more check engine codes, and the car is working fine. As a precaution I flushed (drained and filled) the transmission fluid and also the coolant just in case it had lost some of it's overall cooling properties. As many other's have said, Nissan should have had a recall on this issue but rather they swept it under the rug and just try and sell you new transmissions. A bit criminal if you ask me...