Slow acceleration/ VDC & SLIP light

[Ak84kh]

i am having an existing problem of slow acceleration/ reverse from dead stop every once in a while, but this week while going uphill with 4 passengers inside I faced a new problem with my Altima 2010, , car power started to drop and as i went further uphill and kept decreasing to a point when suddenly VDC OFF and SLIP lights came on and everything was back to normal, normal power and acceleration. Anyone knows what happened here..

And the slow acceleration/reverse happens at a random point after dead stop , sometimes it wont happen at anytime during the day.

[centralcoaster33]

Hi and welcome to NICO Club!

Do you have a CVT type transmission? You may be due for an inspection/ servicing. Perhaps you can bring the car to a parts store and have them check your computer for codes. If you can, please post back any results here.

[Ak84kh]

Hi and thanks ,
got the computer checked today, the cvt mechanic said there is issue with the step sensor which is responsible to detect and change the gear as per speed.
He did a software update and we'll see if the problem happens again, so far i didn't notice any issue and the code didn't come up again after the software update. I just hope that it doesn't happen again or else he said i will need to get a new CVT.

[centralcoaster33]

Thank you for the update. My fingers are crossed for you. I hope the software changes work.

[Ak84kh]

It didn't work : ( yesterday the gears started getting stuck again once in 2nd and again in 3rd gear and CVT would get back to normal only after restarting the car..
It looks like CVT needs to be replaced unless some expert mechanic knows how to change the stepping motor/sensor.

[centralcoaster33]

Son-of-a-B! I'm sorry about that. If you want to double check the work according to the FSM, you can look at the transmission chapter. At page 184 it starts talking about the step motor. There's diagnoses, repair broken parts and replace the whole transaxle assembly, depending on what does and doesn't work. I didn't see a software update mentioned. Hopefully they've gone through the other procedures.

Here's a link to that FSM chapter: http://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual? ... ma/2010/TM

Are you still under drivetrain warranty?

[Ak84kh]

Thanks a lot for the document, i will go through it and see if the mechanic can repair it without having to go for a new CVT.

[centralcoaster33]

Okay. The stepper itself isn't replaceable, but other parts are (like the computer and a couple of sensors, a bit of wiring, not much really) and thorough diagnoses should be done per the FSM. If the mechanic says they can rebuild your CVT, go elsewhere. If the small parts don't fix the issue, then the whole CVT will need to be replaced. Maybe read the FSM diagnoses procedures yourself and get an idea of what is realistic and what isn't so you don't get taken for a ride.

[carldu]

Any update, OP? Did you replaced the CVT or just fixed some parts?