I need help with this decision, and would REALLY appreciate everyone's input:

I have a FWD Rogue, with a relatively minor tranny rattle/grinding noise at "parking lot" speeds, as described at length on this forum. I only have 7700 km (4800 miles) on the car, and although the rattle is disturbing, it is no where nearly as bad as some others have described, possibly because my mileage isn't high enough, or because its FWD - I don't know.

My Service Dept. checked it today, confirmed the noise, said that they could change the tranny (provided that Nissan approves it, but he didn't seem to think it would be a problem), however he wasn't confident that this would solve the problem, and considering that Nissan has apparently discovered the cause of the problem, a fix would be coming out very soon and he recommended waiting to see what fix Nissan recommends.

So I agreed since I didn't have a lot of time to consider the options, and if Nissan provides a fix soon, like in the next couple weeks then that is probably ok. But how do I know what "soon" means, it could still be a few months, and all the while my tranny is experiencing abnormal wear and tear. I think I'll give them 2 weeks, if no solution is availalble I'll ask for a tranny replacement. The only thing that concerns me about this, is that my buddy who works there says that they have never done a tranny replacement before, so I don't want to be their first test subject - if they screw it up, it could be another long drawn out problem, whereas Nissan may provide a simple solution soon, such as a computer reprogram.

What does everyone think, I could really use your advice? Thanks so much.

get new cvt ! why wait for fix ? if you are worried about them not knowing how to replace cvt you should worry more about if they fix it I don’t think its to complicated for Nissan dealer to replace cvt and if they fix it it would be new for them to and I am sure they can screw up more I am not sure what are the laws there but see if you can get whole car replaced I came across some web site witch claims that Nissan has "quiet" buy back program if something major goes wrong with car within 3 years I also came across tons of Nissan armadas and Infiniti q56 on ebay dealer described cars as factory buy back and then "refurbished" I am not sure what the problem was but I think it was something electrical or brake problem

Kerrton, I would take your dealer's advice and leave your transmission alone. If and when Nissan comes up with a solution, you will only have to fix it once.

BTW, i drove a fair bit this summer and the light rattle just before stopping has been there since early summer. I have driven another 15,000km since (Yes, I drive alot) and it hasn't gotten worse, I have not 'lost' my transmission or had any other issues.

Wow you guys are scaring me a bit. You have the dreaded trany rattle on your FWDs! I thought this was an AWD issue only. Even if it is not as bad as the AWDs this concerns me. I guess we may never know if this is creating any premature wear inside the CVT.

I agree with philipa I would wait and see what responce is coming from Nissan.

Since the noise is minor, I will wait to be sure Nissan has a fix. It is not like Goblin who needs it NOW!!

More kms you put on this transmission, fewer kms will be on your new one when you arrive at the end of your warranty.

If you can hold few years, you will have a new tranny when you go out of warranty and mechanics will know how to do it fast and good.You already open a file with Nissan, so you are good for a new tranny anyway.

If it bothers you too much, ask them to change it.

Thanks a lot for the great feedback, I'll do as you suggest and wait. Hopefully it won't take too much longer....

Not to play the Devil's advocate.... but.....

What if the fix is just that a fix, and Nissan decides its sufficient to fix the current batch of tranny's and stop replacements? But then again, 10,000 km isn't that much.

philipa_240sx wrote:Kerrton, I would take your dealer's advice and leave your transmission alone. If and when Nissan comes up with a solution, you will only have to fix it once.

BTW, i drove a fair bit this summer and the light rattle just before stopping has been there since early summer. I have driven another 15,000km since (Yes, I drive alot) and it hasn't gotten worse, I have not 'lost' my transmission or had any other issues.

Curious...would you and Kerrton describe this sound you're hearing as an actual rattle like the AWD owners hear? I have a FWD as well and have a sound that has been getting worse the more miles I put on it. I hear it at the same times as you...slow speeds typically right before coming to a stop. But I wouldn't describe the sound I have as a rattle. It sounds nothing like the sound bit someone with an AWD posted quite some time ago. It sounds more like water running to me. Like water "wooshing" through a pipe or something like that.

That's intersting, but my noise is definately a rattle, or maybe more accurately described as a grinding noise. Although, the more I think about it, perhaps there is some gushing water noise mixed in there, but I would say the primary sound is a grinding-rattle.

It's definitely a light rattle noise and occurs just the last few feet before coming to a complete stop.

This is so weird, I talked to a friend here in Alberta who'd been waiting for Nissan to come up with a fix like everyoby else, just recently his dealer informed him that Nissan finally provided a resolution to the problem, approved his tranny replacement and assured him that the problem had been corrected, presumably with a re-design on the tranny or with a correction to their quality control. Meanwhile my dealer still gets the same "waiting for a solution" response from Nissan. I can't understand why two dealers would get completely different responses from Nissan Canada. Also, I've read at least one recent recipient of a tranny replacement on this forum, and one on the "other" Rogue forum who had their tranny replaced and were told that it was a "new and improved, upgraded design". Meanwhile others sit and wait....weird.

I won't believe there is an approved fix until I see a Nissan Tech Bulletin. So far there isn't one:

http://www.nissan-techinfo.com...08-09(See AT Section)

I have also received a call from the dealership where it was first diagnosed and they say that they have ordered an updated tranny.

This was to correct the noise rattling and I am in Manitoba

A good thing to do if you can, is to check with your dealer the P/N of the new tranny they plan to install in your car:New P/N means updated tranny, meaning Nissan worked on the design which vould be part of the problem.Same P/N means the problem is probably a quality problem in some cars and probably not a design problem.

As for the ones who got their tranny replaced, it would be nice to know if the P/N of the new tranny is the same or not. That would eliminate some guesses, one way or the other.

Like I had said in an earlier post...

Diagnosing and fixing a problem, especially on a large number of vehciles is a risky business. Getting it wrong can potentially upset more customers and cost a company millions in repair costs... especially if it needs to be done twice. It's in Nissan's best interest to spend the time to fully diagnose the problem, determine a fix, then thoroughly test it before deploying it. Rushing a quick fix to every customer is not the right way to do it.

There have been many posts about the CVT rattling issue. But they all lack one thing:

Consistent, reliable information, directly from the source: Nissan coporate (not the dealer).

So far, some dealers have managed to get the transmissions replaced. There are many ways to go about this, including 'convincing' Nissan that a replacement is necessary. Some dealers may be better than others at working the process to thier advantage and may explain why some have managed to get tranny replacements while others are refused. I have a problem with this because now you have someone who is not knowledgable about the issue making assumptions that a transmission replacement is the solution. Only the engineers at Nissan and Jatco really know how thier transmission works and how to fix it.

I really wish I had some good contacts within Nissan to get some hard facts & answers, but I don't. So my only resource is official Nissan Tech Bulletins, direct from Nissan and not the dealer.

Personally, until I see a tech bulletin with the 'offical diagnoses and repair', I am not going on some wild goose chase to get my transmission replaced.

That sounds wise, Philpa. Too much conflicting information out there right now.

Because of this thread, I talked to the Nissan Service Manager before I bought a Rogue. He said they (dealership) are aware of the problem, but consider it an engineering issue. He said there is nothing they are prepared to do if it comes up with my vehicle.

Forewarned is forearmed I guess.

desiguy wrote:I have also received a call from the dealership where it was first diagnosed and they say that they have ordered an updated tranny.

This was to correct the noise rattling and I am in Manitoba

Hey Desiguy that is great news for you, your troubles should soon be over. I'm curious - did your service guy mention what has changed recently that made him decide to order the new tranny? Basically, up to this point they had told you to wait for a fix, now they call you and say they are ordering a new tranny, so something must have changed? If they are ordering you a "new and improved" transmission model, I'd think they would have specifically mentioned this to, as this sounds like a pretty good deal. On the other hand, if they are just replacing your trans with the same model that it originally came with, you could run the risk of the problem recurring.

If they didn't provide any info., maybe you could ask for a little more info. and report back? Anything would be much apprecaited. Thanks and good luck.

Ok the decision is made, my service manager and a service manager at another dealer both said that Nissan Canada has informed them that the problem has been identified and a new, upgraded CVT is the solution. They have ordered me the upgraded CVT and they both strongly feel that this will solve the problem, no question about it.

They told me that the problem was with the engineernig of the CVT, specifically with the meshing of the chain and gears, and the problem has been engineered out of the new CVT. This doesn't explain why only some owners experience the problem and not others, but I guess I can only ask so many questions before deciding to just trust the process.

Curious. I have checked an online Nissan parts website and they list multiple versions of the transmissions with different part nos. The Rogue has 4 transmission configurations:

- FWD California Emissions- FWD Federal Emissions- AWD California Emissions- AWD Federal Emissions

Each configuration has 2 (two) part numbers listed. It does not mention the differences, just 2 part no's. Unfortunately the numbers are proprietary to this particular website... they are not the OEM Nissan numbers but it is a fairly reliable resource.

Well add me to the list of 2WD owners with the dreaded tranny issue. I drove my Rogue close to the side of a building(reflects sound) to better hear the sound that was coming from the tranny. What I originally thought was more of a water gushing sound isn't. It's most definately a grinding sound. Not so much a rattle but definitely a grind. Not sure if anyone was ever able to narrow down production dates for the bad tranny's, but mine was made December 2007.

Made an appointment for Monday to take it to the dealer to get this at least documented. Has anyone found out a definitive answer as to what exactly is causing this grind/rattle so I may give them a little direction??

My service manager told me the cause is the steel belt not meshing properly with the cone gears, which really doesn't indicate what causes this to occur, but rather just indicates what is happening when you hear the noise. The good news is that he strongly states that the correction from Nissan Canada is a "new and improved, countermeasure transmission", which will definately solve the problem. According to him the tranny has been modified and/or redisigned. Good luck!

kerrton wrote:My service manager told me the cause is the steel belt not meshing properly with the cone gears, which really doesn't indicate what causes this to occur, but rather just indicates what is happening when you hear the noise. The good news is that he strongly states that the correction from Nissan Canada is a "new and improved, countermeasure transmission", which will definately solve the problem. According to him the tranny has been modified and/or redisigned. Good luck!

Thanks Kerrton! Keep us posted on how your new tranny works out.