CVT Out of Warranty Replacement
01-07-2017, 05:38 AM
#1
Newbie - Just Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5
CVT Out of Warranty Replacement
Ladies and Gentlemen, just wanted to start off by saying long time lurker, first time poster. I greatly appreciate the help I've been able to find throughout this forum!
My wife drives a 2010 Maxima she picked up a few years ago with around 30k miles. Well, she drives that thing all over God's green earth for work and cracked the 200k mile mark about 4 months ago. Zero problems with it (aside from replacing hubs of course) until recently...
She experiences the "limp mode" several times during her commute and finally it just gives up. Won't limp forward or reverse. She has it towed to a dealer in KY close to where she broke down. They take a look at it, CVT failure and needs replaced. They want a little shy of $5k to replace and we both agree that putting a brand new CVT in Max is not exactly money well spent.
I drive down from Ohio and trailer it back up and begin the search for the "gently used" CVT to replace the fried one. She owes a bit on it still and will need to drive it for a while longer before she isn't upside down on it on a trade or sell. She tells me she loves her car and would like to drive it for another 200k. SO who knows, maybe she'll keep it.
My humble question to you folks is this...I'm searching and trying to read up on as much as I can to be better informed about the CVT but I can't seem to find a solid verifiable answer. There are a bevy of "used" CVT's out there to search for..do I have to get it out of a 2010 donor car or would I be able to put.. say a 2013 Max CVT in her 2010?
My plan is to get the used CVT from a donor car with a verifiable VIN to atleast run a carfax for service records and vehicle history. I'm trying to find the best option, with the lowest miles, with the best service history from a donor car who may have met it's untimely demise due to a crash.
So...am I stuck searching 2010 donors or do I have a newer, possibly updated option for a donor search?
Appreciate any help you folks can pass along.
C
My wife drives a 2010 Maxima she picked up a few years ago with around 30k miles. Well, she drives that thing all over God's green earth for work and cracked the 200k mile mark about 4 months ago. Zero problems with it (aside from replacing hubs of course) until recently...
She experiences the "limp mode" several times during her commute and finally it just gives up. Won't limp forward or reverse. She has it towed to a dealer in KY close to where she broke down. They take a look at it, CVT failure and needs replaced. They want a little shy of $5k to replace and we both agree that putting a brand new CVT in Max is not exactly money well spent.
I drive down from Ohio and trailer it back up and begin the search for the "gently used" CVT to replace the fried one. She owes a bit on it still and will need to drive it for a while longer before she isn't upside down on it on a trade or sell. She tells me she loves her car and would like to drive it for another 200k. SO who knows, maybe she'll keep it.
My humble question to you folks is this...I'm searching and trying to read up on as much as I can to be better informed about the CVT but I can't seem to find a solid verifiable answer. There are a bevy of "used" CVT's out there to search for..do I have to get it out of a 2010 donor car or would I be able to put.. say a 2013 Max CVT in her 2010?
My plan is to get the used CVT from a donor car with a verifiable VIN to atleast run a carfax for service records and vehicle history. I'm trying to find the best option, with the lowest miles, with the best service history from a donor car who may have met it's untimely demise due to a crash.
So...am I stuck searching 2010 donors or do I have a newer, possibly updated option for a donor search?
Appreciate any help you folks can pass along.
C
01-07-2017, 06:07 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: maryland
Posts: 732
my approach would be to call the dealer and have them confirm if the years are compatible with yours. If it is and you want to tack on a few more miles on the '10, then locate a suitable cadaver.
Do you know the cause of the failure?
Do you know the cause of the failure?
01-07-2017, 06:42 AM
#3
Newbie - Just Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5
Don't know the root cause as it may have been a series of unfortunate events or just strange coincidence . A month or so prior to the cvt failure she struck a coyote on the highway. She got out and checked her car for damage and didn't notice anything major (saw cosmetic only) so she finished her 60 mile drive to her meeting. When she finished the meeting she drove to Nissan dealer to have an estimate for insurance. When they looked under it they were shocked that it made a 100 mile trip without showing signs of mechanical damage. Apparently radiator and other things up front were significantly damaged and needed replaced. Insurance paid for damage minus deductible. I can't help but think that if the cvt fluid is cooled through the radiator something was set into play to begin the failure. But I'm not 100 percent on that though, simply speculation.
Haven't gotten into it to see extent of carnage but a friend who owns a shop confirmed what Nissan told us.
Haven't gotten into it to see extent of carnage but a friend who owns a shop confirmed what Nissan told us.
01-08-2017, 06:03 AM
#5
Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Florida
Posts: 189
Originally Posted by svtcop
Don't know the root cause as it may have been a series of unfortunate events or just strange coincidence . A month or so prior to the cvt failure she struck a coyote on the highway. She got out and checked her car for damage and didn't notice anything major (saw cosmetic only) so she finished her 60 mile drive to her meeting. When she finished the meeting she drove to Nissan dealer to have an estimate for insurance. When they looked under it they were shocked that it made a 100 mile trip without showing signs of mechanical damage. Apparently radiator and other things up front were significantly damaged and needed replaced. Insurance paid for damage minus deductible. I can't help but think that if the cvt fluid is cooled through the radiator something was set into play to begin the failure. But I'm not 100 percent on that though, simply speculation.
Haven't gotten into it to see extent of carnage but a friend who owns a shop confirmed what Nissan told us.
Haven't gotten into it to see extent of carnage but a friend who owns a shop confirmed what Nissan told us.
If that got damaged and the oil was not cooled properly maybe that has been the cause for the overheating of the tranny and the failure.
There are a few people on here that had the same issue at the miles you say you have without any incidents , so as you say it could have been more than one cause.
Was the fluid for the tranny ever changed from your knowledge?