I haven't posted here in years but I wanted to post this as an FYI. I've had my 2011 maxima since 2013 and bought it used with 15k on it. I've pretty much babied the car for the 10 years I've had it, putting around 5k miles a year give or take. I've had the service performed according to recommended intervals and kept records of all services. I had Nissan replace the transmission fluid at 40k because of a whine I noticed at that time. The fluid change fixed the issue. Fastfoward 7 years and 35k miles later I decided to have the fluid changed again because the whine was slowly becoming present again. This time I had a local reputable shop do the work and upon picking up the car the whine was worse and the car was almost in limp mode. I turned right back around and returned to the shop to explain my transmission was worse than when I dropped it off. The owner said he would personally look at the vehicle. He informed me that the transmission is failing and indicated that two codes existed related to the transmission fluid pressure and have been present for over 300 key cycles. I indicated that no check engine light had appeared indicating such and I've had zero drivability issues with the vehicle. He reiterated that the codes were stored in the ecu's memory and that the transmission was failing most likely due to a failing transmission pump. I decided to contact nissan and all warranties have expired and they won't do a thing about it. I decided before I give up, I would have the nissan dealership look over the transmission to confirm in fact it is failing. Appointment is on Monday afternoon, I will post updates afterwards.

 

I had a whine and due to the filter in the pan was grossly clogged and almost like suffocating.
I washed it with brake fluid and the whine went away. Try that and see

unfortunately the Tran was on it end at 250k miles.

 

Thanks Les. Something is telling me 72k with fluid changed at 40k that the transmission shouldn't be failing. Fingers crossed.

 

Do you know what brand and type of cvt fluid that shop used? Did they change the external filter? I agree that 72k low mileage but in 10 years use that is either a heck of a lot of short trips or she sat idle for long durations, both of which are hard on any fluid driven transmission. Now I dont know how or if that was a contributing factor, just filling up white space with possibilities, but we have seen a few horror stories of incorrect fluid causing issues.

 

The invoice just says "CVT NS-2 Transmission Fluid" and "Transmission Filter (A/T)". The garage owner stated it was genuine nissan fluid. I started working from home at the beginning of the pandemic and still do that's why it has such low mileage, that and because I can walk to the bar lol. It's sat alot but I mean I still had the transmission serviced twice in those 72k.

 

The shop sounding suspicious…. Hhhmmm

 

I have a hard time accepting that the transmission failed at 72k and that leads me to believe they did something incorrect. I have an appointment Monday with Nissan to try and save the maxima. If not I'll probably sell it or swap the 6spd.

 

Noticed you in Pa.
my uncle is a transmission specialist and owns his shop in Morton, PA. Let’s talk offline. Send me DM if interested

 

That line item for the Automatic Transmission filter is telling. That is the internal "filter" (screen). The external filter is refered to as "filter assy-oil" pn 31726-1xe0a. This is the one that really needs periodic replacement as if it gets clogged (doing its filtering job , less fluid can flow thru it, starving the cvt and lowering its lifespan.

 

Not unheard of for transmission to die that early. Mine went out at 63k in my 2010. Luckily I was covered with the extended warranty.
Also, can you still get new replacement cvt s, or is our only option to get a used one ? Just curious if mine goes out again. I’d be happy to replace it, don’t want car payments

 

LtLeary thanks for the additional info. So in reality there should have been two line items related to filters?

 

AWOlF I was given three options from the local garage on replacement CVTs, none of which were feasible or made sense in my mind.

Used Trans with 100k on it (more than the one currently in the car) 12 month 12k mile warranty from the supplier - $6600 (includes labor, programming)

Used Trans with 4 miles (must of been hit when rolling off the delivery truck) 36 month 36k mile warranty - $7200 (includes labor, programming)

Remand Trans. Cant remember mileage or warranty info but that was $7500 (including labor, programming)

The cars kbb value is $6600 so kind of doesnt make sense to spend more than the cars worth but I actually enjoy the car and have about $2500-$3000 in suspension and full motordyne exhaust including y-pipe $3000.

 

i would suppose that technically that is correct. Also note that Nissan FSM has you replacing the CVT Pan Filter Bolts if you drop the pan. So, if they did the job according to service data, they should have charged you for the new gasket and pan bolts too.

Outside of Les7311's comment of a gunked up internal screen, I haven't' seen that. (I did drop my pan out of curiosity some couple of hundred thousand miles ago and saw nothing but clean screen and some fine detritus by the magnets. But I have been changing the external filter I talked about earlier pretty regularly with my drain and fills so may not have had an opportunity to collect much. I think I finally did a Full exchange (or about as close as you can get) of fluid at about 300,000-mile mark. Instead of a drain and fill, remove a hose from the cooler (or the filter. Pick yer poison) and whilst someone is starting the engine, drain a quart at a time out of the CVT, shutting off the engine every quart (adding a quart between starts.) Repeat a few times (I did 8) and that is about as close to getting rid of all the fluid you are going to get unless you take the transmission out of the car!

I am not trying to cast aspersions on you mechanic at all, but there is doing the job as we have always done it with Fords and Chevys etc. or doing it by the book. When I first started changing my filter back in 2009, the Nissan Techs and even the service desk didn't know there was one. I had to show them the filter and then we went to service manual to find that its nomenclature doesn't sound like it had anything to with the CVT. Even the local shop I take my car to for things I cant or don't have the tools for like AC repair who profess to doing service on CVTs gave me a $20 for losing the bet!

Best of Luck.

Lt

 

thanks Lt for the additional info. I'll update the thread after my Monday nissan trip

 

So transmission has in fact failed at 72k. The remanufactured replacement transmission, installed, is right under 7k. Should get the car back this weekend.

 

So what’s the next move?

 

So the dealership is going to replace the current transmission with a remanufactured one. I should get the car back hopefully by the weekend.

 

Do they not have brand new transmissions available ? More curious than anything.

 

I think remanufactured transmissions or used transmissions are the only options, as far as I know.

 

Update: dropped the car off this past Monday at a local Nissan dealer. They ordered the transmission Monday and finished the install on Wednesday. Pretty quick turnaround but I can imagine they swap cvts frequently. The car is back on the road with 72k and a remand transmission. Thanks for the replies/info everyone.

 

Had to replace the CVT in my maxima twice now. The first CVT died around 70-75k mileage in 2017 under warranty, sounded like a running garbage disposal running with fork and knifes in the sink drain. I had to replace the second transmission at 174000K mileage last summer 2022 out of pocket $5000 for Remanufactured CVT (their version of new), replaced shift gear box. Both installed by my trusted mechanic shop.

 

I trust they replaced the external filter with your "new" transmission?

 

it's interesting you mention this because when I first took the car to nissan i asked about the external trans oil filter. The service writer said, "Oh no that's definitely not the issue. In fact Nissan doesn't recommend changing them. We here don't replace them." I didn't argue. I have no clue what parts are upgraded on a remand transmission. I guess it could be possible they either upgraded that filter or just replaced it with another.

 

Well, I guess they are in the business of selling stuff, not making it last longer. FWIW I have approx 465,000 miles on mine by changing the filter and doing a drain and fill every 60k or so.

 

well then I'm following your maintenance schedule/procedure from here on out

 

there’s a class action lawsuit against Nissan and they have extended their warranty on transmissions because so many people were having CVT failures. There’s a phone number and website.

call them and they will repair your transmission free or reimburse your for the cost.

https://nissanrogue.org/download/CVT...am-Details.pdf


https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2...-settled.shtml

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...11969-0001.pdf

 

Hey StevieNYC those Class Actions Lawsuits only cover Nissan Rogue's, Pathfinder's and Versa's of certain years. Nissan Maxima's are not apart of the lawsuits.

 

I read your first post and correct me if I'm wrong, but you said you drive your car roughly 5k miles per year and that you changed your CVT fluid at 40k miles or after the initial 15k miles you had when you bought the car.

That would mean that you drove the car for 5+ years without changing the fluid, internal filter or external filter. Not a smart move.

When my car was my daily driver, I changed my fluid every 50k miles or roughly every 2-3 yrs.

I now have a truck as my daily driver, and looking thru my maintenance records I saw that my last fluid change at 150k miles took me 4+ years to hit my 50k mile change interval.

Because of that, I now change my CVT fluid every 2 years regardless of the number of miles I've driven.

I will tell you that at my 100k mile fluid change, my fluid looked like motor oil. During that time, I lived in the Mojave Desert in California and the temps in the summer there were constantly in the 100's.

Based on what you've said I would bet that your CVT issue is from running your fluid far too long and not changing out the external filter.

I'm glad you were able to get the CVT replaced to your satisfaction, but my advice to you would be to change your fluid more often and to definitely replace the external filter.

I haven't had any major issues besides my radiator leaking and I basically caught that before it failed on me by doing my preventative maintenance.