JDMswagSerf

Hi everyone. 2008 Nissan sentra AT 133k miles.
My cousin dropped her car off to me to see if I could figure out the issue and fix it.

First. She was driving on the freeway and the car started to slow down but stayed on. She says it leaked all the trans fluid on the freeway.

It was towed to my house. It had no leaks under neat and no trans fluid in it.
It would barely move and make a loud whine noise.

I filled it up with trans fluid. It now drives but still makes a whinning noise in high RPMs of first and second gear I'm assuming since its auto.
If I accelrate slowly and not floor it it will shift smoothly and not whine as it doesn't reach high RPM in the first couple of gears.
After that, at freeway speeds it drives fine. The higher gears have no whine even in high RPM.
After driving it I saw no leaks.

No whines in high RPM in park or neutral.

Before I head over to a Nissan forum. Any ideas on what could cause this?
Will the car be fine if driven normally and not floored? Thanks.

king06

iTrader: (1)

Well that sucks. It spewed its guts but it still holds fluid? Might have overheated? Is it a CVT transmission?

JDMswagSerf

Thanks for the reply.
Yea that's what I don't understand. It lost all the fluid and has no visible leaks.
It may have over heated. The engine had just enough oil to appear on the dipstick as well.
Possibly no engine lubrication aftected the trans. I have filled both up.

From what I'm reading it is a CVT trans.
All I have read though is people having a whine in low RPMs, not high.

I was expecting a missing drain bolt or loose trans Pan bolts but it's all dry down there.

Not sure if the trans needs to be rebuilt/replaced or just tell her to drive the car carefully.

king06

iTrader: (1)

I know Nissan was having problems with the CVT in certain models. My mom has a 2010 rogue and going up hill it overheats and goies into limp mode not letting the car accelerate. Nissan even extended the warrantee because so many pople where having that problem. Also, I'm pretty sure CVT are not servisable. I would start looking for a replacement. So there's no signs anywhere of fluid? Or is there just not on the bottom?

JDMswagSerf

Yea the CVT is not the best ever.
I am going to flush it out and see if it helps. Last shot before having to replace the trans.
Correct. No signs of leaks anywhere.
I will inspect it again while flushing it. But I didn't see any the first time I checked it.

Now that I am dealing with this's and reading about. My altima also whines in high RPM after a long drive. Will need to take it in before warranty is over.

JDMswagSerf

Update:

Drained and refilled trans.
Car drove fine, whine appeared only when cold, but was not as loud as before.
Did find the leak however. It was leaking from the input shaft seal.

I told my cousin the trans had to be pulled to replace it and advised her considering replacing the trans as well. She didn't want to replace either because the labor price, so she took the car as is. I told her just to keep an eye on the trans fluid.
Never buy nissan with cvt unless for short drives, I guess.