I have a 2008 Nissan Altima V4 CVT model and in the last 2-3 weeks I am having issues accelerating after being stopped say at a stop sign. It started happening around the time we replaced the battery. I first thought it only happened when it was cold outside so we replaced the transmission fluid and Mass Airflow Sensor.
That didn’t fix the problem but when stopped when I press on the gas it almost feels like it is in neutral moving at a super slow speed and pressing on the gas does nothing. It takes about 4-5 seconds for the gear to catch then it works just fine. When driving up a hill or stopped on a hill it tends to happen more and it will happen and the RPMs will drop until I get to the top or close to the top of the hill then the engine kicks in.
The maitenence shop cleaned the throttle body and reset the computer and removed any codes and thought that might fix it but it still happens and it seems almost random since it doesn’t happen everytime I stop. Sometimes I will push on the gas and it starts to go then it almost feels like the gear slips or it goes into a stall mode where I can’t push on the gas and it goes into a limp mode where nothing I push or do will work and after the 5 seconds or so it kicks into gear or will accelerate.
The car has about 120,000 miles on it and I am hoping it isn’t the transmission but it seems like it could be either a power issue or a fuel isssue.
Sounds to me like a transmission issue if there is no check engine light.
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What error codes did the shop pull and clear from the computer? They should have gotten put onto an invoice.
Are there any warning lights on the dash?
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Might have to relearn the throttle body if the rpms are dropping, I have also replaced a lot of throttle body’s with both o2 sensors and then have to have the ecm’s flashed with the Altima’s around that year… Have also had to have the ecm’s flashed to recognize new sensors…
No the only erorr that they said was on there was for the low tire pressure which there is a light on the dashboard for that - still even though he keeps on clearing it but I’m dropping the car off tomorrow to see if they can’t find what is wrong with it.
There are not lights or codes that they could see when they pulled it but they’re hoping they will find it this time. I found a thread online talking about the stop lamp staying on but from Nissan it only said they affect 2013-2016 Nissans.
Has the CVT transmission been maintained according to the maintenance schedule in the owners manual? Meaning fluid changes and that sort of thing?
I know these Nissan CVTs have a reputation for being slightly better than glass. Sounds like maybe yours could be starting to crack a bit, I’m sad to say…
No Nissan Altima experience, but my knucklehead diy’er guess is there’s some sort of transmission problem brewing. Probably major. I expect you’d save some time to let a Nissan dealership take a look at the situation. Be sure to say you want them get your prior approval before doing anything beyond a diagnostic… .Ask if there are any applicable warranty extensions, customer interest bulletins, etc.