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Comments
carl
I found out that if shut off the engine and restarted my car it would operate as if nothing happened. Problem is, it does it all over again, I noticed this especially when it's warmed up. I took the car to a mechanic close by (not the same one who changed by fluid) since he had a former Nissan mechanic familiar with Muranos. My car had sat in my garage for 3 days so it was cold and during a 15 minute drive to drop the car off I didn't experience the problem I had been having.
After they checked it he came back with engine fault code # P1778, which he explained was "step motor circuit problem". He said best to take to a Nissan dealership (aka, "stealership") since it might require in-depth ($$$) transmission work which only the dealership could do.
After reading through the forum I was surprised to see all the issues which sounded so similar to mine--all revolving around the CVT transmission for my year Murano. I'm now going to have to tow my Murano into a dealership to have them look into the problem. From many of the post I've read on CVT transmission, specific to the 03 Murano's, I'd like any advice on what I should suggest/explain to the dealership when I end up towing it in. Below is a list of things I am going to point out to them to keep them from (ripping) overcharging me, or not misdiagnosing the initial problem as an inflationary sales tactic.
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1.check air intake piping has been performed (past recall) and the main breather hose is loose which might cause this problem.
2. throttle position sensor problem (I believe this TPS is the sensor controlling the throttle body valve.) or maybe a TCM sensor issue. from what I've read the pressure sensor is located either on the CVT, or inside the CVT which is inexpensive itself, but expensive to replace since it means tearing apart the transmission.
4. check out the transmission valve body that will goes bad after a while.
5.crank sensor failure problem.
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Could this also be related in some way to having the transmission fluid changed and a sensor inside (TPC) and became clogged?? If so, is there an inexpensive way to fix it?
What I want to avoid is the service (salesman) adviser to recommend to replace the transmission seals thinking it might do the job, (for about $1500) if not they would look deeper for something else (to bill me for..$$$)
Any other suggestions, or help especially to which Nissan dealership I should take my car to who is honest, reputable and has experience (a tough task, I'll settle for 2 out of three) with this type of problem who is located in South Florida would be greatly appreciated.
Of course, I will update my problem (good, bad, etc) with details to help others ( of which there might be many) out there who might find themselves in this same predicament.
Thanks in advance for advice/help on recent experiences similar to mine would be appreciated!
MC
My 2004 Murano has 119,750 miles so I figured I'd better get it in to be looked at after reading this forum. I dropped it off at 2 PM yesterday and they called me late in the afternoon saying they had tried to replicate the problem, but were unable to do so and asked if they could keep the overnight which was not a problem for me. They called me back this morning saying they were once again unable to replicate the problem but since the technician was familiar with the problems with my exact symptoms and it's due to the pressure sensor in the transmission. He said they don't repair this...they just replace the transmission.
I should be picking up my 2004 Murano with a brand new transmission tomorrow (seems rather fast), so I'm very pleased with the dealer. I'm not a "loyal customer" to this dealer and I purchased the car used and it came from another dealer so I'm very pleased with the result. I'm also pleasantly surprised they will be replacing the transmission only on my story...I wonder if there are some other codes that they can see.
Just thought I'd share my story. Thanks to the posters in this forum so I was alerted that this IS a problem in the transmission.
I'm not sure what to do, especially if they fix it and one year later it happens again--post warranty. I am checking around to see if I can find a reputable mechanic (possibly an oxymoron) and buy a rebuilt transmission and have him install it.
Thanks for sharing. Anyone else with a similar problem/situation I would appreciate how you handled it.
Thanks,
Mike
Trust me.
I'd have sh*t-canned my Murano had I known I'd have to go through all this to get it back in good running condition. Now, I'll have put about $5K into it for new tires (not cheap, as you all know) tune-up and having some other things fixed. I am hoping to get a working transmission in the next week and if all goes well hold on to the Murano for another year.
Good luck with your situation, trust me this has been very aggravating for me.
My best,
Mike
This will create excessive back pressure and eventually may crack the exhaust manifold. You don't want to run to long on a cracked mainfold because the pistons can suck cold air back into the cylinder which will cause you valves to burn up or your piston rings (major engine repair).
If it is the tranny making noise, the damage is already done.
Get it in and have it checked.
Luck to you! BTW, if you get it fixed get rid of the car.
About Honda or Toyota, I owned a 2005 Honda Accord (brand-new) and sold the thing on 2007 because it had unforgivable squeaks, rattles and finishing problems that plagued it from the lot. It had the V6, which is some finicky unit as well (specially the ones fitted with VCM) , which is what made me choose a Toyota Sienna over a Honda Odissey back a few years ago.
a) driver seat frame replaced - comon problem with murano
b) engine mount replaced
c) tie rod on right front tire replaced
d) oil gasket replaced
e) horn malfunctioned
Last month Feb 2011, at 102K I paid $300 to replace a seal in engine.
March 2011 the car made awful noises. I had it towed to dealer. Dealer told me rear differential disintegrated. I kept up with all servicing through dealer. Differential was serviced at 60K. The cost of rear differential is $2300.
Four days later dealership notified me the transfer case needs to be replaced. The cost is $3500.
Did I mention the engine is buring oil? Engine is burning 1qt of oil per thusand miles.
2004 Nissan Murano SL AWD is junk!
I called Nissan twice to have them help with the issues. These problems happened under warranty 100K. Nissan should stand behind their car. However, Nissan refuses to help.
With the cushion of those R18/65 tires, the combination from #a through #d somehow indicates this car has hit the mother of all potholes at the hands of the previous owner. Engine mounts and tie rods don't simply malfunction after 3-4 years.
You state the car is burning through oil, that it had an oil gasket replaced and then an engine seal. I am somehow suspecting the previous owner missed a couple of oil changes...by a lot...
You state Nissan refuses to help, but as long as you are sharing the situation, what is their assessment of the situation and why do they refuse to cover the repairs?
Nissan says the car is out of warranty and will not help repair. However, this car did not just go bad at 103K. The problems happened within the warranty and just manifested themselves at this point. The issue is the 2004 Murano AWD SL is poorly manufactured. This a $30,000 car. Does it make any sense that major components on the car fail at 100K miles? I expected to get at least 200K.
My only recourse is to trade it in, accept whatever I get and walk away from it. I can't speak for other Nissan's. However the problems I experienced with the Murano; from the driver seat to rear differential and transfer case needing repair are strong indications that the 2004 model year is unreliable.
I have a Toyota 4Runner with 255,000 miles now and just had the transmission fluid changed and checked over. No problems! It still has the original transmission and torque converter.
I also have a Acura TL with 120,000 miles. Original tranny. No issues.
I also have a 2002 Chrysler TC van. 178,000 miles on a rebuilt tranny at 90K. No issues.
I also have a 1972 Cutlass Supreme auto tranny (original) 155K miles - No issues.
Yep. It's Nissan!
Too bad because otherwise I really enjoyed my Murano. Never again.
What a bad investment that Murano was. I agree I did like driving it, just didn't like forking out $4,500 when the vehicle only had 68,000 miles on it and was a $35K vehicle!
I initially liked my Murano also. It drove well for the first year.
It was all downhill after that.
Never going back - No more Nissans!
We should have a party!
Well now a week later and after a couple of phone calls from them last week saying what other repairs should be done...like oil pan is starting to rust..Like the mechanic who changed the oil should of said something then when he did the full service point check that was suppose to be done. Well anyway now that the tranny is back in they are saying that, that was not the problme it's the TRANSFER CASE...What????!!!!!!! how the hell can the machanic not know what the hell to look for.
ok before this gets to long...How can I get nissan or the dealer to cover the cost. I am not about to shell out 1700.00 for their incompantance
Your problem is not unusual. I had many of the same symptoms ocurring in the same mileage range.
Another lady (I read about from an NTSB report) had the same problem and her car, acting almost demon possessed, drove up the back of a slant bed tow truck at high speed, flipped over landing on the roof and the engine continued to race and the transmission was engaged.
I would file a complaint with the NTSB. These frickin cars are dangerous!
Is there a way to return the car to the dealer? Does your state have any lemon law provisions?
I will try to locate the NTSB file number of the case above and post it here.
Thank God your family did not get hurt ( :mad: ).
My dad used to own Ford & Chrysler dealerships and they receive regular technical bulletins for each model that they support.
The bulletins are not always accurate and the dealerships have no other means to analyze problems today. They rely on the diagnostic tools and systems which can be very convoluted; esp. the Murano - that has so many electronic modules to deal with.
Nissan's products, I discovered, are poorly emgineered & poorly manufactured.
Even if they find the root cause, which is probably defective engineering, you are still stuck with a car that is a ticking time bomb.
I honostly recommend selling the car and moving to a vehicle that has a better reliability history.
I kept wanting to believe that my Murano would be good to go after the last expensive repair. Then six months would go by and another $2000 issue would come up.
Seriously, cut your losses and get out while you can.
At some point we all encounter a vehicle like the Murano. There is no shame. The smart thing is to walk away.
If you want to see folks with real heart burn, read the problems on the Nissan Rogue. Another bucket of bolts.
Is there a facebook page about the Murano and the issues? I'm not that facebook savy but perhaps if we all join and I'm sure there are even more consumers out there screwed by this transfer/CVT issue.
Over a year later, I'm still bitter about spending $4,500 on a transfer case, when it is obvious it was an issue that should have been handled as a recall!
I have the oportunity to trade this vehicle without a loss and I'm not sure what to do, if this is going to be an ongoing problem then I'm going to trade the car. If not then I'll keep it. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.....Thanks!!!
A class action law suite needs to be initiated!
I cannot believe that folks continue to buy a car model that is riddled with such problems.
Nissan is the most pathetic auto manufacturer ever.
Get rid of this car as fast as you can! Read all of my threads.
I spent in excess of $12,500 in repairs including a replaced CVT & case.
Whatever you do, DONOT buy another Nissan! Trade for anything else.
:lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon:
Never buy a 1st year model or any model from any manufactures when they are using a new technology that they never had before.
Sorry. Your words & view on this issue are not at all acceptable.
Many first year vehicles are highly successfull, and DONOT display the problems the Muranos are exihibiting.
If you pay attention to the threads here, one would observe that you are now seeing the the same problems with the CVT in later models as well.
I checked, AND, the 2009 - 2011 Muranos are still using the same CVT tranny case and same basic transmission design. SO, Nissan has decided to continue to perpetuate the problem by buidling the same garbage that they have.
The intelligent observer would note that Nissan is making a ton of money off of suckers who think that a $6000 transmission replacment is a good investment.
The Murano is crap from 2003 - infinity. It is that simple.
The safest bet for all consumers is to avoid Nissan alltogether!
:lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon:
Myself and thousands upon thousands of others have had no issues with the CVT thus far, some people with just as many miles as you and others. In almost 23k miles on my Maxima, I have had not one issue with the CVT. It has performed smoothly, no jerking motions, no hesitations, problems accelerating, and excellent fuel economy.
The problem is, you only give one side of the story. The 2nd Gen CVT that was introduced starting in 2009 has had far less issues and complaints. A sampling of the few dozen to maybe few hundred of people who had CVT issues on here is only a small % of the total vehicles Nissan has sold since introducing the CVT.
Some of us come on here just to balance out all the negativity put things into perspective and when you go posting on multiple discussions that Nissan's are trash and trying to throw in scare tactics to bad mouth an entire brand and tell people not to buy them, that does not go to help make yourself give any more credibility to your situation. I feel bad for you and what you had to go through, but its better to try to keep the analysis balanced. There are plenty of us who have had no issues with the CVT along with tens of thousands of others.