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No. It’s a car I gave to my daughter. When I dropped it off for her a while back it was slipping doing about 65 mph on interstate. I know it may be quite expensive if I have to replace
Altima CVT transmission slipping
- Thread starter Santaclause
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2026
- Messages
- 13
Just hoping to get 1-3 more years out of it
There are no gears…
Its a Nissan CVT. Don’t expect much from that. Maybe try a fluid change but again don’t expect much…
His piggy box isn't squealing much only a little so I think Mr. Piggybank will go unsmashed.
CVTz50 app has a free demo you can use. $5 for the app and $20 for the adapter (I originally bought the Veepeak VP11):
https://cvtz50.info/en/
https://cvtz50.info/en/
No amount of snake oil or wallet flushes will fix a slipping transmission.
Nothing outside of drain and fills will help. If it’s never been done it’s going to resemble Venezuelan crude when it comes out. All my Nissans drain a bluish green every spring when I do them. This cvt has been neglected and usually turns into a “Nissan is garbage” rant on Reddit or Facebook. If you have a local napa, they stock or can order in eneos eco cvt fluid for not much $ more than Valvoline, which is fine in its own right. I’d go eneos and order 12 qts. Drain it and refill, start the car, go though each gear pausing 2 seconds and drain it again. Drive it for 500 miles and do it again. If you have no way of monitoring the cvt temp then take the car for a very short drive, nothing spirited but just enough to slightly warm the pan before your first drain. Put in exactly what you take out, no more and no less. Be diligent on measuring. I wouldn’t waste my time on magnets and filter until you see if fresh fluid makes it better. It probably will. If so, then I’d drop the pan and clean the magnets and the filter a few hundred miles later. After the first drain, you’re only replacing roughly 2 qts of fresh for every 4 you dump in. Unless you pull a line at the radiator.
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Under normal circumstances I agree. Not so with a cvt. The fluid being completely shot is generally what causes the slipping. The additives is what keeps the friction at the belt. @150k that fluid is 100k over due and he’s lucky it made it this far. My niece by marriage did the same, but luckily hers wasn’t slipping.
Jatco had issues early on but shouldn't that be worked out by now?
I don't think the OP mentioned the service history of this CVT but if it has 150K on the original fluid it's done well. If it's had a few D&Rs in that 150K another one might help.
I believe 2014 was still in the time of bad CVTs. Someone else might be able to confirm that.
Depends on the CVT type, the heavy duty chain style in the Maxima was bulletproof, the Altimas were still - I might be wrong - steel elements on steel belt, however these still last if the maintenance is done, owner not following the Nissan BS of no service required.
Many of the issues were actually from Nissan in the TCU firmware. I have firsthand experience with this issue on the JATCO jf009e CVT that's used in the 1st gen Versa & NA Cube (3rd gen). Without a firmware update the transmission with be "done" in 100k miles / 160k km. You can check TCU firmware for updates on the Nissan-TechInfo site and all you need is to look at the sticker on the TCU or use CVTz50 app to read it from the TCU.
Here's an example, I've attached a pic of a "2013-2014" Nissan Altima CVT TCU I found on ebay for $22. The firmware on the top label appears to be:
31036
9HM0A
When I enter that on the [C-III+Repro] tab on this page I get the following result:
https://www.nissan-techinfo.com/ecm07.aspx
New ECU ID:31036 9HM3E
Applies to:L33 USA QR25DE SERVICE RESCUELOGIC MY14 15
So this TCU definitely needs a firmware update from 9HM0A to 9HM3E. You should be able to find a TCU online, or at the wreckers that does NOT require an update and you might be able to Plug & Play the TCU for much less than going to the dealer for an update. This is what I did with the 2010 Nissan Cube but I have not tried this on a 2013/2014 Altima.
TLDR, you can get firmware updates cheap if you're careful.
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A combination of problems continued until Xtronic gen 3 which I believe was 2021 model year.
Many things, material problems, lack of a cooler, too tight of a spacing band leading to slip at start, etc etc.
Regular drain and fills helped with a lot of the problems. If this one has 150K on original fluid I am not optimistic either.
I would simply do a spill and fill. And another in a week or so. That Valvoline or Castrol CVT fluid worked well for me on a well used Altima. Good luck!
It's critical to get the magnets in the pan clean if they haven't been done recently. I would drop the pan for cleaning and then drain & fill until the fluid is clean / clear. None of this will prevent firmware related issues.
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