Nissan X-TRAIL Gearbox & Transmission Problems

The high cost of complex replacement parts for relatively new vehicles is a trend that has been thriving lately. Once some cars are more than a handful of years old, a replacement engine or transmission can easily exceed the value of the whole car. At which point, owners have a tough decision to make; replace the car or pay up for the fix.

Aside from the financial aspects, you also have to decide how comfortable you are unloading a ticking time bomb on to a potentially unsuspecting buyer

Yes it does. Clean transmission fluid is critical to an automatic transmission which relies on tiny oil passages and complex hydraulic systems to operate correctly. Without a filter, debris and swarf from the transmission itself could soon block these pathways and cause major problems.

You can buy filter kits online for very reasonable prices, but replacing the filter is only part of a transmission service. A specialist transmission shop can advise you when your car’s gearbox needs its next service, based on kilometres covered and the condition of the fluid inside.

Bad news. That generation of X-Trail had a six-speed manual option on the base-model two-litre petrol, front-wheel-drive model and on the all-wheel-drive turbo-diesel. But if you wanted an X-Trail with an automatic gearbox, then it was a CVT or nothing.

The absolute best thing you can do now is get the car to an automatic transmission specialist. The shuddering could be caused by wear in the bands and clutches that control the gears or from damage or wear in some other part of the transmission or even somewhere in the rest of the driveline. It might even be a problem with the torque converter.

The fact that the level of fluid had dropped suggests a leak somewhere in the system that also needs to be fixed. But continuing to drive the vehicle in this state is likely to cause further damage.

This model X-Trail used a conventional automatic transmission with a torque converter. There are lots of things that can cause this condition, including a failure of the torque converter or any number of moving parts within the transmission itself.

But the first check is to see if there's sufficient transmission fluid inside the gearbox. Use the transmission dipstick to check the fluid level according to the owner's manual's instructions. A transmission with low fluid can certainly exhibit the symptoms you've noted. A quick fluid top up might put the wheels back in motion.

Bear in mind, however, that the transmission is a sealed unit and should only require top ups if there's a leak somewhere. That leak needs to be identified and fixed or the problem will recur.

You've certainly gone to some extremes to check this out, but your investigations should give you a good clue that the problem is with front axle. So, it could either be the differential that is clattering and making the car judder or, perhaps more likely, the front CV joints which allow the car to drive its front axle while also steering the vehicle. Once you take the load off the front driveshafts (by disconnecting them) the noise stops because the worn CV joints aren't taking the strain of trying to move the car, so they don't make the horrible noise.

In some cases, you can simply replace the worn out CV joints, but there's also the option of complete driveshafts (with new CV joints already fitted) that are a simpler fix if a bit more costly. You can also buy driveshafts new or reconditioned. Its sounds like you're more than skilled enough to tackle this at home.

It sounds as though something is loose in the transmission and is vibrating (the noise you hear) when the brakes are applied and the load is taken off the transmission. Then, when the brakes are released, the load reapplies to the transmission (as the car begins to creep forward) and whatever is rattling is suddenly under load again and stops making the noise.

This could be down to something in the transmission itself, and if that’s the case, could be a worn torque converter. This is the component that actually turns the engine’s power into a force that drives the transmission and, eventually, the wheels. Inside the torque converter is a series of vanes. If one of these is loose or damaged, a rattle can be the result.

However, before you rush to that conclusion, have a good look under the car. There’s every chance the noise is a simple case of a heat shield, bash-plate or even part of the exhaust system rattling at a particular engine frequency. When you take your foot off the brake and the car starts to move, the engine revs change, the vibration frequency changes at the same time, and whatever it is stops rattling. An internally broken catalytic converter is also a prime suspect for producing a rattle at certain vibration frequencies.

You could be right in presuming that the clutch is not fully disengaging as this will definitely cause gear-selection problems. If the clutch is worn or has broken components inside, then it can be impossible to make it fully disengage, and choosing gears – particularly from a standing start – can be difficult if not impossible. At that point, presuming the clutch is adjusted properly (and your car uses hydraulic clutch actuation, so there’s not really any adjustment in it) a replacement clutch is the only real fix.

But don’t rule out a problem with the mechanism that actually selects the gears and links the gear-shifter to the gearbox proper. In some cars this is a cable, in others it’s a set of linkages, but either set-up can become maladjusted and cause shifting problems.

It sounds like a characteristic of the CVT rather than a tuning issue.

Nissan sell their Rogue (or X-Trail in Australia) in a variety of drive configurations. This includes front wheel drive (in both ST and ST-L trim), as well as 4WD in ST, ST-L, Ti, TL, TS model trim.