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After 7 weeks in the shop and two transmission rebuilds (and $4,200), my transmission failed again


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ashort
New User

Aug 11, 2019, 11:32 AM

Post #1 of 6 (1427 views)
After 7 weeks in the shop and two transmission rebuilds (and $4,200), my transmission failed again Sign In

I have a 2009 Nissan Sentra with a CVT. More detailed background is below, but the short story is that I'm in a position where a nationwide transmission shop "fixed" my transmission twice over the course of a four week repair, another transmission failure, and a subsequent three week repair. Yesterday, my transmission failed again. I can't keep leaving my car at this shop for weeks as they try to fix their warrantied repair (in particular, a rebuild of the transmission), only to end up in a life-threatening situation when my transmission fails on the road once it's been returned to me. Am I within my rights to demand they replace my transmission with a new one? What can I say if they refuse, and insist that they can fix my transmission (when experience has shown that to be false)?

Here's some background: four months ago while on the freeway, my transmission slipped out of gear and I was unable to accelerate. I managed to get off the freeway and get a tow to a transmission repair shop. They worked on my car for four weeks (due to ordered parts not working, etc.), and after getting my car back for $4,200, it ran somewhat poorly (hesitated to accelerate), but worked. About a month later, with two passengers my transmission again failed while trying to make a left turn in traffic. I brought the car back in, and following three weeks of repairs (warrantied, so free), my car was returned to me running smoothly. Yesterday, with three passengers in my car, it again slipped out of gear on a highly busy four lane highway and I was unable to accelerate. I'm terrified to drive this car, but I'm now $8,000 in debt on it.

The part that the shop determined was causing problems was the valve body, and they ordered this part from different vendors before finding one that seemed to work. In both cases, after they replaced the valve body and test drove it, they returned the car to me. It seems to be much more likely for my car to fail when I have passengers, but it's hard to understand why an extra 300-400 pounds in a two-ton vehicle should impair the transmission. Thanks for your help!

2009
Nissan
Sentra
Engine size: I can go to my car and look this up if it's relevant.
129,265 miles


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Aug 11, 2019, 2:02 PM

Post #2 of 6 (1415 views)
Re: After 7 weeks in the shop and two transmission rebuilds (and $4,200), my transmission failed again Sign In

Did they replace the radiator when they did the job?



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



gsferraro
Veteran

Aug 11, 2019, 3:09 PM

Post #3 of 6 (1411 views)
Re: After 7 weeks in the shop and two transmission rebuilds (and $4,200), my transmission failed again Sign In

Hello,
These transmissions have a very high failure rate. The 3 areas that need the most attention are the pump because the flow control valve gets stuck, the pulley or variator assembly this has the steel push belt, the pistons get full of debris and cannot change ratio and the valvebody, the bores wear out or the valves hang up causing shifting issues and of course only CVT fluid can be used. Do you know if any codes were present when the trans failed the 1st time? Gary


ashort
New User

Aug 11, 2019, 3:32 PM

Post #4 of 6 (1398 views)
Re: After 7 weeks in the shop and two transmission rebuilds (and $4,200), my transmission failed again Sign In

HammerTime: They did not.

Gary: Hi, I am not sure what codes if any were present at the time. I will say in subsequent conversations the mechanic mentioned that (following some repairs and a test drive) they only got codes after driving for quite some time, i.e. the issues were intermittent or not immediately present following the fix.


(This post was edited by ashort on Aug 11, 2019, 3:35 PM)


ashort
New User

Aug 11, 2019, 3:36 PM

Post #5 of 6 (1390 views)
Re: After 7 weeks in the shop and two transmission rebuilds (and $4,200), my transmission failed again Sign In

(This post is in reply to Gary- please see my above post and forgive me for not using this forum correctly; it's been awhile since I've used a forum like this- I'm in a rush so there's no time to format well).


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Aug 11, 2019, 3:53 PM

Post #6 of 6 (1386 views)
Re: After 7 weeks in the shop and two transmission rebuilds (and $4,200), my transmission failed again Sign In

You don't need to answer individually. Everybody here sees all of the posts.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Aug 11, 2019, 3:54 PM)






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