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From what I’ve gathered, these CVT’s are no good.
But I feel like I have an explanation as to why there is such a high level of failure on these CVT’s. Please correct if im wrong.
CVT’s have a high failure rate because when you step on the gas, it feels like there is no torque. This causes the driver to have a lead foot. Which in turns causes high wear on the CVT due to the shear amount of force when getting the car to move from a stand still.
So my question is, can CVTs be reliable if you use them correctly? What exactly is causing CVTs to have such a high level of failure?
The main reason for Nissan CVT failures is that when introduced, they were relatively new technology. CVt’s have been continually developed since the first generation were put in production, and the newer the model year, the more reliable they are.
The reason why many Nissan CVt’s feel like there is a lack of torque (I think you really mean acceleration) is that they are calibrated for best fuel economy, and that means keeping the engine rev’s as low as possible for current speed and load. The other reason is that most of the Nissan’s are relatively low Power/weight vehicles, so in order to get a good level of acceleration, the transmission has to shift ratio to one that lets the engine get into the high power region. Remember that performance is proportional to Power/weight, not Torque!
That still doesn’t make much sense how CVTs can have a high failure rate with the first generation. I thought suppliers thoroughly test out their products before they can get a contract with the car manufacturer? And then doesn’t the car manufacturer test the parts themselves in house? How is it possible that the CVT was green lighted if ,supposedly, all cars are thoroughly tested before making it to the market? That said, failure rate and expected life isn’t defined here. Because Ive seen regular transmissions fail at 100k while some CVTs fail at 170k.
Also I was asking more about the cause of failure for the CVT, would it be correct to say that the major cause of failure of CVTs is a lead foot?
Honestly I wished I had access to a car with CVT so that I can understand the problem more but just based on understanding the underlying working principals, the way people use the CVTs causes rapid failure and not so much the CVTs themselves. Hell its mostly people that are the causes for most failures, lol.
Dave, is there a way I can get in touch with you through email?
In theory, every major component in a vehicle is thoroughly tested under severe conditions before entering production, but these tests are accelerate tests that try to duplicate many years in-service. So they are not perfect tests. The net effect is that the first generation of any new engine or transmission (the most complicated powertrain components) will tend to be less reliable and durable than subsequent versions.
With CVT’s, running at high power levels is stressful because it puts more heat into the friction surfaces and the special CVT oil, so I would certainly expect any CVT to last longer if it is driven easily than aggressively. Every CVT transmission has a maximum torque limit.
So I guess people are right when they say, “its best to avoid first model years”. But then again that’s why there’s a warranty. But do first year models have enough failure’s to dismiss them overall or is the failure rate so small that one shouldn’t really have any worries? And these problems are usually confined to vehicles that try out new drive train components, right?
As for the CVT, I guess then we can both agree that the main cause of failure is “lack of knowledge”. I don’t know why those that sell cars with CVTs don’t implement a training program for their cars . Because if you look online, people are bashing CVTs left and right and they are losing major sales because of this. A small shift in knowledge would have saved them a lot of money.
Dave, is there a way I can reach you by email?
It is difficult to say that all first year major components are to be avoided. product development processes are improving all the time. droth6189@gmail.com
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