I would have the CVT Fluid changed first. Sounds like it's foaming, then overheating and making noise.

 

have you noticed any leaks? Any puddles where you park at home? When you crawl underneath is the transmission wet? If not, I would follow Toode's advice and have the fluid changed. Lot's of write ups about it here. Have you ever had it changed? It is supposed to be done on a regular interval.
Also, I would get a second estimate from another shop. Honestly, 3800 sounds like replacement cost, but you say they quoted you for a rebuild. An actual rebuild should be cheaper. Nissan also uses this trans and members in the past have had luck having a nissan dealer service it. You may want to try that.

 

Ditto both above. Ignatz lost his tranny at 110,000. It was completely covered by the lifetime warranty. Yours is a 2008, same as mine. Are you the original owner, and you have the warranty?

Would I put $3800 into a car with that many miles on it. Probably not.

If your dealership wants to keep you for a customer they ought to give you a decent trade. Remember, they can fix it at cost; the price they're quoting you includes their profit margin. You might need to remind them of this -- they'll try to wiggle around the fact, but its true.

When the transmission in my old Pontiac was getting seriously sick I donated it to Good News Garage. They get parts donated and volunteer labor to repair what was otherwise a solid vehicle. So my old Batmobile is still on the road somewhere serving someone who needed it but could never afford a car that nice.

 

Thank you for the responses. Why scouring the site i saw a post mentioning to change the fluid first as well. Im currently trying to get an appt as there is a 2day backlog to get it. They recommended i pay the $100 diagnostic fee and then they will tell me if it is in fact just needing new fluid.

There are no leaks of any kind besides a minor oil leak. I have never changed the fluid. My bad i know. Everytime i brought it to my regular mechanic he always said my car was in great shape. But i am crossing my fingers that the fluid change will solve this problem. I am out of warranty and if i do need a new or used tranny i will have to part with my lovely jeep.

Thanks guys!

@todd man your advice on this site has been a savior on many levels. I appreciate your service here. I have successfully completed lots of work on my jeep bcuz of your comments here! again thank you!

 

@todd man your advice on this site has been a savior on many levels. I appreciate your service here. I have successfully completed lots of work on my jeep bcuz of your comments here! again thank you!

I just like to help people, but I appreciate the thanks! Let us know how you make out either way though as it all adds to the collective knowledge here.

If it's just starting to whine after a long drive and heat up, I'd bet changing the fluid will fix the issue and give you many more years with the Patriot.

 

Ok so i finally brought it in to the dealership. Unfortunately for me the dealership wont switch out the fluid because it was never done. I guess this is a learning lesson for me. Once it fails i will need a new tranny. It does drive fine for now though. So i just gotta keep it under 75 or so, so it doesn't overheat.

 

Call a nissan dealership, or a shop that specializes in nissans. Chrysler has a Replace only policy with these transmissions and the techs are not trained that well on them.


OR change the fluid yourself. Shouldn't bee too Difficult as there are many writeups on how to do it. Spend anywhere from $60-300 now to save $4000 later.

 

how about trying another dealer. a lot of times that's an old story because of the mileage a vehicle has, I worked for dealers that changed atf fluid in trannys with tons of miles on them with no problems , besides you can shop around for a shop that can install a used tranny if it does have an internal problem and the fluid change doesn't work. in any event , good luck.

 

That makes no sense. I think you need to visit another dealership. The reasoning for not changing the fluid because it has never been done, would mena than no one could ever get their fluid changed. Late or not, it is what needs to be done. Call another dealership or a Nissan dealer and see if they will help. (Nissan uses this same CVT and has helped other Patriot owners in the past)

 

If they will not change the fluid then go somewhere else. As others have suggested try a Nissan Dealer as it is the same tranny used in many Nissan vehicles. I had mine changed at 95,000+ miles and it made a world of difference. No more overheating or whining.

As someone else above said lots of dealers are not familiar with these transmissions and do not know what to do to them. I had to deal with Jeep Cares directly to get my dealer to agree to change my fluid under warranty (I am the original owner). I was told "I had a lady with a Dodge Caliber with the same problem, that is just the way they are"...Umm, No it Isn't!!

 

Im just scared that changing the fluid will kill my transmission. Can anyone confirm whether its safer to just leave it alone or try and change it. I have a shop that will do it for me for 300 im just afraid it will cause more problems.

 

It depends on how and in which manner that they do it in.

NEVER power flush. a lot of times a power flush is done wrong and they put more pressure in the system than it normally has and they break seals.

a Drain/fill is the best way to go. drain the fluid, take the pan off, take the old filter out, put a new filter in, put the pan with a new seal on, fill it to the correct level, run it, shift into park, neutral, reverse, drive a few times, etc. then check the fluid again. Done.

 

I know of one shop that won't change transmission fluid if its considerably past due because they get blamed for any subsequent problems. If they don't touch it, they're safe. If they do the job and the customer says, "It was running fine till I brought it to you" they're screwed."

 

I've encountered this before when I drove a 72 mercedes 250. A few independent shops turned me away. My girlfriend at the time drove a mercedes diesel and she got a oilchange at Jiffylube and then the next day she was on the highway and one of the bolts on the filter housing sheared off and it bleed out and the engine seized. We took it to the mechanic who urged us to complain to jiffy lube about it. They ended up buying the car from us for slightly less than we had paid for it used with was around $900. Apparently they were in the midst of a class action lawsuit for upselling customers and not performing services they were charging for so they were in the mood to make us go away.


But yeah.. find a shop that will do it.. don't tell them you've never had it changed or that you think there might be a problem (just that it needs to be changed) or just do it yourself.

 

You're at 131k miles and the interval is 120k. 11k miles over the interval isn't that big of a deal (mathematically, your talking like 9.1% over usage of the fluid). If something was going to break, it would have also done it when changing at 120k miles. I'd still do the change.

 

I have the same exact issue with my 08 patriot.. I have changed fluid and kept reg oil changes. I am having abs speed sensors replaced this week. Not sure what I want to do with my jeep. It has 161k miles

 

Hi, welcome to the site!

Just curious, were both transmission filters changed out when the transmission fluid was changed?