# Rattling noise from CVT?



## Bbroecker37 (Feb 9, 2020)

For the past couple month I’ve been having this strange noise coming from my car. It only happens when the car is cold and hasn’t been started in a while. For example when I leave for work in the morning I don’t hear the rattling noise. But when I leave work and pull onto the street and start accelerating I hear a rattling noise. To me it sounds like a chain rattling on something metal. After about a minute as the car warms back up I don’t hear the noise. I can confirm this is not the engine making the noise. When I was accelerating one day I heard the noise then put my car into neutral and the noise stopped. My car is a 2008 Nissan Altima coupe 3.5 CVT With 80,000 miles on it. I had the CVT fluid changed out at 60,000 miles with Valvoline CVT fluid. Today I checked the fluid while the car was running and up to temperature. It was at the correct level in the hashmarks And the fluid looked clean. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this issue? If so what was the issue?


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

I'd refrain from using an aftermarket CVT fluid. Nissan states the following in the FSM:
*CAUTION*:
• Use only Genuine NISSAN CVT Fluid NS-2. Do not mix with other fluid.
• Using CVT fluid other than Genuine NISSAN CVT Fluid NS-2 will deteriorate in driveability and CVT durability, and may dam-
age the CVT, which is not covered by the warranty.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Well, Valvoline CVT fluid does say it's recommended for use in Nissan NS-2 applications. So, if Nissan says the fluid was the cause and only genuine Nissan can be used, that will come up against the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act as well as Valvoline's testing. Magnuson-Moss states that if a manufacturer is only going to enforce the warranty if the manufacturer's product is use, they have to provide it free of cost to the customer. The bad news is that the CVT extended warranty is for 10-years/120,000 miles, so a 2008 Altima is likely no longer covered under that warranty and unless there is an aftermarket warranty that is in place that will cover it, the repair will likely be customer pay. Most of the CVT issues in Nissan are usually repaired by replacing the CVT with a remanufactured unit. Another option would be to trade it in or sell it before the issue gets worse. Salvage yard units are an option, but Nissan CVT's of that era don't have good reputation for reliability and you may end up with issues with the replacement unit.


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