I have a Nissan Rogue (2010), and know that the CVT is a weak point on the car. I would like it to last and want to know the best way to drive it to accomplish this. Besides the automatic adjustments of ‘gear ratios’, I have 3 options: Drive, Overdrive off, and Low. The Low is the lowest gear, the ‘Overdrive Off’ is sort of like 2 and the Drive is sort of like Drive in a conventional 3 gear automatic.
My question is when I ascend a hill, just for the tranny health alone, is it better to stick in drive which the engine struggles, or go into ‘overdrive off’ which it allows a easier on the engine climb? This also would apply to using the Low ‘gear’.
Hmm, if the engine is stressing, that’s different from stressing the transmission. The engine stress is from it’s internal parts spinning quickly. If you think you can stress the engine that way, have at it.
When it comes to transmissions, it’s going to depend on what the weak link is. Generally, they can handle being spun fast better than they can handle heavy torque output at low revs, so spinning the engine faster is usually preferable. But, it’s going to depend on what fails to make a real assessment. Until then, it’s usually safer to spin the engine a little harder in situations that require high output. You get higher flow through the transmission as well, allowing it to cool a little better, but that might not apply in this situation.
So, what is considered the weak link in this transmission?
In reading this story, it sounds like the CVT unexpectedly switched to a lower gear ratio while the driver was on the highway. That’s a failure of either the computer managing the CVT, or the hardware that adjusts gear ratio. If the latter, the hardware may have failed due to too many cycles. The article doesn’t indicate how many miles the owner had accumulated, or the nature of her driving (city vs. highway). City miles would rack up more gear ratio changes per mile.
It looks like the more common problem is transmission slippage. ISTM the best way to prolong the life of your transmission WRT slippage is to accelerate gently so as to minimize stress/wear on the power-transmitting connections within the CVT. I don’t think it’s going to matter what drive mode you select; the highest loads will be on the output side of the transmission, and they will be directly proportional to acceleration, regardless of what the engine is doing. So pick whatever drive mode gives you the best fuel economy, and take it easy on the accelerator pedal.
I have a 2008 Rogue, so same generation as the OP. I’m pretty active on a Nissan message board and what I’ve learned there is that these transmission as very sensitive to the fluid fill level. This issue outlined in that first news story is a pretty common scenario for owners with transmission issues (not me, luckily). What happens is the transmission overheats and goes into limp mode. In my experience, if the OP hasn’t had any transmission issues so far, it’s probably going to be fine. The CVTs in Nissans through 2010 were also given an extended warranty up to 10 years and 120K miles, so hopefully that’s a little reassuring. For what it’s worth, the only special consideration I’ve given mine is making sure I had the fluid changed every 50-60K miles, not exceeded the tow capacity, and have gone in for the TSB that involved having the transmission computer updated. I drive it just as I would a non-cvt car.
Wife’s 2013 was having overheating issues that affected the transmissions while driving in the mountains, it was fixed under warranty. Same model, though there were minor updates in between.
As for the OP, I think you’re overthinking it. If the engine is having trouble maintaining speed on hills, then you may want to downshift, but shouldn’t do so because you think it might prolong life. Any failure will likely be unrelated. It won’t likely reach the RPMs high enough to damage, and if 5000 RPM is damaging then it has other issues.
Heat breaks down the CVT working fluid. The engine/transmission computer keeps track of how hot the fluid gets and how long it spends at elevated temperatures. When the tracking counter gets too high it displays an icon on the dash letting you know that the transmission needs service, which means changing out the fluid and possibly filters. There are youtube tutorials on changing your own fluid and it doesn’t look that bad for a DIY job.
Do what is reasonable to minimize overheating of this fluid. Don’t overload by weight or drag, eg. trailer & roof racked items. Moreso in hills, valleys, or mountains. If the weather is very hot you may also get a warning light alerting you to excess temperature. Pull over in a safe location but don’t shut off the car. While idling the pump will continue to move the CVT fluid through a radiator to shed heat.