'05 Murano - Possible issues

DeepBlue · Jul 2, 2008

Hey Guys,

Just bought my used 05 Murano SL, love it so far but I did notice a couple of quirks that caught my eye. Hopefully, some of the old pro's on this forum can point me in the right direction.

1. There seems to be slight vibration most readily felt on any of the control surfaces when accelerating from a dead stop under low to medium throttle. Seems to be most pronounced at around 20-30 mph. It is accompanied or at least seems to be by a low engine growl and is very noticeable (at least to me) on the gas pedal/gear shifter. It seems to be directly related to throttle position, since it immediately goes away if I let go of the gas pedal. If you press the gas pedal a bit harder or go past 40mph the vibration disappears completely. Also, it seems to subside a bit when the car warms up.

When I pointed it out to my mechanic, he said that its due to the fact that front and rear rotors have been resurfaced and received new pads recently (true, although I didn’t tell him before asking him about the vibration, it was done by the seller). Does that sound right?

2. According to the trip computer, city mileage is very low. I seem to be getting around 12 and this is city driving only with 87 octane. When I drove the car from CT I was getting 26-27 according to the trip computer. What’s the deal with this? Is the trip computer full of it?

3. There seems to be faint smell coming from under the car that to me smells like trans fluid. It is intermittent and I can find no leaks or fluids of any kind on, near or under the car.

That’s all I got for now. Then again, I only had this car for 2 weeks. Just purchased extended warranty for it since I intend to keep it for at least 3+ years.

Thanks in advance.

njjoe · Jul 2, 2008

DB-

Congrats on your new MO.

1) I doubt very much that the vibration you are feeling while underway has anything to do with the rotors. That just does not make sense to me.

The CVT makes the MO a relatively low-revving engine. I find that sometimes when I go to accelerate slowly at low speed I detect a slight vibration as the engine is lugging a little bit due to the CVT's high "gearing" at low speeds.

By the way, the vibration you feel from the gas pedal is actually being transmitted through the body structure. There is no mechanical connection between the pedal and the engine. It is a "drive-by-wire" system.

2) The MO can be hell on gas if you drive with a heavy foot around town. I usually average around 16 mpg in the city, and I now use a very light foot due to the price of gas.

3) Are you sure the smell is tranny fluid and not antifreeze? The coolant overflow bottle vents into the engine compartment. I can sometimes smell antifreeze after parking the car on a hot day.

Enjoy the ride!! :roadtrip:

-njjoe

DeepBlue · Jul 2, 2008

NjJoe,

Thanks for your reply.

My mechanic's explanation didn't make much sense to me either. Unless, he thinks there is a stuck caliper someplace.

I'm not thinking that this is an actual issue. For all I know, this could be perfectly normal behavior for this vehicle. In fact, I may be noticing something that an average driver would not even pickup (historicaly true). When I pointed it out to my wife who is the primary driver of this vehicle, she didnt know what i was talking about. If it is something simple, I'd like to fix it though. Maybe I'll wait for the warranty to kickin before I start tearing it up.

Otherwise Murano is very smoth and is a quantum improvement over my last ride that it replaced (05 Jeep GC Limited/Hemi - what was I thinking...).

njjoe · Jul 2, 2008

DeepBlue said:
Otherwise Murano is very smoth and is a quantum improvement over my last ride that it replaced (05 Jeep GC Limited/Hemi - what was I thinking...).

I know what you mean. I, too, went from a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited V-8 to the MO. I certainly do not miss those two solid axles.

-njjoe

Eric L. · Jul 2, 2008

The burnt smell can indicate a leak that doesn't quite make it to dripping - I believe jaak posted a picture a while back showing burnt fluid due to a leaking axle seal.

DeepBlue · Jul 3, 2008

Cant seem to find that post by Jaak. It's definately smells like trans fluid. I had it inspected by my mechanic. Nothing.

Eric L. · Jul 3, 2008

DeepBlue said:
Cant seem to find that post by Jaak. It's definately smells like trans fluid. I had it inspected by my mechanic. Nothing.

The picture is in the transfer case failure thread (stickied at the top) on the Problems forum.

DeepBlue · Jul 10, 2008

Ok, had my MO inspected on a lift today. Transfer case and CVT look fine. No leaks found anywhere. I told the tech exactly what I wanted him to check.

The service place did suggest a CVT fluid change which I declined for now ($170). Having read some posts on the subject elsewhere on this forum I intend to get that done at 60k.

I've managed to narrow down the vibration I noticed earlier a bit. It seems to become apparent at around 1200 rpm. The vehicle doesn’t have to be moving for it happen and it can be easily duplicated in Neutral or even Park. It seems to have a very narrow range. If the rpms go above or below 1200 rpm, the vibration goes away completely.

NjJoe you are correct. The vibration does not originate at the gas pedal. It is simply easy to spot there. The entire car is actually shaking very very slightly. The next most apparent spot to gauge the vibration is the shifter followed by the steering wheel.

My mechanic either cannot see it or does not deem it serious enough to dig in.

I am not too worried about it at this point. In fact, it may be easier to address this particular issue by pharmacological means rather then mechanical ones.

Lightninrod · Jul 10, 2008

I've managed to narrow down the vibration I noticed earlier a bit. It seems to become apparent at around 1200 rpm. The vehicle doesn’t have to be moving for it happen and it can be easily duplicated in Neutral or even Park. It seems to have a very narrow range. If the rpms go above or below 1200 rpm, the vibration goes away completely.

Bad motor mount????

Dan

RonB · Jul 16, 2008

I've had that kind of "wiggle" from some out of balance tires. It would hit around that same rpm. I could never completely get rid of it until I bought some new tires. Do you feel it on a hard acceleration also? or just the light accel?

Best Regards,
RonB

DeepBlue · Jul 21, 2008

It seems that Im able to reproduce it at any speed and while standing still. As long as I keep engine rpm at around 1100-1200 I will feel this vibration in gas pedal and shifter.

DeepBlue · Aug 11, 2008

Spoke to another mechanic regarding the vibration I described earlier. He seems to suggest that is probably a bad engine mount. However, he was very pessimistic about the possibility of locating and correcting the cause of this vibration. Something about the problem of narrowing down which mount is bad.

Is this true? Would engine mounts fall under powertrain warranty coverage?

Also, I continue to smell trans fluid (I'm sure its trans fluid at this point). No leaks evident on the ground, and multiple inspections on the lift turned up nothing at all. I am not satisfied with my mechanics assertion that it’s probably nothing and would like to take my MO to the dealer for inspection. By the way, what color is NS2 fluid? It looks clear to me.

To complicate matters a bit, in order to address these issues I have to deal with the primary driver of this MO who fails to see these issues or their potential urgency. On top of that having already checked out local Nissan dealers service shops, I have little confidence in them being able to do anything more than act like huge di$%$ and charge me $100 just to inspect the car.

'05 Murano - Possible issues

DeepBlue

njjoe

DeepBlue

njjoe

Eric L.

DeepBlue

Eric L.

DeepBlue

Lightninrod

RonB

DeepBlue

DeepBlue

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