Did you use an aftermarket screen and gasket kit? Search for pickup tube and you'll get some threads about aftermarket kits that have a pickup tube that's too long and prevents proper fluid pickup and similar sounding symptoms to yours.

 

thanks ,and yes it is aftermarket , i will check it out and let you know .

 

If you did use an aftermarket one that's too long, and you still have your old screen, you could probably clean it and reinstall it and be back on the road. Or cut down the long aftermarket tube if you discarded your original.

I bought one of these aftermarket kits for my 2010 and don't think I could even bolt my pan back on because of interference with the pickup tube. I'm surprised to read that people are able to bolt it back up and then have the pickup problem.

 

thanks ,it is aftermarket , and i did feel some resistance installing the pan , i will check it out ,

 

With my 2003 I never compared the filters for height, just for the correct bolt pattern/shape. As you can see from the attachment, the pick-up on the new metal mesh filter has damage due to it being crushed slightly on the bottom of the CVT pan when I tightened the bolts. I actually hadn't felt any resistance when putting the pan back on, and my CVT still operated fine, so I'm guessing the end of the pick-up caught a raised nub or two on the pan bottom and collapsed it a bit.

 

I thought the problem was only with the 2nd gens. The aftermarket parts were made for the 1st gens that had a deeper pan and then some small change happened on the 2nd gen where the pan is shallower but the aftermarket part application wasn't restricted so there's interference on the 2nd gen. I don't know where I read that but that's my vague recollection. Hard to image those parts guys didn't get it right even for 1 application.

 

My 2003 was produced 2/03, so maybe the original CVT pan was shallower at first before they deepened it due to seeing issues with the system. While I can't be 100% certain the damage wasn't already there out of the box, I'm very good about carefully inspecting any new part before installing it, so I really don't think that was there when I installed it. Also, the pan didn't go back on hard or slide around, so I know the pan potentially hitting it didn't create the problem. I'm trying to remember what brand that was, but can't think of it. It was a filter + gasket kit from (I think) O'Reilly's. The one thing I didn't like about it was, it came inside a plastic bag that was stained yellow and foggy, but the filter itself was flawless and shiny.

 

After doing a quick search, I think the kit was from Power Torque. It sounds very familiar. The first review says that spout was too long for the Altima...

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/power-torque/filters/transmission-filter/925595400f55/power-torque-a-t-filter-kit/ptq7/fk422/v/a/6740/automotive-suv-2003-nissan-murano?pos=0

 

Haha....actually every review I'm reading says the tube is too long... I guess I should've read some reviews before I changed it around January 2021. So maybe why I was able to get my pan back on was because it was deeper, even though it still made a little contact.

 

Most important question is what brand of transmission fluid was used?

 

First, the OP said he used Nissan fluid in the original post. Second, which brand do you think would produce the symptoms described in a previously normally working and great running CVT? I don't think ANY brand of cvt fluid is going to stop a normally working transmission IMMEDIATELY. I watched a video where a guy used regular ATF in his Murano CVT and it still worked (i can't believe he didn't take down the video as there were thousands of people calling him an idiot)! I don't think there's any CVT fluid made that's marked as meets NS-2 or NS-3 spec that would immediately disable the CVT. Once a dozen people tried the product it would be so famous for working 0% of the time, they'd be out of business. But if you know of one, it would be good to let everybody know rather than keep it a secret.

 

Well, my position on this topic is that it doesn't really matter what brand you use, and at least with my 2003 testing it didn't even matter that the CVT fluid wasn't NS-1 since I used Dexron 6 ATF for 160,000-170,000 miles and it ran fine, but was operating better once I changed the filter, cleaned the magnets and then used Castrol Transmax CVT with a random inclusion of a couple of quarts of Marvel Mystery Oil.

Whether it was the changing of the metal filter whose screen was visibly caked with sludge and metal shavings, or the act of putting in new fluid and/or the act of using NS-1 that made the CVT feel smoother is unknown. I really only changed the fluid to try to remedy codes P1778 and P0868 - the CVT itself was performing well enough the way it was. P0868 never remained cleared for more than 3-4 hours, but P1778 vanished whenever I'd use Marvel Mystery Oil, but would return after putting in more NS-1.

I feel that purely from a Nissan engineering standpoint, in order to achieve optimal protection for and performance from Nissan's CVT an NS-x fluid is needed. But I confidently believe that any ATF-like product will allow the CVT to perform just fine. Will the components suffer in the long-term or after extended miles due to not using NS-x? I can't say. Maybe. All I know is seven CVTs in my 2003 failed very prematurely using NS-1, and the last one I installed (that was used) and filled with Dex6 went on in excess of 160,000 miles without ever actually failing. I'm very tempted to drain my 2021 and just use Marvel Mystery Oil as a test. Maybe at the 300,000 mile mark... Currently at about 94,500 and I've been using Castrol Transmax CVT NS-3 for about the past 30,000 miles. I'll be dropping the pan and changing the filters and fluid again in a few months.