Nissan Murano Transmission Recall? The Fix That Never Happened

Drivers keep typing “Nissan Murano transmission recall” like there’s a fix waiting at the dealer, but there never was one. Service writers just shake their heads while the CVTs shudder, slip, and overheat into limp mode.

The truth’s uglier: no NHTSA-mandated recall ever hit the books. Instead, Nissan papered over the problem with technical bulletins, warranty extensions, and a class-action settlement that quietly replaced what a formal recall should’ve handled.

This guide cuts through that fog, how the Jatco-built CVTs failed, why regulators stayed out, and what recourse owners actually have before the 84,000-mile clock runs out.

1. The CVT Lineage: From Early Experiments to the Breaking Point

How the Murano’s CVT Design Evolved

The 2003–2007 Murano launched with the JF010E, the first large SUV to run a CVT. It promised smoother power, but its small pump and weak cooler couldn’t handle V6 torque or summer heat. Failures started early.

By 2009–2014, the JF011E and JF016E tried stronger belts and revised hydraulics. The updates helped little; fluid darkened fast, bearings scored, and limp mode became routine.

Then came the 2015–2018 JF017E (CVT8), the model at the center of the class-action settlement. Nissan claimed better efficiency, owners found the same heat stress and pressure loss. By 2025, the company gave up and switched to a 9-speed automatic.

Why These CVTs Keep Burning Up

Each unit relies on a steel belt and twin pulleys clamped by hydraulic pressure. When the fluid thins from heat, pressure drops, and the belt slips. Every slip sheds metal and builds more heat until the pump and seals fail.

Once NS-2 or NS-3 fluid breaks down, it can’t cool or lubricate. Seals harden, bearings whine, and the CVT starts to flare or shudder under throttle. Most failed between 70,000 and 90,000 miles, often after repeat fluid services.

Early Warning Signs Owners Reported

Typical behavior started with shuddering on takeoff or a high-pitched whine that rose with speed. On long climbs, many overheated and dropped into limp mode. When codes P17F0 or P17F1 appeared, the transmission was usually finished.

2. Why There’s No “Transmission Recall”: The Legal Blind Spot

What Counts as a Recall and Why the CVT Missed It

NHTSA only steps in when a defect threatens public safety, brakes, steering, or anything that risks loss of control. The Murano’s CVT didn’t fit that box.

It failed often, but not predictably enough to prove it endangered lives. Most breakdowns happened during acceleration or highway cruising, not at high-speed lane changes or braking events.

So, while owners described stalling and sudden loss of power, the agency logged them as performance faults, not safety hazards. That label insulated Nissan from a federally ordered campaign. Instead of recall language, owners got service advisories and repair bulletins.

How Nissan Contained the Fallout

Internally, Nissan treated the CVT crisis as a warranty management issue, not a safety emergency.

Engineers issued a string of Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs), including NTB20-060B and AT19-011, instructing dealers to flash the Transmission Control Module (TCM), inspect fluid, and replace valve bodies before approving full transmission swaps.

The repair flow was deliberate: software reflash first, partial hardware second, full assembly last. Every step bought Nissan time while keeping official recall numbers clean.

If the fix didn’t hold, a new case file opened, showing “progress” without triggering mandatory reporting. By tying repairs to documented fault codes like P17F0 or P17F1, Nissan limited goodwill coverage to vehicles that failed under their diagnostic tree.

The Lawsuit That Did What Regulators Wouldn’t

Pressure finally came through the courts, not Washington. In Travis Beaver et al. v. Nissan North America, plaintiffs argued the CVT’s premature failures caused dangerous slowdowns and financial losses.

The settlement forced Nissan to extend the transmission warranty to 84 months or 84,000 miles for 2015–2018 Murano models and reimburse prior repairs up to $5,000.

The legal terms drew a hard line: federal regulators called it a reliability problem, while the court treated it as a breach of consumer expectation. The outcome proved a recall isn’t the only way a defect gets fixed, just the most public one.

3. Inside the Failure Chain of Heat, Pressure, and Wear

How Overheating Starts the Damage

The Murano CVT runs a tight package: a high-torque V6 or 3.5-liter load, a compact case, and limited cooling capacity. Under highway grades, hot-climate traffic, or light towing, the pump works harder, fluid shears, and internal temperatures climb fast.

Once CVT fluid like NS-2 or NS-3 crosses its thermal comfort zone, it oxidizes, darkens, and loses the viscosity needed to carry heat and hold pressure.

That cooked fluid then attacks seals and bearings from the inside. Rubber hardens, bushings score, and the steel belt rides in a hotter, harsher bath every mile.

Many owners only noticed a faint burnt smell at first, but scan tools later showed logged overheat events and reduced performance long before the unit finally quit.

When Pressure Drops and the Belt Lets Go

The CVT lives or dies on hydraulic pressure. The pulleys clamp the steel belt only as firmly as the pump and valves allow. Once degraded fluid and worn seals lower line pressure, the belt starts to slide on the pulley faces under load.

Each slip scrapes metal into the fluid, polishes the contact surfaces, and forces the system to chase higher pressure to keep any grip at all.

This feedback loop shows up as judder, flare, and delayed engagement. The TCM detects the mismatch between engine speed and vehicle speed and flags it with internal codes.

When a Murano logs P17F1, the system has already seen repeated ratio control issues. When it escalates to P17F0, the logic assumes hard mechanical wear and calls for full CVT replacement rather than another round of software or valve body work.

How the Valve Body and TCM Feed the Problem

The valve body is the hydraulic brain that routes pressure to the pulleys, clutches, and lube circuits. Sticky valves, worn bores, or weak solenoids corrupt that control, creating pressure spikes or drops that feel like random surges, hesitations, or odd ratio changes.

Codes such as P0746 point straight at line pressure control faults, often traced to the valve body before the belt is completely destroyed.

Nissan tried to stay ahead of this with TSB-driven TCM updates that rewrote diagnostic thresholds and shift logic. Dealers were told to reprogram the TCM, run temperature and pressure checks, then decide between valve body replacement and full transmission swap based on which code stored.

Once overheating, wear debris, and shaky pressure control stacked up together, no amount of software could rescue the hardware, and the only honest fix was another CVT assembly.

4. How Nissan Tried To Patch The Problem From Behind The Counter

TSB Script That Slowed Real Fixes

Nissan handled most Murano CVT complaints through a fixed script in its Technical Service Bulletins. Bulletins like NTB20-060B and AT19-011 told dealers to start with a TCM reflash, clear codes, and send the driver back out.

Only if symptoms returned with stored faults such as P17F0 or P17F1 were techs allowed to move to hardware.

The next rung was the valve body, not the whole unit. Dealers replaced the control assembly, flushed fluid, and repeated road tests while logging data.

A full CVT assembly swap usually sat at the top of the flow chart and needed hard proof of internal failure. That structure protected Nissan’s warranty budget but forced many owners through two or three repair visits before anyone authorized a replacement transmission.

Cooler Kits And Temperature “Counts”

Once overheating showed up in field data, Nissan added cooling steps to the same tree. Certain Murano VIN ranges qualified for an auxiliary CVT cooler, extra lines, and revised brackets.

Dealers had to hook up factory scan tools and read CVT temperature “counts” from the TCM, not just rely on a dash light or a quick test drive.

If temperatures spiked during a controlled road test, the bulletin called for installing the external cooler, flushing the fluid again, and rechecking the counts.

The goal was simple on paper: pull heat out of the case before it could cook the fluid. In practice, many units had already spent tens of thousands of miles above their comfort range before anyone measured those numbers.

Why Fresh Units Still Came Back On The Hook

Most replacement Muranos did not get a radically different transmission. They received remanufactured JF017E units built around the same belt-and-pulley layout, often with minor internal updates and fresh NS-3 fluid. The cooler kits and new software helped for a while, but the basic thermal limits stayed in place.

Owners and shops reported repeat failures in the 30,000 to 60,000 mile window after replacement, especially in hot states or stop-and-go use.

Once fluid service slipped or the cooler clogged with debris, the old pattern returned, rising temperatures, slipping belt, and the same P17F0 and P17F1 trail in the TCM. The “fix” was really a reset on the failure clock, not a new design.

5. The Settlement That Took The Recall’s Place

Who Nissan Had To Pay And How Long

The break came through Travis Beaver et al. v. Nissan North America, not a government order. The deal covered U.S. buyers and lessees of 2015–2018 Murano models with a Jatco CVT, as long as the vehicle was bought or leased before April 4, 2025. Anyone outside that window sits on standard warranty rules.

Under the settlement, Nissan stretched the CVT powertrain coverage from 60 months/60,000 miles to 84 months/84,000 miles.

That extension applies to the full transmission assembly, valve body, torque converter, associated seals and gaskets, cooler kits installed under the program, and the TCM work needed to finish the repair.

It turned what should’ve been a recall into an extra block of years and miles, but only for that specific generation.

How Reimbursements Worked

Owners who paid out of pocket for CVT repairs could file for reimbursement, full coverage for dealer work, or up to $5,000 for independent shops. Valid claims required detailed receipts, VIN matching, and proof that the repair addressed CVT failure.

The claim window was tied to the final court approval of the settlement and came with two key deadlines: July 3, 2025, or within 30 days of the qualifying repair, whichever came later.

As with most class-action payouts, those dates could shift slightly depending on when the court finalized the agreement and opened the submission process.

Voucher Carrot Versus Cash In Hand

For drivers who’d already stacked two or more CVT repairs, the settlement forced a choice. One path was cash reimbursement under the same rules and caps.

The other was a $1,500 voucher toward a new Nissan or Infiniti. On paper, the voucher was pitched as an upgrade path out of a problem vehicle.

In practice, the numbers favored reimbursement for most owners. A single CVT replacement can outrun the voucher value several times over, especially at dealer rates.

The voucher only made sense for someone already planning to sign another Nissan contract and willing to trade a transmission bill for a smaller discount on the next note.

6. Owner Survival Plan When The CVT Starts To Turn On You

Catching A Murano CVT Before It Quits

Trouble usually starts with shudder on launch, a flare in RPM, or a thin whining that tracks road speed. As heat and wear build, the transmission may hesitate when you shift into Drive, stumble into limp mode on hills, or free-rev while the Murano barely moves.

Scan tools often show P17F0, P17F1, or P0746, and a burnt, chemical smell from the fluid points to a unit that has already spent too long overheated.

Maintenance Rhythm That Gives The CVT A Chance

These units live longer when fluid changes stay tight, not stretched. Shops that see a lot of failed Jatco CVTs push CVT fluid service every 30,000–40,000 miles, using only genuine NS-2 or NS-3 and following the factory fill level procedure.

Each service should include a TCM relearn or software update, so the computer matches new fluid behavior and keeps line pressure where the belt and pulleys need it.

Paper Trail, Warranty Cliffs, And Exit Strategy

Nissan and settlement administrators both lean on documentation, so every CVT repair and fluid change needs a dated invoice with mileage and fluid type.

As the odometer approaches the 84,000-mile warranty ceiling, a failed transmission can swing from covered to fully out of pocket, with replacement bills often in the $4,000–$7,000 range and independent reimbursement capped at $5,000.

Many owners treat that 84,000-mile point as a decision line, either locking in covered repairs early or planning to move the vehicle while extended coverage still shows on the books.

7. The End of Nissan’s CVT Era and What Comes Next

The Corporate Retreat From Jatco’s Experiment

By 2025, Nissan ended the Murano’s CVT run. The new model carries a 2.0-liter VC-Turbo paired with a 9-speed automatic, a quiet admission that the belt-and-pulley system couldn’t survive under V6 torque and heat.

Dropping the CVT also trimmed warranty exposure and brought the Murano back in line with other Nissan and Infiniti drivetrains that had already moved to conventional automatics.

What the Shift Means for Current Owners

Earlier, Muranos stay tied to the Jatco hardware. As Nissan retools for the new gearbox, parts and remanufactured CVTs will grow scarce. Dealer inventories will thin, rebuilders will raise prices, and used-market values for CVT models will soften as shoppers lean toward the 9-speed generation.

For owners still under the 84-month/84,000-mile settlement window, locking in covered service or planning a sale before support fades is the smartest move.

Where The Murano CVT Story Really Lands

The Murano never saw a true transmission recall, only patches, lawsuits, and warranty extensions. Its Jatco CVT ran too hot for its own good, cooking fluid and slipping belts until owners forced Nissan’s hand in court. The result: 84 months or 84,000 miles of coverage for the 2015–2018 models.

Anyone still under that limit should keep every receipt, service fluid early, and use the warranty while it lasts. Past that cutoff, each P17F0 code or limp-mode stumble can cost $4,000–$7,000 out of pocket.

With the 2025 Murano switching to a 9-speed automatic, Nissan quietly buried the CVT era. New buyers move on, while older owners weigh one question: repair again, or walk away for good.

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Rami Hasan is the founder of CherishYourCar.com, where he combines his web publishing experience with a passion for the automotive world. He’s committed to creating clear, practical guides that help drivers take better care of their vehicles and get more out of every mile.