2011 Transmission Shift Questions

[str1ck]

Hello, I have a 2011 Pathfinder Silver. I am pretty sure my Tranmission isn't shifting properly.

1. It seems like my transmission likes to shift to 5th gear. Once its hits 35 mph the RPMS really bog down. Were talking around 1000 to 1250 rpm between 35 to 40 mph.

2. When under a load or declerating from highway speeds the transmission doens't seem to properly downshift. I will go from 60+ MPH and have to slow down due to traffic and when I get back down to accelerating its back down to 1000 to 1250 rpm. THe only way I can get it to downshift is to go to more than half throttle.

3. My truck has less than 2500 miles and is covered by a Nissan Extended Warrenty.

Please let me know if this is normal or should I call for a service appointment.

Thanks
Chris

[skinny2]

V8 or V6? Most any transmission goes for the highest gear as quickly as possible. The PF downshifting is very touchy as to how it shifts....easy throttle inputs and it will stay in high gears and require a lot of pedal before downshifting. Quick throttle inputs and it will downshift quickly. That's my take but I've head the V8 is less sensitive to downshifting and also has taller gears so it revs lower as well.

[slavabon]

My 2010 se does the same thing when shifting. 2011 silver I rented recently was the same way. This is the way they programmed these transmissions for better fuel economy and this shift pattern is normal. My 06 se was better - it never upshifted like this, but it was also worse on gas. Just work the accelerator with faster input and it will stay in lower gears.

[BHenry]

My 2009 does the same exact thing, I basically hate the transmission in the vehicle. Love everything else about it, but it's a big hate.

[hfrez]

Mine is the same way. I have learned to downshift manually and it works very nicely. I shift down to the next lowest gear when it gets to 1200 - 1300 RPM's. Coming off the HWY I can almost downshift it to a stop without using the brakes (when you do this you will see your MPG’s go up on the screen). In the city environment I will use the brakes and downshift. I know that this does not seem like something everyone would want to do (why else have an Automatic) but I used to have manual shift vehicles when I was younger and I kind of enjoy it.

Believe it or not, but the gas millage actually improves when you use this technique. I also keep it in 4th gear in city traffic by pushing the shifter from Drive to Manual, which automatically takes it out of 5th and puts it into 4th. I leave it there if traffic is moving slowly but will kick it back to Drive once traffic moves faster. The convenience of having the manual shift is that if I get tired of doing it I can always leave it in Drive and allow the tranny to do its job without me interfering.

[Zen_master]

Hello, I have a 2011 Pathfinder Silver. I am pretty sure my Tranmission isn't shifting properly.

1. It seems like my transmission likes to shift to 5th gear. Once its hits 35 mph the RPMS really bog down. Were talking around 1000 to 1250 rpm between 35 to 40 mph.

2. When under a load or declerating from highway speeds the transmission doens't seem to properly downshift. I will go from 60+ MPH and have to slow down due to traffic and when I get back down to accelerating its back down to 1000 to 1250 rpm. THe only way I can get it to downshift is to go to more than half throttle.

3. My truck has less than 2500 miles and is covered by a Nissan Extended Warrenty.

Please let me know if this is normal or should I call for a service appointment.

Thanks
Chris

I have a 2011 V8 model and have not experienced the funky shifting you describe when decelerating from highway speeds. What you describe sounds like the trans computer is searching for the proper gear between learned MPH shift points.

I do, however, experience a funky shift from time to time when it wants to kick into overdrive (5th gear) around the 41MPh to 42MPH level. My tach briefly ticks up about 100RPM to 200RPM for a nanosecond and then drops into the sub-1500 RPM level you describe. It doesn't always do this. I guess I tend to notice it when it's first getting up to highway speed on cold morning starts. I rarely experience it if the truck has been running for a while and is nice and warm.

The only other thing I can think is perhaps the ECU is learning the shift points. Did you recently disconnect the battery and reset the ECU? I have an old Jeep Cherokee where the ECU learns and anticipates your driving habits for the first 50 starts after a reset (battery disconnect). There were many times where I put a performance mod on that required disconnecting the battery to allow the O2 sensors etc. to adjust and of course I wanted to test the butt-dyno so I mashed the peddle a lot and I noticed the usual 42MPH shift into overdrive got closer to 45MPH as the Jeep was briefly accustomed to a heavy accelorator pedal.

I'm new to the Pathfinder therefore I'm not sure if it operates the same way.

[Zen_master]

Mine is the same way. I have learned to downshift manually and it works very nicely. I shift down to the next lowest gear when it gets to 1200 - 1300 RPM's. Coming off the HWY I can almost downshift it to a stop without using the brakes (when you do this you will see your MPG’s go up on the screen). In the city environment I will use the brakes and downshift. I know that this does not seem like something everyone would want to do (why else have an Automatic) but I used to have manual shift vehicles when I was younger and I kind of enjoy it.

Believe it or not, but the gas millage actually improves when you use this technique. I also keep it in 4th gear in city traffic by pushing the shifter from Drive to Manual, which automatically takes it out of 5th and puts it into 4th. I leave it there if traffic is moving slowly but will kick it back to Drive once traffic moves faster. The convenience of having the manual shift is that if I get tired of doing it I can always leave it in Drive and allow the tranny to do its job without me interfering.

I'm sorry but I don't follow the logic here. I've driven manual transmission vehicles in my younger days and any time I used the engine as a braking mechanism by downshifting during deceleration my gas mileage suffered due to the higher RPMs. Granted the throttle plate is not wide open when slowing down but in order to keep the engine running there's always a small amount of fuel being shot in the cylinders and turning more RPMs, regardless of how open the throttle plate, translates to more firing cycles and more fuel consumption. Am I misunderstanding what you're describing? Not trying to pick a fight but honestly want to understand since after all I think we'd all like to boost fuel economy in these trucks.

[hfrez]

Mine is the same way. I have learned to downshift manually and it works very nicely. I shift down to the next lowest gear when it gets to 1200 - 1300 RPM's. Coming off the HWY I can almost downshift it to a stop without using the brakes (when you do this you will see your MPG’s go up on the screen). In the city environment I will use the brakes and downshift. I know that this does not seem like something everyone would want to do (why else have an Automatic) but I used to have manual shift vehicles when I was younger and I kind of enjoy it.

Believe it or not, but the gas millage actually improves when you use this technique. I also keep it in 4th gear in city traffic by pushing the shifter from Drive to Manual, which automatically takes it out of 5th and puts it into 4th. I leave it there if traffic is moving slowly but will kick it back to Drive once traffic moves faster. The convenience of having the manual shift is that if I get tired of doing it I can always leave it in Drive and allow the tranny to do its job without me interfering.

I'm sorry but I don't follow the logic here. I've driven manual transmission vehicles in my younger days and any time I used the engine as a braking mechanism by downshifting during deceleration my gas mileage suffered due to the higher RPMs. Granted the throttle plate is not wide open when slowing down but in order to keep the engine running there's always a small amount of fuel being shot in the cylinders and turning more RPMs, regardless of how open the throttle plate, translates to more firing cycles and more fuel consumption. Am I misunderstanding what you're describing? Not trying to pick a fight but honestly want to understand since after all I think we'd all like to boost fuel economy in these trucks.

You logic is sound; however, the fuel that goes into the engine during downshifting is less than allowing the engine to idle in a higher gear. I see your logic but the proof is in the pudding. My gas mileage has increased using this technique.

[DanJetta]

That sounds like what mine does, too, except mine "wobbles" in addition when I labor it (which the dealer says is normal). My wife's Jetta does the exact same thing unless I shift into Sport mode (which the Pathy doesn't have). With modern automatics it seems like a race to short shift through the gears.

From the quirky ratios to the lack of refinement, the transmissions in these things leave a lot to be desired. Some other quirky things my Pathy does:

- The transition from 1st to 2nd, under normal acceleration, seems to take a long time. More, there's a huge ratio difference between the two gears so that once you get to second, you need to give quite a bit more gas to maintain the same rate of acceleration.
- Bump when engaging/disengaging around 35 mph. Removing my foot from the gas pedal causes a slight "disengage" bump and softly depressing it causes a similar "reengage" bump. It's felt most when I have lots of weight (people) in the car. People comment on it and I just say, "Yeah, this is as good as it gets in my price range."

- Hard downshifts when cold and in certain situations. For example, when I'm in traffic and I hit the perfect combination of "quick acceleration followed by a hard stop," the transmission sometimes downshifts so hard that it feels like someone rear-ended me. I've had it checked and the dealer says everything looks and feels the way it should be. Of course this is the same dealer who told me the V8s have a different radiator than the V6s (despite having the same part number) but that's a different story.

I often have to remind myself that if I wanted a silky smooth shift in an obsessively thought-out SUV, I should have spent $25K more on something German.