Automatic Transmission problems of the 2003 Nissan Murano - part 1

The contact owns a 2003 Nissan Murano. The contact stated that while at a stop, the vehicle suddenly failed to accelerate without warning. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 101,000.

I was driving on the NJ turnpike then all of the power when I put my foot on the gas disappeared. Almost feels like the car is in neutral. Was lucky I wasn't hit from behind my other cars since it went from 60 mph to a 5 mph without any warning. Was able to get it to side of the road but then it wouldnt start again. Had car towed to my mechanic. Now I am reading online about others with the exact same problem without any solutions to a problem that Nissan was aware of. Guess people have to die before any action is taken.

I just purchased a Nissan Murano yesterday and after just 10 minutes or so of driving I noticed that the acceleration is not exactly in sync with my pressure on the pedal. The previous owner also complained of this to the Nissan dealer he bought it from. The dealer said it was the air intake and replaced it at no charge. Shortly after my initial drive it did not accelerate even when the gas pedal was to the floor. Today I entered a busy intersection to make a left hand turn and after the on coming traffic I pressed on the accelerator but no response rpms were study below 1000 like it was still idling. After several futile attempts pressing on the gas pedal I put the car in park then back to drive hit the gas but again no acceleration. At this time I am in the middle of the intersection under the red light. There is another car behind me that is stuck in the intersection as well which makes a hard left to get around and barely avoids an accident. Now with cars all around me I become almost frantic and I am a 52 year old man with plenty of driving experience and rarely panic. I decided to shut off the car and restart it (yes in the middle of a busy intersection under a red light blocking traffic I turn off the car and restart it). It took off immediately. Tonight I read a Nissan forum with many other Nissan Murano owners describing similar incidents. This is a very very serious flaw in the engineering under no circumstance should an automobile not accelerate when the pedal is pressed without some precurser event to warn the operator. This is a very serious problem and there should be a recall. I will contact my local Nissan dealer to have it looked at and issue a complaint.

When you come to a complete stop and then press the accelerator down the car does not move initially. If you hold the accelerator down after a few seconds the car will start to move. This has happened 3 times in the last 6 months after driving the car for about 20-30 mins. In stop and go traffic. The next day everything works like it should. I have taken it to a Nissan dealer and at first they could not even find a problem since they could not duplicate what I described. The second time I took it back they managed to get a service code related to the valve body on the transmission. Nissan has a service bulletin issued related to this situation, which instructs the valve body to be replaced at a cost of $1700. Since you never know when this delayed acceleration will occur it is very dangerous to enter or cross traffic when it occurs.

I have a 2003 Nissan Murano. I have 115k miles and for the 5 months, I've had the same problem all others have reported, press the gas and the car doesn't move for a few seconds then jerks forward. Could be very dangerous when in traffic and trying to change lanes. In fact, I only discovered this problem when I was in stop and go traffic lately. I took it to goodyear company, they charged me $69 to diagnose the problem and told me it's the transmission. Something needs to be done since I am 100% sure Nissan knows about this problem but is ignoring it. Thank you.

2003 Nissan Murano the car would not respond to the accelerator. The engine would rev up, but the car would not move. Then without warning, the car will go "into gear" and move. Car would lose drive train power, but all other functions, radio, ac, steering would still work. The car simply would not go when the accelerator was pressed. Then the transmission would work all of a sudden and then quit all of a sudden.

After stopping at intersection I pressed the gas and car rolled into intersection. Within a few seconds car took off like a bat out of ???. This was quite scary as a truck was approaching. This car has done this several times and lately this has become an everyday occurrence. This is quite dangerous because you are clueless to when it will happen. I thought the previous recall concerning the air intake was a solution. It is more than obvious that it is not. This is too dangerous to be ignored. I invite you to drive my car for a day and then maybe you will have something done about this. I noticed there are several more complaints filed but I do not see any resolution. Nissan needs to recall these cars and fix this problem. Extending the warranty is not a solution if the dealer is not willing to fix the car. Please get this fixed before there is loss of life.

Bought a 2003 Nissan Murano new and have had a recurring problem with the transmission that the dealer refuses to repair under warranty. Basically the car will not accelerate from a stop and then suddenly surges forward. The problem is intermittent and seems to mostly occur when the transmission is hot. Sometimes it surges while driving at a steady speed. I have taken the vehicle to the dealer 4 times over a period of several years to have the problem repaired, but they have either said there is nothing wrong or that it needed a new air filter, but the problem has never been fixed and it continues to get worse. Nissan sent an extended warranty to owners of these vehicles that states it covers transmission problems up to 120,000 miles, however the dealer won't honor it and wants a $2,000 deposit to order the parts before it will schedule the repair. I contacted Nissan consumer affairs and they said the repair is covered, and I told the dealer this, but the dealer said Nissan won't reimburse him so he won't make the repairs unless I pay, and pay up front, no less. I can't afford this and my vehicle is rapidly approaching the 120,000 warranty cut off and I have the feeling they are just stalling until the warranty runs out. The vehicle is dangerous to drive but I have no choice and I don't know whom to turn to.

I have a 2003 Nissan Murano w/ 88k miles. When driving my Nissan Murano, there seems to be quite an issue with the acceleration and that it hesitates when I I step on the acceleration. The Murano does not move forward for a few seconds, after stepping almost fully on the gas pedal. Then all of a sudden it feels like the car catches back on and then the car jolts forward, letting the car finally move. This problem occurs sporadicly and actually on a left turn just yesterday, (7-10-11), the car just completely lost it's power. I am glad no accident occured, I was very lucky. I was able to turn to the side of the road and turn the car off and on. After I did that I was able to get the car into a parking lot so I could have my father pick me up. I have dealing with this reoccurring issue for a while. I took it to the dealer and they want to charge me $100 just to diagnose it in order to have Nissan be involved. I have to go about this way I was told. After doing some in-depth research on the web for the 2003 Nissan Muranos, it shows that there are tons of thousands of other 2003 Nissan Murano owners having the completely same exact problem. It is also baffling to me & not fair that all the Nissan dealerships are making so much money from a flaw they caused. I would like to file this issue to be investigated and recalled. This is a huge safety hazard on the road for all 2003 Nissan Murano owners, and it's not ethically right to leave hundreds of thousands of people in serious life or death situations.

Driving my 2003 Murano two days ago at around 25mph up a small hill. The vehicle begins to jerk and lose power. I briefly let go of the gas and problem stops. I hit the accelerator pedal again, and again begins to jerk. Check engine light comes on. I pull over, turn off the vehicle for about 30 seconds. Turn it back on, take off again and jerks again. I back off on the pedal and had to climb the hill at 15mph. Once at the top, the vehicle drove fine. I got to my destination and stayed there for about 1. 5 hours. Took off and got home with no obvious problems. Weird! next day, at a stop sign a block away from home. Car coming from left, I accelerate and the car bogs on me. Would not accelerate just coasted. No power! called the dealer and dropped it off. They call me later that afternoon and they admit there were high gear issues that were resolved with resetting the transmission computer but they can't find the source of the low gear problems ( these gears are usually the ones in use at higher speeds. . . . . ). Very dangerous when driving. I felt very unsafe and afraid that it would happen again which is why I dropped it off at the dealer write away.

When pushing on the gas pedal the vehicle will not go, it is a once in a while occurrence. Took it to the mechanic and he can find nothing wrong. I did find the problem in a search through the internet, that many people have had the same problem. This is a very dangerous defect!.

Stop and go traffic,same loss of power and other various symptoms others describe,had the original trans. Replaced 20,000mi. Ago, same thing happening again,when is enough ,enough what will it take for Nissan to accept full responsibility for this very dangerous problem I guess someone will have to be seriously injured or worse for something to be done how come Toyota is being torn-apart for somewhat similar issues and Nissan is allowed to skate by. A higher authority needs to come to the rescue of us consumers especially in these hard economic times people will continue to drive these death-traps because they cant afford to fix them, someone will be injured because of this, its not a matter of if, it's just a matter of when?.

2003 Nissan Murano hesitates in traffic an all of a sudden accelerates wildly in traffic. . .

I was trying to merge into traffic after stopping at a stop sign and the car rolled forward a bit but would not accelerate. It finally lurched forward after a few seconds. The problem continued at every stop after that until I shut it off. I took my Murano to a Nissan dealership in east providence, ri and was told the vehicle needed a new transmission. The dealership acted like they had never heard of this before, but searching the internet reveals this is s common problem with Muranos. This is a potentially dangerous problem especially in heavy highway traffic.

When pushing the accelerator the car does not respond then lunges forward. Several times I have pushed the accelerator 3-5 times with no response then it will lurch forward. The engine continues to run. The problem is intermittent, when taken to the dealer they could not recreate the problem. It happens more frequently in stop and go traffic.

1: after driving the car for along period of time in stop and go traffic or on the thruway. Then coming to a complete stop and pressing the gas the car will crawl forward as if you were not pressing down the gas pedal after 1-3 sec of the car crawling into the middle of a intersect and no way to get it out of the intersect when other cars are coming down at 40mph into the intersection; will be disastrous and potentially cause a lost of life. After 1-3 sec the transmission will finally engage. The funny part is when you turn the car off and restart it the problem clears it self until it problem recurs. After reading other stories of there's cvt transmission in the Murano doing the same thing to the other Murano customer. I decided to take it to the dealer 2: this is a sporadic event and every time I took it to the dealer to get it check they could not duplicate the problem on March 9th and told me the transmission performed normal and it was engine [misfiring and slightly burning oil and compression lost related not transmission [I have enough automotive skill to tell me that this is definitely not a misfire/slightly burning oil/compression lost because once you turn the car off and turn it back on the problem disappears, witha engine misfire it would still persist, the engine is 100% running without any problem until this problem arise: so yesterday, when it started happening to my wife on her drive, I advise her to stop immediately at the dealer to have them take a look at I, to my surprise they refused!!! to take a 2nd look at it as they advise me they already diagnostic it as a engine problem and will not. I called them and demanded that a service tech, test drive it and he said nope this is a engine problem and told my wife to tell me that im making all the service department mad?!. I took it to 2 other transmission place and they verified that this is 100% indeed a transmission problem.

My 2003 Nissan Murano required the cvt transmission to be replaced twice due to failure, at 55k and 95k miles.

After about 20 minutes driving I get a lagging issue where I step on the gas pedal after a complete stop and nothing happens, then all of sudden after 5 seconds the car accelerates dangerously! my wife drives this car and shes driving with our baby. Im afraid that one day this problem will happen, and she would accelerate after the lagging issue only to hit someone in front of her and cause a major accident. Im also afraid when she tries to make a left turn during the lag someone might hit her causing an accident. This manufacture need to recognize this is a safety issue, and they need to have a safety recall on these vehicles.

When driving in stop and go traffic or when the car warms up, there is a hesitation when the as pedal is pressed. This usually happens everyday when picking up our children from school. Took it to a Nissan dealership and they said it would be $6500 to replace the transmission.

When I purchased my 2003 Nissan Murano in 2006, it was 3 years old. Three weeks after the purchase, I had problem with the car jerking and cutting completely off. I took it back to Nissan but they said the part was not under warranty. I had the similar problem again a few months ago, and it was worked on and running again. On Saturday, August 29th, while traveling on the highway, I was in the turning lane and it went dead. A man stopped and came over to assist me and he said his mother had the same car and it did the same thing sometimes. He got the car started for me after cutting it off for about 30 minutes. He drove behind me to make sure I got where I was going. I immediately took the car to a Nissan dealer and they said it was the transmission. I do not have money to spend on a lemon. We need help from you with this problem.

I own a 2003 Nissan Murano sl with about 101,000 miles. After about 20 minutes driving I get the lagging issue where I step on the gas pedal after a complete stop and nothing happens, then all of sudden after 5 seconds the car accelerates dangerously! my wife drives this car and shes also pregnant. Im afraid that one day this problem will happen, and she would accelerate after the lagging issue only to hit someone in front of her and cause a major accident. Im also afraid when she tries to make a left turn during the lag someone might hit her causing an accident. This manufacture need to recognize this is a safety issue, and they need to have a safety recall on these vehicles.

2003 Nissan Murano. This is a recurring problem. I've had my Murano for about 2. 5 years, and for the past 1. 5 years have had acceleration problems. After pushing on the gas for a couple of seconds, the engine doesn't respond, but then it surges forward at a high rate. There have been multiple times where I've been sitting in the middle of the intersection and the engine will stall, causing me to be stuck with the engine not responding - even though I'm pushing on the gas. I've taken the vehicle to 4 different mechanics, including 2 Nissan dealerships, and none have been able to diagnose the problem. There seem to be certain things that fix it for a short period of time, and then it returns just a couple of months later. I've read online and this problem is not an anomaly. Many others are having the same issue. Fortunately, I am selling my car, but lost thousands of dollars in repair and diagnostic time because no one could understand what is wrong with this lemon. Less than 5000 miles ago, the dealership told me that I needed a new transmission, and I took it to a private body shop, they flushed the tranny fluid, and it seemed to drive fine for the next 5000 miles. Now, I am having similar problems. Since it is a special tranny (cvt), it would cost anywhere between $5000-6500 to replace it, which is more than half of what the car is worth. Besides that, I've read on blogs that some people get the transmission fixed, and then they continue to have the problem! fortunately, I am selling my Murano due to a big move, but I had to take a loss on it because of this problem. Nissan needs to own this issue.

Cvt transmission needed to be replaced in a 2003 Nissan Murano with 85000 miles. Nissan refused any assistance for the repair.

Cvt transmission problem in 2003 Nissan Murano. Car will not move when step on accelerator, then suddenly lurches forward at much higher than anticipated speed, especially in stop and go traffic. This is dangerous, as I have nearly run into several cars because of this problem. Nissan requires replacement transmission for $5,000 at car owner's expense - this is an unaffordable requirement for safety. Nissan knew about this problem, and refuses to do anything about it. They should be required to recall the cars and fix this safety hazard!!!.

My problem started when I was towing a trailer. After about a half hour of traveling on an expressway at high speed 50 to 55 mph, I would notice a drastic loss of power. I would be in the passing lane attempting to pass a slow moving vehicle and I would lose power to the point I would have to decelerate and back off and get back in behind the slow moving vehicle. This would create a very dangerous situation on the fast moving highway. I would have to then pull over and stop to allow the vehicle to cool and I could then continue for another half hour or so. I brought my vehicle into the Nissan dealerships in fort myers florida and clearwater florida but they were never able to diagnose my problem. I sold my trailer to avoid the danger of towing. . . . Then more recently I started experiencing a similar problem without towing a trailer. . . When encountering stop and go traffic on an expressway my Murano will not respond to the gas pedal for about an inch or two then suddenly the car will lurch forward all at once. This is very dangerous as if I am not careful I could rearend the car in front of me. As the previous problem it doesn't do it all the time and the dealer tells me they cant fix it unless it is doing it. I am perplexed by this when I went on line and found all the people with 03 Muranos that are having the same problems as I am. There is no single date of incident this is an ongoing thing.

I have a Nissan Murano 2003. On July 3,2009 after I stopped on a red light the car stopped without warning, it wouldn't go into gear I tried to accelerate and it would not respond. After couple tries the car when back into gear and I was able to drive back home at about 5 miles per hour. Before this incident the car did no show any sign of defect,there were no light or warning on the dash board and even as it stopped the engine was still running and everything in the car was working (air conditioner, lights, radio,etc) I took the car to the mechanic and they said is something wrong with the transmission. I was fortunate to be in a residential area, at a time were traffic was no so busy. At the time off this incident my entire family was in the car with me. If would been in a highway a sudden stop could have cause tragic consequences for my family and I. At this time I am looking at a 6,000 repair bill, and no answer from Nissan to take responsibility of this problem.

My 2003 Nissan Murano has failed to maintain speed or accelerate past anywhere from 5 to 40 mph even when flooring pedal. Almost caused an accident on interstate with children in car! took to Nissan replaced throttle control module computer over $700. 1 week later it is doing the same thing again. Problem started at about 67k miles on car. Took to dealer a week or two after it originally happened.

Transmission.

2003 Nissan Murano has a loud "wreeee" sound upon cranking it up; however within about 10 min. Of driving it quiets down. When the car is stopped and you begin to accelerate the car has a 3-5 sec stall and then leaps forward. When I was at an intersection my car did this and threw me into oncoming traffic. I was fortunate that the driver of the other car swerved in time to miss me, but it was a very close call.

My 2003 Nissan Murano began driving funny. It seemed like something was wrong with the car when I accelerated. The day before we were scheduled to bring it in for repair, my wife was driving on the highway and the car would no longer accelerate. We first towed the car to firestone, not knowing it was the transmission. Firestone was unable to repair the car, and the car was sent to Nissan, where we were told the car needs a new transmission. The car had only 70,000 miles on it, and there is no reason why the transmission should have failed. Upon further research I found plenty of complaints about the 2003-2004 transmissions failing in the Murano. We are now stuck with a $5500 bill we can not afford to pay. Updated 08/20/09.

The power on my 2003 Nissan Murano periodically cuts out during stop and start traffic, or hot conditions. Nothing happens for a few seconds and then the vehicle lurches forwards suddenly. This happened twice last year (around 100k miles), and has happened 4 times in the last month (116k miles). This lack of power has led to numerous dangerous situations where I have been stranded in front of oncoming traffic, or slipping down a hill, and the unpredictable surge of acceleration is also a major problem.

When car is driven in stop&go traffic on a 70f warm day the acceleration stops working. The acceleration becomes delayed and then the car surges forward after a 3 second delay. Very dangerous. Very common problem with this car & year. Nissan recommends an expensive transmission repair - $5k.

The contact owns a 2003 Nissan Murano. On April 15, 2009, the contact attempted to accelerate past 65 mph, but the vehicle would not move any faster. The vehicle then began to idle and slow down on its own, as if it slipped into neutral. The motor continued to run and the contact managed to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road. He turned off and restarted the vehicle without difficulty. There had been no failures with the vehicle prior to this incident. The dealer stated that a new transmission was needed. The failure mileage was 88,000.

1. There were no clear indications of the event or no warnings or indicator lights. 2. The 2003 Nissan Murano with 84k miles loses all power and acceleration when the accelerator is depressed. I found this out the hard way in making a left turn after coming to a stop and then turned in front of traffic that was far enough away to make the turn. However since the car would only move at no recordable velocity I was a sitting duck for oncoming traffic. 3. The car was taken to an independent mechanic who had it for 2 weeks and couldn't fix it. They then took it to a Nissan dealer who said the transmission valve body would need to be replaced at 1800$ plus labor. Then the next day they changed their minds and they came back the next day and said they would not replace this part without me signing a waiver washing there hands if this were to occur again. Basically not warranting their work or the part. They also could not guarantee the new transmission would happen to go out again after a certain amount of miles. So at the dealer the car sits. 4. I will not drive this car and put myself, my family or other motorists at risk. This is a serious problem and needs to be addressed. There are alot of these cars on the road. It is just a matter of time before something serious happens.

Needed to replace a transmission part called the "value body" in a 2003 Nissan Murano. The repair was recommended by the Nissan dealer and will cost $1795 total parts & labor. Apparently the dealer has replaced many transmission parts called the value body in the past here in san antonio,texas.