RPMs drop when accelerating, engine grinds

[asiancaver]

I live in Japan and my Japanese isn't good enough to explain my problem to the dealer, so I hope someone on the forum can help. I have a 1995 Nissan Primera (with only about 30,000 miles on it). I don't think Nissan sells Primeras in the States, but it's just a simple 4 door mid-sized sedan.

I am facing two basic problems. When I accelerate from a complete stop the RPMs will drop from about 2,500 to 2,000 even while I am still accelerating. Once this happens, something kicks in, and the car makes a short squealing or squeaking noise that almost sounds like the wheels have spun. It almost feels like pressure builds up and then releases once the noise is made. This doesn't happen all of the time, but perhaps every 3-4 starts/stops. The car is also often sluggish for the first minute of driving after having been parked for a long time.

The second problem is that under the same conditions (accelerating from a complete stop) instead of the squeaking/squealing noise, there will be a grinding noise from the engine and the car will vibrate. This stops as soon as I let off the accelerator and things become normal again. This almost always happens directly after I drive up a hill or an incline (such as a highway on ramp), and rarely, if ever, happens when driving on flat city streets. This only occurs about once every 10-15 miles or so. The car drives great on the highway once I am driving at a fairly constant speed.

I have taken the car twice now to the Nissan dealership, and both times they have run diagnostics that came back negative for any codes. I have changed the filters and flushed the transmission. I am wondering if perhaps there was an easy fix that they might have missed, or does this sound like something worse?

[Broke_as_****]

Do you have an automatic transmission? That sounds like it may cause some of that. If the rpm drops even while the car still goes forward then the transmission might be slipping and finally locks up, bring the engine rpm down. It could also cause the sluggish performance and grinding noise.

[mmcleo11]

I suspect you have an early CVT automatic transmission. The speedo will climb while the revs drop, this is normal but the noises are not normal.

It sounds like the CVT auto is damaged internally and it is not a cheap repair job. Basically, there is a belt on two pulleys, that allow the engine rpm to drop, while making the car speed up. That belt is easily damaged and the repair bill is often worth more than the car.

I had the CVT fail in my X-Trail GT and it was not a cheap repair.

[asiancaver]

thanks, that's helpful info since I'm still learning about car engines. It is an automatic, though I'm not sure my model (the P10) has a CVT. From what I could tell by checking the web, Nissan introduced CVTs in the Primera the following year with the P11. Can't say that mine doesnt have one for sure, though. I was hoping that it wasnt going to be something involving the tranny. I know my plugs are getting old, but I doubt that's the cause.

mmcleo11: you said that your CVT failed in your X-trail. Did you have any forwarning that it was coming, or did it just break on you out of the blue? When it failed, did the car just stop accelerating, or was it much worse than that? I need to drive the car for another three months (3000 miles or so), so i'm hoping that I can get by without putting much more money into it. I put another 120-130 miles on it yesterday, and it did OK, noticeably acting up only several times. Is there some easy way to check if it could be the CVT -- like looking at the transmission fluid for shavings or something like that?