Manual Shift Mode

[radin2son]

axulsuv sold his NV 1500 some time ago and went with a KIA Soul. No problems with his NV.

 

Your dilemma brings up an important point for anyone modifying their van. Nissan warranty and customer service will drop responsibility and watch the door hit you on your way out. In your case, they CANNOT do this. You bought your NV with those rims and tires from and installed by the dealer.

 

Did you tell customer service this when you contacted them.?

 

I would go the other dealer in SLC and speak with the service manager about the effect on the transmission and/or engine. If they say no problem; the "cutoff" or whatever prevented damage. Ask the service manager the same question at Tim Dahle Nissan and have him put it in writing. No problem if refused; take notes.

 

You have a good case going forward as they say... Keep the pressure on but keep your cool for now.

[wollip]

Daniel,

Your problem seems unique enough to warrant its own thread - which might also help it from getting buried at the end of this older one.

Unfortunately, I don't have any insights into your problem but hope you get it resolved quickly.

Your experience with the dealership(s) reminds me of my initial buying experience. By the time it was finished, I was completely done with that dealer. They even got to keep their couple of free oil changes.

I moved on - found a great dealer (North Point Nissan in Little Rock) for service and advice and have thoroughly enjoyed owning my NV for 4+ years.

Best of luck with your problem.

[wollip]

The recent revival of this thread reminds me that I need to post an update to my situation described in multiple posts above.

The metal washer is still in place but the electrical tape has been replaced with black heat shrink tubing which makes it stable and better appearance wise.

The smaller opening in the washer keeps me from "fiddling" with the button absentmindedly or accidentally.

It's been over a year now with that mod in place and not once since has the manual shift mode given me any reason for concern.

I still think a warning light should appear whenever manual shift mode is disabled.

[radin2son]

Wollip, it does show you when it is engaged.

[ASD Dad]

Daniel - you need to read up on the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act that is enforced by the FTC.

 

Here is a good summary - http://www.autoanything.com/popups/MossWarranty.aspx

 

You can certainly go to the FTC site and read all the legal boiler plate but above will give you the basics.  The burden is on the dealer to prove the tires are causing the problem and it cant be something like "because I said so".  If this gets far enough along they would need to prove in arbitration court that the tires are causing the ECU to malfunction and kick the transmission out of manual mode.  Highly unlikely.  

 

Granted you dont want to make enemies of the people working on your van but you also dont need the runaround and smoke screens when they cant figure out what is wrong with your van.  They're grasping at straws and hoping you just go away.

[radin2son]

ASD Dad, you're right and Chris_cm has pointed out it is up to Nissan to prove the the "mod" or person caused the problem. You are also correct that the push back is to make you go away. My point was overstated.

 

My point should have been about the potential runaround you can get for minor problems. It may have been on this or the SMB forum about an alignment issues on a 4x4 conversion. The dealer referred the owner to the tire shop and it went back and forth until the owner pointed out the dealer sold the 4x4 van. It was resolved through the dealer. 

 

Daniel should be able to avoid this runaround.

[wollip]

Wollip, it does show you when it is engaged.

Yes, it does. But my point is that auto shift mode can be disengaged (or unavailable, however you want to look at it) and you would not know that until you ask for that control and it is denied. As in - I'm getting ready to go down this 12 deg incline and I'd like to use my lower gears RIGHT NOW.

If the can bus or whatever controls it, can disable my access to auto shift, it could certainly be made to throw a warning light when such an action has been taken. Finding it out the hard way is dangerous and irresponsible.

Correct me if I'm still missing something here.

[radin2son]

I get your point, but would you, as in all of us, notice a warning light, unless it beeped, any more than than the PRND appearing.

 

In your case, would the computer know you intended or not to disengage it? In Daniel's case, you would think it would trigger a code; a warning light would have been great as well.

 

Your finger guard solution works, unless you are talking about it disengageing on its own. Then it is "dangerous and irresponsible."

 

It will be interesting to see how Daniel's plays out if he keeps his NV. Remember mc2guy?

[Daniel Strange]

Update as of 7 April 2017 on my situation.  I finally got the Regional Dealer Technician to come meet me at the Ken Garff Dealership in SLC.  He hooked up the diagnostic machine and let me see the error codes.  It showed code P1815 that deals with the Transmission Control Module (TCM).  It is currently in the shop to get that TCM Valve replaced (and fix the oil pan leak and AM Radio malfunctions).

 

Frustrating that they did not diagnose this code that was obviously there for months.  Glad my hounding of the Consumer Affairs people paid off though.  I will update if I have any more issues.

[radin2son]

Thanks for getting back on this. By consumer affairs, do you mean Nissan commercial? If still telephone only, it would be great if they would use written complaints/response like they do on the auto site. Makes for a better record.

 

Great that you got the problem resolved.

 

On an aside, Ken Garf was one of 8-10 dealers who sold Sportsmobile. $10k markup.

[NVAD]

Just wanted to thank you guys for posting this issue and its possible solution(s). I just encountered this issue trying to downshift from auto to manual and was wondering what was going on. I've got about 90,000 miles on my 2012 NV2500. Dealer flushed the transmission fluid on the maintenance free transmission last service @ 70,000 miles and Ive had a few issues since then and was starting to wonder if servicing the maintenance free transmission was the cause. Not switching from auto to manual is one issue. The other is not engaging after shifting from park to drive. Both are intermittent problems (of course) right now anyway. I'm wondering if a faulty TCM could be the cause of both of these issues. Something I'll be bringing up with the dealers service dept. Thank you again for all the posts in this thread. Super helpful.

[radin2son]

I’ve never had it not engage manual mode from auto or disengage.

 

I wouldn’t even call it intermittent, but I have had it not shift into D. Caught between N and D even though it looked to be in D. Shifted it back to N, then D. I attributed it to sloppy shifting on my part.

 

Had transmission fluid changed at 30 and 60k at dealership. No related problems.

[NVAD]

I’ve never had it not engage manual mode from auto or disengage.

 

I wouldn’t even call it intermittent, but I have had it not shift into D. Caught between N and D even though it looked to be in D. Shifted it back to N, then D. I attributed it to sloppy shifting on my part.

 

Had transmission fluid changed at 30 and 60k at dealership. No related problems.

Thanks for the response. Good to know about no issues with a transmission fluid flush. If it ends up being a mechanical issue I'll post what it is. Thanks again.

[radin2son]

I re-read Daniel’s initial post forward and came to the conclusion that an obd scanner should be part of every NV tool kit.

 

I have Bosch mobile scan that works with both of our vehicles and shows codes when the check engine light comes on or with an emissions scan. There are less expensive units available.

 

Auto parts stores also can run a scan and give you the code. The benefit of having your own is to be able to determine if you can drive it or need to get it towed. Nissan roadside service will cover the tow to the nearest commercial dealership. The longest tow that I’m aware of is Moab to SLC.

 

If you have a problem, service will ask what code came up. This way they have a starting point.

 

There haven’t been any recent posts regarding Commercial customer service. Hope it improved but doubtful...

[ooshwa]

Just came across this thread while searching for a solution to this very issue. Last year, while traveling I discovered I could only switch to manual mode within a few moments of restarting my car. Unfortunately, after my trip to the mountains, I didn't think about it again until now (headed back in 10 days). Now, I cannot get it to switch to manual mode at all, regardless of key restart. What do you guys suggest I tell the dealer when I take it in?

 

Thanks for any help or guidance you can offer.

[radin2son]

You would think it would be a fuse, but the Titan forum says it is a problem with a broken wire (black). You have to remove the plastic around the steering column...

 

A 2006 post shows the fix with photos and video. Best bet is to google Nissan Titan Forum auto to manual issue.

[CaptainLarry]

I had this happen while towing the camper down the Blue Ridge this weekend. 

 

So the Feds don't see this as a safety issue?  No lawsuits?  No crashing down the mountain?

 

Nissan told me no TSB on file for that.  Unreal.

 

I guess I'll look under the steering column tonight.

[radin2son]

2006 Titan post is for old V8, so there may not be a NV TSB for the new V8 if you have a 2017 or newer NV. Or it could be that the issue is considered Titan only, which makes no sense. 

 

Were you unable able to get it in manual mode later or it is just not working. Dealer should be able to deal with this if they also can’t get it to work. 

[CaptainLarry]

2014.  I have not tried since Sunday.  I was going to open the column tonight.

[CaptainLarry]

I did open the column Wednesday as planned.  A little different set-up than the Titan photos I saw.  More clips to pop.  Hopefully they will stay together after reassembly.  The cheesy brushes that surround the shifter opening were damaged.  (Rhetorical question - Why are those even there!)

The wire bundle looked OK.  There was only one potential weak point right where a sheathed bundle entered the steel shifter tubing.  It very well could be broken inside, but the sheath was not really chaffed.

So we sat right there in the driveway shifting in and out of manual mode with just the ignition on.  No faults ever, despite wiggling, pulling, twisting, flexing, tilting the wheel.  I also removed the plastic wire retainer to give the wires more freedom for the experiment.

I left the cowling off for now to do some more tests while driving.  Nothing so far.

[lavacano]

Glad I found this

 

2019 NV 3500 passenger van, problem started at 5k miles for me (started heavily using engine braking at that time to assist in brake wear hvy boi)

 

I've found this happens most frequently when min/maxing compression vs braking and spamming down shift to engage lower gears as fast as possible. 

 

Obv not a wear issue here. There was an Armada post saying it may be battery voltage related. 

 

Bottom line is fw devs need to get good, how is this blaringly unsafe issue from 2012 still hitting 7 years later?

 

You took away the mechanical gear tangs and replaced it with this, unacceptable. 

 

Nissan needs to take ownership of this issue before inevitable class action imho. Nissan git gud. 

 

Vin 5BZBF0AA2KN85578

 

DIAGNOSIS manual shift on/off button DISABLED with code thrown from poorly designed firmware. 

 

Sounds like we won't get a new firmware/fix without raising a stink, glad it's documented flawed on many vehicles. 

 

Could we clear the code while driving with a scanner? Doubtful. 

 

What happens when engine braking is needed and my 13 passenger van gets injured from this flaw?  

 

How feasible would it be to get low gear detents installed if Nissan wontfix the firmware?

 

 

 

 

[lavacano]

I also have 2 2020 nv2500 4l with less than 1k, if there is any interest I will see if I can reproduce on them. 

[CaptainLarry]

I put my column back together since I could never reproduce the error.  I'll be towing this coming week.  We'll see how it does up and down the mountains.

[Fastgolfr32]

 Bringing this back up and hopefully Gene can answer this.  Is the Manual Shift select button Normally Open or Normally closed?   I have found in Titan forums there was a broken wire in the shift column. I pulled mine apart and all wires are intact. Went a step further and pulled the entire arm off,  checked continuity of all wires, all have continuity. Crossed checked between colors, black and yellow are constant NC to each other until the button is mashed. It looks like brown and black should be NO until mashed but they stay open.  I think the micro button itself has a bad component. That is, the silicon piece that presses across the contacts on the PCB is just silicon with no conductive material. 2014 NVP 36500 SL.