[Ziy’s Altima]

Did you get your step motor replaced? Is your CVT working properly?

The step motor was replaced car runs normal now

 

[Ecmech58]

About 6 months ago I received the death code P1778 (stepper motor) in my 2008 Altima. I searched far and wide, low and high, only to be told 2 things... you need a new transmission, or you need a new valve body. since I didn't have $2500 for a new trans, let alone $800 for the valve body I decided to look into this a little further. watched a youtube video the only one I could find was a Nissan armada, but thought what the hell. I drained the fluid, dropped the pan, yanked out the valve body, and found that little bastard that gave me such trouble.

now with part in hand I went to my local parts store, and told we don't sell that part, its not even in our system... went to the dealership, told the same thing and was told I needed to buy a new transmission as they are not "serviceable" funny but I had the part in hand, how can it be not serviceable?

lastly I took a gamble, I went to ebay, ordered a stepper motor. 20k miles later, still no code, no whine, and no lock up. here is how I saved thousands and bought a $35 part.

1)drain fluid.
2)drop pan (clean with brake cleaner)
3)remove the 3 bolts holding filter. (clean with brake cleaner while your at it)
4)remove the valve body about 11 bolts
5)remove the stepper motor from the top of the valvebody (the side you can't see with the pan off) 2 bolts
6)replace with the new stepper motor found here JF011E RE0F10E F1CJA Transmission CVT Stepper Motor For SENTRAN Nissan Dodge | eBay
7)take a piece of dental floss about a foot long and hold the spring loaded arm back against the stepper motor and return the valve body back to the transmission.
8)after you have a few bolts in place remove the floss before you tighten all the way.
9)reconnect trans filter and bolt back into place.
10)rejoin the fluid pan to the transmission and replace with quality cvt fluid. Amsoil makes a great product.

I hope this helps and if you have questions please feel free to ask.

Good job. I've done the same thing on a couple Altimas now. Does anyone have any experience with the Nissan Quest 2013. Same stepper, different location. This one is on the front of the VBody. Drop the pan and it's in front of you. Replaced mine. Cleared out the 1778 code, but now it has no power and a code 0746 has come up.

 

[LadyMechanic]

Hello,
Sorry for posting in Altima thread.
I got 09 Murano. Was running fine, until the day the P1777 code showed up. Replaced the stepper motor and did a transmission flush. Put in about 10 qts till dipstick was in operating condition. All the codes went away but the vehicle won't move. You can have it in Reverse wont move, put in Drive wont move.
Any suggestions of what went wrong.
Thank you

 

[Ziy’s Altima]

Hello,
Sorry for posting in Altima thread.
I got 09 Murano. Was running fine, until the day the P1777 code showed up. Replaced the stepper motor and did a transmission flush. Put in about 10 qts till dipstick was in operating condition. All the codes went away but the vehicle won't move. You can have it in Reverse wont move, put in Drive wont move.
Any suggestions of what went wrong.
Thank you

Hello,
Sorry for posting in Altima thread.
I got 09 Murano. Was running fine, until the day the P1777 code showed up. Replaced the stepper motor and did a transmission flush. Put in about 10 qts till dipstick was in operating condition. All the codes went away but the vehicle won't move. You can have it in Reverse wont move, put in Drive wont move.
Any suggestions of what went wrong.
Thank you

I’m not sure that’s weird , I know if the stepper motor isn’t put back together properly this will happen

 

[Ziy’s Altima]

Good job. I've done the same thing on a couple Altimas now. Does anyone have any experience with the Nissan Quest 2013. Same stepper, different location. This one is on the front of the VBody. Drop the pan and it's in front of you. Replaced mine. Cleared out the 1778 code, but now it has no power and a code 0746 has come up.

When the P0746 OBD-II trouble code is set, the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) has detected a problem with the Transmission Pressure Control Solenoid "A". ... The code P0746 is set by the PCM when the Pressure Control Solenoid "A" is not functioning properly or stuck in the "Off" position.

 

[Desertrat]

About 6 months ago I received the death code P1778 (stepper motor) in my 2008 Altima. I searched far and wide, low and high, only to be told 2 things... you need a new transmission, or you need a new valve body. since I didn't have $2500 for a new trans, let alone $800 for the valve body I decided to look into this a little further. watched a youtube video the only one I could find was a Nissan armada, but thought what the hell. I drained the fluid, dropped the pan, yanked out the valve body, and found that little bastard that gave me such trouble.

now with part in hand I went to my local parts store, and told we don't sell that part, its not even in our system... went to the dealership, told the same thing and was told I needed to buy a new transmission as they are not "serviceable" funny but I had the part in hand, how can it be not serviceable?

lastly I took a gamble, I went to ebay, ordered a stepper motor. 20k miles later, still no code, no whine, and no lock up. here is how I saved thousands and bought a $35 part.

1)drain fluid.
2)drop pan (clean with brake cleaner)
3)remove the 3 bolts holding filter. (clean with brake cleaner while your at it)
4)remove the valve body about 11 bolts
5)remove the stepper motor from the top of the valvebody (the side you can't see with the pan off) 2 bolts
6)replace with the new stepper motor found here JF011E RE0F10E F1CJA Transmission CVT Stepper Motor For SENTRAN Nissan Dodge | eBay
7)take a piece of dental floss about a foot long and hold the spring loaded arm back against the stepper motor and return the valve body back to the transmission.
8)after you have a few bolts in place remove the floss before you tighten all the way.
9)reconnect trans filter and bolt back into place.
10)rejoin the fluid pan to the transmission and replace with quality cvt fluid. Amsoil makes a great product.

I hope this helps and if you have questions please feel free to ask.

Hello,
I don't get any code at all. It shows clear. Altima 2008 after a complete stop won't accelerate. Then seconds later is out of control ( finally catches up).
Had thrown several new parts already( fuel pump, accelerator sensor, alternator). All that hadn't helped. So the last resort to try stepping motor.
Scanner hasn't shown any codes at all.

 

[Mars26]

1

 

[Mars26]

About 6 months ago I received the death code P1778 (stepper motor) in my 2008 Altima. I searched far and wide, low and high, only to be told 2 things... you need a new transmission, or you need a new valve body. since I didn't have $2500 for a new trans, let alone $800 for the valve body I decided to look into this a little further. watched a youtube video the only one I could find was a Nissan armada, but thought what the hell. I drained the fluid, dropped the pan, yanked out the valve body, and found that little bastard that gave me such trouble.

now with part in hand I went to my local parts store, and told we don't sell that part, its not even in our system... went to the dealership, told the same thing and was told I needed to buy a new transmission as they are not "serviceable" funny but I had the part in hand, how can it be not serviceable?

lastly I took a gamble, I went to ebay, ordered a stepper motor. 20k miles later, still no code, no whine, and no lock up. here is how I saved thousands and bought a $35 part.

1)drain fluid.
2)drop pan (clean with brake cleaner)
3)remove the 3 bolts holding filter. (clean with brake cleaner while your at it)
4)remove the valve body about 11 bolts
5)remove the stepper motor from the top of the valvebody (the side you can't see with the pan off) 2 bolts
6)replace with the new stepper motor found here JF011E RE0F10E F1CJA Transmission CVT Stepper Motor For SENTRAN Nissan Dodge | eBay
7)take a piece of dental floss about a foot long and hold the spring loaded arm back against the stepper motor and return the valve body back to the transmission.
8)after you have a few bolts in place remove the floss before you tighten all the way.
9)reconnect trans filter and bolt back into place.
10)rejoin the fluid pan to the transmission and replace with quality cvt fluid. Amsoil makes a great product.

I hope this helps and if you have questions please feel free to ask.

How do I know what cvt to buy for my 2008 nissan altima? Do you know what the part code is?

 

[gmadigyal]

Hello,
Sorry for posting in Altima thread.
I got 09 Murano. Was running fine, until the day the P1777 code showed up. Replaced the stepper motor and did a transmission flush. Put in about 10 qts till dipstick was in operating condition. All the codes went away but the vehicle won't move. You can have it in Reverse wont move, put in Drive wont move.
Any suggestions of what went wrong.
Thank you

Maybe this is already performed and verified by you. I am suspecting the spring loaded Ratio control arm is not hooked up against the stepper motor and secured inside the Slot of the Step Motor arm. Also, hoping that the Stepper motor wiring connector is connected back to the motor. These are some steps which normally gets missed out if the job is done in a hurry. Please check and reconfirm.

 

[Desertrat]

Hello,
I don't get any code at all. It shows clear. Altima 2008 after a complete stop won't accelerate. Then seconds later is out of control ( finally catches up).
Had thrown several new parts already( fuel pump, accelerator sensor, alternator). All that hadn't helped. So the last resort to try stepping motor.
Scanner hasn't shown any codes at all.

Hope it would help someone else. Car was idling after a complete stop. Did replace the stepper motor. And it did it again. So, the actual problem was found shortly after, when the air intake hose was out and it had several holes. So, it turned out that air intake hose was causing the problem. It runs super good now.

 

[Race cars]

About 6 months ago I received the death code P1778 (stepper motor) in my 2008 Altima. I searched far and wide, low and high, only to be told 2 things... you need a new transmission, or you need a new valve body. since I didn't have $2500 for a new trans, let alone $800 for the valve body I decided to look into this a little further. watched a youtube video the only one I could find was a Nissan armada, but thought what the hell. I drained the fluid, dropped the pan, yanked out the valve body, and found that little bastard that gave me such trouble.

now with part in hand I went to my local parts store, and told we don't sell that part, its not even in our system... went to the dealership, told the same thing and was told I needed to buy a new transmission as they are not "serviceable" funny but I had the part in hand, how can it be not serviceable?

lastly I took a gamble, I went to ebay, ordered a stepper motor. 20k miles later, still no code, no whine, and no lock up. here is how I saved thousands and bought a $35 part.

1)drain fluid.
2)drop pan (clean with brake cleaner)
3)remove the 3 bolts holding filter. (clean with brake cleaner while your at it)
4)remove the valve body about 11 bolts
5)remove the stepper motor from the top of the valvebody (the side you can't see with the pan off) 2 bolts
6)replace with the new stepper motor found here JF011E RE0F10E F1CJA Transmission CVT Stepper Motor For SENTRAN Nissan Dodge | eBay
7)take a piece of dental floss about a foot long and hold the spring loaded arm back against the stepper motor and return the valve body back to the transmission.
8)after you have a few bolts in place remove the floss before you tighten all the way.
9)reconnect trans filter and bolt back into place.
10)rejoin the fluid pan to the transmission and replace with quality cvt fluid. Amsoil makes a great product.

I hope this helps and if you have questions please feel free to ask.

 

[Durwood]

I too got the dreaded P1778 death code. Have read through this entire thread (and others) and watched a few YT videos to replace the stepper motor for a 2012 Altima 2.5S. I spent 3 hours today dropping the valve body and replacing the stepper motor, put it all back together, crossed my fingers...and nothing. It starts fine, idles great, revs up in P but when I put it in Reverse I get no power at all. I push on the gas and the RPMs fluctuate between 1500 and 2000 (with my foot steady on the gas).

I am wondering if torque converter is bad based on some other stuff I read. It is not currently throwing a code since I've cleared it. It did start to act up about a month or so before it completely sh&t the bed. It was not shifting out of first and into second gear (very high RPM) but would generally do it if you let off the gas, higher pitched whine at times, but it was manageable in manual shift mode. Anyway, thanks for reading and appreciate any advice.

 

[SupremeSound618]

I have a 2011 Murano SV FWD. It does not accelerate past 30 mph. The RPM's increase rapidly while accelerating. There is no check engine light on The following codes came up when I took it to the dealership for diagnostics:

P1715 In Puly Speed
P1778 Step Motor - Current in ECM
P0745 PC Solenoid A - Current
P0868 Fluid Pressure Low
P1778 Step Motor - Current in TCM

The mechanic stated that he checked the wiring harness and the CVT fluid level and found everything as it should be. The fluid pressure code seems to indicate an electrical issue since the fluid level itself has been checked and is correct. Just like all the other posts I've read here, they recommended a replacement and quoted just north of $5,000. I'm no pro and I've never worked on a transmission before, but I'm determined to try and fix this myself. I've watched numerous videos on how to disassemble and reassemble this transmission and I think I can handle it with a little help from you guys. Any help with this issue would sure be appreciated. I paid $2,000 for this beauty and it is immaculate aside from this problem. It seems obvious that I should check the Step Motor, Fluid Pressure Sensor, Solenoid and possibly the speed sensor. I'm hoping that someone here has seen this combination of codes before and can lead me in the right direction.

 

[YeeP]

Hope it would help someone else. Car was idling after a complete stop. Did replace the stepper motor. And it did it again. So, the actual problem was found shortly after, when the air intake hose was out and it had several holes. So, it turned out that air intake hose was causing the problem. It runs super good now.

I have the same issue on a '09 Versa. The car would not drive forward or reverse except to creep without power. I changed out the stepper motor and filter screen and the car immediately became driveable for about a week. Then started having the "no accelleration after stop issue". I thought maybe I got a bad used stepper motor, so I replaced the entire valve body with a supposedly good used one with different stepper motor. Again ran fine for a couple of weeks and the accelleration from stop problem returned and is getting worse. I am getting codes P0725, P0868, and P1778. Can you explain what air intake hose you are referring to? I did notice that the transmission filter was dirty (the one that looks like a little oil filter). Doe anyone know what the part number for that is? (Transmission RE0F08B) Oh yeah, I may have also forgot to put the spring for the ratio control valve back in, but I drove OK for two weeks.... ;-). Don't want to do this too many times, CVT fluid is getting expensive.

 

[Durwood]

I have the same issue on a '09 Versa. The car would not drive forward or reverse except to creep without power. I changed out the stepper motor and filter screen and the car immediately became driveable for about a week. Then started having the "no accelleration after stop issue". I thought maybe I got a bad used stepper motor, so I replaced the entire valve body with a supposedly good used one with different stepper motor. Again ran fine for a couple of weeks and the accelleration from stop problem returned and is getting worse. I am getting codes P0725, P0868, and P1778. Can you explain what air intake hose you are referring to? I did notice that the transmission filter was dirty (the one that looks like a little oil filter). Doe anyone know what the part number for that is? (Transmission RE0F08B) Oh yeah, I may have also forgot to put the spring for the ratio control valve back in, but I drove OK for two weeks.... ;-). Don't want to do this too many times, CVT fluid is getting expensive.

The solution is to get a new transmission rather than piss away your time and money replacing parts. I found one from a salvage yard that only had 60k miles on it. With labor it was about $2,700 total. Not ideal, but can't buy a used car worth anything for that money. Good luck.

 

[Ecmech58]

About 6 months ago I received the death code P1778 (stepper motor) in my 2008 Altima. I searched far and wide, low and high, only to be told 2 things... you need a new transmission, or you need a new valve body. since I didn't have $2500 for a new trans, let alone $800 for the valve body I decided to look into this a little further. watched a youtube video the only one I could find was a Nissan armada, but thought what the hell. I drained the fluid, dropped the pan, yanked out the valve body, and found that little bastard that gave me such trouble.

now with part in hand I went to my local parts store, and told we don't sell that part, its not even in our system... went to the dealership, told the same thing and was told I needed to buy a new transmission as they are not "serviceable" funny but I had the part in hand, how can it be not serviceable?

lastly I took a gamble, I went to ebay, ordered a stepper motor. 20k miles later, still no code, no whine, and no lock up. here is how I saved thousands and bought a $35 part.

1)drain fluid.
2)drop pan (clean with brake cleaner)
3)remove the 3 bolts holding filter. (clean with brake cleaner while your at it)
4)remove the valve body about 11 bolts
5)remove the stepper motor from the top of the valvebody (the side you can't see with the pan off) 2 bolts
6)replace with the new stepper motor found here JF011E RE0F10E F1CJA Transmission CVT Stepper Motor For SENTRAN Nissan Dodge | eBay
7)take a piece of dental floss about a foot long and hold the spring loaded arm back against the stepper motor and return the valve body back to the transmission.
8)after you have a few bolts in place remove the floss before you tighten all the way.
9)reconnect trans filter and bolt back into place.
10)rejoin the fluid pan to the transmission and replace with quality cvt fluid. Amsoil makes a great product.

I hope this helps and if you have questions please feel free to ask.

Good job. I have done 3 for people now. It's a fairly easy process. But a warning to others. Not all the Nissan trannys are the same. My son has(d) a Nissan Quest with the same issue. We dropped the pan and did the solenoid. (His ended costing 213.00) and in the end it didnt correct the problem. Found out the CVT belt was bad. And that required a complete rebuild. 80k Mike's on it. I hear Nissan is facing a class action suit over these CVT trannys.

 

[YeeP]

The solution is to get a new transmission rather than piss away your time and money replacing parts. I found one from a salvage yard that only had 60k miles on it. With labor it was about $2,700 total. Not ideal, but can't buy a used car worth anything for that money. Good luck.

Problem is that I don't have $2700 to risk. My worry is that the junkyard transmission will be just as bad. Just hoping to find the issue as the car still runs better than it did when the problem first popped up, just not well enough to safely drive. I have a transmission filter on order, I'm going to try that along with putting the spring back into the ratio control valve....

 

[Keen H]

I had the P1778 problem on my 2008 Versa last Friday. I cleared the code and drove it on Saturday morning; it was ok in the morning. But it became a nightmare in the afternoon. It would not take the throttle and roll under 10 km/h. I got codes P0746 and P1778. I drove it on the industrial area roads and figured out that it could keep driving if I revved the throttle slowly just after I started the engine. It ran 50km/h with 1800rpm. Once I stopped, it would not respond to the throttle anymore. Anyway, I managed to get home. On Sunday, I wanted to give it a shot. It did not respond at all.

I am waiting for a stepper motor and want to try replacing the motor.

Update:
I replaced the motor. It has no issue for a month.

 

[argylee00]

UPDATES:
First I want to sincerely thank the community. I bought a 2013 Maxima with over 100k miles and within 3 months, RPMs stuck at 3500 HWY at 69mph, in town stuck at 2500rpm and got the P1778. No transmission shop will touch Nissan CVT that I could find. Other forums and shops talk about "generic" code and it's usually the belts/pullies and need new tranny.

I did it myself, followed YouTube and this posts and want to share successes and tweaks.
1) no where did it talk about a new pan gasket. I bought one but didn't need because gasket was still in tact.
2) the 3.5L motors have step motor accessible without removing the valve body, the 2.5L you need to remove valve body.
3)I used 1.5 cans of brake cleaner for pan and removable filter.
4) Nissan NS-2 was $22/qt. You need 4.5-5 cans. I used Castrol and Valvoline mix (what the store had) at ½ the price.

It took 1.5 hours to do is all. Immediate first drive, in town was 1200 RPM and HWY @70mph was around 1800 RPMs.

 

[akirb]

Hi everyone,
I also have gotten the p1778 error code on my 2011 Altima. It has around 147,000 miles and my car had been doing a slight chug/jerk occasionally when driving for about 6 months prior. Sometimes it would happen when accelerating and other times it would be when I had cruise control set. I'm not sure if that was related to the transmission at all? I asked around and was told to put higher quality gas in my car and it would help. That did help for a little while but more recently the problem returned. I also never had any lights on, the car just wouldn't accelerate. It does turn on, shift and drive very slowly (around 15mph) but makes an awful, almost screeching, sound. I have zero mechanical knowledge so the idea of trying to change the step motor myself is, unfortunately, out of the question. I am now left with the decision to take it in for a repair or sell it. After reading all of the posts, it sounds like finding someone to replace the step motor rather than installing a whole transmission may be difficult/impossible and very expensive. Does anyone have any idea on how much it may be to repair the transmission rather than replace it? Or any advice on whether to fix it or get rid of it are also very welcome. It feels like there really isn't a good decision in this situation.
Thanks so much.