2012 Nissan Sentra: check engine light

Filed Aug 1, 2025 · Acceleration, Engine · 160,504 miles · DE

The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,504.

Filed Nov 7, 2022 · Acceleration, Engine · SC

While traveling down the interstate doing the normal speed limit, I was forced to pull over to the emergency lane so cars can pass me. My car lost power to the engine without notice. No check system engine lights were not activated during this time. Car and Trucks were having to swerve over in other lanes to keep from rear ending me and causing a major wreck. This happen several weeks ago again with no lights lighting up on dash. I was able to pull over for a few minutes and restart the car and it was back to normal. I looked things up online and took my car into a repair shop to let me know the problem, They stated that they have seen this issue with Nissan vehicles. It is the CVT transmission issue. The loss of power comes from the CVT fluid getting too hot and reduces power to save the CVT transmission, I have a 2012 Nissan Sentra that was Manufactured 6/2012.

Filed Aug 3, 2021 · Transmission · NV

I was going on a road trip with my sister that should have taken 5 hours and I had enough gas to make it there with no stops. I had gotten an emissions test done a few days prior for registration purposes and the car passed (there were no engine lights present). When we started the drive between Nevada and Arizona, there were many steep inclines and downhill areas. The first few inclines were fine, but about an hour into the trip we were going up a hill and I could not get the car to accelerate past 45mph with the pedal fully to the floor. At first I suspected that I may have made poor use of my momentum, but after cross-checking my RPM gauge, I noticed that the car was not making effort to go over 3000 RPM's. I was very fearful being that the car was barely able to hold 45mph in the 65mph zone and we may not be able to make it over the hill. After suffering through many steep inclines in the middle of nowhere, I was finally able to pull over and turn the car completely off. There were no mechanics within an hour drive in either direction, so I chose to continue. I got back on the highway and the car was behaving normally again. I thought the whole thing was a hoax until it happened again on another bout of uphill stretches. We were trying to find another town to pull over in and hit a thunderstorm at one point. It was absolutely terrifying because we were practically crawling up the hills and unable to hold a constant speed, but it was not safe to pull over because of the weather. We eventually made it through and were able to turn the car off. The problem went away again for a short time and came back a final time on a flat stretch of road. I was unable to accelerate over 70mph. The only problem that I've ever had with the car was that the transmission wasn't changing gears smoothly, and it caused an engine light at one point. I got the engine light checked and it was for the transmission, but the engine light went away soon after and has not come back.

Filed Mar 1, 2021 · Transmission · 100,220 miles · AR

Was driving on snow when the check engine light illuminated, upon running a code scan it showed TCM lost communication. When dealer checked they said they detected a shutter in the CVT.

Filed Sep 20, 2019 · Engine · 83,450 miles · PA

Number 3 cylinder low compression with only 83k miles on the vehicle. Rough engine driving and check engine light on. Codes p0300 and p0303 displayed. This kind of engine failure shouldn't happen with such low mileage

Filed Sep 4, 2019 · Engine · MO

My check engine light triggered and I brought the car to my local nissan shop. The car had been running rough, loosing power, and burning oil. The mechanic told me I needed new spark plugs and a new boot. After agreeing to pay the $500, I received a phone call from the shop. The mechanic explained that the problem was not fixed, that actually I needed to replace the entire engine. After the $500 in work had been done, the mechanic performed a compression test. The test indicated a bad engine. So the work was done on a bad engine. The car had about 100,000 miles on it and has always had proper maintenance. So why is it bad already? And why was I mislead to pay $500 on a bad engine? This is not right. Please let me know if you need more information. Thank you for your time.

Filed Jun 17, 2019 · Airbags, Body · 108,000 miles · TX · crash

I was pulled over stating my tags were bad and to go to the dealership to obtain new ones. He then inspected my car and I was on my way aftet we discussed the tierod issue and made an appointment I then recorded on my phone the shake from the steering wheel. I later found out the blinking light was the airbag light not the seat belt light and the check engine light was on as well. The car should not have passed inspection. I got in a small fender bender and the insurance is now totaling my car.

Filed May 7, 2018 · Acceleration, Transmission · 103,000 miles · VA

"CVT transmission issues" 2012 nissan sentra sr 2.0l with 103,000 miles on the vehicle and maintained adequately since getting the vehicle in 2013. For the last six months, I have been experiencing my vehicle loss of acceleration on only being able to go 10 MPH max when my vehicle goes into limp mode. This happens to me on the interstate 64 westbound from richmond, va to harrisburg, va going uphill where I was going 70 - 75 MPH when the vehicle loss acceleration and my speed dropped dramatically almost causing a wreck. This is due to being in the left lane and having nowhere I could pull off the interstate readily available. To me, this is a significant safety concern as this is happening now after being driven for 30 minutes to an hour. Took the vehicle to midas where I had them run a diagnostic test on the car to see if there are any codes on the car since there is "no check engine light on." the technician drove the car for 30 minutes and experienced the same issue I've been experiencing. The vehicle went into limp mode, and he had to wait an hour before the car would accelerate again. The technician came back with the following: 'tech found that the CVT transmission is having internal problems-vehicle us not safe to drive. Tech found code p1722 est vehicle speed signal, p0744 at tr sw function, p1778 step motor. Also, vehicle needs front struts and rear shocks - no control of steering wheel. It appears nissan has had problems with the CVT transmission from their 2007 - 2010 sentra and issued an extended ten year - 120,000 miles warranty. Nissan needs to extend the warranty to every year that nissan has used the CVT transmission as they are unreliable and eventually will cause a fatal accident on the highways with their transmission going into limp mode. Please look into this matter for all nissan sentra 2011, 2012, etc. This is a problem.

Filed May 7, 2018 · Suspension, Transmission · 103,000 miles · VA

"CVT transmission issues" 2012 nissan sentra sr 2.0l with 103,000 miles on the vehicle and maintained adequately since getting the vehicle in 2013. For the last six months, I have been experiencing my vehicle loss of acceleration on only being able to go 10 MPH max when my vehicle goes into limp mode. This happens to me on the interstate 64 westbound from richmond, va to harrisburg, va going uphill where I was going 70 - 75 MPH when the vehicle loss acceleration and my speed dropped dramatically almost causing a wreck. This is due to being in the left lane and having nowhere, I could pull off the interstate readily available. To me, this is a significant safety concern as this is happening now after being driven for 30 minutes to an hour. Took the vehicle to midas where I had them run a diagnostic test on the car to see if there are any codes on the car since there is "no check engine light on." the technician came back with the following: 'tech found that the CVT transmission is having internal problems-vehicle us not safe to drive. Tech found code p1722 est vehicle speed signal, p0744 at tr sw function, p1778 step motor. Also, vehicle needs front struts and rear shocks - no control of steering wheel.' it appears nissan has had problems with the CVT transmission from their 2007 - 2010 sentra and issued an extended ten year - 120,000 miles warranty. Nissan needs to extend the warranty to every year that nissan has used the CVT transmission as they are unreliable and eventually will cause a fatal accident on the highways with their transmission going into limp mode.would like my vehicle added to the CVT extended warranty - 10 years + 120,000 miles since my vehicle is experiencing the same issues as the 2007 - 2010 vehicles. Occurred on interstate, highway, and city.

Filed Aug 7, 2017 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 90,000 miles · MA

After a 1.5-2 hour drive on the highway, my car would not accelerate beyond 60 MPH. It drove fine after getting home and getting some rest. No lights came on this first. Similar event happened a couple weeks later - much shorter drive approx. 20 minutes, slower speeds, but main inclines. All lights (check engine, oil, emergency brake, battery) came on and the car would no accelerate at all. I pulled over and turned the car off then back on again and it was completely fine.

Filed May 8, 2017 · Acceleration, Engine · 110,000 miles · ID

I have owned this car for 2 years. Every year, as it starts to warm up in the spring, the same problem recurs. I have had it to several repair shops, only to be told that it cannot be fixed. As I am driving on the freeway, it will suddenly start to decelerate, and I must pull off the road and let the car sit, turned off, for 20-40 minutes. Last week, the check engine light came on, and when I took it back to the dealer, they want $3000 to fix the car. This has been a problem since the first summer after I bought it.

Filed Feb 26, 2017 · Engine · 167,000 miles · TN

The issue first started last summer. I had a car full of 4 teenagers and we were heading out of town and the engine began a loud whistle sounds and then the gas pedal quit working - we limped off the highway after almost getting hit and got a tow truck and rental car. The mechanic had us pay for a whole new motor. We thought the issue was fixed. Then a couple months later I again had 4 teenagers in my car heading out of town and the whistle noise started about an hour into the trip. Then it got louder. Then the car would decelerate going uphill. Then, as we got to the next exit, the gas pedal stopped working completely. We again almost died, barely made it to the gas station and realized there was an auto zone next door. So we went and had the codes read as the check engine light had just popped on...when I turned the car back on, everything worked fine but it had sat for 30 minutes. Research LED us to the CVT issues with an extended warranty that had passed. We tried a transmission cooling device and did not drive the car over an hour. But this past week I tried again with 2 teenagers in my car...one hour in to a trip, it happened again. This is not ok for a car transmission to decelerate and put my children and my life at risk.