Hi All, after a frustrating weekend working on the car, I need all your help!
My 2005 2.5TD has about 65K miles and was due a service so as I have done many times in the past, I carried out the following:

Drain engine oil, replace filter and add new oil.
Replace diesel fuel filter
Drain auto gearbox oil and refill with same amount of Nissan Matic J as specified here in Australia. (approx 3.5litres - dip stick level ok, when hot and in neutral).
Replaced air filter.
Spray small amount of WD40 onto belts to stop squeals.

Immediately after this work, the car was noticeably lacking in acceleration, especially when cold trying to reverse out of the drive - it barely moves at all after being left all night (the car is parked on a downward slope if that means anything).
During driving, it is sluggish, but will eventually climb to normal speeds. Kickdown feels a bit slower than it used to be

I initially suspected fuel starvation so replaced the new fuel filter with the old one, but no better. I am now thinking that it may have something to do with the gear box oil being changed....any thoughts? (I did the gearbox oil / radiator bypass last service, so that can be rulled out).

Willing to listen to any ideas - unfortunately, since I did several bits of the service at the same time, not sure which one has caused the issue.

looking forward to hearing from you all.

Regards, Paul

Sounds like the transmission for sure. How many miles since your last fluid change? (before this one). It sounds like low fluid....are you 100% sure its full? I would rule out anything with the fuel filter unless the engine itself is losing power.

Dont want to alarm you, but that sounds exactly like what mine did before it started dropping gears. Just got it back last week from getting a new transmission. And it had 64,000 miles. I noticed a spike in RPM every time it was slipping and not pulling.

I really hope Nissan fixes this issue at some point. I love my Nissan too much to buy a different vehicle next time around, but I may just have to.

Thanks for the reply. I purchased the car second hand so not sure about its full history, but I have never had the transmission fully flushed...but at the last oil change about 6000 miles ago, did the drain and refill, the same as this time. Will double check the fluid level, but since tried to measure the amount drained and used the same quantity to top up, and the dip stick confirms right level, doubt that the oil level is too low. Also, seams a bit of a coincidence that the fault has occurred at the same time as I worked on it - may be dislodged some dirt or something?
Next option is to drain and refill again, just to see if that makes any difference.
Thanks again, and any other comments or help appreciated.
Paul

a restricted fuel filter will cause this on your diesel. Did you keep the old one? Put it back on and see if the problem goes away.

In this case, it will idle fine, but start lugging when you give it some fuel, because its starving.

t

Hi Terry,
Blocked diesel filter was my first thought, so have already put the old one back on. Still no joy. Paul

(the first time I reverse up, out of the drive each morning, its at its worst, but after a run, the reverse up hill is not quite so bad - this makes me think its a pressure or flow issue with the gearbox, but no expert with auto boxes.)

I'n not a diesel expert by any means but is there a process that you need to go through to bleed the air out of the fuel system after you replace the filter?

Not sure what the diesel fuel filter looks like but is it possible it can be on backwards. Just a thought.

but if it were the fuel filter, wouldnt the engine itself be losing power? It sounded like he described it as "losing pull". Maybe I read it wrong

To bleed the air out of the filter after a change, there is a plunger / pump on top of the filter...but this did not appear to work. The only way I could get the car to start was to attach a pela oil removal suction pump onto the out flow of the filter assembly and suck diesel through.

The main symptom is the car not having any power when first started and generally lacking a bit of power through normal driving. It will still reach normal speeds, but not as responsive or as fast at getting there.

Paul

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I have decided to call in the experts so the car is booked into a local diesel injection specialist next Wednesday who will run some diagnostics and give me their thoughts......will keep you posted of the outcome. Paul

Hi All,
Just to conclude this now that the car was fixed today:-
The diesel injection specialist here in Adelaide ran a diagnostic check that lead him to discover that I had knocked off a vacuum hose that is connected to the turbo and helps control the ECU. Not sure of the exact purpose of the hose, but after he replaced it, the car is back to normal. The hose is apparently difficult to see and is close to the oil filter on the diesel engine (and for anyone with the diesel, you will know how difficult it is to get to the oil filter). For what its worth, the technician initially suspected dirty fuel injectors after he test drove it so much relieved that the repair cost was no where near the cost of replacing the injectors.
Typically, came home in a good mood so decided to empty the plastic create that I use to catch the drained oils (bad mood after the car ran poorly so had left it in the garage for the last week) and found the missing hose! Although I would not have known where it had come from, would have put 2 and 2 together and worked out that it was the cause of the poor performance.
The end!
Thanks again for everyone's input. Paul