Can you swap a CVT to normal 4 speed (Versa)?

A friend of mine had her 2007 Versa (170k miles) quit on her- dealer says the CVT in it is shot. According to what she said the dealer said, a tranny line in the radiator leaked causing the coolant and CVT fluid to mix. This destroyed the CVT trans. So it needs a trans and radiator. I can pick it up for cheap... very very cheap.

The car was offered new with a manual trans, CVT trans, or a 4-speed trans.

I found used CVTs for $1000 locally but I don't like those things and have heard horror stories. I found a whole lot more 4-speed trans locally for around $300. Can I just swap in the 4-speed in place of the CVT? Obviously the cooling system will be cleaned and radiator replaced.

Would I also need wiring harness, computer, axles? If I can't easily swap the trans to the 4-speed I will let her sell it to the dealer for scrap.

There might be some answers here, Versa Chat

Here is a little tip to try to identify if looking at Versa in junkyards.
All the 4 speed autos were the base model so velour, single color cloth interior. All the cvt models were SL, upscale models so tweed, more multi color fabric interior. No leather was offered from the factory.

Ask yourself this question:

What is a running, driving, 2007 Versa with 170k worth? Couple grand, maybe?

Even if you can get the car for free, you'll probably put a grand into it.

I can't see the value proposition here.

Buy it for the value of the tires, sell tires and one other part, crush. Profit!

Ain't worth the time to fix, unless you have a real boner for an orphan Datsun.

EvanR wrote: Ask yourself this question: What is a running, driving, 2007 Versa with 170k worth? Couple grand, maybe? Even if you can get the car for free, you'll probably put a grand into it. I can't see the value proposition here.

I've asked myself this question many times before buying all the cars I've flipped. If I can just throw a $300 4-speed into it I'll walk away up but if I need all the other items (wiring, computer, axles) and so on, then I agree it's not worth it. Book value is around $3k on it. I've done the maintenance on it for the past 3 year so I know it's condition. Unfortunately I don't really have time to part out a car these days otherwise I would go that route. I'm thinking this one is a pass.

I enjoyed your question. I have considered the used purchase of these cars for my delivery business. My takeaway from this thread is to only seek out 4 speed cars since the trans price of replacement is so much cheaper.

On another note, the fact that the CVT went 170k miles also exceeded my expectation. My wife had one of these Versas (w/cvt) as new when they came out 10 years ago. It was okay for what we needed at the time and we only kept it 3 years. I do remember shortly after buying they extended the trans warranty from 60k to 100k. I think this was to address buyer concerns and a rash of early failures.

I owned a Saturn Vue w/ manual trans. These too were offered with a problematic CVT.
The popular swap when the CVT goes bad on the Vue is to convert to a manual trans.

Have you investigated what it would take to convert the Versa to manual trans?
But, before you do, be aware that a manual trans'ed Versa may sell much slower (and possibly lower) that an automatic version given the type of buyer who is interested in this type of car.

The CVT in her car had been giving her issues for a while- I changed the fluid in it but it didn't do too much. I would still avoid these at all costs.

I thought about the manual swap but I was looking at this for a cheap/easy flip and swapping out more than a transmission is not what I wanted to do.

For sure, you will need a computer swap. Unless Nissan has some kind of indicator in the module that tells it to run the CVT controls. But I doubt that- CVT's run so differently than regular transmissions that the drivers would not match up. So you would certainly need a module and wiring change.

It looks like the 1.8L was available with the conventional 4spd auto, as well. So it would seem a swap is possible. 6spd manual is another option (if you're not sold on the auto).