Altima 2.5 CVT (Jatco JF011E) & Redline???

[il_signore97]

Hey guys,

I know this has come up here a few times before, but there was never a definitive answer as to whether or not anyone has actually tried this or not.

A friend has been asking me about this (it's for his car). He really wants to try the Redline Non-Slip CVT fluid as recommended by Dave @ Redline Oil. I'm not sure what to tell him as I have not heard of anyone using this fluid yet.

What do you guys think? The Jatco box is fairly common among brands (Chrysler, Mitsu, Nissan, etc). Redline or dealer fluid? I can't see Dave at Redline recommending a fluid that will NOT work...

Thanks

 

[unDummy]

More non-OE CVTF's are becoming available.
I think that your friend will do well with the Redline CVTF.

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=128&pcid=9
http://www.eneos.us/product/7
http://www.lubegard.com/C-1009/LUBEGARD+Universal+CVT+Fluid
http://www.bgprod.com/products/transmission.html
http://www.wynnsusa.com/pdf/14241_CVTSpecSht.pdf
http://www.santotrac.com/techdata/s3000tdata_05.htm
http://www.penriteoil.com.au/pis_pdfs/0CVT Fluid.pdf

 

[il_signore97]

Wow... Didn't realize that there were already that many non-OE fluids out there...

 

[Finklejag]

Tell your friend to stick with the Nissan OEM fluid. Nissan just extended the CVT warranty to 10 years/120,000 miles for free. The other fluids on the market will probably work just as well as the Nissan stuff, but since Nissan will foot the bill if anything goes wrong with the Jatco unit. Might as well pay a little more for the Nissan fluid.

I will try to find the TSB on the CVT warranty info.

 

[il_signore97]

^That's a good point. Thanks for the info. Is this some kind of secret warranty (or maybe US only)? My friend never got any notification letter from Nissan Canada.

Also, just to be technical, Nissan states that the CVT fluid does not require changing until the "fluid expiration value" in the TCM states that it needs to be changed. I have no idea what this "expiration value" signifies, but apparently many people (even with 100,000+ miles) are nowhere near the expiration value after inquiring at their dealership. This can be checked with the Nissan Consult II or III.

Now, I'm not suggesting this, but if my friend wanted to, he could change the fluid with whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and can just say he's never changed the fluid if a warranty concern comes up. They'd never know because it comes out black regardless, and it certainly won't be the Redline that causes the failure

But it would be up to him of course...

 

[Johnny248]

I'm pretty sure Nissan usa says 100k on the CVT fluid. The Nissan fluid is something like $25 a quart. The BG Cvt that we use is less expensive. And yes, Nissan (at least in the US) extended the CVT warranty for 10/100k because they are junk. We have been replacing them like crazy.

 

[il_signore97]

This is what kills me. They say 100k (or whatever) for the fluid, but the trannies obviously aren't holding up. And my friend went to the dealer to try and have the fluid changed there, and they told him no, it doesn't need to be done until the "fluid expiration value" says so! Many dealerships too, not just one!!!

I would think that one could at least give their CVT a fighting chance with frequent fluid changes (using a high quality fluid), adding an inline filter, and some form of aftermarket fluid cooler. Obviously tampering like that would cause Nissan to try and deny the warranty claim, but if there's no extended warranty in Canada, and if the tranny never fails in the first place...

 

[unDummy]

Fluid expiration value??? hahaha, its good until the transmission fails!!!!

 

[Finklejag]

Here is the info on the extended warranty.

CVT

I don't know why all these people are in a rush to flush their CVT's? Most likely, the CVT fluid is probably semi-synthetic or full synthetic. Most of the auto transmissions out their today, have a service time frame of 100K these days. The days of flushing every 30K is a waste of money.

The Jatco has cooler lines to the radiator and back. You can do a complete flush with these lines. If you plan to keep your car for a while. Then a couple drain and refills would be a good investment.

 

[Johnny248]

Originally Posted By: Finklejag
Here is the info on the extended warranty.

CVT

I don't know why all these people are in a rush to flush their CVT's? Most likely, the CVT fluid is probably semi-synthetic or full synthetic. Most of the auto transmissions out their today, have a service time frame of 100K these days. The days of flushing every 30K is a waste of money.

The Jatco has cooler lines to the radiator and back. You can do a complete flush with these lines. If you plan to keep your car for a while. Then a couple drain and refills would be a good investment.


30k may be overkill unless you the vehicle is being abused. I see transmission fluid everyday at 60k that looks and smells pretty bad, so I would say 60k is a good idea.

 

[il_signore97]

Originally Posted By: Finklejag
Here is the info on the extended warranty.

CVT

I don't know why all these people are in a rush to flush their CVT's? Most likely, the CVT fluid is probably semi-synthetic or full synthetic. Most of the auto transmissions out their today, have a service time frame of 100K these days. The days of flushing every 30K is a waste of money.

The Jatco has cooler lines to the radiator and back. You can do a complete flush with these lines. If you plan to keep your car for a while. Then a couple drain and refills would be a good investment.



Thanks a lot for the warranty information. After a bit of poking around, it looks like it will be extended to Canadian owners as well for 10 yrs / 200,000 km. I'll forward the link over to my friend.

As Johnny248 has stated, and as I have seen in my own experience, almost any tranny fluid that I've changed for anyone looked pretty bad by about 60k miles... and these examples were on cars with either a "lifetime fill" or super long service intervals (100k or 120k) and no filter (of course). Obviously the manufacturers aren't taking into consideration the people (like me) that want to have a trouble free transmission for hundreds of thousands of miles. It is possible with the proper care. And by proper I certainly don't suggest that following the manufacturer's super long intervals on fluid changes. My friend has 35k on his 2007 Altima right now. From what I understand, the Jatco sumps are too small, fluid temps can peak too high, and resulting wear occurs and damages the transmission. Obviously, it's not the fluid's fault, it's poor design, but nothing that can't be mitigated with some slight modifications.

I once had a 96 Intrepid. Those cars were pretty much known to have one of the worst transmissions ever made. People were getting those trannies replaced under warranty super early on in life, at around 35k intervals! Most of those trannies never made it to 60 or 70k miles to have their first scheduled service done! I installed a nice, large tranny cooler, I changed all of the fluid over to Amsoil ATF, and even with constant towing of my jet skis, I kept the car until it had 260k miles on it with a perfectly functioning ORIGINAL transmission! Unheard of on these cars. So I think very highly of maintenance in this regard.