2008 Nissan Sentra CVT fluid change?

[dja4260]

My girlfriend has an 08 sentra with the CVT. Fluid change intervals is 2 yr / 30k miles. Shes at 3 year, 33k.

It has existing warranty that expires in the next 8 months or 4k miles.

What fluid would you use? I have no problem buying Nissan ATF but since the warranty is almost up I'd rather save money and use some Maxlife etc....

Thanks

 

[dja4260]

Nissan dealer wants $20 per quart, and a drain / refill is 7 qts. They want $169 + fluid to do the service.


Basically wants me to bend over and hold my ankles....

 

[exranger06]

You CANNOT use any generic/universal fluid in a CVT. You MUST use a fluid specifically for CVTs. Period. I know Valvoline either used to make or still does make a CVT fluid. It's hard to find, especially since I *think* they don't make it anymore. Pretty much your only option is the dealer fluid.

 

[dja4260]

i was mistaken on the warranty. I have to use Nissan fluid....

 

[javacontour]

If the fluid really costs $20/quart and you need 7, but the dealer will do the whole thing for $169, that's not a bad deal. I think for $29 more than the fluid costs, I'd let them do it and see if I could sit in the GT-R while they do the work if it's on the show room floor

 

[exranger06]

Even if the car didn't have a warranty, you cannot use any fluid other than the CVT fluid. Unless you don't want the trans to last longer than 10k miles...

 

[dja4260]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
If the fluid really costs $20/quart and you need 7, but the dealer will do the whole thing for $169, that's not a bad deal. I think for $29 more than the fluid costs, I'd let them do it and see if I could sit in the GT-R while they do the work if it's on the show room floor

No 169+ cost of fluid.

I called another dealer and they said 45k it should be serviced.

They would charge 1/2 hour labor ($60) and its 7 quarts @ 19.95 quart.

I'm going to try to find some ATF on ebay. I already found a case of 12 qts for $140 shipped to my door.

Much better deal.......

 

[cmf]

I just wanted to stress what exranger06 said: you must use fluid specifically designed for CVTs, you cannot use max life or regular ATF. Also, not all CVT fluid is the same. For example, a Honda CVT would take a different type than a Nissan CVT due to different design.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: dja4260

They would charge 1/2 hour labor ($60) and its 7 quarts @ 19.95 quart.

I'm going to try to find some ATF on ebay. I already found a case of 12 qts for $140 shipped to my door.

Much better deal.......

Usually buying online is much cheaper than from dealers. Try Rockauto.com or Amazon to see if they have the CVT fluid you need.

 

[Johnny248]

Napa has both Eneos and Valv CVT Fluid. It is about $12 a quart if I remember correctly.

 

[JOD]

You can get NS-2 compatible Eneos CVT fluid online for around $11.00 or so. There are plenty of folks using that in Nissan CVT's. As said already, a conventional ATF will destroy the transmission. Besides providing lubrication, chain-drive CVT fluids provide friction for the chains under high-pressure. They're a lot different than conventional ATF's.

 

[Towncivilian]

I had the CVT fluid in my mother's '07 Altima checked by a Nissan dealer when it was in for service a couple thousand miles ago, they said it was fine. The car has 80-something thousand miles on it. I didn't pull the dipstick to check myself. I've read that they can plug in their CONSULT-III and that will state the condition of the fluid, but I have no idea if that's what they did. It's shifting fine. Should I worry about it, or just check again in another 20k miles? The factory service manual says to inspect the CVT fluid every 15k miles under severe service schedule, and says nothing about an absolute replacement interval.

 

[The Critic]

The fluid is lifetime fill, but under severe conditions such as towing, Nissan wants it serviced every 60k.

Service intervals are only 2/30k if you follow the premium maintenance schedule, which is not required.

 

[DakAttack]

If you've got the cajones you could always try Wolfs head Universal trans fluid. http://amaliestore.com/proddetail.php?prod=836-92866-56
I came across it when I was looking for compatible fluids for fords CVT in their Freestyle. The fluid covers so many applications like my Ford cvt to Nissans CVT NS-1, NS-2. And a case of 12 quarts is just $60 shipped right to your door.