cvt transmission oil

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Although most MFG's will tell you it is a fill for life fluid. But, most members here will tell you to change it out between 30K-50K miles. I'm at 35K with my Nissan Altima and am entertaining the thought myself, maybe this summer!
 
Originally Posted By: ernied
how often does the transmission fluid have to be changed on a cvt transmission?


Depends on the car more than anything. I just did a trans service that a 2013 ILX Hybrid was calling for at 89k km.
 
On my 2015 Honda's I change out 4 qts every other oil change.

This was recommended to me by the head mechanic at a Honda dealership, who happens to be my neighbor, whom I have spent many hours working on cars with him. His motto, "cheap insurance".
 
My anecdote for what it's worth:

Friend's 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander @ 93K.
Pan drop, filter change and top off (4 quarts of Amalie CVT fluid)
1) Fluid was the color of dark maple syrup (food industry grade).
2) New filter was completely unnecessary as the factory one had caught 2 specs of metal.

Car's @ 113K now. All is well.
 
Valvoline CVT has been reported to be appropriate for most all .

OE IDEMITSU STUFF DOESNT HOLD UP.

Nissan Fluid only (NS-2, NS-3) is a crock. Most all fluids (with exception for hybrid drives)
have same Viscometrics (KV100 of: ~ 7.3cSt/ KV40 of: ~36cSt) added friction modifiers (enhancers for push belt traction) and anti foam.

A just broken in CVT will be LOADED with particulate. Yes, dispersed junk helps metal belt traction but it kills hydraulic logic solenoids. Change it early (15-25K) then good for 100K.
 
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The CVT fluid came out very dark, almost black from my 2016 Nissan Quest CVT @ 33K miles, the first time I did a drain/fill. Color doesn't necessarily mean anything, but very darkened ATF of any sort makes me uneasy.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
The CVT fluid came out very dark, almost black from my 2016 Nissan Quest CVT @ 33K miles, the first time I did a drain/fill. Color doesn't necessarily mean anything, but very darkened ATF of any sort makes me uneasy.


Same here on my Pathfinder with 30,000+ miles. The FF was a very dark green, almost black in color.

I am having it analyzed to determine what the TAN is wrt to the FF.
 
I changed the fluid in my 2010 Nissan Murano with 80K and it came out quite clean. I did a complete fluid exchange and cleaned the pan and magnet.
 
I'd change it very other OCI, definitely no more than 30k!

Amazon has a good price on Castrol's CVT fluid. In addition, AAP and Autozone have it on sale a few times a year for $5/qt
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
I am having it analyzed to determine what the TAN is wrt to the FF.

Interested to see the results!

I actually kept a baby food jar of the FF from my Quest.
 
I am a firm believer in servicing all the fluids.
I use 30K intervals for CVT and Gear Automatic Transmissions.
I service 2 CVT equipped cars:
New Accord; use HC-2 fluid
2015 Altima; use Valvoline CVT Synthetic.

You will feel a difference.
 
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