Originally Posted by D1dad
I ran mine 80 mph on a trip back from Costco and drained it hot then let it set in the house overnight and the fluid did not reduce at all from the 4.5 qts that came out. I put 4.5qts back in and no issues. The whole "cvt fluid expanding" didn't play out in my experience.
This is supposed to apply to all fluids, not just CVT fluid.
Originally Posted by JTK
D1dad, I think it has more to do with how the transmission routes fluid differently based on temperature that effects a proper fluid level read.
I never bought into the fluid itself expanding.
I 'tested' this 2-3 times. Put the drained fluid in a container while it was still hot and marked the level. Let it cool for a couple of hours and the level didn't change any meaningful amount, if it changed at all. I mean, my precision measuring involved a black, sharpie marker, so.... I did check the temperature of the fluid and it started at 140º F or so. I gave up when it reached ~75º F and there was no change.
Originally Posted by D1dad
But the exact same amount going in that came out is a successful exchange in my eyes.
This works perfectly fine presuming the original level was correct (or close enough).