Flush Nissan Rouge

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I have a 2016 Nissan Rouge and want to flush the trans fluid. I did a drain and fill last year but finally saw that there is a overfill site hole so I want to do a complete flush with the start and stop method. Does anyone know what amount of quarts I would need to get this done? Also the best place to buy a case or two at a good price. Amazon wants about $200 for a case of 12 Nissan Genuine OEM CVT-3 Transmission Fluid. I think I paid $22 per quart from the dealer last year. That's alot I think.
 
I am currently using Castrol TransMax CVT fluid(RED) in the Altima & Civic in my signature since July 2019 and all is well in both trannys. I bought 2 - 6qt cases from Amazon for, IIRC, $93.00 shipped.

I only did the drain & refill on both trannys(using their specific overflow methods via Youtube) and coincidently, both trannys took 3.7 qts. I measured what came out, and put back in the same amount with new CVT fluid.

I can't answer for the total amount of CVT fluid you'll need to do a complete flush on the ROGUE(AWD or FWD) but, Youtube may be able to help.
 
Originally Posted by skulldrinker
I have a 2016 Nissan Rouge and want to flush the trans fluid. I did a drain and fill last year but finally saw that there is a overfill site hole so I want to do a complete flush with the start and stop method. Does anyone know what amount of quarts I would need to get this done? Also the best place to buy a case or two at a good price. Amazon wants about $200 for a case of 12 Nissan Genuine OEM CVT-3 Transmission Fluid. I think I paid $22 per quart from the dealer last year. That's alot I think.

Drain and fill is fine. No need to get silly. If you are paranoid, do another D&F.

Nissan fluid cost is a ripoff and the stuff is nothing special.

Don't buy it.

Valvoline or Castrol CVT work fine on pusher belt CVT


Getting the correct QTY of fluid is critical to prevent overfill foaming ( very bad ) or starvation (underfill)

The fluid FILL must be checked at a specific temperature.

I owned a 2014 Rogue Select for 5 years, did one early D&F then needed NOTHING since.

Car and trans was beat like a rented mule - no issues in the trans AT ALL.

good luck.


P.S: have you ever done a flush on a MOULIN ROUGE ! ?
 
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Yep. Spill and fill baby!
The 2015 Altima I service takes a taste over 4 quarts.
I bought a 2013(?) dipstick off ebay to check fluid.

Valvoline or Castrol Full Synthetic CVT fluid is good stuff.
 
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I have done only drain and fills on my daughters Rogue. Always use Castrol CVT fluid for about one quarter the cost of the ridiculously priced Nissan stuff. You will need 4 quarts for this.
 
A cooler line flush could be done on them, but even dealer service departments will only drain/fill them.

That's what I've done on the 3-4 different Nissan CVTs I've changed fluid on. Drain it cold. Measure the amount that came out, add that same amount back in.

I forget the fluid temp you're supposed to achieve with the engine idling, CVT in park to check level at the level check plug, but it somewhere around 117degF (you'll need to verify). I approximate by shooting the pan with an IR gun. I know this isn't the "right" way.

I prefer to stick with a blue dyed NS-3 fluid when under warranty, but even that is kind of pointless because it turns kind of a dark green as soon as it's put to use.

You can guarantee a warranty struggle if you use red or clear fluid and have CVT issues.
 
I did do the drain and fill and measured what came out to put back but that was before I saw the youtube video and found out there is the overflow plug. i do have a good scanner and can measure the trans temp so no problem there. I just hated to dump 200-300 bucks of fluid. As for the Castrol I will maybe use that instead. After all I did substitute with Castrol import fluid with our last Sante Fe and all was good. This is our first Nissan and a little hesitant about substitutes. I will look into using Castrol CVT. thanks so much for all the replies. When I get around to this this summer I will post about it. Thanks again.

Also If i use Castrol CVT it may be a good idea to flush it all out so as not to mix any.
 
Keep in mind there is a replaceable filter element behind the can shaped CVT fluid heater that the cooler lines run in/out of.
 
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. I used Idemitsu type N from amazon. $45 for a 5qt jug. Looks exactly the same as oem fluid. The whole "cvt fluid expanding" didn't play out in my experience.
 
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. It does of course like most fluids, but not enough to effect things.
 
But the exact same amount going in that came out is a successful exchange in my eyes. The Nissan tech that replaced my transmission told me to drain it cold and to set the new fluid along the car the night before and to do exactly what I did. He also said that failure in these things had little to do with an over or under fill. In fact my wife's Murano cvt was running strong over 200k when I sold it and according to the dipstick was overfilled from the factory. I suppose if you take 4qts and put in 5 your skirting the line but I can about gurantee that a tech in a hurry gets it close enough more time than not. There's a poster on a Nissan forum who got 395k out of his cvt and didn't perform his first drain and fill till it hit 250k.
 
Amazon sells IDEMITSU CVT Type N a direct replacement for Nissan NS-2 fluid for $38.20 a 5 quart jug. That is what I would use. It specifically mentions for Nissan JATCO transmissions.

Search for Idemitsu 30040091-95300C020 CVT Type N (NS-2)
 
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).
 
I know all fluids expand but much has been made like cvt doubles in volume. Well not really but you get the point. I checked the dipstick before and after and the 4.5qts were dead on. Now my wife's Murano (2007) was overfilled from the factory and I honestly didn't look at that fluid for the 1st 100k and when I did drain it I used castrol and continued to so every 30k or so. I sold that car to a friend so his son could use it to run back and forth to college in Louisville and it's still running with prbly close to 300k on it now.




Originally Posted by hallstevenson
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).
 
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. It does of course like most fluids, but not enough to effect things.

I guess that's the technical part that Nissan charges $250 for. I made sure the tranny wasn't over or under filled and replaced what came out. Maybe on the new ones with the overfill but mines an 09 and no such hole exists.
 
Originally Posted by Will41
Is anyone here using an alternative to Nissan NS-3?


It's mentioned right in this thread.

There's plenty of aftermarket alternatives to the NS-3 blue juice.
 
Originally Posted by Will41
Is anyone here using an alternative to Nissan NS-3?

Yes, many of us do. I have used Valvoline and Castrol in an abused 2015 Altima with excellent results.
 
Originally Posted by Will41
Is anyone here using an alternative to Nissan NS-3?



Yeah I'm running Eneos CVT fluid... Blue color of the fluid and it has run great in my 08 Nissan Altima VQ with 308,200 miles on it.

Amsoil, Valvoline, Castrol, and Redline are all very good options has well.
 
My 2016 Rouge went 103k Highway miles before I bought it in 2018 and did the first CVT oil change. Due to my fear of this transmission being properly maintained, I had the dealer do it while they installed new tires on a buy 3 get one free deal (good quality tires, not cheap junk). I might be more inclined to try it after reading this in a drain and measure scenario. I just did a cold drain and measure on another vehicle at home with good results.

I wish they were like my Jeep, where you fill from the top until it spills out, then put the plug back in......
 
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