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**JayB** · 02-25-2020, 04:42 PM

My Jeep had a CVT. Fluid was not supposed to need a change, ever. CVT Transmission oil is special and you will need to be sure and buy the correct, expensive oil.

I understand that Nissan perfected the CVT.

**KX500** · 02-26-2020, 07:04 AM

'I understand that Nissan perfected the CVT.'

Hopefully, I'll be able to agree with this!

Although it seems many would not agree...

**BrandonH** · 02-26-2020, 07:14 AM

If it's like most of the newer setup they are not meant to be serviced. They are apparently "maintenance free".

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**JayB** · 02-26-2020, 07:19 AM

If it helps...I had to replace the CVT in my Jeep to the tune of about $3k. Girl at work had one too...hers failed also. She went with junk yard transmission for about half the cost but got rid of the Jeep soon after.

.....and God Bless America.

**CabezaBlanca** · 02-26-2020, 07:34 AM

Originally posted by BrandonH View Post

If it's like most of the newer setup they are not meant to be serviced. They are apparently "maintenance free".

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I'm fairly certain this is fact.

**Blank** · 02-26-2020, 10:19 AM

A lot will depend on your driving history and use of the vehicle. How many miles do you have on your vehicle. I'm a believer in changing transmission and differential fluids at 60,000 mile intervals. They should last at least 200K that way.

For what its worth, we have a lot of Nissans and believe they are excellent vehicles. We have 2 Armadas, one Rogue, 2 Frontiers, and 6 Titans. My son is up competing in the ALCAN5000 race right now, in a Titan Pro-Force 4X built for SEMA.

The Nissan ATF for the CVT runs $15-18 a quart and takes 5 of them. You can buy a 12-pack and get the price down to about $10/qt.

**KX500** · 02-27-2020, 02:39 PM

Well after a bunch more research, I have found a few posts from guys who've changed CVT fluid in a Rogue. It doesn't sound super complicated, but of course no 2 sets of procedures have been the same!

The maintenance manual says change fluid at 30,000 for severe conditions (towing, etc.) OR change at 60,000 miles OR have dealer check CVT fluid life indicator. Apparently the CVT fluid life is monitored but you have to plug in diagnostic equipment to get the information. It isn't like an idiot light comes on and says 'change cvt fluid'!

Apparently, the CVT fluid life is largely dependent on how many times the tranny has gotten 'hot'. From what I've read, the biggest reason these transmissions fail is from repeated overheating. I guess this causes the cvt fluid to degrade making it essential to change it, if a particular transmission has been subject to overheating.

Oh and I have read the design flaw with these transmissions is that they tend to overheat and aren't built to handle repeated overheating.

I'll admit I had a bit of a panic moment the other night when I read somewhere that the interval was 30,000 miles and our car has 95,000 without changing cvt fluid yet.

But my wife's commute is about 100 miles (mostly all highway) each day. I'm not entirely sure what it takes to overheat this tranny, but this one has seen very little use that makes me think it has gotten too hot. It could be that CVT fluid life indicator would say that fluid is still fine (if only I could access that data).

Anyway, I found the CVT drain plug last night and ordered the fluid - about $12-$13/quart. Surely, with all the different procedures I've read, I can kind of take the best from all of them and it shouldn't be too difficult.

It would seem that Nissan has taken steps to make CVT fluid change a dealer only sort of thing - and they charge about $350. They deleted the CVT dipstick with this generation of Rogue. Getting the fluid level right appears to be the hardest thing about doing the fluid change. I do have a cheap transmission dipstick coming too, that others have recommended to help getting fluid level correct.

We'll see how it goes.

**KX500** · 02-27-2020, 02:57 PM

'We have 2 Armadas, one Rogue, 2 Frontiers, and 6 Titans.'

And I thought I was a Nissan fan! Blank, I guess you'd recommend a Titan?

I about have myself talking into buying one of them.

I do feel that with Nissan, you generally get a level of quality that you would get from a Toyota or Honda, but at a much better price.

I also like Toyota/Honda but it does irk me a little that you pay for the better quality level up front. I know it seldom happens, but what if you get that Toyota/Honda that just has average quality, yet you already paid for excellent quality?

**KX500** · 04-05-2020, 09:54 AM

-Update*

To summarize - changing the oil in the CVT was easy.

The hardest part was getting the dip stick 'plug' out of the dipstick tube. There isn't a dipstick and the plug was kind of locked in place, I guess so owners won't mess with it.

Anyway, for me it was pull the drain plug and 4 quarts of CVT fluid comes out. I think approximately 2 quarts doesn't come out unless you have some kind of vacuum unit to get the rest out of the torque converter.

So put 4 quarts back in, cycle (or use) transmission, then do the drain 4 quarts/add 4 quarts a second time.

The 1st 4 quarts that came out looked pretty dirty and I was glad to get that out of there.

I did wait a few hundred miles before I drained/filled the 2nd time. The 4 quarts that came out then looked really good - really skipping the 2nd drain/refill probably wouldn't have been too bad.

Anyway, I feel very good about the fluid that is in the CVT - have some peace of mind now. Glad to have done it myself.

I did make a temporary dipstick as a secondary way to verify fluid level.

**Kingfisher789** · 04-05-2020, 10:00 AM

Some CVT have a small spin on filter. Lots of Nissan have a free software update that’s suggested.

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Nissan Mechanics - CV Trans Fluid Change?

Nissan Mechanics - CV Trans Fluid Change?

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