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Should I change CVT fluid? How should I do it?

1417 Views 12 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  dkdcram, 
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I got a 2007 Altima SL 3.5L for my son. The car has been sitting in a garage for over a year. The previous owner couldn’t afford to fix it. He gave me the car and I got it running. It runs great! My only concern is the CVT fluid. I have no idea if it’s ever been changed but it doesn’t look super dirty on the dipstick. However with the car sitting for so long I wonder if it could cause some condensation in the fluid. I’m not real familiar with these transmissions and I don’t want to cause more harm than good by changing it. It has 156,000 miles on it. So onto my questions.
1) should I even change it?
2) no drain plug so either I drop the pan or do like stated in the Chilton book and disconnect the transmission cooler hose and run the car wile poring new fluid in until it comes out clean.
3) am I safe replacing it with valvoline full synthetic CVT fluid or should I order Nissan CVT fluid?
I appreciate your all’s help with this. I’ve invested about $2,300 into the car now. I’m very happy with the way it drives so I’m not trying to ruin everything by causing transmission issues lol.
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VStar650CL
BDog said:
1) should I even change it?
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Positively, and going forward at 30K intervals. There are no worries about "ATF soup" on a CVT, it has almost no clutch material to make soup.

BDog said:
2) no drain plug so either I drop the pan or do like stated in the Chilton book and disconnect the transmission cooler hose and run the car wile poring new fluid in until it comes out clean.
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I've never been a fan of using the cooler hoses that way, it's hard on the front pump. If possible, you're better served buying a sucker to take it out through the fill tube.


BDog said:
3) am I safe replacing it with valvoline full synthetic CVT fluid or should I order Nissan CVT fluid?
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Valvoline is safe but some folks (including one of my customers) say it's noisy just like NS2/NS3. My personal favorites are Eneos and AMSoil. Especially Eneos because it's even the same color as NS3, just much quieter and better specifications.
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Awesome thank you so much for your help. I will get a pump like you said and pump it out the fill tube. I love Amsoil and use it in my Frontier. I see if I can get it for the Altima. If not I look for the Eenos. I’ve never heard of it but will check it out. Thanks again.
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I used the hose down the fill tube and pumped as much as I could out of the pan on my '09 2.5 coupe . If I remember correctly it was 4 or 5 quarts. I replaced it with Amsoil and then disconnected the hose to the radiator and flushed the trans with it running. I think I ran about 10 quarts total through it. I will say, it made a BIG difference! It shifts much smoother, quieter, and definitely feels like more power. I changed it at just over 120k, not sure if the previous owners changed it or not. FYI, I bought it for 3k with 114k on it. It did have a Carfax but didn't say anything about the CVT being serviced.
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VStar650CL
(y) :)
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1JonnyZ said:
I used the hose down the fill tube and pumped as much as I could out of the pan on my '09 2.5 coupe . If I remember correctly it was 4 or 5 quarts. I replaced it with Amsoil and then disconnected the hose to the radiator and flushed the trans with it running. I think I ran about 10 quarts total through it. I will say, it made a BIG difference! It shifts much smoother, quieter, and definitely feels like more power. I changed it at just over 120k, not sure if the previous owners changed it or not. FYI, I bought it for 3k with 114k on it. It did have a Carfax but didn't say anything about the CVT being serviced.
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Thanks for the info. Yes ideally I would put some Amsoil in it but it’s just a bit to costly at the moment. I love it in my frontier but I use that like a workhorse lo. So I ordered 12 quarts of Idemitsu CVT fluid NS-2 because from my research they manufacture the Nissan NS-2. I figured I would at least get some new fluid in it now and change it again at my next oil change. That should get most of that old fluid out. I ordered my pump extractor and will do like recommended and pump as much out as I can. Run it for 5,000 miles and do it again, then keep up on it every 20-30 thousand miles.
I did see a very informative video on flushing it via the cooler hose doing it at 2q at a time. Drain 2 quarts than add 2 quarts. Keep doing it until it comes out clean. I might still do this later down the road but for now I’m hoping this will suffice.
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Wile I have you all here I do have one question/concern. I’m hoping it’s normal or changing the fluid helps but I notice what almost sounds like slipping rubber when I’m in reverse. Slightly again when putting it in drive. It shifts easy and drives very smooth it’s just a bit of a sound. I’ve never driven a CVT transmission before so I really don’t know what’s normal and what’s not. It doesn’t feel like the transmission is slipping at all. Hard to describe other than it sound like wet rubber slipping on a smooth surface if you know that sound lol. Buuurop. It runs great so I’m hoping it’s not serious but as much as it scares me to ask I would like to know your all’s opion. Thanks for all the help.
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VStar650CL
BDog said:
It doesn’t feel like the transmission is slipping at all. Hard to describe other than it sound like wet rubber slipping on a smooth surface if you know that sound lol. Buuurop. It runs great so I’m hoping it’s not serious but as much as it scares me to ask I would like to know your all’s opion. Thanks for all the help.
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It isn't overfilled, is it? Overfilling is a CVT-killer, even a little bit. Now that it's been driven awhile, you should probably double-check.
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VStar650CL said:
It isn't overfilled, is it? Overfilling is a CVT-killer, even a little bit. Now that it's been driven awhile, you should probably double-check.
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No it’s not overfilled. I haven’t driven it much as I’ve been doing a bit of repairs on it. I’ve only driven it around the block a few times to warm up the engine. I will check the fluid level again because it might be slightly under filled. I did lose a little when I replaced the radiator. Once the new CVT fluid comes in I’ll change the fluid and be sure I’m properly filled. I’m just unfamiliar with what CVT sounds like normally when switching from Park-reverse-drive and so on. It’s been my biggest worry with taking on this car. With it not drivable when I got it I couldn’t see how the engine and transmission were. Visual inspection can only see so much lol. Now after money is invested I’m finally getting to try it out. Heavily reliable on your all’s experiences and knowledge. What I probably need to do is go test drive a car with a CVT and see what sounds it makes.
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VStar650CL
Underfilled won't hurt it, I've seen them run a half quart low for years (literally) with no apparent harm. It shouldn't be making rubber squeaks when shifting R -> D -> R. It probably isn't the tranny, check your motor mounts.
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seglazener
I got my 2010 4 cyl with 170k miles, the person I bought it from was religious about having dealer service done at recommended intervals, but she didn't have the CVT fluid changed, ever. I have some of my own personal thoughts about why some Nissan shops avoid this, but all of the CVT mechanics I've talked to say it is absolutely necessary.

No drain plug on my pan either; I bought a hand fluid pump from H>F> for about 10 bucks and adapted a small enough plastic hose (the stuff mostly used for ice makers, about 1/8" i.d.) and pump it out and just replace the same amount of new. Now it's got 206K and some change, still running and shifting great.

(BTW, I did have to replace the side and rear motor mounts as soon as I bought the car...)
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24bettyleekent
BDog said:
I got a 2007 Altima SL 3.5L for my son. The car has been sitting in a garage for over a year. The previous owner couldn’t afford to fix it. He gave me the car and I got it running. It runs great! My only concern is the CVT fluid. I have no idea if it’s ever been changed but it doesn’t look super dirty on the dipstick. However with the car sitting for so long I wonder if it could cause some condensation in the fluid. I’m not real familiar with these transmissions and I don’t want to cause more harm than good by changing it. It has 156,000 miles on it. So onto my questions.
1) should I even change it?
2) no drain plug so either I drop the pan or do like stated in the Chilton book and disconnect the transmission cooler hose and run the car wile poring new fluid in until it comes out clean.
3) am I safe replacing it with valvoline full synthetic CVT fluid or should I order Nissan CVT fluid?
I appreciate your all’s help with this. I’ve invested about $2,300 into the car now. I’m very happy with the way it drives so I’m not trying to ruin everything by causing transmission issues lol.
Click to expand...
Yes Change the fluid especially if don't know when changes last or ever My niece has same car have to change every 30k you can buy CVT transmission fluid that says European FULL SYNTHETIC and make sure has Nissan On the bottle they sell it @ Autozone you have to drop the pan and change the gasket it's like 16 bolts on it has a filter inside with a screen that pulse out if it doesn't look that dirty clean filter inside the pan with brake cleaner clean the pan and wipe it dry before reinstalling it and let the filter screen dry reinstall buy new pan gasket reinstall filter and transmission gasket when putting bolts back on go from side to side not one bolt after another and refill were the dipstick would go in takes approx 8 qts pay attention how much you take out put same amount back in recommend buying to gals. of new fluid . Don't have to buy the Nissan fluid from Nissan trust me we researched did this and no issues save yourself some money better to jack up on driver side to remove she has the 3.5 motor a lot of videos are the 2.5 engine this is how we did the 2012 Nissan Altima 3.5 engine and has no issues and saved ton of money not paying crazy Dealer prices Nissan doesn't make this oil either your paying for the name and the Dealer hourly rate save yourself the $$$ nothing to reset let it warm up a bit after you reinstall everything drive it and your good to go another 30k but make sure you change Every 30k . Good Luck Hope this helps you.
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dkdcram
Had a 2010 2.5s. I figured which hose brought the fluid from the radiator back to the trans. Took a gallon jug marked at 1qt intervals. Put the hose in the jug, idle the engine until one quart was drained. Shut it off and pour a quart of fluid in the fill tube. Repeat until you've changed out 6 or more quarts. My old fluid got clean when I was on the 10th quart. On my 2017, there's a plug in the pan. It drains 4 quarts perfectly! Then next to the bell housing a level plug for setting the correct fluid level! Making it quite easy for the do-it-yourselfer!! Search you tube to find how!
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