2018 Nissan Rogue CVT Fluid Replacement Procedure

[tedc]

Background: I had my 2018 Rogue in for some firmware updates and had a chat with the shop foreman about Nissan CVTs and what can I do to avoid reliability issues I read about. First, he reassured me that the latest RE0F10D CVT (like mine) now includes a much improved "push belt". This is a potential failure part if the oil is over heated too often. Second, avoid towing over specified limits. Third, change the oil every 30,000 miles with only NS-3 oil and make sure the oil level is correct. Forth, in extreme cold temperatures, run the engine first for 10 minutes (use remote start) to speed up warming up the CVT oil. He checked my transmission with a Nissan Consult tool at 15,000 miles, showing 0 which indicates no over heating. The foreman knows I like doing ALL my own maintenance, even joked about hiring me. So I took the service manual procedure and modified it based on the tools I have. Come summer, I plan on changing my CVT oil using these steps. Posted them here for other do-it-yourself owners. Good luck!!!

2018 Nissan Rogue CVT Fluid Replacement Procedure

Modified 2018 Nissan Service Manual procedure.
Why modified?
Will not be using Nissan Consult tool to view CVT fluid temperatures or to reset deterioration value.
Will not be using Nissan charging pipe set KV311039S0 (will use a top oil fill approach instead).
Important Note: Use only Nissan NS-3 oil (no substitutes since it has special additives).
Suggest buying 8 quarts of NS-3 oil for the TWO recommended drain and fills.

Drive vehicle until engine oil temperature is at normal level on dash gauge.
Remove CVT filler cap (It is a cap only in the engine compartment with no dipstick).
Remove the drain plug and drain CVT fluid from the oil pan.
Install the drain plug and just snug tight. (use old gasket for now – you drain oil two times)
Fill approximately 3-1/8 US qt of the CVT fluid.
Start the engine.
While depressing the brake pedal, shift the selector lever to the entire position from “P” to “L”, and shift it to the “P” position. Hold the lever at each position for 5 seconds.
Stop the engine.
Remove the drain plug and drain CVT fluid from the oil pan.
Install the drain plug with NEW drain plug gasket and torque to 25 ft-lb.
Fill approximately 3-1/8 US qt of the CVT fluid.
Start the engine.
While depressing the brake pedal, shift the selector lever to the entire position from “P” to “L”, and shift it to the “P” position. Hold the lever at each position for 5 seconds.
Perform this work with the vehicle idling.
Remove the overflow plug NOT OIL DRAIN PLUG (this is how you check for proper fill level).
Fill approximately 1/2 US qt of CVT fluid.
CVT fluid will drain out from the overflow port. If it does not, add more fluid.
When the flow of CVT fluid slows to a drip, tighten the overflow plug to 7 ft-lb.

[KoiMaxx]

Wow, this is awesome info. It doesn't sound that much more complicated than when I used to change the fluid for my 2001 CRV.

My 2017 is hitting 25000 miles, so I'm thinking of doing the fluid change once I reach 30K. I'm curious how you raised the vehicle evenly though, do you have access to a car lift? I have a pair of ramps and will just get another pair to get the car up level.

[tedc]

Have not yet completed this task on the Rogue, but for my other cars, I use a 12" level on the passenger side floor and snap a picture. My driveway is slanted so I back it in and then forward on roll on ramps until the level matches. This approach allows enough access to change the AWD transmission fluid at the same time. I reverse procedure when changing rear differential fluid. If my driveway was level, I would use 4 jack stands and do all three tasks at the same time. From my other AWD cars, rear differential gear oil always comes out clean, but the transmission case gear oil turns dark in as low of 20,000 miles. You are correct, these are not difficult tasks.

[supr]

Talk to your shop foreman again, ask him under the best circumstances (fluid changes, careful driving) expected life of CVT.
More than likely, less than 100k.
After reading a lot on Nissan CVT's, which have now been made 18 years, they are better, but not much more reliable. Nissan Motto: Sell your car before 100k (with extended warranty), let the next owner take the $5k CVT replacement. Unfortunately, Americans do exactly this with most of their vehicles.

[PalmerWMD]

Talk to your shop foreman again, ask him under the best circumstances (fluid changes, careful driving) expected life of CVT.
More than likely, less than 100k.
After reading a lot on Nissan CVT's, which have now been made 18 years, they are better, but not much more reliable. Nissan Motto: Sell your car before 100k (with extended warranty), let the next owner take the $5k CVT replacement. Unfortunately, Americans do exactly this with most of their vehicles.

..no.

What is for sure is they are more sensitive to missed fluid changes than any other design.

And yes they are less reliable than other Nissan transmission (which actually do well with longevity compared to most other brands)

But all for sure less than 100k?
No.
I spoke to a guy w/ a versa equipped with a CVT.. 450,000 miles original transmission in strenuous DC Taxi use.
Other anecdotes are out there.
CVT early failures are real... but are they 100% of units? absolutely not, 50% of units? also, no.. even if it was 20% of units the outcry would be too big for these cars to stay in production...

Realistically i would be surprised if it was over 10% early failures considering to the incredibly high standards we hold automotive reliability these days.

Think about how many just Altimas alone have been sold...

[supr]

But what do we know to be fact? I really do wish I knew that what you say is true. How many people just replace their broken transmission & move on?
I have a Nissan friend in Houston, has had about 4 Murano's , 1 Rogue. Will ask her to get facts or opinions from sales, Service Manager, A. Advisor. If you can, do the same, see what they say.
Any other readers out there, please do the same.

[casperfun]

I would never sell a vehicle to some person buying a nissan with over 100k miles with an attitude that they should end up with a car that will soon need a 4-5 thousand cvt replacement repair. As if dumping some hot potato lemon vehicle to an unaware schmuck.

Moreover, I believe 80% of the driving public know about the potential unreliable history of nissan cvt's, excluding the moms, seniors, or non-car enthusiasts out there. I'm sure most will know what they are getting into. Due diligence is a must. A lot of cvt's fail out there, just YouTube Subaru cvt failures. Any transmission will fail and even if it's not neglected.

Not saying anyone would do it here.

With that said, I have a decades old original cvt with just over 100k miles and have always held in the back of my mind when it will implode.

Even though theoretically in a forum, most cvt transmission failures would have a high probability of being reported here.

Since people not having CVT failures usually keep quiet about it since it may not be a complaint issue since it's not really broken in a undriveable sense.

So I too would be curious on the ownerage of rogues whose cvt lasted 180k miles to those owners who had early CVT failures. The media and online references make it seem like it's a high percentage.

Anyways, I'm just trying to enjoy my rogues remaining years as best as I can if at that.

I did do something stupid by letting a dealership charge me an outrageous amount for a recent stupid repair to pass inspection tax scam in my state.

Lucky you if you don't need those stickers in your area.

But now I will spend over a thousand on wheels and tires for its future send off once it drives on it's last miles instead of the stealership.

[will41]

Important Note: Use only Nissan NS-3 oil (no substitutes since it has special additives).
So, you would not use Amsoil cvt for Nissan NS-1, NS-2, NS-3.

[nabril]

@tedc
Thanks for the information; I will try it on my 2015 Rogue.
Where is that overflow port located?

[KoiMaxx]

You can refer to page TM-189 of the Service Manual
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... 016/TM.pdf

It's the port that points forward and down at an angle from the transmission box.

Hope this helps.

[nabril]

You can refer to page TM-189 of the Service Manual
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... 016/TM.pdf

It's the port that points forward and down at an angle from the transmission box.

thanks a lot KoiMaxx
If transmission only have a 5yr/60k warranty, I'm about 5k away from that.
So I ask if I should consider using the Castrol liquid, for example, that's cheaper since I'm out of warranty or close to it.

P.s..how did you dispose of the old CVT oil? Can it be taken to advance auto parts?

[KoiMaxx]

thanks a lot KoiMaxx
If transmission only have a 5yr/60k warranty, I'm about 5k away from that.
So I ask if I should consider using the Castrol liquid, for example, that's cheaper since I'm out of warranty or close to it.

P.s..how did you dispose of the old CVT oil? Can it be taken to advance auto parts?

Can't really say about whether you should go with Castrol or to stick with NS-3, personally I'd go with using NS-3 at least for the first time.

As far as where to dispose of the fluid, any place that accepts used auto fluids should be able to receive those.

[nabril]

thanks a lot KoiMaxx
If transmission only have a 5yr/60k warranty, I'm about 5k away from that.
So I ask if I should consider using the Castrol liquid, for example, that's cheaper since I'm out of warranty or close to it.
P.s..how did you dispose of the old CVT oil? Can it be taken to advance auto parts?

Can't really say about whether you should go with Castrol or to stick with NS-3, personally I'd go with using NS-3 at least for the first time.

thanks Koi
That was smart advice.

[nabril]

Remove the drain plug and drain CVT fluid from the oil pan.
Install the drain plug and just snug tight. (use old gasket for now – you drain oil two times)
Fill approximately 3-1/8 US qt of the CVT fluid.
Start the engine.
While depressing the brake pedal, shift the selector lever to the entire position from “P” to “L”, and shift it to the “P” position. Hold the lever at each position for 5 seconds.
Stop the engine.
Remove the drain plug and drain CVT fluid from the oil pan.
Install the drain plug with NEW drain plug gasket and torque to 25 ft-lb.
Fill approximately 3-1/8 US qt of the CVT fluid

tedc--I've stalled on this long enough waiting for the prize of NS3 to go down on Amazon perhaps, and it hasn't.
So, I ask you.
In both steps, you mentioned to drain and fill with 3 1/8 of a quart. Did you drain the entire amount of the pan and only refill with 3 1/8? I suspect that you meant to say to only drain 3 1/8, and if that's the case, how did you measure what you drained AS you drained it???

[casperfun]

tedc--I've stalled on this long enough waiting for the prize of NS3 to go down on Amazon perhaps, and it hasn't.

I was always jealous that the NS-3 fluid was way cheaper than NS-2 fluid.

Wth, newer and better is cheaper, lucky y’all!

With that said, I wouldn’t skimp on the transmission since we were blessed with the wonderful jatco cvt box from hell. No wonder that Nissan CEO ran from justice and jumped bail in Japan and left for Beirut.... a $hithole.

Which is why Nissan went to crap!

[nabril]

@tedc or @KoiMaxx or @casper any other experts
I finally received my 6 bottles of NS-3, and I shall perform this tomorrow.
I 'd like to attempt the dual flush as noted in the OP, but I don't want to risk running out of liquid.
Should I:
1) Just go for 1 flush with the 6 quarts being enough? (most threads mention needing 4 quarts or so).
2) Drain 3 quarts, shift and drive a bit, and then drain another 3 quarts? I'll have to find a way to measure those 3 quarts as they drain.

Thank you

[tedc]

Remove the drain plug and drain CVT fluid from the oil pan.
Install the drain plug and just snug tight. (use old gasket for now – you drain oil two times)
Fill approximately 3-1/8 US qt of the CVT fluid.
Start the engine.
While depressing the brake pedal, shift the selector lever to the entire position from “P” to “L”, and shift it to the “P” position. Hold the lever at each position for 5 seconds.
Stop the engine.
Remove the drain plug and drain CVT fluid from the oil pan.
Install the drain plug with NEW drain plug gasket and torque to 25 ft-lb.
Fill approximately 3-1/8 US qt of the CVT fluid

tedc--I've stalled on this long enough waiting for the prize of NS3 to go down on Amazon perhaps, and it hasn't.
So, I ask you.
In both steps, you mentioned to drain and fill with 3 1/8 of a quart. Did you drain the entire amount of the pan and only refill with 3 1/8? I suspect that you meant to say to only drain 3 1/8, and if that's the case, how did you measure what you drained AS you drained it???

The procedure provided above is from the 2018 service manual and is NOT just a drain, measure what comes out and then refill with same amount. That works as long as the fluid drained was at the right level to begin with. The proper way to fill to the right level is to use the overflow drain. After the first full drain you only fill with 3 1/8 QTs. Run car, then drain again and only 3 1/8 QTs drains. For the second (final) fill, you again fill 3 1/8 QTs as the starting fill level, then add more fluid until the overflow drain starts to drip. Proper fluid levels are critical for these CVTs and it doesn't take much to under fill (can cause over heating) or overfill (can cause aeration). Yes Nissan NS3 fluid is expensive. NAPA does sell another brand of true NS3 fluid as well.

[nabril]

The procedure provided above is from the 2018 service manual and is NOT just a drain, measure what comes out and then refill with same amount. That works as long as the fluid drained was at the right level to begin with. The proper way to fill to the right level is to use the overflow drain. After the first full drain you only fill with 3 1/8 QTs. Run car, then drain again and only 3 1/8 QTs drains. For the second (final) fill, you again fill 3 1/8 QTs as the starting fill level, then add more fluid until the overflow drain starts to drip. Proper fluid levels are critical for these CVTs and it doesn't take much to under fill (can cause over heating) or overfill (can cause aeration). Yes Nissan NS3 fluid is expensive. NAPA does sell another brand of true NS3 fluid as well.

thanks Ted. I realize that the procedure is for the 2018, and mine is a 2015. I will assume that procedure should/could be the same.
If I understood your explanation, it is as follows:
1) Drain all from CVT pan
2) Only fill 3 1/8 qts
3) run car a few minutes, shift up and down
4) Drain all = 3 1/8 will come out
5) Fill with 3 1/8 adding more until the overflow port drips.
Is that right?
I don't have a Nissan dealership close by to buy another quart, and mixing brands is not a good idea (or is it alright for 1 quart??). What would you suggest? That I only fill 3 and 3 instead of 2 x 3 1/8??

[tedc]

Yes. If I remember correctly, what came out initially was just under 3.5 qts. During the final fill, I poured in 3.5 qts. and a just a little came out from the overflow port on a level surface. So my guess is that the initial fill from Nissan was at the proper level. If you are short on fluid, just skip the first fill and drain once for now. You can always do it again to achieve the two drains. NAPA also sells true NS3 fluid under a non Nissan brand. I used the Nissan brand. The hardest part was getting the darn fill cap off. Make sure you get that cap off before draining any fluid. A dealership actually fills from below with a special fill adapter and pump, so the cap is never removed. Going forward, my plan is to drain and fill just once every 20K, which is similar to my other cars. It is not a difficult task. Since yours is a different year, I would measure what comes out so you have a base line.

[localTradey]

removing the cap is easy. You shouldn't follow those on youtube where you insert a screwdriver from the top of the " fake dispstick".
I used a clip and insert it from the bottom and I can remove it with little effort. The clip I used is from a picture hanger "nail and clip" pack.
Nissan has a proper tool for doing this and it cost $20 but once I realized this, I use a picture hanger clip that cost less than a dollar.

[nabril]

removing the cap is easy. You shouldn't follow those on youtube where you insert a screwdriver from the top of the " fake dispstick".
I used a clip and insert it from the bottom and I can remove it with little effort. The clip I used is from a picture hanger "nail and clip" pack.

thanks for the tip Tradey, I appreciate it.
Hopefully, it will come out easily this weekend when I tackle this once and for all.

[localTradey]

In terms of Drain and fill procedure, I disagree on having to drain& fill it again after waiting a few minutes after the first drain and fill. I will drive it for a week at least or at least 500 miles.
Otherwise the second drain be mostly new fluid(50/50) after idling only for a few minutes.
If there is an issue with the CVT, idling for a few minutes or driving for a week will not save it.

Same with drain and fill of coolant. After the first drain, I will fill with demineralized water and drive a few days before draining and filling with concentrate. Do this in summer, of course!

[nabril]

Well, after much delay and a bit of fear, I finished the drain this morning, and it really was easy.
I used 2 marked coke bottles to measure what I drained, and I used a bottle of the drink ICE to extend my funnel from the fill hole.

The liquid drained looked like Coke as it was super dark black. I tried to attach a picture, but it's too big.

A big thanks to all that helped.
Oh, the overflow port's screw head is 14mm.

[nabril]

Here are the pictures

[localTradey]

Nabril,
Did you just do the once drain & fill or twice?
Also was the drain pipe cap easy to remove?

[nabril]

Nabril,
Did you just do the once drain & fill or twice?
Also was the drain pipe cap easy to remove?

I only drained once since I only bought 6 quarts.
The top fill cap took a few tries with a thin screwdriver, and the drain plug was on tight. It took some really hard twisting so as to not strip it.

[localTradey]

this my view on the different CVT fluid - from a business perspective.
If you are a fluid blender/manufacturer and Nissan approach you to produce a fluid. You will produce the fluid exactly to Nissan spec, no more or no less. How it performs is will not be your concern unless Nissan pays you to do R&D but I presume Nissan already did that and you just produce the fluid and stick a Nissan NS-3 label on it.
Now if you are the the fluid company like castrol,valvoline, amsoil etc, not only you need to meet the spec but exceed it. Otherwise why would anyone buy from you? Also in order to bring the price down, it need to sell in high volume. This is done by including the spec of other cars like subaru, honda etc
This article by infineum mentioned the different properties that the CVT fluid needs and which explains why using standard ATF fluid will cause issues.
https://www.infineuminsight.com/en-gb/a ... em-design/

My current qashqai has 30K miles(2015) and the fluid is still clear without any hint of grey on a white napkin. I used a wire cable to stick it in to find out the condition since it doesn't have a dipstick.
Looks like I shouldn't need to change the fluid anytime soon. Maybe the current CVT fluid is design for "lifetime".
When I had a corolla that uses 5 speed ATF, the fluid gets brown at 20K miles and at 30K miles gets dark like the fluid above with the same driving condition.
This 2.0L qashqai is build in the UK.

What I notice is that in UK, the 1.2L and 1.6L (with turbo variants) are popular. IN Australia, we have 2.0L only. IN USA, the rogue is 2.5L.
Coincidentally the price of petrol/gasoline is highest in UK, followed by Australia and cheapest in USA.
In all the forums here in Australia, everyone seems to accept the lifetime fluid and no reported problems as far as qashqai is concern. Other models of NIssans are made in Thailand.
Even car parts retailer hardly stock CVT (NS-3 equivalent) fluid. You have better luck on Ebay. If NIssan dealership has NS-3, I wonder how old it has been sitting there since replacing "lifetime" fluid is uncommon.

[D1dad]

First off Nissan ns3 isn’t unicorn tears and Nissan even revamped the language to “equivelant”, at least in my wife’s 18 rogue and even my 21 Altima, as opposed to saying that anything but genuine Nissan fluid would “void warranty”. I’m assuming that court cases have sided with consumers over the monopoly that Nissan created on the prices of their fluid and the magnusson act. Nissan has had cvt fluid produced by shell/sopus which according to some led to some of the failures early on or maybe even recently. Late rumors and website research have idemitsu and eneos blending ns2 and3 for Nissan as of late. I’m a little Leary of fluids that cover multiple specs and manufacturers, but idemitsu type N is app specific to ns2 and eneos makes a specific Nissan ns3 fluid so I’m inclined to believe the inter webs or at least trust that it would not void my warranty. My 09 Altima remanned transmission will and has received a steady diet of idemitsu and valvoline and IMO runs better than it did when I picked it up after replacement. When my 18 and 21 are out of warranty they’ll get eneos from napa at under $9 a qt. Till then I’ll have the dealer service them with overpriced fluid every 30k so I’ll have leg to stand on with a potential good will replacement should I need it.

[D1dad]

And for gosh sakes use some sort of scan tool when you do this. A scanguage 2 can be had for under $150 and will pay for itself on the first drain and fill. Eneos Nissan ns3 is the same color and probably the manufacture for nissans oem fluid can be ordered from napa for half the price of ns3 from the dealer. Just driving your car isn’t a very accurate way to complete this job. I plugged in my scanner yesterday an hour after letting my car set and the transmission temp was 98 degrees and rose up to 150 in less than 5 miles on a 55 degree day. From a cold start at 40 degrees it took almost 20 minutes of idling to get the fluid up to 111-120 which is the temp you wanna pull your overflow plug to level the fluid. On a warm day that same cold start can reach service temps in half that time. Just pulling the plug without knowing the actual temp is a shot in the dark. Even my infrared gun was off by as much as 10 degrees. This job isn’t hard and with the proper tools you can do this every 10-20k for less than the cost of 1 dealer service at 60k and potentially stave off any cvt issues down the road. My scanguage won’t work on my 09 so drain and fills replacing exactly what came out result in the same amount on the dipstick.

[VStar650CL]

My scanguage won’t work on my 09 so drain and fills replacing exactly what came out result in the same amount on the dipstick.

Yep, if there are no leaks and you want to skip all the baloney, replacing exactly what you drained is sure-fire. Just measure, don't guesstimate. Overfilling is a CVT-killer (even a small amount). The easiest way is a transmission plastic pail, put a tape mark on it after draining. Then just dump and clean it, and fill to the tape mark.