2012 Rogue AWD, 60K miles, no real issues, checked the CVT oil today, looks yellowish.

The question I have is: should I still change my CVT oil? flush and replace, or just change w/o flush?

thanks guys

chudat wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:08 pm

2012 Rogue AWD, 60K miles, no real issues, checked the CVT oil today, looks yellowish.

The question I have is: should I still change my CVT oil? flush and replace, or just change w/o flush?

thanks guys

Does the transmission whine under load at all? That's low miles for the year. I'd suggest at least a drain and fill (6 quarts) if you can do it.

On first generation, it’s easier than a regular oil change.

But you do need to drive around for 10 minutes to check levels. No biggie.

Even though old trans oil looks clear, if you pour it into a clear empty bottle like a hi-c juice jug, it will look dark actually.

It’s an optical illusion. Cuz I thought the same while looking at my fluid. Boy was I wrong.

Moreover, considering the Nissan cvt is a time bomb, every little bit helps in maintenance.

chudat wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:08 pm

2012 Rogue AWD, 60K miles, no real issues, checked the CVT oil today, looks yellowish.

The question I have is: should I still change my CVT oil? flush and replace, or just change w/o flush?

thanks guys

I'd do a Drain and Fill at that mileage. But being Nissan, they always FORCE you into doing a transmission flush. It's like they never heard of a thing called drain and fill.

Just drain half the fluid out and put half back in with fresh new OEM Nissan approved CVT fluid grade. A full flush may or may not cause issues on your CVT.

datechboss101 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:00 pm

chudat wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:08 pm

2012 Rogue AWD, 60K miles, no real issues, checked the CVT oil today, looks yellowish.

The question I have is: should I still change my CVT oil? flush and replace, or just change w/o flush?

thanks guys

I'd do a Drain and Fill at that mileage. But being Nissan, they always FORCE you into doing a transmission flush. It's like they never heard of a thing called drain and fill.

Just drain half the fluid out and put half back in with fresh new OEM Nissan approved CVT fluid grade. A full flush may or may not cause issues on your CVT.

That's the exact opposite experience I've had at two Nissan dealers in Westchester County, New York. They both know the CVT cannot be flushed, so to replace all the fluid would take approximately 17-20 quarts of continually draining and refilling the CVT multiple times in succession on the same day. Therefore, they ONLY offer drain and refill service. If I recall correctly, one of the dealers, while under previous management, offered a full fluid change for $100 or $150 more than the drain and refill service. But they don't anymore.

Also, first generation Rogue drain and refill should typically be 4.9-5.0 quarts, not 6 quarts as stated earlier in this thread. This is assuming there's nothing wrong or unusual with any particular vehicle.

On my 2013 SV, I did a drain and refill at 22K, 41K, and 61K. The CVT is going as strong as ever at 69K today. It's the one thing on this vehicle that really has to be babied or it will definitely go bad. Fluid changes should be frequent and exact proper fluid level is critical. Too much or too little will both cause significant unnecessary wear.

But if the fluid changes are done frequently and the level always kept at the perfect amount, I believe even this crappy CVT with a reputation that precedes it should last a good 150-200K or maybe more, at least if the external CVT cooler is properly installed. My 2013 wasn't built until June of 2013 and by that time, the external CVT coolers were being installed at the factory before the vehicles were shipped to North America.

I have a first generation awd.

You need at least 5.5 quarts if you drop the pan.

And definitely 6 qts if you drop pan and change strainer. If you empty every last drop by gravity overnight that I did once.

Anyways, on my recent drain and fill I used 5 quarts and thought I was safe as usual.

Anyways, I checked the level out of the blue after a couple of weeks.,.. and the dipstick was bone dry!

That sucked. But I kinda felt ok since it had 5 new quarts and I never had a problem.

Anyways, I needed another 7/8 of a quart to get it in the middle of the hash marks.

So it’s vehicle dependent, cuz the awd needs more fluid than the fwd.

So fluid requirements varies.

Drain & fills do help. But cvt seems to last around 180,000 miles at best.

Some guy on youtube said there was some inherent design flaw where some tiny ball bearings take some tremendous force in the torque converter, so eventually the cvt blows up and fails.

Anyways, every little bit helps.

Sad we have to drive like grandma and change fluid a lot to make these rogues last to their potential shelf life.

Forgot to mention that those 2 Nissan dealers do what the Honda dealerships do when flushing the transmission fluid.

Which kinda gave me the same idea.

I tried to do the same but within a 2 month period back in the summer of 2017.

4 drain and fills until the point of diminishing returns.

Finally did a fifth one a couple months ago cuz I was bored and also being paranoid with an original decade old cvt.

Pretty good investment or insurance.

Spending $400 instead of $4000.

Now that my warranty is gone for this cvt.

That's interesting about the pan and the strainer. I've never done the fluid change myself and always instructed my mechanic to simply drain the fluid and refill it without taking anything apart, and then double and triple check the fluid level after adding new fluid. I learned a lot from this video showing the break down of a Rogue CVT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnN7lkHOCuE

Do you think frequent fluid changes (drain and refill every 22,000-25,000 miles) without dropping the pan or cleaning the strainer will be sufficient for longevity, or is it really necessary to do that extra work?

Personally, that is my plan is to drain and fill the cvt fluid every 15,000-20,000 miles from here on out since the warranty ended and I’m still on my ORIGINAL cvt for over a decade.

It’s just as easy as a regular oil change for the first generation so I’m down with it.

I actually think this is more important than a regular oil change since the probability of a motor oil engine failure is not as great as a cvt transmission failure.

Moreover, I do NOT believe replacing the strainer is necessary, because personally I saw minimal microscopic flecks in there. Not really too dirty in my opinion.

There is even a small miniature filter inside the beehive that I learned about when people were upgrading to a transmission oil cooler. (Seen in videos below too)

I didn’t want to go through all that trouble changing that.

So presently I do 15,000-20,000 oci’s for both my motor oil and transmission fluid to hopefully get my rogue to reach its fullest potential of 180,000 miles.


I have 91,000 miles so far.

Hence no extra work is necessary, but doing more routine drain and flushes in the hope for more longevity.

Watch this for better understanding of our cvt too:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... LrwPKg2_AU