i have a 2016 versa sv and im going to have the dealer replace the cvt fluid. Im going to be changing every 30 to 40,000 miles regardless if its needs it or not. Fluid is cheaper than a tranny and i dont trust the dealer if he says ..(computer says the fluid is fine)..umm hummm. From past experience i dont trust dealers too much. I do change my 2000 Ford excursion and 2000 hyundai accent myself.. im letting the dealer take
care of this one but my problem is... how do i know if they really changed it? i always inspect their work but as far as i know the 2016 has no dipstick or site window? anyone know how to view the quality of the fluid so i know they actually did the work?.. thanks

We have an incredible SEARCH feature on this forum. The posting below is from the Rogue forum, but should still be useful. It's from this topic thread: How To Check Tranny Fluid. BTW, here at NICO, we have Factory Service Manuals (FSM) available free to members. Take a look at the link in my signature and find the FSM for your car and you'll have all the info you'll ever need to make repairs and try to diagnose things for yourself.

philipa_240sx wrote:Disclaimer: If you are unfamiliar with checking fluid levels and/or working on your car, do not attempt the following procedure.

The CVT fluid dipstick is located near the battery. It has a locking tab. To release it, use a small blunt object (a small screwdriver) and insert it into the square tab release hole on the side (faces the drivers side headlamp) while pulling up on the dipstick. Be careful as the locking tab is plastic and may break off if forced.

The Nissan NS-2 CVT fluid is normally a light amber color. I checked mine and it was clean. I do not have the rattle BTW.

The procedure for chacking fluid level is similar to most automatic transmissions. Here is the entire procedure for checking fluid level from the FSM:

Warning: In step 5, make sure you return the shifter to Park!

thank you ive downloaded a few and will take a look. i ve seen the vids of similar cars but not the modern versa and but ive looked in vain for the dipstick. there is a stange vent tube in the right spot but its a rubber tube with a sort of screw/ push in cap.i tried to remove the cap without sucess as its buried pretty deep behind various thbes and such. ill look in the manuals and see if i can find it. thank you very much

i mean i see nothing like the tube and cap like is depicted in videos and the diagram...but ill keep looking

Here is a video link...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhOFQKvB-QQ

Just after about 2 minutes of the video, he is filling the CVT with fluid through the dipstick hole. There is a rubber cap over a tub and it is near the air intake, kind of behind it. Let us know if you find it successfully and how your fluid level and color are.

thanks for the tip but the vid is a 2008 sentra and i have a 2016 versa. looked thru a few of the manuals but no luck yet. I dont have alot of free time. I purchased the ar used and it has 39,000 on it now and id atleast like to see the color / condition of the fluid .anyone out there with a 3rd gen i think versa?I think they changed in 2015. thanx everyone..trying to post a pic of my engine. guess i have to wait till im on a computer and not a cell.

Oh, okay. I looked further for you. This looks complicated to me because there doesn't seem to be a nice dip stick to use. You might need a charging pipe and ATF changer hose. What are those?!

Well, the FSM for the 2016 Versa in online here. In the "TM" chapter is transmission stuff. Starting at page 55 is the CVT. Page 228 talks about the CVT fluid. Page 242 has the oil pan and overflow tube connection locations. Maybe with the FSM and your car in front of you, you'll be able to figure it out. Can you please tell us about it when you do? Maybe even take a picture or do a write-up with pictures and instruction?

http://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual? ... %20Note/TM

Upon further inspection of page 242, it seems that the drain plug hole is also the fill hole. You have the overflow tube in the CVT while the drain plug is out. So that any extra fluid would go over the tube and out the drain plug hole. I don't see a way to see if it is less than full, nor a way to inspect some of the fluid without pumping. To fully empty the thing, I guess the overflow tube gets removed. What do you think?

wow ha that's what I was afraid of . I spotted a mysterious unnecessary rubber hose and On top of the transmission maybe that's what you're talking about. When I get some time in the next couple weeks I'll take a better look and see what's up yes definitely I will do a write up with pictures. Thanks for all your help. I did breeze through the online manual but it wasn't too clear and thanks again

On top? Could that be the air bleeder hose mentioned in FSM, TM, page 240? It sounds like that i's right under the air duct according to the description. I think the drain and fill is all the way at the bottom and you need a couple of special parts (hose, tube) but I'm not sure.

yes i think that rubber tube is the breather. really? drain and refill like 3x if i read it correctly? if the computer says the fluid is fine for a crooked dealer or tech that procedure is ripe for not doing it but charging you for it. no easy way to tell. was thinking of just loosening the drain bolt a little to get a small sample of fluid for color. no other easy way to do it i think without their weird drain tubes and such. aha.. maybe wax pen.. marker? on the drain bolt to see if they atleast removed the drain bolt.

Well, it seems like it's best done at a dealership or reputable tranny shop with CVT experience. I don't really know about the 3 times thing. That and having the temperature set to certain modes during the process. It looks like a very specialized service. I personally don't like that and would be less interested in a CVT for myself. I'm not really into proprietary parts and service. As far as marking things... well, you want your car worked on by people you trust. It's up to you to develop a trust relationship. Unless you've already been personally screwed at your local Nissan, I'd save give them a chance. They have a reputation to maintain and it's not from claiming to do a service and then not actually doing it.

yes im new to nissan. Just in the past doing alot of my own work or by my mechanic. My me hanic is good but just on my older cars do i trust him haha .true about having Nissan do it, thats fine with me but id like to also check on their work. Im a truck driver and our mechanics mess up all the time. Mostly just working too quickly. Thanx and if i decide to tackle it myself i will let everyone know how it went

Before I bought my 2016 Versa Note SV, I had a 2000 Honda Accord V-6, and Hondas are infamous for tranny problems in regards to their constant mesh trannies. On that car, I did the usual tricks like changing the fluid 3X to do a semi-flush since it is not possible to fully drain that tranny. I also installed a transmission filter. I went so far as to rebuild one of the trannies for fun because I take great pride in doing that (I've also rebuilt a Ford AOD). As a former hot rodder I've blueprinted race motors and did my own cylinder head porting so rebuilding automatic trannies was the last frontier for me (I've also rebuilt manual trannies which are a lot easier).

So my first impulse with the Versa is to change fluid frequently, like at 15,000 miles. Talked to the service rep at my dealer and he told me on the 2016s and up, it needs to be done at the dealer. He said the tranny needs to be refilled to avoid bubbles and in the past, owners would screw things up by overfilling or underfilling so now the tranny is sealed. I believe the dealer drains and refills the fluid from the drain plug to avoid bubbles and they have special equipment to do that (it makes sense to pump it in from the bottom). He told me the service interval is 60,000 miles! I told him that is just before the warrantee is up!

As you may have heard, fluid for the tranny is so expensive it costs almost the same to have the dealer do it even if you could change it yourself. The service rep quoted me a price of $300 or so. I guess if you insist the fluid be changed at 20,000 or 30,000 miles they will do it for you as you are paying for it. Will those magnetic tranny filters work on this car? Not sure, but I'm sure it will void the warrantee.

If you are the owner of a 2016 and up Versa Note, you can only hope the 3rd gen build will be more durable. Nissan moved the pulleys out of the fluid to decrease friction. The service rep said Nissan learned a lot from the problems with the Murano, and they used the tech to design the 3rd gen CVT. Do a search for "nissanusa.com/blog/xtronic-cvt-continuously-variable-transmission" since we are not allowed to post URLs. I'm sure Nissan owners whose CVT crapped out would be amused with this sentence from the ad:

“In 1993, the CVT was banned from the world's most prestigious racing series. It was considered an unfair advantage.”

I have to say though, that I am impressed with the driveability of my 2016 so far, and do indeed experience the following claims from the ad:

•Stronger acceleration from a standing start
•Rapid & seamless acceleration during merging and passing
•Smooth and quiet at cruising speed

•Always in the right gear - no gear hunting
•Significant improvement in the fuel economy

At 50 MPH, the engine is turning only 1500 yet has excellent throttle response when speeding up. I also took the car up a mountain pass and had no trouble keeping up with the other cars and max rpm up the slope was only 2800. The question now is one of durability.

haha yes i read that also about banning the cvt from racing .yes after a lot of research I see that they change the internal design of the transmission and I'm hoping that that solves most of the problems. I see that there are fewer and fewer complaints especially about the 15's and 16's. some people complained about the CVT's performance maybe because they weren't used to the way the CVT operates.yes it's a little odd and has a delay when you step on the gas but you just have to get used to that and prepare in advance.yes I'm fine with the cost of the service because servicing a no transmission at the dealership is only like a third cheaper so it's not that big of a deal and with the cost of fluid continuing to go up is true that servicing your car at home is getting less and less profitable including oil changes.and yes like you said time will tell.I did some amateur motorcycle racing and when I took my engines apart and put them back together I always had extra pieces left.also' I was curious about if the problem is hear build up and I have not noticed anyone talking about putting a oil cooler on the transmissions the older ones and with that make a difference or not since it seems the transmissions start failing when under heavy load in hot weather

I believe the CVT doesn't use clutch packs like most automatic transmissions so a magnetic transmission filter is not going to help. On the Honda, everybody uses the one made in Australia. I haven't looked but the CVT may not have an OEM tranny cooler either (usually just a tube routed in front the radiator so not sure about a cooler, but from what I've read about Nissan's strict service policies - and considering the notorious problems with this tranny - I am guessing installing anything like that will void the warrantee.

Look at this article, written early last year: roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27823/a-dual-clutch-gearbox-is-an-automatic-and-it-isnt-even-the-best-one/

The CVT was indeed banned from racing - in Formula One racing at that!