Keep old CVT fluid???

[ssutphin]

Just had my 2011 Rogue transmission serviced at the dealer at 81,000 miles. At one point I was told the old fluid was very dark and had a lot of metal shavings in it. They thought it might be better to not flush it and just put the old fluid back in. That did not sound right at all so I told them to flush it and put in new fluid to avoid additional abrasion by the metal fluid and additional wear by the old fluid. Has anyone else encountered this? I already had a low opinion of the CVT transmission but now it has fallen off a lot more. I hope to get another 80K out of this one so we will see how that plays out to determine if I will ever get another Nissan. The 201 is not included in that transmission warranty extension Nissan gave a few year ago. I routinely get 150,000+ miles form my vehicles with routine maintenance and minor repairs.

[ImStricken06]

parts wear. as they wear, they become veyr smooth. adding fresh/clean fluid into that newly smoothed parts makes them slip. replacing the old gritty fluid allows for friction between parts which results in no slipping. its a common practice in aged transmission's.

what fluid did you use to flush? what fluid did you replace the original with? who did the service?

[ssutphin]

I had it done at the Nissan dealer and left it up to him to use the proper fluids. I don't consider 81K miles to be an aged transmission, more like an early middle-ager.

[ImStricken06]

I had it done at the Nissan dealer and left it up to him to use the proper fluids. I don't consider 81K miles to be an aged transmission, more like an early middle-ager.

its aged man. like it or not by then internals are worn. i would only suggest doing tanny fluid work at around 30k-ish. past that, and i have seen MANY cars not even make it out of the service bay. everything inside slips like crazy. its a very-very common problem. this is why shops 'warn' their owners. many shops get sued for that and walk out scot-free. its not their fault.

[ssutphin]

Thanks. Maybe Nissan will resolve this by their next generation of CVTs. This transmission is a great concept but from what I have been reading it does not have very much consumer confidence across the board.

[lne937s]

The major issue with the CVT is a lack of proper maintenance. The CVT fluid is an integral part of how the transmission works, and people need to be better educated and more diligent. These transmissions were not designed to go 80k before a fluid replacement-- it is not the same as an automatic. IMO, the original fluid should have had a drain and fill every other year/every 30k (whichever is sooner).

[lulimet]

That's pretty ridiculous that the dealer suggested to use the old fluid.

[ImStricken06]

The major issue with the CVT is a lack of proper maintenance. The CVT fluid is an integral part of how the transmission works, and people need to be better educated and more diligent. These transmissions were not designed to go 80k before a fluid replacement-- it is not the same as an automatic. IMO, the original fluid should have had a drain and fill every other year/every 30k (whichever is sooner).

thats not true. the cvt has a system that mechanics plug into, and it tells you a number. that number tells you the condition of the fluid. many times dealership mechanics tell people that around 60k, the fluid is only half 'bad'. this cvt fluid doesnt need to be changed often like atf.

[ImStricken06]

That's pretty ridiculous that the dealer suggested to use the old fluid.

no its not. read what i wrote above: "parts wear. as they wear, they become veyr smooth. adding fresh/clean fluid into that newly smoothed parts makes them slip. replacing the old gritty fluid allows for friction between parts which results in no slipping. its a common practice in aged transmission's."

[Unicorn]

Thanks. Maybe Nissan will resolve this by their next generation of CVTs. This transmission is a great concept but from what I have been reading it does not have very much consumer confidence across the board.

This isn't CVT specific. It's all automatic transmissions that haven't had their fluid changed regularly and early enough.

[ssutphin]

All that seems to be true from what I have been reading but the Nissan Owners Manual says not to change the fluid until it has 100,000 miles on it. Nissan needs to change their Owners Manual to recommend the change at 30,000 or less to keep their owners from being surprised by this. Knowing what I now know about the CVT I would not have bought this car. The Rogue is a great car that I have otherwise been well satisfied with but I have very little confidence in that transmission.

[darylzero]

All that seems to be true from what I have been reading but the Nissan Owners Manual says not to change the fluid until it has 100,000 miles on it. Nissan needs to change their Owners Manual to recommend the change at 30,000 or less to keep their owners from being surprised by this. Knowing what I now know about the CVT I would not have bought this car. The Rogue is a great car that I have otherwise been well satisfied with but I have very little confidence in that transmission.

That's not true, the Premium maintenance say's to change the CVT fluid every 30,000 miles