Pictures of my drained transmission fluid at 75,500 miles AFTER 1st drain & fill.

[casperfun]

So I did 2 drain & fills in less than 10 days. The plan is to do three within a months time.

I'm planning to do a couple more until it's green.

Is it wasting money? I don't know. Just makes me feel better.

I could just let it break down and get a new CVT and THEN start to scrutinize it with maintenance. But I don't really like the idea of taking it apart and putting it back together. It's never factory spec nor is a BROKEN car I guess. Lol!

Even though some people change it perhaps every 30k to 50k after a drain and fill or even 100k. I want to do it within weeks or in months.

My goal is to get it as green as possible.

My thought are, if it still looks black, than that is the equivalent to 3-5 yr old fluid since some of the old stuff is still mixed in.

Don't get me wrong and I am not OCD with my fluids since I am going on between 12,000- 13,000 on my amsoil at the moment. Did change the Bosch distance+ to a Fram Ultra Synthetic. Also first time I did change filter on same oil though. I like changing oil between 15-20k.

All I can say is that my Rogue has never droved smoother. Almost like brand new. If you want smooth as butter, then drain and fill. And the quieter placebo effect.

I actually don't think my Rogue is noisy; whine and all. I actually think its TOO quiet. The half dozen times I have grinded my starter because of the silence. I have to remind myself to look at the rpm's to know if its on.

Seriously, I would have done this every 20-30k miles if I had to do over. BECAUSE of the history of the CVT and its horror stories.

Sometimes I think Nissan includes the locking dipstick and telling us its fluid for life so IT WILL break down. Why would a car company want their automobiles to last over 200k miles when they in business to SELL cars......OR SELL CVT'S!

Even the American Cars from decades ago were able to last over 200k easy. It just another conspiracy like when they said we run out of oil, now look; a GLUT.

But there was a kink in their profit making machinery, and their cars were breaking down too fast and not at the right time.

Don't you think the CVT's should have been recalled like the Toyota acceleration problem? One could speed up on a highway and the other is one could stop on a highway. Oh yeah, one was a pedal and this is a CVT.

My opinion only.


This is what the fluid looked like after the first drain and fill. So 5 new quarts of fluid is mixed in there.
Ho-hum. Not green enough for my taste.


Before I tilt the bottle.


This is after I tilt the bottle after 6 sec. If I took a picture 30 seconds later it would be even clearer.
Just doing this for myself, But I guess this MAY be the reason for the illusion that the dipstick seems clear at times.
Since its less viscous then oil. Look at top picture, it even looks slightly green, but barely perceptible.

My dipstick looks really clear now, but in a clear bottle who knows. When I do the third, I try to post pics.

[casperfun]

So I have completed 3 drain & fills within 1 month.


Not bad, looks great from here. Looks close to a flush, nice and green as so it seems.


Ahhhh, Mr. Nissan NS-2 seems green here too. Good so far.


Woops, maybe not. Hello Dark Transmission fluid.


This represents over 10.5 new quarts of NS-2 fluid that was in my Rogue.


Well I am putting a little over 5 quarts NS-2 fluid again today.

Moreover, I have another box with a dozen quarts of NS-2 to use until I get a better Green look in my transmission.

All in all, it might look clear on the dipstick, drains green, but remnants of the drained NS-2 after a regular drain & fill and dropping the pan; the fluid still looks dark as you can clearly see from the bottled material.

I did do a sea foam spray treatment recently, could be leftover friction material to this day? Who knows.

But my Rogue shifts great from a stand still at stoplights when accelerating. To me like new, considering before.
I'm just happy the rumble strip sensation is gone forever! The throttle hesitating, then jerking forward during acceleration is history too.

[darylzero]

Did you say you dropped your transmission pan?

[casperfun]

Did you say you dropped your transmission pan?

Yes during my second drain & fill.

Considering you tackled the cv axle and many tougher projects, you could probably drop the pan with your hands tied behind your back.

The only thing that beating my head over is that I didn't change the transmission strainer while in there. I kinda didn't know what it was until after.

My OCD is kicking in and I was not trying to think of the pan until you mention it...lol!

But everything is so beautiful, snug and perfect, I don't want to mess with it anymore.

I'm just making myself believe that the strainer is great condition JUST like my SPARK PLUGS were when I change them recently.
So not thinking about it. Because it wasn't really necessary.

You should try it.

Buy the gasket at Advance Auto like I did. Same as the Altima.
Just get a flat head screw driver and pry & stab the old gasket off. It comes off nicely in on piece.
Use petroleum jelly to adhere gasket to pan for easier installation.

Of course easy removal of10mm bolts- reuse them! No problem.

Remember star pattern and 6 lb torque. I hand tighten by feel because my wrench was too big and another was old style. no biggie.

Of course the usual clean with brake cleaner, clean the slurry grimmy goo from the magnets. I saw little particles standing up on the magnet while trying to clean it.

Just by dropping the pan you will get the equivalent of 16 ounces or a water bottle of fluid extra falling out of the pan. Very surprised since I let it drip to nothing before the drop.

The only reason I did it is because we are able to drain it before the drop unlike some Altima owners who have no drain plug. Let it drain from the end towards the rear first.

Real easy.

Good luck if you try. You wont need it actually.

Walk in the park for you!