Maximam

I'm at 61k miles and wanted to get a consensus on when other feel dropping 5 quarts out of the CVT and refilling is needed?

Opinions?

1996blackmax

iTrader: (2)

I do this every 30k miles.

zoemayne

iTrader: (4)

I did mine at 50k... I would recommend doing it at 40k. You will notice the difference. I'm not a heavy driver.

MaximaDrvr

iTrader: (1)

I do it every 30k.
At 141k now.

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

I change my cvt every 50k and my oil every 5k.

Maximam

Change it it is then. Anyone have the best place to buy the fluid? Links?

Richard66

Get the NS2 CVT oil from the dealership. It might cost a few extra bucks but it will be the real thing, OEM, unlike what you might get off of EBAY. Why take a chance of ruining your car by putting in the wrong thing.

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

I've bought mine from the dealer and from ebay. The time I bought from ebay the seller was a Nissan parts distributor so I felt confident buying from them. I've personally had no issues and would have bought again from ebay but I was moving from Cali back to Kansas and wanted the fluid right away.

LtLeary

Don't forget to change the filter. I am at 310,000 and drain and fill every 60k.

LSExplorer22

I'm at 101,300 miles and I plan on doing it for the first time at 105,000 miles. I have had no issues with my transmission ever.

Maximam

Done. Straight forward deal. Bought the cheap $2 7qt pan from Walmart that has quarts labeled to measure the drain. Purchased 5 qts from Nissan at $17/ea. that was after a haggle from $19.95. 4.5 quarts came out of mine when on ramps. Be careful when you remove the drain bolt, the fluid comes out very fast, it's like water. The filter will have to wait until I order it since it was not in stock. The parts counter guy at Nissan said it has no filter. I gave him a part number and asked him what that was then. ;-)

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

I did mine at 30ish k.

S

Maxxi12

I think most people are leaning in the direction that you should go ahead and do it...

I've got almost 30k on mine and haven't done it yet. Probably will do it soon. No issues with it.

VVhite-0ut

What's the Part# for the CVT oil filter? I'm sure most Nissan techs will argue there isn't one so I'd like to have my information correct when I approach that occasion. TIA!

fame126

I agree! Better to be prepared. I'd like to know as well as I'm coming up on 60k to have mine done

LtLeary

317261XE0A around $12

carlem9

Every 30k is a good interval but you can go beyond it a little.

Zygi

I would change it, if It were my car. My personal experience:
I did mine at 34000 (It's a 2011 max) and the fluid that came out wasn't very clean-looking at all but wasn't too dirty either. I might do the next change at around 60000 if not before that.

Zygi

Filter? So you dropped the pan then, in addition to draining the fluid right?
I just did a drain and refill at 34000. Btw. awesome mileage; makes me feel more confident about my car. You're also lucky you don't have the infamous bearing knock.

Zygi

317261XE0A corresponds to:
"CONTROL VALVE (ATM) - OIL FILTER ASSY-AUTO TRANSMISSION"

LtLeary

No pan dropping required. The filter is on the return line from the transmission oil cooler. You will see it behind the splash shield on the front left wheel well. Looks like an older style fuel filter.

MDSUPERSTAR

iTrader: (1)

https://www.parts.com/index.cfm?fuse...NAL-OIL-FILTER

Zygi

Description says it's for a 2007 maxima

Maximam

Same part.

michaelle8885

sorry, what's the consensus on this CVT fluid filter? I haven't heard anything about it and can't find anything in the manual about CVT fluid filter. The Service Maintenance never mentions anything about a CVT filter either. Just looking for clarification in case I missed it.

2014Maxima

I would like to know about the CVT filter also. How many people here are actually changing them.

I was going to let the dealer do it, but they all want to do a complete flush. I really do not want to do this for fear this may cause problems with the torque converter or transmission. I have always heard that flushing is bad, and I can only imagine that it would be even harder on a CVT transmission.

I know that draining and refilling is not going to completely drain the system, but what methods do you all do to ensure that you can get as much of the old fluid out as possible?

Also, I have read that Nissan dealers somehow read the fluid and determine the life of it. How is this done, and is there something that needs to be reset for this after changing the fluid when doing it at home?

Richard66

One way to get most of the old CVT oil out is do a drain and fill at the same time as an engine oil change and do this for three cycles. Depending on your millage this procedure would take somewhere around a year to complete, but
you will end up with mostly new oil. The upside is that it would not cost anymore than a dealership flush and you don't have to worry about damage that could be caused from a flush.

LSExplorer22

I just got my first fluid change after 110,000 miles. The dealer completed a tranny flush for me for about $225. My car feels so much smoother and acceleration and de-acceleration feel so much better. Regarding peoples comments on flushes hurting your transmission. Why do people think that dealerships would complete tranny flushes if it would damage transmissions and/or ruin their reputation of their transmissions? It just doesn't make any sense to me?

Maximam

Chances are they removed and replaced the fluid.

innofish

Wow! 310K for an 09 Max? That's a lot of driving.

CorollaULEV

The CVT filter is listed in Nissan parts as a transmission fluid cooler filter. If going to the parts desk, several dealers have told me "there is no filter on the transmission" - I guess just not looking it up correctly. Ask for tranny fluid cooler filter.

High pressure methods for flushing fluid out are not good. A true transmission flush would involve idling the engine, disconnecting the transmission fluid cooler return line and pouring fluid into the charge pipe while the car is pumping old fluid out and doing until fluid coming out is clear/new. It's nothing special and can be done at home.