They have no idea what that is and tell me that I'm not to touch it as its lifetime fluid -- sure lifetime meaning my CVT dies 50k earlier.

Anyway:

Bad dealership?

Or is the response predictable?

-------------------

If I do it myself I am just scared of mixing two fluids. How do I know what fluid is in there?

Thanks in advance. I get a weird bog when declerating up and let go of the gas pedal almost like an engine brake like I've down shifted or something happens around hitting 40kmh.

Im still under warranty for the CVT until 100k(km) but Im at 88k(km) but dont want to be that guy with it going boom at 101k

 

Did you search first??

https://maxima.org/forums/7th-genera...rain-fill.html

 

What dealer was this?... Need to put them on my list.

I was at the dealer last week. To change the fluid is 169... Yes the fluids will get mixed since all the fluid is not going to be removed. Its easier to just let them do it since the fluid costs $15 a quart... it use to cost $200

 

Also, is this a new issue? because the maxima uses engine compression breaking. Meaning when you take your foot off the gas, the car is supposed to slow down. So changing your CVT fluid may not be the answer?

Here's a link

CVT Engine Breaking

 

Seriously dude? Did you read my post first??

"If I do it myself I am just scared of mixing two fluids. How do I know what fluid is in there?"

I didn't ask how do I do it. But all help is help I s'pose!

 

Waterloo Nissan, Ontario. I'm a Canuck

 

This totally might be it reading now thanks for the info! Super Helpful!

I'm doing the CVT more as a maintenance thing then to try and fix a problem, people suggest doing it anyway to increase CVT longevity.

 

https://maxima.org/forums/7th-genera...il-change.html

 

Again I did not need a how to-- please read OP,

Thanks

 

All the information you need is in your owners manual...

 

Again the question was about the dealer charge -- and how to know what type of oil in inside (not assuming it wasn't ever changed)

Not how, or what interval to do it at...

Thanks

 

Waterloo Nissan does not impress me for service. I got my car there, but do my own service if possible.

From new my Maxima had a slow leaking tire, they inspected 2x and could not find the leak. I tightened the schraeder valve in the stem = fixed.

They installed a new Maintenance Free battery when I got the car (1 year old), but failed to clean the terminals of corrosion. How sloppy is that? additionally their failure to tighten down the battery hold down clamps caused a clunking noise that drove me crazy in the first 4 months of my ownership. I tighten nuts on hold down and clunk is gone!

Nice people at dealership, but sloppy technicians out back.

 

How many km of the vehicle when you bought it?

To be 100% sure of the type of oil in the CVT you would have to have an oil analysis done.

Pull the dip stick and look at the oil to see if it has a slight green tint to it. Nissan NS-2 oil is green in color when new, so if there is a little green tint to it then you can be pretty sure the oil is NS-2 because that is what is put in when the car was new and the previous mileage that was on the car before you bought it would not require any kind of CVT oil change in the past.

If you do your own drain and fill and use NS-2 and keep your receipts your warranty will be intact. The safest way would be to find a dealership that will do this work. It should only cost around 175 dollars.

I bought my car with only about 10,000 miles on it so I am pretty sure the original CVT oil is still in it and I am planning to do a drain and fill using NS-2 when the odometer hits 50K.

 

Inexperienced service department that seems to be following the service book to the tee. Nissan claims the fluid in this car are lifetime fluids, yeah whatever that means, usually 100,000 miles. Those 100,000 miles don't include severe driving conditions such as stop and go traffic, idling, jackrabbit launches, etc.

It is important to change out the fluid, my salesman who used to work in the service dept for 5 years before switching over to sales recommended to change mine at 60k miles. Also recommended me to look online for the cost of the fluid first before coming in, and then just bring it in and they'll charge me the labor of changing it and disposing of the old fluid (1.5 hours) if the fluid was cheaper than their dealer.

 

The thread title, dude, is enough information to understand your question. Did you look at the thread I linked to?

I am sorry to say this, but you got owned by a post from 11-15-2012, 07:43 AM

 

Cvt maintenance is 30k under hard driving 60k in normal driving conditions.. Use only Nissan cvt ns2 that synthetic stuff will damnage the cvt and void he warranty... (I work at a Nissan dealer)

 

Bad dealership....

 

Awesome thank you! I'll try calling another dealership.

 

Which I already found, I wanted it done by the dealer and was asking if the dealer was pulling my leg or not.


If you say so!

Just for the record though -- a title in a post is much like a subject in an email -- if the title is 'free pizza' I am going to assume its free pizza without reading the body or post in our case? Thanks for the part#

Im going to call another dealership to see if they will do it for me, thanks.

 

Thanks dude I'll post back when I find out who will do what I want!

Hope you had a good weekend,

 

I will make sure there is the green tint and go from there, Will not put in amsoil until warranty is over. Thanks for the info.

 

Yeah, run away from those guys. Go into the dealership & talk with the service guy. I've done that & left before, & at other times felt confident in what I needed them to do.

 

Both local Kitchener Waterloo dealerships are clueless when it comes to CVT maintenance.

I have 70,000 km on my Max and both places told me that the CVT doesn't require maintenance until very high km. I can't remember what the figure was but it was crazy high.

It's almost as if they have never maintained a CVT.

 

That's pretty sad actually....just think of those people who believe these idiots & end up having transmission failure due to this.

I would actually send Nissan an email about them.

 

The problem is Nissan claims the fluid is a lifetime fluid. However, I am more surprised that they didn't just go ahead and let the customer know how much it would cost them in parts and labor. The service is roughly $175~ or more. From a financial perspective, that is a quick buck but playing devil's advocate, if they don't know how to change it then it would be more detrimental.

 

Wrong. From my manual: "If towing a trailer, using a camper or car–top carrier, or driving on rough or muddy roads, replace the fluid/oil every 30,000 miles or 24 months (60,000 miles for cube, Murano, Altima, Altima Coupe, Maxima, Rogue, Sentra, and Versa CVT fluid)."

The manual states to begin inspecting the fluid at 15K miles, and every 15K after that. Inspection involves plugging the OBD II computer into the car and getting a "deterioration data" number that is said to be representative of the condition of the fluid. They recommend replacing when the deterioration data is above 210000. When I asked my service manager about it, he told me they have never had a reading above the level at which Nissan specifies fluid replacement. Keep in mind that the deterioration data is usually only checked if towing a trailer, using a camper or car–top carrier, or driving on rough or muddy roads

He admitted two things: 1. Some people change the fluid for peace of mind purposes, 2. They have owners of Muranos approaching 200K on the original fluid with no issues what so ever.

I have 72K, and will likely change the fluid if I sell it to a friend/family member when trading - but this will be mostly a peace of mind change for me.

The only Nissan vehicle that I have seen that purports to have a lifetime transmission fluid is the 370Z.

 

This is the exact claim I got -- which I told them if its lifetime fluid then if my transmission fails due to burnt fluid then you'll cover it?

Talk is cheaper then a hand-me-down sweater.

Agreed with if they dont know what it is -- do I want them doing it?

Just gotta suck it up and do it myself just gotta make sure, it's still the same ns-2 fluid as from factory,

Thanks all for the help and great discussion.

 

This is interesting as im not sure how a value in a computer could correctly see the fluid, just because deterioration value = 5000 doesn't mean that the fluid isn't burnt. It is peace of mind at the same time but when buying a car used I like to do things like oil change, transmission drain and fill, breaks all around, inspect links, familiarize myself with fuel consumption based on tank, inspect for dings/rust specs, grind down and touch up:

Its all peace of mind in the end but it can help huge in the long run because then you aren't second guessing, I'm the organized type I guess, and like to have done it myself -- regardless of whether or not the first owner did or not. service records or it didn't happen is my take.

They did offer a deterioratio 'check' but I'm old school I like seeing, smelling, and touching the fluid.

 

Ha. I completely forgot that they can actually check the fluid condition through the computer. But, would you not consider jackrabbit starts, stop-and-go traffic, etc. as bad as carrying a trailer? This also coupled with heavy loads (read: full vehicle with passengers, full trunk, etc.) just as demanding on the transmission? The way I look at it, I rather have fresh fluid versus fluid that is beginning to break down. Couple this idea that I would like to keep my vehicle for as long as I can, I enjoy the "peace of mind."
I am just glad that Nissan still has dipsticks available for us to even inspect the fluid. I am a major tech geek and keep tabs on everything on my cars, and despite what the computer is saying, nothing beats physically inspecting the unit. Our E90 BMW 335i does not have an oil dipstick...

 

Thats crazy! The dipstick is a huge help for sure, Thanks for the input man! Now just to get that damn clip off, hopefully that doesn't void warranty :/

 

My dealership has a maint menu online. They say CVT is inspect up till 90k miles, I look at it this way. If they recommend 90k and it fails then i look at it this way, They said it so they can fix it. why change fluid at 50k when it still has 40k to go

http://www.cogginnissanatlantic.com/...nance-menu.htm

 

Actually lifetime fluid is not uncommon to hear. I have a BMW and its transmission has the "Lifetime fluid" type maintenance. But it has a filter that has to be changed every 60K....change the filter, change the fluid.

Generally the rule is for autos if its beyond around 100K in mileage just leave whatever fluid is in there, in there. If you start changing it and suddenly want to service it likely you'll break your transmission. Same thing applies to CVTs. i think that's why more and more automakers are moving to lifetime fluid instead of service intervals, by the time the trans finally breaks nobody will really want to fix it just buy another car.

 

Has this alternate service schedule been approved by Nissan? Nissan corporate pays for service when a part fails as long as the maintenance was performed within their schedule and if it's still under warranty. I looked at this delership's schedule for my 2009 and it still said factory maintenance cycle for the CVT was to change the oil at 60,000 miles. I will always go by the factory's schedule then by some alternate schedule made up by a dealership.

 

Interesting, maybe this is one of those last dealerships that actually care about longevity of the car. And have altered the schedule in a way that keeps the maxima's running longer!

 

Yes the above can be said for a flush, but drain and fill hardly does any damage, you are just helping the burnt fluid out. Also another reason that post is misguiding is because a flush is 99% of the time done with additives and they eat away at the seals, material, etc. the more expensive route (even more so with CVT) is to FLUSH with actual fluid. Again no one does that thats why flush is frowned upon these days. My dads transmission failed on a 2007 Camry XLE, after 5 years (called corporate) he was supposed to have it 'inspected'. So really there is always away out for the dealerships... surprise surprise. Round Robin back to the orginial topic -- I would like to drain and refill because I believe it will increase longevity I might buy the extended warranty around 99'999km

Thanks for all your help everyone!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SIDE QUESTIONS:

Breaks squeaking when I lightly apply the break -- (old alti did this normal? or **** pads/rotors?)

CITGO sticker on door, is that oil rust proofing?

Thanks dudes

 

Yea, i'm talking about a drain and fill. There are a few stories of people who thought drain and fill would help more than hurt....most of them involve blown transmissions. Close friend of mine did that to a LS400 with 130K on the clock just drain and fill, 1st Reverse stopped working, then he lost 1st gear, then he lost 2nd gear, when he lost 3rd gear i gave him the "I told you so."

 

Wait I'm confused ... which is it? Should we flush, or drain and fill?

 

Drain and fill.

 

Here's the real kicker if that happens before 99'999km am I still under warranty or did I void it by changing the CVT fluid?

 

I had this done on Monday.(51k miles) I drive my car pretty hard and had started to occasionally experience "jerkiness" when accelerating. After the drain/fill, the "jerkiness" went away. You wouldn't void your warranty for changing the cvt fluid. I think the only way you could void your warranty would be by doing it incorrectly, but then Nissan would have to prove that.