2011 Maxima, 105,307 Miles, I bought it new in Oct 2010 (got quite a deal because dealers did not have the upper hand at that time. Car sales were VERY slow), 2 Sept 2022, fluid and FILTER change.

From NissanPartsDeal.com:

Part No.: 999MP-NS200P NS-2 CVT TRANMISSION FLUID, Replaced by: 999MP-CV0NS2, 5 qts - 84.30

Part No.: 31726-1XE0A, FILTER ASSY OIL, [Maxima | 2011] 36.54

$13 shipping as well. Local Nissan dealers were more even if I picked up the stuff. Dealerships have reverted to being very sleazy in general now that it’s a seller’s market.

Lots of photos attached. Will summarize here.

Removed tire/wheel (front drivers side). Filter is behind far wheel well cover (see photos). Five 8mm push pins were kind of brittle and old. I replaced all 5 when buttoning back up. The two hoses to the filter were not in bad shape. Credit to Nissan for using decent hoses. Three 12mm hex head screws hold on the filter. They were pretty tight and looked like they may have had some type of thread locker on them when I got them out. I put some anti-seize on them when re-assembling. There was some fumbling around and tight access to the hoses and clamps. Option: can take off the filter for better access and then remove the hoses/clamps. Can also remount hoses/clamps on new filter before screwing it back into place. My guess is that there is maybe a cup or less of fluid actually in the old filter, which I accidentally let seep onto my garage floor. Btw, some, but not a lot of fluid will seep from the hoses once removed. You can plug up the hoses with something or just wrap the ends with a few paper towels and let it drain.

Fluid change – I’ve posted photos of this before. This is my third fluid change and my first filter change. Other posts in this forum with photos also. Note that the 10 mm (allen socket hex) drain plug is very tight. Large diameter and fine threads make this drain plug one of those that you may need an impact wrench for or a breaker bar. It gives way with a loud snap. I used a long, high quality 10 mm chrome vanadium Allen wrench with a breaker bar. That sucker is tight. I replaced the o-ring seal as well (see pics for P/N), I think the 0-ring was at least $6.00. I applied a little anti-seize to the threads of the drain plug before replacing. The fluid comes out FAST, FAST and lots of it, and takes at least 15 minutes to stop dripping.

With the filter change the refill took the whole 5 qts. The fluid that came out was a little brown or tan, but clear, and it definitely smelled different than the new stuff, which has almost no smell and is a very light clear green.

All good when done. Don’t you love that feeling that the car drives better when you do good work on it!


(above) After removing tire/wheel

The original and new filters seem to be built heavy duty. The mounting brackets themselves are really strong.




(above) When I removed the filter, I put it on the garage floor on its side. A few minutes later I spotted the puddle of oil that had seeped out. Maybe a half cup of oil in the filter I would say.


(above) New filter in with hoses and clamps back on.

 

Hurricane05, I have a 2010 as well with 182k miles but I live in the KCMO area. I would suggest as preventative maintenance that you hit your front cross member with a wire brush then spray some rust inhibitor on it followed by a coat of black paint. i get under my car every 6 months and treat any surface rust I see. My car looks great underneath as well as my other vehicles.

 

Good job!

I posted this video in the 6th Gen forum.

 

Thanks for the input Max. Yeah I should do that because there's plenty of rust under my car. Lots of salt goes on the roads in the winter here in northwest NJ. Interesting to look at the aluminum parts under the car, they look like new! Too bad the whole chassis isn't made from high strength aluminum. Do you jack the car up and slide under or do you have access to a lift?

 

Thanks TD. And thanks for the video. I must have missed that one over the years. Good video. I'm thinking the CVT fluid simply breaks down over time temp and use. It's not the same fluid coming out as the fluid going in that's for sure. At 105k miles that was my third fluid change.

 

I'm retired Army and live near Fort Leavenworth, there's an auto skills shop there with a lift, and all the tools needed to do almost any job on the car you're comfortable doing. I also have a friend nearby me with a Quickjack lift that I use to rotate my tires if I don't want to drive to base.

 

That auto skills shop with tools and lift sounds great. Although I do all of the basic maintenance on my car, I would definitely do more and more thorough stuff like getting rid of that rust if I has access to a lift. Mechanic friends tell me that in areas of the country where there's plenty of salt on the road in the winter, that cars frames simply rot out and crack frequently. After 10 years that stuff starts to happen. I may have to crawl around under my car a bit more to get rid of that rust.

 

Great thread thanks.
any reason you waited until 105k to drain and refill transmission? Anyway it's always better late than never.
Did you reuse the shield clips or have new ones in hand?

PS: oops scratch that. I see this is your 3rd
​​​change

 

Copy that, third fluid change first filter change. I did replace all 5, 8mm push pins. The originals were pretty dried out.

 

In the winter here in Missouri they salt the roads, but Kansas uses sand. We haven't had a really bad winter here in years but even if we get a little bit of snow, I take my car to the automated car wash and wash the underside thoroughly. It helps that I also park in a semi heated garage too, so my cars don't have snow frozen on them for more than a couple of hours and they get a chance to dry completely during the winter months.

 

Can you please share where did you get these clips from? Link or size?
I'll need to change filter soon and prefer if I have these ready

 

Sorry I haven't checked this post in a few weeks. I don't recall where I got the push pins or push clips. But they seem to be standard industry wide. The size is 8mm. Any auto parts store, online store, walmart.com, local Nissan dealer, etc. Not expensive. Make sure that they are exterior push pins compatible with Nissan vehicles.

 

Thank you