The tansmission fluid in cvt need to be taken at specific tampertures and measured witha specialty dipstick only the dealerships can get. Its made so u have to vring it in… But if you get your fluids checked and topped up. Buy a dip stick and measure it right after. Mark that dipstick when engine is cool and u will always know of your low.
Of course that had nothing to do with the CVT failing.
3 Likes
They also didnt reset my pcm after the the flush. Prolly didnt help the problems that were already there. I hear that can mess up a cvt aswell.
nor did they need to . . .
every vehicle should get serviced as the severe service maintenance schedule . . . any deviation, and you’re asking for trouble
cvt transmission fluid is cheap . . . a transmission replacement/overhaul is not
There is no dipstick, special or otherwise. The temperature is measured with a scan tool, essentially a glorified code reader. This is not the cheap generic scan tool either but mechanics can get a scan tool through specialty tool suppliers like Matco.
I completely disagree with that . . .
A scan tool is NOT a glorified code reader
A code reader is like crawling
A scan tool is like competing in a marathon
2 Likes
Maybe I should have said code reader on steroids. I was really trying to convey that it is similar to a code reader in that it plugs into the port under the dash, but has way more capabilities. Some are specific to a vehicle and are only obtained from a dealer. Others can cover all vehicles but are very expensive and require a subscription to keep it current with all those models of vehicles out there, and the subscription isn’t cheap either.
Something to keep in mind is that JATCO (Japan Automatic Transmission Company) is a subsidiary of Nissan. They build CVTs for many other car makers so it seems to me that one should be no different than the others. I firmly believe (IMHO) that most failures are caused by neglect.
How many people do you think will 'fess up to neglecting fluid changes when told that is the cause of their transmission failure? Few.
The young lady whose 25k miles Nissan Altima blew an engine because she had never changed the oil since new. When cornered by many her excuse was that “Well it makes no difference if I changed the oil or not. Nissan should build their engines better so they won’t fail if someone doesn’t change their oil”.
How does anyone reason with someone like that… 
1 Like
Unfortunately, you can’t.
I would respectfully disagree.
My sample was 3 Nissans with CVTs, all failed at some point which i consider too early for the failure to occur.
2013 Sentra: bought new, hard-failed at 42K miles, gently driven, fluid replacement was NOT on the required maintenance, but vehicle was under “CVT firmware update” program at around 20K, where Nissan admitted to miscalculated fluid pressure to the belt tension control, so probably it was damaged in first 20K miles of driving, anyways, FAILED
2012 Altima: bought new, pre-failure/slipping at 89K, once again - gently driven, fluid replacement was NOT on the required maintenance, although I replaced it at 60K anyways, no CVT-related TSBs were applied, TRADED
2007 Altima: bought used with 68K miles, replaced CVT fluid at 68K and 95K miles, pre-failure/slipping at 105K, TRADED
I think Nissan is at fault on two things here:
- transmission quality itself
- bowing to marketing guys not to put CVT fluid change on their regular maintenance schedule (they do list it as 30K interval on “Premium/optional” schedule)
I’m familiar with factory recommendations. I also find that many of them are lacking. A 40 years plus transmission builder friend of mine said that almost every failure he has seen was due to lack of changes or running the fluid low due to a leak. He also says 30k miles fluid changes. Period; factory recommendations be dxxxxx.
A guy who used to be on this forum (Transman18) says the same thing and he’s a transmission pro.
For what it’s worth, a cut and paste from the 2012 Nissan upgrade maintenance schedule below for the 30k miles service. Note the second one. The 2013 Sentra is the same. Both from the Nissan USA website.
Lubricate all locks/hinges❑Replace automatic transmission/CVT fluid4❑Replace differential oil1❑Replace engine drive belts❑Replace manual transmission oil (if applicable)❑Replace radiator cap❑Replace transfer case oil (4WD/AWD)❑Replace wiper blades❑Inspect the following:__All lights__Headlights/adjust if necessary
Even for “severe” (schedule 2) they do not require replacement at 30K, only for OPTIONAL premium upgrade
ALL cars go through severe service. Trust me on this. I’ve sat in at factory service schools and gotten tied up with service instructors over this very issue. When cornered they talk like politicians running for office.
Dust, humidity, extremes of heat and cold, driving habits, and so on are examples of severe service.
Example of corporate ignorance; or downright stupidity. A gentleman bought a used Subaru with no owners manual (which he wouldn’t have read anyway) and called corporate Subaru to ask about auto transmission fluid changes.
You know what they told him? To change the fluid when it’s black and smells really bad. That is coming from the people who provide the cars and who provide service recommendations as taught n their service schools.
Nissan with CVT is not on my list. That tranny is notorious.