Nissan has a drain plug on CVT and around 75% of fluid gets dumped from there with no problems.
Sucking via the filler tube gets almost the same volume, if using 1/4 inch icemaker tubing from the Home Depot… ask me how I know 
I think some transmissions are quite fussy about the temperature of the fluid going in and out. You might measure the fluid like I did on my old Acura but if the temperature is wrong, you’ve got the wrong fluid level. The other thing is with those fussy CVTs that are prone to failure, you won’t get much help from Nissan if you’ve been fooling around with the thing yourself. What can it cost? $200, $300, $400? I hate to think what the transmission costs.
1 Like
cause they want you to get to 100K and then toyota doesn’t care. It has a drain plug and a fill plug on the side of the trans. Uses a 24mm hex socket. The drain plug uses a #6 bit. The thing is when I drained my rav 4 for the 1st time, there is a plastic overflow tube inside the drain plug. Not supposed to drain but about 0.75 to 1 qt came out. Then after taking that out carefully since it’s plastic, about 2.6 quarts came out in total. I put the tube back in (gently) and then close the drain and then add that much (2.6 quarts) to the side of the trans fill port.
geez, neither of my cars (rav and optima) have a dipstick. There is a side drain port on the optima but I just put in what drained out. 3.6 qts
same with toyota that says like 105F. I keep the fluid in the garage and let the car sit so it cools to RT. Changed it (drain and refill) 12x so far and no issues. Don’t know why it had more fluid than the overfill tube so either they overfilled it in the factory or the instructions are wrong. Has to have a vent on it and nothing spews out.
The instructions are correct, the top of the fill tube is the correct level with the engine idling. You removed the plug with the engine off.
1 Like
Yeah, I’ve changed it two or three times. Fortunately for me, 2013 Highlander has a dipstick and drain plug. Doesn’t have a fill plug that I’m aware of. I think it changed with the 2014 to what you’re describing.
Still, if you measure what comes out and put that same amount in, I don’t see where you could have any issues. 4.5 quarts of trans fluid (or whatever amount it is that drains out of our Highlander) whether it’s 70 degrees or 170 degrees is still pretty much going to be 4.5 quarts.
I was not a fan of it when I saw it on my 05 4runner, then on every vehicle since then. But never ever an issue. Just change fluid every 50k miles and you’re good for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Wasn’t a big fan of the fuel filters inside a gas tank with the back flush systems. But again after several vehicles with this design and zero issues for hundreds of thousands of miles I don’t have an issue. One less thing to worry about.
1 Like
Stick to manufacture’s recommendation. Unless you are mechanically OK with doing maintenance items, find an independent garage you trust. Make sure correct fluid is used
And find some way to check levels.
Thanks for the response. I read the toyota bulletin for trans fluid changed by the drop/fill method but missed that point. I did drop it at ambient temp and with engine off. So, I’ve filled it with what came out all these years so I should be close to the right level when running. Makes a lot of sense. You made my day with that response you gave. Wow, thanks again.