Drain and Fill CVT

[Al]

Dealer costs per changeout of CVT fluid is $350 to $550, supposedly bc of the required exactness of Temps between old fluid and new.

I plan on doing a Drain and fill on my CVT. I plan on draining a gallon and adding the same amount. I have ready checked that driving a half mile to my retirement village auto hobby shop heats up the CVT 2 degrees F.

Since the expansion rate for one gallon at 5 degrees is approximately 1/2 oz per gallon I will dump the same amount in as what I took.

Long and short..no difference between drain and fills for CVT trans that I have done for 35 years. Yes I will do a drain and fill every 12K miles

 

[rszappa1]

On my Honda HRV I do my own drain and fill every 30000 miles... A very easy job on the Honda....

 

[slacktide_bitog]

What kind of car is it? Some cars are easier than others

Subarus require a scan tool and a flat surface, while Honda CVT changes are much easier, like a regular ATF change, easier than an oil change

 

[BobsArmory]

What kind of car is it? Some cars are easier than others

Subarus require a scan tool and a flat surface, while Honda CVT changes are much easier, like a regular ATF change, easier than an oil change

What's the scan tool for?

 

[Ronsant]

If you know the correct amount is in there to start, measure what you take out and fill with the same exact amount. That’s how I did my NAG-1 on my dodge magnum. No temp or scan tool needed.

 

[Hall]

If you know the correct amount is in there to start, measure what you take out and fill with the same exact amount. That’s how I did my NAG-1 on my dodge magnum. No temp or scan tool needed.

IMO, this is a 100% safe method. No need for scan tools, temperature readings, etc. If you remove "X" amount, replace with the same "X" amount. If the level was wrong before, well, it's still wrong and no worse than before you did the job, so it's always good to have your reference level correct.

 

[CharBaby]

What vehicle do you have?
YouTube is your friend. Look up your vehicle and watch.
I’ve done both Honda’s and Nissan’s and they’re relatively easy. However let me suggest that you warm up the engine/tranny, go through the gears, foot on the brake, put in park and check the overflow area underneath in the tranny.

 

[Al]

What vehicle do you have?
YouTube is your friend. Look up your vehicle and watch.
I’ve done both Honda’s and Nissan’s and they’re relatively easy. However let me suggest that you warm up the engine/tranny, go through the gears, foot on the brake, put in park and check the overflow area underneath in the tranny.

You don't want the engine warm on CVT or you have to calculate the difference in temps. CVT's are a different beast than non CVT.

 

[CharBaby]

I understand how you want to do your CVT(drain & refill only). I get it, and it’s not a bad way to do it.
I do it differently because I wan to know. End results are probably the same.
Because if I only put back the amount of CVT fluid that I drain out, I won’t know if there was the correct amount to begin with. And I want to know that I am putting back the correct amount of CVT fluid by letting the overflow come to a drizzle when warm to the proper temp…not full operating temp. On my vehicles it is ~98-113 degrees. My Nissans are a little different than my Hondas.

 

[Hollowed_Mist65]

What's the scan tool for?

The scan tool would be to monitor transmission fluid temp until it gets into range for finishing filling the cvt.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

What's the scan tool for?

To check the transmission temperature. On some transmissions, like the CVT Subarus, the temperature has to be in a certain range in order to get an accurate reading of the fluid level.

Some transmissions require this, and some don't. That's why we asked the OP what kind of car it is

 

[ammolab]

The scan tool would be to monitor transmission fluid temp until it gets into range for finishing filling the cvt.

Used because you drive to the shop and new temp and tranny fluid temps are unknown

Park your car in the garage in the evening and place your new fluid nearby your car.

In the morning your transmission and new fluid will be the SAME TEMPERATURE.

Drain, measure and fill with the same volume AND temperature of new fluid. Done!

 

[Hollowed_Mist65]

Used because you drive to the shop and new temp and tranny fluid temps are unknown

Park your car in the garage in the evening and place your new fluid nearby your car.

In the morning your transmission and new fluid will be the SAME TEMPERATURE.

Drain, measure and fill with the same volume AND temperature of new fluid. Done!

Yeah, that's great, but I tend to follow the factory service procedures. I get your logic though.

I'm sure all of the service procedures are a little bit different depending upon the make and model.

 

[CarbonToast]

When the temp is important, I use a heat gun on the pan to measure it. +- 20 degrees isn't going to matter. I assume they specify a temp to eliminate ambiguity. 50 degrees vs. 20 degrees ambient. 50 degrees vs. 110 degrees is a huge difference.

 

[D1dad]

I’ve done probably 30 drain and fills dating back to 07, all Nissans. I do use a scanguage and pull the leveling plug @95 to 105 degrees and cap it when it burps or trickles. I’ve also done many “replace what you drained” fills. I’ve drained scalding hot fluid and poured it in a jug, marked it and a day later there was no significant loss of fluid. I personally think the expansion has more to do with the trans housing than fluid itself. An easy way is go to Walmart and buy a couple of gallon pitchers and put in exactly what you took out. A cheap digital meat thermometer is also a good way to match new vs old fluid temp. If it’s a Nissan, don’t overfill even a little.

 

[Al]

Decided to get it done. If the transmission fails they can deny warranty work bc extended warranty is not covered under Magnussen-Moss-Warranty act,

 

[sw99]

On our 2018 Corolla, I pull it on to the ramps and level the rear out with a jack as best as I can. Let it sit far 30 minutes to make sure it's cool again and drain the pan. I have a large gallon measuring container and I just try to measure what I drained and replace with fresh fluid. So far so good. KISS

 

[Nessism1]

I don't trust that the level was perfect from last time, so I use the overflow plug to assure proper fill. The factory manual has the procedure on how to check. It's simple enough. I use OEM fluid in my Civic CVT also. No aftermarket generic fluid for me. Biggest hassle is leveling the vehicle.

 

[CharBaby]

I have 4 Rhino Ramps which allows me to drive my vehicles up on ramps(level ground) and then jack up the rear and place my 2nd set of ramps under the rear tires instead of using jack stands.

 

[Patman]

Doing a drain and fill every 12k is way overkill. You really only need to do it every 25-30k