My car's out of warranty so I don't care about keeping in the OEM trash fluid that's probably not good enough. Doesn't have high mileage but it is starting to have a judder every now and then if I'm driving it hard for a while. Between Amsoil, Castrol, Valvoline, etc. what's the preferred option and why?
Higher quality CVT fluid alternative over factory Nissan for 2015 Sentra?
- Thread starter thunderous1335
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While I'm at it, what transmission filter options do I have? Do I need to change out the pan gasket if I'm doing a drain and fill?
The OEM Nissan fluid is not trash, and you can be assured that Nissan does not make this fluid. The Spec for NS3 or NS2 is provided to oil formulators that want to supply to Nissan, so the OEM stuff you purchase is made by some professional company that has oil formulating as their core competance.
Idemitsu, Eneos, Aisin, are JDM major suppliers to Nissan, these OEM suppliers make good products and offer NS3 or NS2 that will be fully suitable for your car. As far as the filter goes, it is not much of a big deal, the filter doesn't have a significant amount of technology...IIRC it is just a fine mesh screen - not a paper element.
Idemitsu, Eneos, Aisin, are JDM major suppliers to Nissan, these OEM suppliers make good products and offer NS3 or NS2 that will be fully suitable for your car. As far as the filter goes, it is not much of a big deal, the filter doesn't have a significant amount of technology...IIRC it is just a fine mesh screen - not a paper element.
Castrol, Valvoline, Amalie, and even Recochem.
Valvoline is a good price at Walmart, $7/qt.
Recochem is sold by the gallon for $25 on Amazon.
Napa has Lucas CVT fluid on sale this month. When you buy at least 3 quarts, you get 20% off, making it $6.79/qt. Although Lucas makes a bunch of gimmicky products, their actual fluids should be fine
If you're brave enough to try it, Walmart has Castrol ATF/CVT combo for $18/gallon.
You don't need to change the pan gasket because you don't have to drop the pan. Nissan is smart enough to provide a drain plug.
Valvoline is a good price at Walmart, $7/qt.
Recochem is sold by the gallon for $25 on Amazon.
Napa has Lucas CVT fluid on sale this month. When you buy at least 3 quarts, you get 20% off, making it $6.79/qt. Although Lucas makes a bunch of gimmicky products, their actual fluids should be fine
If you're brave enough to try it, Walmart has Castrol ATF/CVT combo for $18/gallon.
You don't need to change the pan gasket because you don't have to drop the pan. Nissan is smart enough to provide a drain plug.
Stay away from any multi-make fluid, especially ones that claim compatibility with both CVT and geared transmissions. Find one specifically made for Nissan NS3 compatibility such as,
I've had great results in 2 Suzuki CVTs with Lubegard CVT fluid and Lubegard CVT recharge and protect. Both available on Amazon.
Drain and fill with the fluid and top off with the recharge and protect.
If the spec was not proprietary, Nissan would have a licensing program for the NS2/NS3 specs - similar to how Ford runs their Mercon LV licensing program, or how GM runs their Dexron VI and Dexron HP programs.
The NS2 and NS3 specs are proprietary and any aftermarket fluids are reverse-engineered examples. The additive suppliers (e.g. Afton, Lubrizol, etc) are selling additive packages (with a recommended base oil mix) to blenders. I doubt most of these blenders have the same technical expertise and resources as the additive suppliers.
Example: https://www.aftonchemical.com/Afton.../PDS/HiTEC-4022A/HiTEC-4022A_PDS.pdf?ext=.pdf
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Proprietary or not, the consumer has choices from a variety of brands. I used Pennzoil NS2 fluid in my Maxima with no issues, and for my '19 Infiniti I went with Idemitsu NS3 fluid, changed it 5k km ago and no issues.
I have trusted Redline Non slip cvt in my wife’s 2015 Accord. Generally change it yearly-drain and fill about 4 quarts-she has 120000 on the car now and she drives it like she stole it. I think Redline is one of the only synthetic cvt transmission oils that uses solid portion of pao base stock-although in fairness-when I looked at the product description recently-it didn’t specifically mention pao as it had done in previous technical description… also the sds has generic synthetic components-which they have on some of their oils and fluids. However-their D4, C+ Chrysler fluid and high temperature atf all list percentage of pao basestock which is usually around 80 percent… imagine their cvt fluid always had less pao basestock-but can say her car has done well with it…although could easily have done as well with other fluids…. Decided to go for redline based on lubeguard’s advertisement for their cvt fluid in that they recommend 30 Thousand miles for Nissan but only 20 thousand for Honda cvt… so wanted fluid which suspect has higher quality base stocks relatively speaking compared to other fluids.
Just looked on their website and they still have the phrase “Only CVT fluid out there made from a PAO base, this one deals with all conditions.” At the top of product description.
Just looked on their website and they still have the phrase “Only CVT fluid out there made from a PAO base, this one deals with all conditions.” At the top of product description.
Agreed - the consumer has choices, but they should be aware that the choices are not OEM approved/licensed.
Well... that's a Nissan CVT so there's nothing you can do about that. Except trade it in.
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Castrol Transmax CVT datasheet:
Castrol also came up this year with the ATF TRANSMAX® ATF/CVT UNIVERSAL, first fluid that can be used in both types of automatics. I don't know too much about it, but tells a lot about their ATF expertise:
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4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Just looked at the Castrol vs Valvoline … Castrol fairly thicker but still a much higher Viscosity Index …Well... that's a Nissan CVT so there's nothing you can do about that. Except trade it in.
Personally I trust Castrol, I had good results with their fluids.
Castrol Transmax CVT datasheet:
Castrol also came up this year with the ATF TRANSMAX® ATF/CVT UNIVERSAL, first fluid that can be used in both types of automatics. I don't know too much about it, but tells a lot about their ATF expertise:
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Yep … like a Nissan based in San Antonio that’s even further south today … Thinking the Castrol will do fine … used their D6/MLV combo several times in both Ford/GM’s …
Guy on internet drained & filled a hair over a gallon …
Hi... you can pick Idemitsu type N or valvoline CVT for a replacement for ns 2. Castrol CVT or Idemitsu type N3 also works for your NS 3.
I did research and found this here:
https://oilsadvisor.com/nissan-cvt-fluid-ns-2-and-ns-3-alternative/
I think they do a deep analysis on these products.
Hope this can help
I did research and found this here:
https://oilsadvisor.com/nissan-cvt-fluid-ns-2-and-ns-3-alternative/
I think they do a deep analysis on these products.
Hope this can help
