Coming up on 30,000 miles on our new-to-us 2022 Rogue and thinking it's time for a spill and fill. Any opinions on Valvoline CVT fluid? Or stick with Nissan fluid?
Nissan CVT - Valvoline?
- Thread starter Dave Sherman
- Start date
I’ve used after market CVT Fluids with great success in NISSANS.
Most often I’ve used CASTROL TransMax CVT fluid but I’m sure the VALVOLINE is fine too as long as it meets NISSAN NS-3, not just NS-2.
Most often I’ve used CASTROL TransMax CVT fluid but I’m sure the VALVOLINE is fine too as long as it meets NISSAN NS-3, not just NS-2.
There is nothing wrong with using Valvoline CVT fluid in your Nissan 
JTK
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I've used Maxlife ATF and/or Castrol Transmax Universal ATF/CVT fluids for 10's of thousands of miles without issue in Nissan/Jatco CVTs.
A lot of people say the Valvoline fluid works great in the Nissans.
I have been using Idemitsu on ours. I did, however, have to finish one of the drain/fills with a few quarts of Valvoline CVT and had no issues.
I have been using Idemitsu on ours. I did, however, have to finish one of the drain/fills with a few quarts of Valvoline CVT and had no issues.
It'll be good but i'm using thicker castrol transmax instead of the thinner ns3 viscosity valvoline or stp/amalie and there's no whine noise anymore although it had a very light barely hearable whine on acceleration with no radio or fan noise when fully warmed up but not when cold. The fluid at that time was recently but the thinner stuff so I imagined it was ok and it probably is but i always prefer quieter operation.
I've got almost a decade of service experience on a few Nissan CVTs. If you want to pay premium dollar I would suggest Amsoil or maybe HPL but definitely NOT Nissan. I'm currently using Amsoil CVT which was 30% cheaper than Nissan (and delivered to my door) but I've used at least four other brands off the shelf with no issue.
Use what is convenient to you at a price that makes sense. If that's Valvoline MaxLife or Valvoline Restore and Protect or Castrol, etc, then use that. My recommendation is always to drop the pan so you can clean it and the magnets. This is extremely important as the magnet filtering is the CVT's lifeline. Magnets don't work once their loaded and the first year of operation is where they collect the most material and it should taper off from there. I would drop the pan once a year for cleaning and inspection, once it stays clean then increase the interval (two years, three years, etc).
One last note, see if the dealer can fill you in on any TSBs for your vehicle, especially regarding the CVT. Our 2010 CVT failed due to the firmware in the TCU which was supposed to be updated but this was neglected by the dealer. I was able to correct the issue by replacing the TCU with a newer version I found on ebay. Problem solved.
I’ve run Amsoil and now HPL CVT in my outback and both have worked great. I’m not taking chances with my CVT.
I was surprised at how much metal was built up on the pan of ours when I changed the fluid and filters out at 30,000 miles! That would have been the third drain and fill on the transmission.
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I've never dropped the pan or changed the filters. At 195,000 now. Drained and filled every 30k since nearly new. I would not bother unless I knew the transmission was not serviced properly. But I would never buy one that had not been verifiably serviced.
I'd do it to see how much is on the magnets and in the filter media.
Regardless of service history, the magnets are no longer working if they are not clean.
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Not enough to stop the transmission from working
And believe me, we've never been gentle with it.My daughter only has a year left before she's done with school. I'm confident that the car will make it. I dropped the pan on my Expedition when I changed the ATF and it was a mess. I'd rather not repeat that experience for a car I plan on having for another 18 months.
Thanks, all! Been watching the Youtubes on how to do it. Guess I should also pick up a new filter cartridge too.
I would not bother, and the gasket & screen should be fine. All you should need are tools, fluid and containers.
I just looked on RockAuto and the filters should easily be good for 200k miles or until a rebuild. Until then all you should need to do is:
- drain & fill
- keep the pan & magnets clean
- don't overheat the fluid
- update the TCU if available
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You ever use Amsoil?
I'm using it now and will be giving it a spring inspection as soon as we have time & weather. So far so good.
I've been using Aisin NS-3 on all of our Nissans with great results! It is a much cheaper alternative to Nissan's NS-3
-ttvr4
-ttvr4
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I put some Castrol Transmax in yesterday when I changed out a CV axle, wheel bearing, and brakes. So far so good after the test drive. This actually the first time in 200,000 miles I've done it myself. I wasted money having the dealership do it before. It was as easy as a oil change.
Hopefully this the last time I have to do any service on this car before my daughter graduates next year. It runs well, but I'm sick of the maintenence. It took me hours to get that axle seated properly. No clue why it was so hard this (2nd) time.
Hopefully this the last time I have to do any service on this car before my daughter graduates next year. It runs well, but I'm sick of the maintenence. It took me hours to get that axle seated properly. No clue why it was so hard this (2nd) time.
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