Daughter’s boyfriend is over and as he pulls into the neighborhood I hear this screech, like someone is killing robot babies off in the distance.
It gets louder and louder and as a car turns onto our street I can hear it in stereo. Like a high pitched turbo sound revving up and down.
Boyfriend pulls up and says “somethings not right, it’s slipping and making weird noises”.
That poor CVT. 2012 Lancer with 2.4 Mivec has 245,000 kms, could be original fluid. Kid bought the car for cheap couple years ago.
I pull the transmission dipstick it has a terrible smell. Like burnt plastic…
I offer to dump and fill his CVT a couple of times and see if it settles down.
I pull the plug and some pretty nasty fluid comes out and the smell is awful. I can’t imagine this transmission tolerating much more abuse!
I dump it first time and it drops 3.5 litres. I add 3.5 litres and take it for a drive. First takeoff it screeches… then STOPs within 10 seconds! I drive it for 10-15 kms and noticed the sound only when I’m on the throttle at speed, but it’s low and not very noticeable.
I drop the fluid a second time, same smell, ugly, but better than first.. barely.
Taken it for another drive and another big improvement. Really grabs on takeoffs, high load at speed grips, no slipping.
I decide to drop the fluid one more time and it drives like new again. He’s so grateful and says “drives better than it ever has”.
… other than those endlinks and bushings, but yeah. Drives great
Put 10.5 litres of Transmax ATF/CVT through it and we did an oil and filter change with ST 5w30 and ST7317.
Kid is over the moon and he learned something.
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2020 Nissan Altima SL purchased with 30k miles for my wife. Requested that the dealer swap the transmission fluid before pick-up and the agreed.
This is our first CVT transmission and I have hated it since day one.
My wife doesn't care either way. She thinks it's fine, but her car knowledge goes as far as putting gas in and driving it.
To me, the transmission feels "mushy" and terribly slow to respond, especially when accelerating from 20/30mph to highway speeds.
Altima recently hit 60k miles, so I did a transmission fluid swap. Pan drains 3 1/2 quarts, refilled with the same. I had my wife drive to work the next day (20-mile round trip) and completed another 3 1/2-quart swap and took a test drive.
OMG, what a difference!!! It feels like a new or different car!
No more "mushy" feeling, great grab off the line, and accelerating from 20/30mph to highway speeds feels like a different car.
I really can't get over the difference swapping the fluid made.
Not sure if the dealer just didn't do the change, or put a "universal" transmission fluid in. My guess is they didn't put the correct NS3 fluid in seeing that until recently NS3 fluid was almost $25 a quart for Nissan NS3 fluid and the fluid wasn't burned.
Now there are several manufacturers of actual NS3 fluid. Not fluid labeled "compatible" with NS3 fluid. Hell, DOT3 would be compatible with NS3. Compatible means it's not actually NS3 fluid.
The other NS3 manufacturers are; Triax, Mannol, and Idemitsu.
Always trusted Triax oils so I used Triax NS3. Got 2- 5 quart jugs for $90. ($9 qt compared to Nissan NS3 @ $25qt) I wish Triax motor oil wasn't so expensive as it is a much better oil than Mobile 1 synthetic.
There seems to be lots of debating on CVT fluid flushes and I agree.
I would not flush a CVT, especially a Jatco CVT.
First of all, it would take at least 12 quarts of fluid before it ran clean, and I'd be afraid of dislodging any metal flakes. A drain & fill just refreshes the NS3 fluid, and replenishes the anti-slip properties that is so important in a CVT.
Seeing as the Altima Jatco CVT hold nearly 8 quarts I plan on doing a 3 1/2 quart drain & fill every 10k miles this way I am keeping up with the 30k mile maintenance.
I'm sure some will say that is over-kill, and I would agree if it were anything but a Jatco transmission.
The cost of replacing that specific CVT is $3500 for a re-man, and up to $6k for a new CVT if one can be found, never mind the hassle of a break-down while my wife is driving, and the down time involved. I usually do all car work myself, but the newer cars require Hi-Tech troubleshooting equipment that I don't have. That is why I keep my old 2000 Chevy S-10 with 200k miles and still runs like a top, no rot at all, and doesn't burn any oil at all.
My comfort car is a 2007 Chevy Malibu LTZ with all the bells & whistles, that just hit 100k. Fairly simple car to fix, dependable 3.5-liter V6.
New cars are like how we live these days...everything is disposable.
I will stick with my old-reliables!!
