How are these transmissions surviving being operated on a grade say in the foot hills of the Appalachians for extended periods. I think it's just a dealer myth to bring people in to have their mouth breather do it for way to much money. Someone show me the error of my reasoning.
With these new transmissions that have the tedious leveling and temp requirements for fluid level checks
- Thread starter faltic
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According to Consumer Reports in one of their "Talking Cars with Consumer Reports" videos, all automatic transmissions are a large source of failures in todays market. The video may be an older one and trannys may be getting better however, they're still plagued with problems that even many on time fluid changes can't cure. We call these new auto trannies, "alternative transmissions" due to being CVT's or having 7, 8, 9 & 10 speed auto trannies and also including DCT/DSG trannies(automated manuals).
Yes, there seems to be fear fed into customers in order to bring in their vehicles for overpriced ATF changes and having the proper scanner(s) to monitor tranny temperatures and fluid levels after a drain & refill(or tranny flush)...OMG, not a flush!
With each vehicle/tranny having their own procedure:
I've done my own CVT trannies of late with good success, or I should say, without failure while using the proper aftermarket CVT fluid for my vehicle/tranny(not the MFG specific such as Honda HCF-2 or Nissan NS-3). I'll do a drain & refill, measuring the amount of fluid that came out and putting back in that amount to start with. Then through the help of YouTube videos with "same" tranny, I'll start the engine and go through the gears as shown in the video. Then proceeding to remove the overflow bolt either adding in more fluid or let out the residual fluid to just a drizzle. Button up everything and you're good to go!
Yes, there seems to be fear fed into customers in order to bring in their vehicles for overpriced ATF changes and having the proper scanner(s) to monitor tranny temperatures and fluid levels after a drain & refill(or tranny flush)...OMG, not a flush!
With each vehicle/tranny having their own procedure:
I've done my own CVT trannies of late with good success, or I should say, without failure while using the proper aftermarket CVT fluid for my vehicle/tranny(not the MFG specific such as Honda HCF-2 or Nissan NS-3). I'll do a drain & refill, measuring the amount of fluid that came out and putting back in that amount to start with. Then through the help of YouTube videos with "same" tranny, I'll start the engine and go through the gears as shown in the video. Then proceeding to remove the overflow bolt either adding in more fluid or let out the residual fluid to just a drizzle. Button up everything and you're good to go!
I think you are overthinking this... On my 21 Honda HRV with a CVT...I drain it on level ground...Fill it up till it starts coming out of the side pkug then install the side plug then start it up and go through the gears a few times then shut it off remove the side plug and either it tricles out or add some till it does then reinstall the side plug and I am done...do it every 30000 miles...thats it..
The most challenging part for most do-it-yourselfers is keeping the vehicle level. That involves 4 jackstands or a vehicle lift (which most people won't have access to). Either that, or use ramps and hope that the angle doesn't make much difference in ending fluid level.
Simple fluid changes are just glorified OCs, nothing super complicated to them. Where they get a bit more fun is when there is only the one drain and fill hole with removable level tube, like most euro cars have. And its on the bottom of the pan 
. Did @CharBaby method of drain, measure, refill for a long time with an adaptor for the drain plug fill and gravity fed the fluid into the trans. Now I use a fluid pump (with the same adaptor) to speed things up. Still gravity feed the 2 DSGs in my fleet through the filter hole on top. Scan tool (VCDS or OBD11 in my case) to drain excess fluid at proper temp now just to make sure level is good. A flush is simple too. Find your trans cooler lines and tap into those. @RooflessVW has an awesome 2 bucket method to do it. If you can do an oil change, you can do a trans too. Took me longer to write all this than to do a fluid change on a transmission. And thats taking time out to open the beer too.
. Did @CharBaby method of drain, measure, refill for a long time with an adaptor for the drain plug fill and gravity fed the fluid into the trans. Now I use a fluid pump (with the same adaptor) to speed things up. Still gravity feed the 2 DSGs in my fleet through the filter hole on top. Scan tool (VCDS or OBD11 in my case) to drain excess fluid at proper temp now just to make sure level is good. A flush is simple too. Find your trans cooler lines and tap into those. @RooflessVW has an awesome 2 bucket method to do it. If you can do an oil change, you can do a trans too. Took me longer to write all this than to do a fluid change on a transmission. And thats taking time out to open the beer too.
Did ramps and jack the rear in the center with great success. iPhone has a level feature in the measurements tool. Easy Peasy.
Keeping it level is easy for me. I use a floor jack and jack up the drivers side up...I get the drain plug down and return to level....after it stops draining..jack it back up install the drain plug also the side plug is removed too. Lower to level then fill till fluid comes out the side..jack up install side plug and lower...start up go through the gears the turn off..jack up remove side plug lower and see what comes out and add if needed...jack up install side plug and lower and I am done...sounds like alot but a real easy job to do on my Honda HRV....
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Did all of my 4WD’s using four ramps. Dealer did the Lexus - too much exhaust to be removed (under warranty) bcs the worlds number one blocked the fill port
with wide open spaces on the side with no port/plug …
I just did another drain and fill on the Touareg last night since it's at 170k miles. I'm doing a D&F every 30k with a filter every other after flushing at 80k miles.Simple fluid changes are just glorified OCs, nothing super complicated to them. Where they get a bit more fun is when there is only the one drain and fill hole with removable level tube, like most euro cars have. And its on the bottom of the pan
I'd say it took me about an hour. Didn't jack the car up, just took off the splash shield.
I used a combination of 2x8s , deck boards and fence pickets to get our Sentra leveled and up in the air enough to get under it when I did the CVT service over the weekend. I put a level under the rocker panel and went from there.
The stand plug / tube? setup on them is weird at first but it works. At least it has a fill plug ... but I had to break that off in order to get it open the first time I did the fluid change.
How many of these transmission failures are from lack of maintenance? I used to rag on the Nissan CVTs bad back before I started considering owning one. Turns out they are actually decent if the fluid and filters are changed frequently.
The stand plug / tube? setup on them is weird at first but it works. At least it has a fill plug ... but I had to break that off in order to get it open the first time I did the fluid change.
How many of these transmission failures are from lack of maintenance? I used to rag on the Nissan CVTs bad back before I started considering owning one. Turns out they are actually decent if the fluid and filters are changed frequently.
To reiterate what others have said; keep the vehicle level.
I have 4 ramps, so I drive up on 2 of them and then jack up the rear and set it down on the other 2.
I have 4 ramps, so I drive up on 2 of them and then jack up the rear and set it down on the other 2.
The worst aspect of this, for me, is I can no longer check the condition of the ATF. Every car I have ever owned, until recent times, I'd pull the ATF dipstick and smell / check the color periodically and now I can't. If my fluid is burnt or on the way to being burnt... I have no idea. Given that the factory maintenance intervals are also extremely long, if not for life, this periodic check I used to do would have been very important in my opinion. It was a SOP on buying a used vehicle as well.
Is "level" when the 4 tires are on a level plane or the body of the car is level - like one person above stated that he levels the rocker panels/pinch welds? Some car bodies are not level when the wheels are on a level plane.
And, we really haven't addressed the OP question. Somehow he's wondering if the need for extreme level car to adjust tranny fluid level affects tranny longevity in hilly driving conditions. I don't quite understand the logic. Is he wondering if the these trannies perform worse in hilly conditions? It's a pressure system, so it should not matter.
These Rube Goldberg follies are like going from your thumb, round your elbow and back up just to get to your index finger. More reason to bring back the simple five speed manual syncromesh transmission.
When the transmission is level. Sometimes the drivetrain doesn't line up with the body lines. But in general....close enough should be fine. I just eyeball it.
And I do miss the drainplug and dipstick option.
I jack up the car and put solid cinderblocks (around 4" thick) under each wheel. I can idle the car just fine in the garage just fine like that and get to the drain plug, and this is on a car that's relatively low to the ground. A SUV would be easier. Still a pin though. If I has a leak I would just estimate.
I used to do all sorts of combinations of jacks, stands, wood blocks, ramps etc. When wife started asking if life insurance policy was current, I bought a Quick Jack. If she still asks, anticipate my story of "accidental" squashing to end up on a Dateline episode
.
I noticed that a lot of people simply overthink this process and make it seem more difficult than it really is.
Every manual I have seen has said "level the vehicle"
Ayup. I don't even do the level check for drain and fills. Just replace what came out.
The Hyundai 6F24 transmission in my Patriot has different level check procedures vs. the same transmission in Hyudai/Kia vehicles due to the transmission mount orientation. This Chrysler TSB reminds dealers of the correct (somewhat complicated) procedure to use because of incorrect fluid levels after dealer service:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2015/MC-10144906-9999.pdf
This justifies overthinking, where "close enough" resulted in over fills. If the dealers can not get it correct...............
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