So I was talking to my sibling who owns an '09 Nissan Murano. They were taking it in for work and brought up the fact about a transmission service since it has 50K miles. The guys at the shop who talked to Nissan told my sibling they don't recommend changing the fluid in these CVT transmissions for the life of the car. From what I understand also they explained that aftermarket fluids aren't compatible and CVT Fluid from the dealer only.


I'm real skeptical about these claims. It brought back memories of the 722.6 when Mercedes claimed the same nonsense advice I never followed. Anyone got any advice about this?

__________________
Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

http://www.courtesyparts.com/pdf/2009_Nissan_Service_Maintenance_Guide.pdf

Page 10.

The CVT with its steel covered belt is indeed a different animal. In formulating a decision about service, begin by researching and finding what options are available in the event of failure and what they cost. If it is like the CVT in the MINI, I would not risk the use of alternative fluid.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

thats a sure way for Nissan to sell a CVT transmission to the customer after warranty as they do not sell any service parts for it.

It does require oil change - its actually has drain and fill ports and a dipstick too. In a CVT the fluid takes an immense beating from the variator pulleys and the lockup from the torque converter at lower rpm than usual. The temperatures easily spike to 250F when you are passing at full pedal or are pulling a load or even brisk acceleration.

Do not fall for the filled for life statement - its a similar story like the Mercedes Benz NAG-1 gearboxes.

__________________
2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

That's exactly what it sounded like to me. I've never dealt with a newer Nissan and it sounded like a total load. Just was trying to save them from getting screwed.

Thanks folks.

__________________
Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

There are a good many threads here on CVTs and also on Nissan CVTs. One I remember someone sold their car after several transmission failures. Maybe a Maxima.

Search and read lots.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/open-discussion/327502-anyone-automotive-cvt-transmission-experience.html

A friend bought a 2003 Chevy Malibu. A nice little car for zipping around in and even pretty nice for road trips. Good mpg and low initial cost.

And no way to check the transmission fluid level. No way to drain fluid or to refill it. Sealed for life is what GM said. And I must admit it did last the life of the car which was about 136,000 miles when the engine just wore out.

So was GM really saying: The transmission will last the life of the car because the car is not built to have a long life?

WHAT THE, HOW THE HECK do you check the transfluid on a chevy ha ha - YouTube

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

a little irritating situation - but related.

I was out of the country for a few weeks some time ago and was in a country where they sell some toyota CVT equipped cars, one was a corolla (with a strange name ahead of it)

it had an error code of accel/decel sensor out of range. The car was owned by a freind of a freind and was discussing this with me, so we started on what the heck was this.

the accel/decel sensor is in the air bag control unit and sometimes in the air bag assembly, to calibrate it has a very silly process and even involves the driver of the car to be outside the car and the car be absolutely still and perfectly level.

The PCM reads it to determine when to cut down acceleration.

it went cuckoo 3 times in 2 weeks. Very similar results here in the nissan but it was no CEL for Nissan it just started to do the jerky acceleration. The original old altimas were setup for a tighter and more brisk acceleration while the new one has a more lazier drive and the trans slips more than the old one.

__________________
2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)