ENEOS Nissan CVTF Change

Do you know transmission fluid needs to be changed regularly to help extend the life of your vehicle’s transmission? This is particularly true of CVTs, in fact one reason they have become more reliable is manufacturers have started providing regular fluid change intervals. 

In this post, we run through a Nissan transmission fluid change with ENEOS ambassador Faruk Kugay and Tommy Giunchigliani, a Nissan Platinum Master Technician at North Bay Nissan in Petaluma, CA. This vehicle is a 2020 Nissan Altima, but there is lots of information that applies to other models of Nissan and other vehicles with CVTs.

Thanks to Faruk and DEVSPEED for hosting and explaining these fluid changes! Find them at: https://developmentofspeed.com/

And thanks to Tommy Giunchigliani and North Bay Nissan for lending their shop and expertise! https://www.northbaynissan.com/

How’s it going my name is Faruk, I’m a professional Drifter I compete in Formula Drift Pro Spec. I also have an alignment shop (DevSpeed) and I work with Hunter and do a lot of cool things with cars.

So we’re up here today in Petaluma California at North Bay Nissan, and the thing I like about this dealership is not only are they GT-R certified (to work on Nissan GT-Rs) they’ve got the flush mount alignment rack to work on super low cars but they’re also just auto enthusiasts, right?

So Tommy, the gentleman that’s going to be helping us with our transmission fluid change today, he is not only a (Nissan) Master Tech, right, I think he’s gaining Platinum Technician Status… [Yep!]

But he also is a Drifter, so he’s got a 350Z comes out and slides at Sonoma Drift—rad dude! And he’s going to show us how to change the transmission fluid on a Nissan CVT.

ENEOS Import CVTF MODEL N PLUS is an “Exact Match” OE replacement fluid engineered specifically for Nissans that require the Nissan CVTF NS-3 or NS-2 Genuine Fluid,  from the ENEOS Import Series of exact [Original Equipment] matching fluids, that’s a narrow match or an “Exact Match” fluid.

For shops that work on all different imports… the ENEOS ECO CVT Fluid is a “Broad Match” fluid which can be used on most CVTs.

Again, Nissan knows the specs.

Choosing the right fluid comes down to choosing a genuine fluid, or fluids created by professionals who have a close relationship to the manufacturers and are capable of producing lubricants that meet their [OE] CVTF requirements.

Japanese automakers don’t release the CVTF specs to anyone but OE suppliers. So as a factory fill supplier ENEOS Japanese automakers don’t release the CVTF specs to anyone but OE suppliers. As a factory fill supplier ENEOS not only knows the CVTF requirements, they also help create the requirements with OEMs during the R&D process.

ENEOS CVTF contains additives developed by their unique technology, which is patented. This is proprietary technology that no other company can imitate.

Let’s jump into it!

What’s up dude! [Tommy: What’s up man?]

[Tommy] First of all, got to pull these— uh—fantastic clips off to get to this under panel. Pretty much all the new cars have these nowadays….

[Tommy] Grab a bungee cord, pull your, uh…

[Faruk] Uh, oh it even has like a little folding area right there.

[Tommy] …pull this panel out of the way… [Hookss bungee on car above to hold it out of the way.]

[Tommy] Pretty much uh every Nissan is a 19 mm socket for the drain plug here. I know you mentioned to me before other dealers will measure the amount of fluid that comes out, I usually just drain it and I know from experience about how much goes in.

[Faruk] And so are—there’s a couple different types of CVTs for Nissans, right?

[Tommy] Yeah so this style (2020 Nissan Altima) when you’re looking under the hood there’ll be a dipstick tube that’s sticking up and out…

And then there’s another style, a lot of the smaller cars like Sentras, Versas, and Kicks, they don’t have a dipstick tube… like there’s a small one a little tiny one but they’re really hard to get to… but the drain plug on the pan usually is like right around here [pointing] so you take the drain plug out and then there would be a overflow plug sticking up into the pan, you’d have to remove that to fully drain all your fluid out.

[Faruk] And you said there’s an Allen Key on that drain plug?

[Tommy] Yeah it’s a generally a 5 mm Allen.

[Faruk] so, two different styles

[Tommy] Yeah…

[Faruk] If it has if it has no dip stick you got to do the overflow thing…

[Tommy] yeah…

[Faruk] This one has a dip stick?

[Tommy] This one does have a dip stick.

[Faruk] Okay cool.

[Tommy] Yeah… Nissan recommends to inspect your fluid every 30,000 miles. Generally I recommend them at 30,000 just for the drivability of the cars. Like, you don’t want your fluid to degrade ’cause once the fluid starts degrading… I mean that’s just the… the railroad to CVT blowing up… so I generally recommend every 30,000 mi to replace the fluid in these things.

[Faruk] Yeah, it’s cheap maintenance, right?  …compared to a CVT transmission.

[Tommy] Right

[Faruk] Is there a recommended drain time or is it just when…

[Tommy] Nah, you kind of just let it drip… I mean it’s still going to hold a little bit of fluid down in this bottom part of the pan, so, however you want to let it drain… It also depends on how warm the fluid was, like so this car I just pulled in, it’s not warmed up yet

[Faruk] yep

[Tommy] so the fluid’s a little thicker.

[Faruk] yep

[Tommy] When it’s warm a little bit more will come out just, that’s just the way it goes generally.

[Faruk] Cool… grab one of these—do you fill from up top? Or do you fill from…

[Tommy] I fill them from up top.

[Faruk] all right

[Tommy] With the drain plugs as well, there’s these copper washers. You always want to replace them, or else your drain plug’s going to leak…

[Faruk] The little things, right?

[Tommy] These ones are NS-3.

[Faruk] These are NS-3?

[Tommy] Right.

[Faruk] Okay. The nice thing about the Import CVT fluid, the Model N Plus, is that it not only can do the NS-3 but it also does and takes care of the NS-2 cars. Nissan doesn’t use NS-2 on any of the new cars, that would be generally probably like 2012 and older Nissans with CVTs will be NS-2, but there’s normally a sticker under the

[Tommy] It’s a metal pan..

[Faruk] oh it’s a metal pan? hood that tells you what fluid to use—

[Faruk] cool!

[Tommy] —that way you can’t really get it wrong.

[Faruk] Yep or if you’re using ENEOS it’ll work on both, which is great.

[Tommy:] Yeah

[Faruk] So Tommy was just showing me something. This little plug right here (on the black CVT Overflow pan)  is the Overflow plug, right?

[Tommy] yes, so that’s how you, uh, level your fluid. I generally put a little bit more fluid in than what it requires, that way you can level it off.

[Faruk] Yep… what it’s the… what’s the torque spec on these drain pans here?

[Tommy] uh, these ones I set to about 24-25 foot-pounds.

[Faruk] Cool yeah nice.

[Tommy] Yeah. Over-torque ’em, you’re gonna ruin the copper washer in there and it it’ll start dripping out.

[Faruk] Is that a metal pan or plastic? I can’t tell.

[Tommy] Yeah. We pretty much use all metal pans on CVTs.

[Faruk] So, fill first and then we’ll do the overflow, right?

[Tommy] Overflow, right, yeah… now we’re ready to fill it.

[Faruk] Let’s hit it.

[Tommy] So a crop funnel is used to refill…

[Faruk] Yep and straight through the dipstick tube, huh?

[Tommy] yep

[Faruk] Nice and easy.

[Faruk] Five quarts on this one?

[Tommy] Yeah

[Faruk] Very cool

[Tommy] Yeah I pretty much do five quarts for everything cuz it’s better to have more fluid in there than not enough. So, you don’t want to run it low on fluid, you know…

[Faruk] And with that overflow bolt that we we’re going to get to, doesn’t really matter how much you put in cuz you can just regulate it there…

[Tommy] Exactly [Faruk] Great

[Tommy] Yeah, that’s why it’s better to do more than less…

[Faruk] So Nissan has made a lot of improvements since the first concept including more frequent fluid change recommendations, um, and they are much more reliable now than they were originally, right?

[Tommy] Yeah. Definitely.

[Faruk] How… uh, do you see that a transmission will last the life of a car now with regular fluid changes?

[Tommy] I mean, yeah, yeah… I’ve I’ve had some cars come in here with like 200,000 mi still on their original transmission just because the people take care of it.

[Faruk] Yep.

[Faruk] Look at that green color, huh? Kind of cool!

[Tommy] Yeah.

[Tommy] Yeah, it’s a good way to, um, kind of like… figure out the condition of your fluid depending on what color it turns as it as you drive it.

[Faruk] Okay.

[Tommy] So, like, you’ll start getting it where… If you’re getting any sort of like juddering, loss of power, stuff like that… if you look at the fluid and it’s got, like, this burnt smell and it’s, like, really dark brown, like, it’s time to change your fluid. You know.

[Faruk] So if it’s no longer green just change it…

[Tommy] Yeah… kind of as it deteriorates it changes color more to like a dirt, like a dark brown kind of, like… what engine oil would look like almost. Juddering is a is a big one with Nissan.

[Faruk] So like shaking,  juddering…

[Tommy] Yeah… You’ll, you’ll try and accelerate and the transmission will literally go like, (makes trilling noise) like a, like…  a judder.

[Faruk] Huh.

[Tommy] Yeah.

[Faruk] And then fuel efficiency…you think that–

[Tommy] Yeah, yeah.

[Faruk] Yeah, so the fuel economy will go down?

[Tommy] Oh yeah, yeah!

[Faruk] Yeah, so… track your fuel economy, and you, you got to make sure!

[Tommy] Cuz, I mean that’s… the whole purpose of the CVT is to enhance fuel economy because being a continuously variable transmission you’re always in the correct gear ratio for the amount of power that you’re needing, and like, so when you’re cruising on the freeway it’s the least amount of, like, torque that it can be, but once you step on the pedal, if you need to speed up, it it lowers that gear ratio so you get that speed that you need.

[Tommy] So this is your dipstick cap. There’s a locking tab in here that sometimes is kind of a pain to get off. So what I usually do once it’s clipped in, if you pull it back, stick a pocket screwdriver in there, release the tab… it pops right out. So I’m I’m pulling the cap back to try and release as much from that, and there’s a little plastic tab in there that comes in…

[Faruk] Very cool…

[Tommy] Yeah.

[Faruk] So there… there is actually a special Nissan tool that they give you for that…Huh?

[Tommy] Yeah so you you put it in the front side and then pull it forward, and then it… [Pulls part out]

[Faruk] So now, uh, he’s got to start the car. Couple things to talk about, too, is, um…. So some people feel more comfortable using an “Exact Match” fluid, so this is the (ENEOS Import Series) Model N Plus.

For shops who do multiple types of vehicles it may make more sense to use a “Broad Match” fluid like the (ENEOS) EVO CVT fluid.

[Faruk] How long do you typically let it run after you fill?

[Tommy] So generally, you want to do these services when the transmission’s cold. It probably takes about 5 minutes to get it warmed up to the point where you need to check the fluid.

So now we’ll we’ll put the car back up so we can do that.

There’s a recommendation where they want you to check it at 94° to 104° C, so unless you have a scan tool you can’t really do that yourself. So I kind of, generally, go from the car being cold, letting it run for about 5 minutes, and that’s generally right where it supposed to be.

So this drain plug’s a 14 mm, so I’ll just crack it loose.

So that drain plug, or the Overflow plug, will be the same with your… your Pathfinders, Altimas, uh, Muranos, Maximas… I think that’s about it.

They’re pretty much all the same layout with the… the Overflow…

[Faruk] Yep. The ones without the drain plugs are a little bit trickier. I mean, only because you have that Overflow that has the… the….

[Tommy] It’s putting the fluid back in is what’s trickier. Like we have a special tool that um…It screws into the drain plug, and then we have a fluid pump that we pump the fluid into…

[Faruk] Oh, okay. Interesting.

[Tommy] We pump the fluid in with the Overflow-like plug that’s still in there, and then, um, then you… you get it warmed up, and everything, you take the that whole piece out, and then it’ll level itself.

And then you put the the drain plug back in, it’s a little bit harder to do, but you can actually, like….

You can reach up under the transmission and unbolt the dipstick, and you can pull the dipstick out, take that cap off, and if you have, like…I use a—uh— I bought a funnel specifically for it that’s the same size as the tube…

[Faruk] Oh, okay…

[Tommy] It’s a really thin funnel so you can actually fill it from the top.

[Faruk] So, to be clear, the ones without a, like, a conventional dipstick still have a small dipstick on the side…

[Tommy] Yeah

[Faruk] Okay, and so you can fill from that port.

[Tommy] Yeah, it’s just hard to get to because it’s buried down in there, so… Sometimes you got to remove a couple things in the engine bay, but if you got smaller arms you might be able to just get in there and get it.

[Faruk] Yep

[Tommy] But… We’ll go ahead and uh pull the level plug out, there’s a little O-ring on these.

[Faruk] ok

[Tommy] So, you just want to make sure the O-ring’s still in good condition before you put it back in.

[Faruk] gotcha

[Tommy] I don’t generally replace ’em unless the O-ring looks messed up.

[Faruk] It’s a rubber O-ring?

[Tommy] Yeah.

[Tommy] So now you kind of just, uh…

[Faruk] Oh yeah, you can see how clear it is right now.

[Tommy] Yeah. Now you just go until it starts, uh, dribbling a little bit.

[Faruk] Oh, until it slows down. I got you.

[Tommy] Yeah. So once it starts to to kind of just dribble out, you know it’s full.

[Faruk] Yep.

[Tommy] It’s at the right, the right spec. But also, if you, if you had, like, a… Aw, what do you call it… a ‘beaker’ where you can measure the amount of fluid coming out, then you could put that same amount of fluid back in, plus, like, a little bit more.

[Faruk] Yep.

[Tommy] And then you would pretty much already be dribbling at this point, but since I did a little bit more than what it really needed, a little bit more is coming out. You know, this is maybe a quarter of a quater. At this point, you kind of just play the waiting game.

[Faruk] Yep, yep.

[Faruk] What’s the torque spec on the Overflow?

[Tommy] Uh, generally about 10 foot pounds.

[Faruk] 10 foot pounds?

[Tommy] Yeah… Yeah, so the fluid coming out, it’s actually looking really good.

[Faruk] Yeah

[Tommy] Sometimes you’ll get one that has a lot more miles, and the fluid will actually be coming out brown… because a lot of that fluid is stored in the torque converter still, so you probably have an extra two quarts of fluid just in your torque converter so as you’re running the car and it starts mixing it in, but this is actually looking pretty good, so…

[Faruk] So do you think it’s actually an advantage to maybe put in knowingly more than you should…?

[Tommy] Yeah, ’cause…  [twirls finger] once you run it, it will cycle through…

[Faruk] Cool. There ya go.

[Tommy] So, we’re just about there. And, you see the stream starting to get a little, uh, thinner?

[Faruk] Old man-ish? [chuckles]

[Tommy] Yeah… I would probably call this good because the stream is… is starting to dribble a bit. And you don’t want to let too much out… ’cause… you let too much out then

[Faruk] yeah

[Tommy] then you don’t have enough fluid.

[Faruk] Yeah.

[Tommy] Torque that thing down!

[Faruk] Sweet, under tray, back on call it a day, huh?

[Tommy] Yep!

[Faruk] Well, thank you, Tommy!

[Tommy] Yeah, appreciate it.

[Faruk] That’s awesome!