Nissan 2008 Sentra S ( MR20DE engine ) Transmission Fluid concerns

[SumTingW0ng]

Hi guys, I owned a 2008 Nissan Sentra S ( MR20DE engine ) with a CVT transmission fluid. I have some difficulties of trying to search on my manual when should I change my CVT transmission fluid and do I need to flush it or change it.

Here is the manual book you guys can access online: https://cdn.dealereprocess.net/cdn/servicemanuals/nissan/2008-sentra.pdf

Here is the maintenance schedule service: http://www.vadennissanservicecontracts.com/owners-manual/nissan/2008_N_SMG.pdf

I thank you and appreciate if you guys can help me.

 

[SumTingW0ng]

Update: Okay, I found where it is. On the maintenance schedule booklet, it says replace replace the fluid/oil every 30,000 miles or 24
months. Does this mean that I have to change the oil fluid with a new one or flush?

 

[Jacob_Thren]

If you're trying to do a transmission fluid change that means that you have to do a flush, so you have to drain out the old transmission fluid, then put the new transmission fluid in and dont forget to collect the transmission fluid and measure how there was in it to know how much new fluid to put in. Transmission fluid changes are quite difficult and time consuming if you don't have all the fancy tools shops have nowadays. I normally like to do my own mechanic work on my cars but when it comes to transmission work and maintenance I let a shop do that for me.

 

[BFG-9000]

I will never recommend a flush because I know how the flush machines work. They use a flush solution that is nothing more than the cheapest transmission fluid available, and often just recirculate this fluid through a filter until the old fluid is diluted enough to look OK. Fluid is expensive so they want to minimize costs.

The problem is with most automatic transmissions, you can't even drain more than half the fluid out. Even those conventional automatics with the extra drain in the torque converter are impossible to drain much more out of. So after a flush, it's still partly filled with the flush solution. Far better to simply change the fluid more frequently than normal until it looks fresh enough to follow the standard schedule. This eventually works in even the most neglected automatics with burnt-varnish smelling completely black fluid, because changing only half 4 times in a row means 94% has been replaced. And costs less than a flush, plus you can use all good quality synthetic fluid.

After changing out dozens of automatic transmission filters and never finding them dirty (often this "filter" is nothing more than a wire screen), I no longer change them or even drop the pan for my own cars. Instead I use one of those little electric boat engine oil changers to pump the fluid out from the dipstick, then pump fresh fluid back in the same way. It's quicker than changing the engine oil this way, so there's no excuse to not keep it fresh. I do like to glue a magnet to the pan because it will catch things the filter is too coarse to.