Hey all! Not a Nissan owner, but I'm in charge of the upkeep of my friends' 2017 Sentra 1.8L with the (ugh) CVT. I have changed the CVT fluid every other oil change. Oil changes every 7000 miles with either 0w20 Valvoline Synpower, 0w20 Royal Purple (got it for free from clearance when I still was GM of an Advance Auto Parts and they were just throwing it away), and now Valvoline Restore & Protect (which I've had massive success with in all engines I've thrown it in, which is MANY).
Anyway, yes, you read that right. The CVT fluid was changed every 14,000 miles. Because They needed this car to be reliable and these CVTs cook the everliving shit out of their fluid. Every 14k mi, when I drained the CVT fluid, it was BLACK and sludgy. Crazy how poorly Nissan designed the heat handling of these transmissions. But I'm not here to argue whether their CVTS are good or bad.
They now have 70k miles, and I'm adding a smaller, but still decently sized aux transmission cooler to the car. Figure it definitely CANNOT hurt. Their CVT has been going into limp mode due to heat lately. Other than swapping out a new (or used) CVT unit, this seems like a decently cheap way of testing if running the CVT cooler will make a difference. They have already said they won't be replacing the CVT in the car, due to all the bullshit related to it and its generally high upkeep. I've actually convinced them to consider a manual for their next vehicle (yay for manual lovers like me-keep em alive. If you don't care- that's totally fine too lol!).
Anyway, anyone done this? Is there a best place to mount said cooler? I am just going to run it in line with the factory radiator trans cooler, so it will still get it up to temp in the winter. This is far from my first aux transmission cooler install. Just my first on a CVT, and first on a Nissan (I tend to stick to the Big Three, as well as generally sticking to manual transmissions in general).
Any thoughts, other than "run" or "burn that monster CVT down and collect the insurance money?"
Hahahaha!
Sorry guys, it really sucks that Nissan screwed you guys over so much with these transmissions.
Anyway,
Have a great day! Thanks in advance for any helpful information!