Elgrand E52 CVT Service (Week 3)
Welcome to the final week of my CVT service, if you haven't read the intro then I would recommend you take a look at that first.
This week I am planning to drain the NS3 fluid again, replace the o-ring on the drain plug, fit a new filter and then refill.
As this is my third week of working on my CVT gearbox, jacking the car up (see week 2 for tip) and draining was a absolute breeze! My CVT was ready a new filter within 20 minutes of starting this week.
You need to remove the passenger side wheel and also the inner cover directly behind the wheel to show the CVT gearbox filter which needs to be replaced. The inner cover is held on by a few screws and some plastic push clips. (As per my earlier blog posts, you would be very wise to buy some of these clips before starting any of this work, you have been warned.) The pic below shows the filter unit accessible, don't worry about the yellow shock being different to yours as these are an upgraded part that my car had fitted in Japan.
The filter is held in place by 3 bolts which you can now remove, this will allow a little bit of movement so that you can work on the hoses. The hoses for the filter are held by simple metal push clips which need pliers to pinch together to loosen for the tube to then be pulled off. Its a little bit fiddly and this took two of us to hold various parts at the same time to remove.
Once removed the new filter can be attached to the tubes, again you might need move than one person as you pinch the clips and pull them down the hoses. Then bolt the unit back onto the mountings.
All nice and shiny on my E52, and ready to go. Next thing was to replace the drain plug o-ring which Nissan recommend you do every time to remove/replace the plug. Although you might not worry about this for engine oil, I was keen to make sure the CVT had whatever was recommended. The o-ring is quite expensive but for piece of mind I got one sent from Japan to fit. Its very straightforward you just remove the used one and replace with the new. (If you need one of these o-rings I got a few spare so I have them on eBay here.)
After refitting the drain plug, I dropped the car down and refilled the CVT fluid (NS3) as per the previous weeks. It took a little bit more than week 1 or 2 as the filter removal added a bit more. As per other weeks, I would recommend that you measure the fluid out and put back in the same amount.
To refill the CVT you pour the fluid into the tube where the CVT dipstick is located and I would suggest you remove the airbox to do that. It will give you a little more access. The pictures below show the two screws you need to remove and then the large black airbox just pulls out (it has one clip on the bottom that just pops out).
Last thing was to run the car for 2 minutes with the brakes pressed and switch between Drive and Reverse every 10 seconds, just to run the fluid through the gearbox ready for use.
There is a gasket that you can replace which sits between the sump and main gearbox, but there was no evidence of any leaks on mine to suggest it needed replacing. The other thing that some owners fit is an larger cooler. I do have the cooler unit but wasn't brave enough to do that, perhaps next time I change the oil I will fit the cooler.
This service will cover my gearbox for 60,000 km or 3 years so its a good job to get done and not worry about it for a while.
You might be wondering what its like to drive now, and I think it is a tiny bit smoother, but then I don't think my CVT gearbox was in bad shape anyway. I imagine this service on a badly maintained CVT could improve your car significantly, whereas mine is perhaps a tiny bit smoother.
Anyway, good luck with your service!
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