2015 Mirage CVT incorrect fluid

[mirrormirage]

Good afternoon all,

2015 mirage at 98,500 miles. So, long story short, when i was a relatively new car owner 2 years ago at 75k-80k miles and still pretty ignorant on proper car care, I accidentally had regular transmission fluid put in my mirage at a quick lube place. A year ago, I start experiencing intermittent transmission overheating. Last winter i took my car to two transmission specialists at independent shops and they each said nothing was wrong, but I knew there still was because i could still smell the burning fluid along with the flashing 'D', at least intermittently still. Two weeks ago i took it to a dealer. Basically, the dealer says there is nothing mechanically wrong with the transmission but I (obviously) need the proper fluid swapped out. I (now) know the proper fluid is CVT7 specific (i think?) so I was totally wrong. Anyone else have experience with this? If anyone else has experienced this, did your transmission recover? I'm sure I'm not the only Mirage owner to have done this by accident!

I know I took a super long time to fix this and for that I regret. The reason was because the overheating did not happen very often and still doesn't. I would like to take care of this now though. I just really hope my transmission can be saved. The other components of my powertrain function well so at least theres that. But I am still looking for new vehicles worst case scenario. I'm taking my car in first thing tomorrow morning that flush and filter change. I am just wondering how likely is it that my transmission will recover.

UPDATE: I had a technician at the dealer flush my CVT twice and put in a new filter. Very fair pricing too, only $300 total. I got back home with no overheating or fault code (the dealer is an hour from where I live). Additionally, acceleration was easier and I could also maintain a higher speed more easily. However, the real test will be next week when I take a 3 hour road trip. I will provide another update then.

[MetroMPG]

Hey, welcome!

That's a bummer about the wrong fluid.

I'm curious: why shop for a new car rather than just price a CVT replacement as a "worst case" scenario? Price difference would be enormous, no?

Would the quick lube shop that put the wrong juice in there not be liable? Or at least cough up for a flush & fill with the correct fluid?

[Mark]

Good afternoon all,

2015 mirage at 98,500 miles. So, long story short, when i was a relatively new car owner 2 years ago at 75k-80k miles and still pretty ignorant on proper car care, I accidentally had regular transmission fluid (red stuff) put in my mirage at a quick lube place. A year ago, I start experiencing intermittent transmission overheating. Last winter i took my car to two transmission specialists at independent shops and they each said nothing was wrong, but I knew there still was because i could still smell the burning fluid along with the flashing 'D', at least intermittently still. Two weeks ago i took it to a dealer. Basically, the dealer says there is nothing mechanically wrong with the transmission but I (obviously) need the proper fluid swapped out. I (now) know the proper fluid is green and CVT7 specific (i think?) so I was totally wrong. Anyone else have experience with this? If anyone else has experienced this, did your transmission recover? I'm sure I'm not the only Mirage owner to have done this by accident!

I know I took a super long time to fix this and for that I regret. The reason was because the overheating did not happen very often and still doesn't. I would like to take care of this now though. I just really hope my transmission can be saved. The other components of my powertrain function well so at least theres that. But I am still looking for new vehicles worst case scenario. I'm taking my car in first thing tomorrow morning that flush and filter change. I am just wondering how likely is it that my transmission will recover.

Welcome to the forum! Since I am a manual transmission owner, I can only offer you encouragement!

I would hope for the best. It may be perfectly fine. Worst case - a CVT can be replaced cheaper than buying another car most likely.

I hope you are sharing a good outcome with us in the near future! Fingers crossed!

[mirrormirage]

Hey, welcome!

That's a bummer about the wrong fluid.

I'm curious: why shop for a new car rather than just price a CVT replacement as a "worst case" scenario? Price difference would be enormous, no?

Would the quick lube shop that put the wrong juice in there not be liable? Or at least cough up for a flush & fill with the correct fluid?

Because I think a newer car would be a better investment long-term. I've put a little bit of work into this car so far and it is getting up there in age. (one wheel bearing and new front struts, obviously this differs from routine maintenance which is not what I am referring to). Tomorrow at the dealer, I will get a quote on a swap or rebuild and see, but I think it would be better for me to buy a different car worst comes to worst. I'm a long-term type thinker.

I didn't keep the maintenance record when I got the fluid replaced at the quick lube so I can't prove them to be liable unfortunately. I feel like such a negligent car owner, looking back - and I wish I had just dealt with this earlier, too! At least my transmission appears to have no lasting damage, thus far. Three different shops (most recent was the Mitsubishi dealer) told me so I definitely trust that verdict. I just hope it gets fixed tomorrow and I dont see any more flashing 'D'!

[mirrormirage]

Welcome to the forum! Since I am a manual transmission owner, I can only offer you encouragement!

I would hope for the best. It may be perfectly fine. Worst case - a CVT can be replaced cheaper than buying another car most likely.

I hope you are sharing a good outcome with us in the near future! Fingers crossed!

Thank you for your warm welcome. The issue typically happens to me after an hour or two of highway speeds. And the dealer is one hour from where I live, so I could know tomorrow when I get home if its fixed. However, it doesn't always happen, so I also may not know tomorrow. But, I am taking a three hour road trip next week that should definitely give me an answer.

[Fummins]

Welcome! How do you know your transmission overheated? A flashing indicator can mean one of two things. Fast flash=overheating, slower flash=Transmission problem? Either way there would have been a code stored that would tell you why the shift indicator was flashing.
As for a transmission flush goes, the only way to do one is to remove the heat exhanger on the front of the transmission and install an adapter plate that allows transmission fluid(cvt fluid) to flow in and out. These transmissions don't have an external cooler like most automatics(and nissan cvt's) so flushing them is more of a pita.

You can use whatever cvt fluid that says it meets the J4 spec.

[mirrormirage]

Welcome! How do you know your transmission overheated? A flashing indicator can mean one of two things. Fast flash=overheating, slower flash=Transmission problem? Either way there would have been a code stored that would tell you why the shift indicator was flashing.
As for a transmission flush goes, the only way to do one is to remove the heat exhanger on the front of the transmission and install an adapter plate that allows transmission fluid(cvt fluid) to flow in and out. These transmissions don't have an external cooler like most automatics(and nissan cvt's) so flushing them is more of a pita.

You can use whatever cvt fluid that says it meets the J4 spec.

Didn't matter that a flush is a PITA, I paid someone at the dealer to do it today But it would occasionally throw out a slow or fast blink, probably equal amounts of both. I could also smell burning fluid at times. The technician said that either code probably meant overheating in my case. I got the proper SP-III put in today.