CVT fluid, engine oil viscosity, oil filters, and rod rattle at start up.....
Greetings everyone. This is a follow up regarding my experiences with the above topics in the thread title. I have a 2017 wine-colored G4 with CVT. I currently have 35,394 miles on the vehicle.
I recently did a CVT service (myself, not the dealer), and discovered that my once green CVT fluid was almost black and and smelled like burnt KFC (extra crispy). I dropped the tranny pan and cleaned the sludge from both magnets, plus changed the little round filter on the side of the tranny (after spending an hour looking for it). Instead of replacing my CVT fluid with Mitsubishi OEM product, I instead opted for Amsoil synthetic hi-temp "gold colored" fluid. Long story short, my CVT is working perfectly and more astonishing, my gas milleage jumped. I now get between 39-41 MPG in THE CITY. I average about 43-44 on the freeway if I keep it at 80 mph. During the service, I documented everything with pictures, videos, and receipts. I then took my vehicle to the dealer to have my CVT service "certified" to keep my warranty valid.
Rod-rattle at start-Up, cold or hot....
Ok, I hve found that this little engine seems to really like 10-30 synthetic-blend oil. I also found that the Bosch oil filter with the ADBV or ADB (anti drain-back valve) is an excellent filter for the money. The combination of 10-30 oil and ADB Bosch filter has completely eliminated the rod-rattle at start-up. My engine seems to be a little more quiet and smoother at idle. On a side note, my driveway has a slight incline, so when I remove my filter, the oil drains BEHIND the drain plate instead of in front of it. Annoying as hell, so I removed the drain plate that's attached to the starter and tranny. Now the oil drins straight into the pan instead of my arm.....
The thicker oil has not affected my gas mileage. I am not an "Amsoil distributer". I decided to use that brand based on test reports and extreme-use results. I live in Las Vegas, a land of extremes.....hellish summers and freezing winters. The dealer told me that to keep my CVT warranty valid, I must have it serviced every 30,000 miles. Apparently CVT's in general do not do well in hot climates. My next project will be finding a way to mount an external CVT tranny cooler in front of the radiator. If heat is the enemy of CVT's, then a large fluid cooler would benefit all of us.
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