Kizashi Engine Oil and CVT transmission Oil Change Interval Test Reports

licenseTOill · Fri Jun 10, 2016 1:57 am

I could not find a change intervals for the CVT oil and was concerned about the quality of the oil after 80k miles. I decided to take control by sending in an oil sample.

The short story on my 81k mi factory CVT oil sample is that it is still good. The lab recommend putting another 10k miles on it and then retesting.

I also tested my engine oil. I have had the car since 12k miles and I have run 5w-30 mobil 1 full synthetic and a mobil 1 filter. I have generally run between 5k and 8k miles on every change. The sample I sent in had just over 8k miles on it. Short story here: the lab said it was a great sample and that I should try running it to 10k miles next time.

I have to say this...these results are specific to my own driving habits, geographic terrain, and temperature range. Your results could differ and I suggest you send in your own samples to be sure. I have lived in Chicago proper, Chicago suburbs, central Wisconsin, and frequently traveled to central Iowa. The bluffs along the Mississippi have some large hills but the point I'm trying to make is this: if you live in a harsh environment or mountainous region, I would not think these intervals would apply.

Hope that helps some people. I know the CVT oil change question must have been asked in 25 different threads.

My test results are attached.

12 KIZASHI-TR-052116.pdf: CVT Report; (49.47 KiB) Downloaded 691 times

12 KIZASHI-052116.pdf: Engine Report; (43.63 KiB) Downloaded 696 times

BLyons · Fri Jun 10, 2016 4:41 am

2 things.

1) How much does it cost to do these tests?
2) Do you live in Shawano? I guess that means there's another Kizashi much closer to me than I thought. I'm in Green Bay.

licenseTOill · Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:10 am

The tests were $28 each + shipping. Blackstone sends the containers to you with instructions.

Yea, I call Shawano home. I travel a lot around the Midwest for work but the company's HQ is in appleton. Even closer! I'll be in Appleton for a meeting tomorrow afternoon.

Fri Jun 10, 2016 1:27 pm

Great info. Good to know.

LPSISRL · Fri Jun 10, 2016 2:36 pm

Thanks for this info. My CVT is a bit noisy but it performs just fine. The book says nothing about fluid change intervals. However, the manufacturer of the CVT says 60K miles. I'm at 75K so I'm always a little concerned, especially with the noise. I hesitate to change it myself fearing a warranty void. I'm thinking of taking it to a nationwide chain for a free test drive and eval. I'm thinking that they should be able to do a decent eval since many, many NIssans use this transmission. It may be slightly modified, especially the programming, but the mechanicals are the same.
Here's a forum thread with links to the manufacturer's site:

http://www.kizashiclub.com/forum/viewto ... =12&t=2508

Also, here's a couple more:
http://www.kizashiclub.com/forum/viewto ... tco#p40495
http://aamcoftp.com/sites/aamcotech/ass ... manual.pdf

Fri Jun 10, 2016 3:05 pm

LPSISRL wrote:Thanks for this info. My CVT is a bit noisy but it performs just fine. The book says nothing about fluid change intervals. However, the manufacturer of the CVT says 60K miles. I'm at 75K so I'm always a little concerned, especially with the noise. I hesitate to change it myself fearing a warranty void. I'm thinking of taking it to a nationwide chain for a free test drive and eval. I'm thinking that they should be able to do a decent eval since many, many NIssans use this transmission. It may be slightly modified, especially the programming, but the mechanicals are the same.
Here's a forum thread with links to the manufacturer's site:

http://www.kizashiclub.com/forum/viewto ... =12&t=2508

Also, here's a link to the service manual:

http://aamcoftp.com/sites/aamcotech/ass ... manual.pdf

The Mitsubishi Outlander and Outlander Sport actually use the same JF011E CVT as the Kizashi, according to JATCO.
However, the refreshed Outlander has a newer CVT so you'll have to find the pre-update Outlander of the current generation. I believe the Outlander Sport still uses the same CVT.

http://www.jatco.co.jp/ENGLISH/products/cvt/jf011e.html

Sluggo · Sun Jun 12, 2016 1:41 am

Just imagine if they had used the JF010E in the Kizashi. This cvt seems to be holding up ok in Nissan V6 putting out more than 250 hp.
Our cvt worries would be gone if we had this instead of the JF011E that seems like it is at the top of its power rating in the Kizashi.

Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:56 am

licenseTOill wrote:
Hope that helps some people. I know the CVT oil change question must have been asked in 25 different threads.

My test results are attached.
12 KIZASHI-TR-052116.pdf
12 KIZASHI-052116.pdf

Thank you for taking the time to test the oil and share the results. Very helpful information

Mon Jun 13, 2016 2:20 pm

Sluggo wrote:Just imagine if they had used the JF010E in the Kizashi. This cvt seems to be holding up ok in Nissan V6 putting out more than 250 hp.
Our cvt worries would be gone if we had this instead of the JF011E that seems like it is at the top of its power rating in the Kizashi.

That CVT unit seems to be a good one. The Murano ranks very high in reliability despite some other Nissans with CVTs ranking fairly poorly. However, the JF011E looks to be quite good too. The vehicles with them have above-average reliability.