For many people, owning a vehicle with a CVT transmission is a new experience. Vehicles with a traditional automatic transmission have always used a reddish colored transmission fluid. Red dye was added to transmission fluid in the late 1960s to aid in leak detection. Which worked quite well considering all of the other oils in the vehicle were brown. Fast forward to today and CVT transmission fluid is a completely unique animal. So let’s take a closer look at CVT fluid and find out what color it’s supposed to be.
What Transmission Do I Have?
What is CVT transmission fluid?
CVT transmission fluid works just like traditional ATF. It cools and lubricates the moving parts, and can be pressurized to move the different parts around inside of the CVT transmission. The composition however, is completely different. The base oil is always going to be synthetic, and it has a much different set of chemical additives. For example, there are unique friction modifiers and anti-wear additives to protect the CVT belt. There are also special viscosity modifiers that are designed to help the fluid last longer in sealed transmissions.
Adding traditional automatic transmission fluid to a CVT can have disastrous effects on the internal components. Similarly, adding the wrong type of CVT transmission fluid can also cause damage to internal components. The chemical makeup of different CVT fluids are designed to work with the different metals, seals and plastics used in a specific automakers transmission. Changing the chemical additives can cause seals to break down, the band to wear prematurely and metal varnish. If you plan to use an upgraded synthetic universal CVT transmission fluid, make sure that it is compatible with your specific transmission. It’s always best to use the manufacturer’s recommended CVT transmission fluid. If you don’t know what that is, check your owners manual or call the parts department at your local dealer.
So what color is transmission fluid?
Believe it or not, some CVT transmission fluid is red, just like traditional ATF. But, there are also a rainbow of colors depending on what vehicle you have and what CVT transmission fluids are compatible with your vehicle. Here’s a small list of some of the CVT transmission colors you may run into:
Castrol = Red
Nissan NS3 CVT fluid = Green
Cam2 & Transtar = Green
Valvoline = Amber
Eneos Eco CVT fluid = Blue
What Transmission Do I Have?
If you would like to learn more about CVT transmission maintenance, click here.
