My girlfriends 15 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport has 87k miles on it and never had its CVT fluid changed. Manufacturer says it should be done every 30k miles. I know with automatics it’s dangerous to change after going so long without because you could remove some material that helps it shift after so much wear. Would you advise changing it or leaving it alone? It had some hesitation problems that we thought were because of some recalls, but after the recalls were fixed it still persists a tiny bit compared to before. Thanks!
They recommend 30k? Most say 60k miles.
I would do a drain and fill on it and change the filter if it has one.
You could probably change it without any issues. The things you are talking about are due to accumulated wear of 150,000+ miles.
Go ahead and change it out yourself.
Mild hesitation is unfortunately pretty normal for an older CVT. It's a shame Mitsu used them....
Change it. CVT's need good fluid properties to keep the belt from slipping/wearing.
If you are doing it yourself, just start with a simple drain and fill.
There is a good chance that is a JATCO/Nissan transmission. And those transmissions do not do well with worn out fluid.
