Hi Scotty,
Just bought a 2011 Nissan Frontier SL with 90k miles about a month ago. Immediately took to my mechanic, a Japanese specialty shop, to check out and change fluids, etc., which I always do with a used car (and the dealer offered a five-day return policy, so I was safe). Truck had excellent service records and all services completed by the dealer and was in beautiful shape. My mechanic discovered that the transmission service performed by the dealer at 60k miles was mistakenly done with CVT fluid instead of Nissan Matic S (or so he believes based on color and smell....it's been sent off for analysis). Truck shifts smooth and completely normal. We flushed it and replaced the filter and cleaned the pan. No evidence of any abnormal wear, etc. He says he'd have no problem with it and believes it's going to be a great little truck for a long time. Says if it had been ATF put into a CVT, it'd be burned up, but CVT in the standard auto, I'm fine. Do you agree?
If your trusted mechanic says he isn’t worried about it I would believe him. There’s no wear like you said so I’d send it.
Yeah, my guy has been working on cars, mainly Japanese makes, for 30+ years. I believe him, I just always like to get a second opinion when I can. Both he and my local dealer said if it didn't burn up inside of the first 10k miles, it wouldn't. At 30k since the change, they both thought we'd know by now if it were going to implode. It's got the right stuff now, fully flushed out (under the engine pressure only, btw, not "blasted"), new filter, etc., so it should be good from here on out if that error didn't do any harm. Otherwise, it's in spectacular shape and I'm pleased as punch with it.
Trust your mechanic.
CVT fluid has different friction characteristics to keep the belt from slipping on the pulleys.
Since the CVT's also have clutches and torque converters, the fluid should be fairly compatible with regular automatics.
That's my guess anyways.
