There are two good ways to swap the fluid DIY. However, first understand that there's one, giant no-no: Don't over-fill. .Put in a pint too little and the CVT will barely notice. Put in a pint too much and you'll have a dead tranny in 2000 km. 'Nuff said.
The first good method is to simply measure what you take out and replace that exact amount. To do that error-free, get a translucent pail or drain pan and put some tape exactly at the waterline when it's done draining. Then dump it, refill to the tape with fresh fluid and add that through the fill tube.
The second method is to use the leveling plug, which is how most dealers do it. The car has to be raised and level, you can't do it with just the front wheels jacked. Drain the fluid and re-fill with about 4-1/2 quarts, then warm the trans up fully. The quick way to do that is about 2 minutes of 1500 RPM with the car in drive and your foot on the brake. That generates waste heat in the torque converter without harming the belts and pulleys. Once it's warm, remove the leveling plug with a drain pan underneath. You should get a small stream of fluid coming out. When the stream "hiccups" and reduces to a trickle, reinstall the plug and you're done. If you don't get any stream, trickle fluid down the fill tube until you do, then you're done. Here's the leveling plug location on a '13 Altima, yours will be similar:
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The first good method is to simply measure what you take out and replace that exact amount. To do that error-free, get a translucent pail or drain pan and put some tape exactly at the waterline when it's done draining. Then dump it, refill to the tape with fresh fluid and add that through the fill tube.
The second method is to use the leveling plug, which is how most dealers do it. The car has to be raised and level, you can't do it with just the front wheels jacked. Drain the fluid and re-fill with about 4-1/2 quarts, then warm the trans up fully. The quick way to do that is about 2 minutes of 1500 RPM with the car in drive and your foot on the brake. That generates waste heat in the torque converter without harming the belts and pulleys. Once it's warm, remove the leveling plug with a drain pan underneath. You should get a small stream of fluid coming out. When the stream "hiccups" and reduces to a trickle, reinstall the plug and you're done. If you don't get any stream, trickle fluid down the fill tube until you do, then you're done. Here's the leveling plug location on a '13 Altima, yours will be similar:
