Their refusal is weird. The only reason I can think of for their not wanting to do it is that many people wait until the transmission (CVT or conventional) is making noises, then after the dealer (or mechanic) does the work the vehicle owner complains that now its making noise and they blame the service shop for the 'new' noise. I knew one independent shop that wouldn't do tranny fluid & filter changes just for that reason. That had happened to him and "once burned is twice shy."

My story might have been similar except that my dealership knows me and my vehicle and at 100,000 they suggested the tranny service and I had them do it. 10,000 miles later the tranny developed a loud hum and because it had the lifetime warranty the work was covered no problem.

Now if you told the dealers that your tranny was making funny noises as you told us above, you might have scared them off. Still a smart dealer would note, "Customer says transmission is making noise and wants fluid changed." Just a CTA thing so they won't get stuck fighting a bill for a replacement.

Now over 200,000 my replacement CVT developed a slight leak -- nothing major but a leak nonetheless. FCA took care of the leak. Since they had to pull the tranny to replace the gasket, FCA also took care of the the new fluid since it was part of the repair. My dealer offered to change the filter (at my expense) while there were in there so all I paid for was the filter. I got my tranny service for no more than the price of that one part.

As for giving the one dealership the work, why not? If they were the first dealership you called you would have had them do it. If they're treating you square, you treat them square.

One more thing: as for that squeal you're hearing, I've had something similar but under very different conditions. Mine will almost shriek when it gets really hot, like after an hour or so on a hot summer day. I'm told its because the fluid can't handle the heat. Some recommend getting the transmission cooler installed, or at least getting the transmission fluid changed at sooner than recommended mileage.

I see you're fairly new on our site. Up until you finally found a willing dealer I would have said get "Jeep Cares" involved. They are FCA employees who act as our resident angels and will help intercede when you've got difficult issues.

Finally, I don't know what part of metro Boston you live in, but if you're on the north side, I'll put in a shout-out for my local dealer, Bob Mariano's in Concord, NH. Always helpful and meticulously honest. They treated me well when they had their Pontiac franchise and when they went all-FCA I stayed with them instead of moving across the street where the Pontiac franchise went. (The Pontiac story was also a transmission issue -- at 100,000 miles it was making funny noises. I was prepared for a massive bill but Mariano's found a cheap fix and I got that vehicle to 250,000 miles with out tranny problems.)

 

They are BS'ing you. I have removed the pan on my '08 twice and changed the fluid and filter. First time was at 87K and it remedied my whine. Second time I put on a new pan with a drain plug so that I can drain and refill every 20K (cost is around $50 for the fluid to do that).

My personal opinion is these CVTs should have the fluid changed at least every 60K even under normal service conditions.

It's simple to do, remove the pan bolts, drain fluid, remove pan, remove filter, replace filter, replace pan (with new gasket), refill with proper fluid to the proper amount. You can buy a universal dipstick online for about $20 that comes with fluid a fluid level graph.

The units are "sealed" meaning there is no dipstick, however there is a dipstick tube where you/they can add fluid.

 

Fully agree.

Changing fluid /filter isn't hard to do if you have the tools and a place to work.

 

Squealing noise sounds like alternator decoupler pulley or, maybe sepentine belt if it gets wet. I had similar issue getting my cvt fluid changed when I got close o the 100k mark. Big local dealer -they sell everything- wouldn't change it. Sealed unit, non serviceable. Called several times to verify after checking owners manual. Ended up going to a dealer a little farther away, they serviced it, fair price, got reminded they won't honor lifetime warranty if I don't get ALL my service work done there, including changing the engine oil. Haven't gone back there as they've been bought out by the bigger local dealer. I have a slight vibration on accelerating and the next closest dealer says its probably not cvt but motor mounts. I need to make an appointment to find out. They also service the cvt there and were confused as to why the other dealer couldn't do it.

 

The dealership can't legally require that you have ALL of your service work done by them. You can change your own oil or get it changed elsewhere as long as you have the receipts to prove it.

 

jstrout,

I feel the frustration. I have the 6 speed tranny, and even though I can change the fluid myself, for curiosity I inquired at 3 dealers about letting them do the machine fluid exchange. Removing my drain bolt only drains about half the fluid while their exchange machine does 100%.

Anyway, 2 dealers insisted that I really have a CVT, even if it says "6 speed automatic transmission" on my sales sheet. Good grief.

And, ALL of the dealers around here use the BG process with BG universal fluid. I wonder how they can do that while the tranny is still under warranty?

Yes, very frustrating when the dealers seem to be clueless.

 

I am lookin to change my CVT transmission fluid and filter in a 2011 Jeep patriot 2.4L North Edition can anyone help me with this?
A video or steps on how to diy would be excellent! TIA

 

See post #4 in this thread.

 

The people you have contacted just don't want to work on a CVT, because it has CVT cooties. Seriously, they are giving you a load of b.s. Just keep calling shops until you get someone who actually knows what they are doing.

 

I live in Boston and currently as I type this my car is over at the dealership that I purchased the car from about 2 years ago. Long story short I've had all of the CVT issues that we all read about (whining, limp mode, power loss, etc.) Saturday night I was leaving work and not even 2 miles into my trip I was pushing the car a little to merge into a lane and the car jerked, CEL came on and I lost total power. I had the car towed to the dealership that I bought it from but usually don't have it serviced there after a few horrible experiences but it was the closest one that I could have it towed to for free with AAA.

This is not the first time this has occurred it has gone into limp mode before and I had to quote literally "limp" it to a dealership on the highway.. the second time we were going to Rhode Island and about 45 minutes into the trip the transmission was whining louder than it ever has, transmission light popped on and I lost total power in the left most lane on the highway.

Waiting for the dealership to have a chance to actually take a look at my vehicle and get back to me but I have also brought it in numerous times for the whining and every time I get "no code / can't reproduce" or "tech took it for a drive it's normal" this car has been the most unreliable car I have ever owned and I'm honestly afraid to take this thing for any long trips.

Every time I bring it in I always get the run around or some excuse or they replaced this should fix it etc. I have been on these forums for a while and done some research but at this point I really don't know about this vehicle anymore.. when it died I had 2 codes; P0339 and U1401 looked both of them up but didn't find too much on them in general.


Figured I'd put my experience here as well and it should be noted that I have taken my Pat to 4 different dealerships and more or less get the same treatment at all of them. Coming from a Toyota Corolla and having received amazing customer service my experience of Chrysler or "FCA" has been far from exceptional. When I came in to drop my keys off for my vehicle since the dealership was closed when it was towed in I was literally asked if I needed help getting out of the vehicle into something else. I am already upside down on this thing since the trade in value has plummeted and I owe about double compared to what it's actually worth.

FYI it's a 2011 Jeep Patriot Latitude 4x4 with 69k


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Hi digi91,

I just responded to your PM!

Andrea
Jeep Social Care Specialist

 

digi91, have you reached out to JeepCares on this website? They are from FCA and have been very helpful to others on this site. Try sending a PM to them. They're here to help.

 

I will reach out to them, haven't tried that yet just been a back and fourth with the dealership(s) and no help what so ever.


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Reviving this because I'm curious if you ever found a dealer in the Boston area (really in the Eastern MA or NH area in general) that will do a full CVT fluid and filter replacement?

I just purchased a 2012 Patriot with about 59k miles and getting the CVT services is one of my first priorities. A number of the major Jeep dealers in the direct metro-Boston area have terrible reviews so I'm nervous about where I plan to take it. Any recommendations?