My 2011 Outlander ES is coming up on 30K miles. According to the manual, the transmission fluid will need to be changed at that point.

Does the Outlander absolutely have to have the Mitsubishi CVT fluid? The shop to which I generally go says that their BG fluid is equivalent. The nearest dealership is not close anymore (17 miles or so, but this is DC area traffic), but if the genuine Mitsubishi fluid is the only stuff that works and/or keeps the vehicle within warranty, I will go there. Any opinions?

 

I'd use the Mistu/DiaQueen fluid. You can order it online, maybe your shop will use that fluid. If they raise a fuss, ask them if they'll warranty the transmission to 100k miles if you use the BG products.

 

Thanks for your reply. I was a bit skeptical myself. One I did was to Google the BG fluid, and they do cleaim that one of their products meets or exceeds Mitsubishi's (and others') performance criteria for CVT fluids. See Part 318 here:

BG Products, Inc.

 

Sure if you want to take the risk, go for it.

 

Looks like no one else here has admitted to taking that risk.

 

I called Mitsubishi about this. The representative with whom I spoke didn't know the answer and said that I should talk to a technical service adviser at the dealership. If I buy the fluid for a local shop to do the job, how much should I buy, from where should I buy it, and about how much is it going to cost?

 

If your local shop is willing to do the change, then they can tell you how much to get. The stealership's service dept can tell you how much to get (just tell them you are doing it yourself).
The ATF-J2 fluid for my regular automatic cost something like $12 a quart and I needed 8 for a full change. for my tranny, the stealership only does a drain & fill, which only gets 2 quarts out...and charges the same amount as buying all the fluid.

 

UPDATE: I finally got around to calling the dealership (Malloy Mitsubishi, Woodbridge, VA). The service adviser told me on the phone that for my car, either the Mitsubishi or the BG fluid were fine, and they even stock both. Using the BG fluid would not void the warranty. They said that the only exception was for the 2014 Outlander, which uses some more special fluid so they use only the Mitsubishi fluid.

 

wow...kudos to the dealership.

 

It looks like from the 2011 Service Manual that someone was kind enough to post, the CVT fluid change is drain and refill twice, using about 12 quarts of the fluid. Besides the dealership, where can I buy the Fluid (which, according to the manual, is DIA QUEEN CVTF-J1)?