I talked Renton Mitsubishi here in WA State and they said that the drain/fill service that gets about 4.3 qts of fluid out is enough to maintain the warranty. However I took my 2017 2.4L to Sunset Mitsubishi who had the machine to get most/all ~7qts out. THey also added and used CVT renewer by Lynn chemicals, I did not expect this and was somewhat surprised they added this. Approx $300 in cost to do this service.

If you are doing the drain/fill yourself, keep your receipt of the purchased fluid. Always use J4 during drivetrain warranty period, to my understanding this passes on to owners even if buying used. I've also been told that J4 has markers so if you use other brands, Mitsubishi can tell if you used Valvoline or Castrol (altough this will be obvious with Castrol because it's red color)

 

The J4 isn’t cheap but it’s not worth taking the risk using anything but

 

Hi, I have been experiencing this issue in my outlander recently. I notice it started since my last oil change. Mitsubishi overfilled the CVT (above C/H indicator marks on dipstick), so I removed about 2 liters of it myself to bring it to the recommended C/H levels (as per dipstick). since then the car is shifting too early ( 2nd gear to 3rd), so I'm not really allowed to go at a steady speed of about 30 kmph - I have keep accelerating to retain power.

May be this is how the CVT is actually designed to work, or I'm screwing up the CVT by keeping the CVT fluid at the dipstick indicator levels.

any views?

 

My understanding:

1.Drive the vehicle until the CVT fluid is warmed up to the normal operating temperature (70 to 80°C).
2.Park the vehicle on a level surface.
3.Move the selector lever to every position to fill the torque converter and the hydraulic circuit with the CVT fluid, and then move the selector lever to "P" or "N" range.
4.Wipe clean the area around the oil level gauge, and then remove the oil level gauge to check the condition of the CVT fluid.
note When the CVT fluid level is low, the oil pump sucks air together with the CVT fluid, and produces air bubbles in the hydraulic circuit. The air bubbles in the hydraulic circuit decreases the hydraulic pressure, causing the delayed gearshift or slippage of the belt, clutch, and brake. When the CVT fluid level is too high, the fluid is stirred by the gear and foams up, and the problems similar to those when the CVT fluid level is low will occur. In either case, air bubbles cause the overheat and oxidation of the CVT fluid, which prevents normal operation of the valve, clutch, and brake. Beside, when the CVT fluid is foamy, it flows out of the transmission vent hole. This may be taken as the fluid leakage by mistake. 5.Check that the CVT fluid level is within the "HOT" area on the oil level gauge. If the fluid level is low, add the CVT fluid to the "HOT" level.

 

Thank you TruWarrier. I took some time to check this but finally did, there is no foaming of the CVT fluid. Confirmed multiple times.

but I observed something interesting. the problem of CVT shifting forward early happens only when car is accelerated from slow speed (as low as ~10 kmph). Gears starts to shift forward too early and RPM is always less than 1.5K. there is lack of power, and listening closely we can notice slight engine knocking (due to gear being higher for the speed).

Whereas when I start moving from 0 speed (idle), shifting forward happens normally, I mean RPM is going up till 2 to 2.5K and the car seems always on right gears.

So difficult to suspect CVT (?).