haysdb

The part, known as a "gear position switch" or "gear selector sensor" cost $20 plus tax at my local Nissan dealer. The guy at the parts counter said two things I found interesting. First, he said most guys he knows who replace their own gear oil, drain the oil via the position switch rather than the drain plug, because the drain plug is hard to get to and can be so hard to remove. Second, he said breaking the switch is pretty common.



The little white piece goes inside the hole. It fits into two little holes. As someone earlier described it, it's placed via the "brail method".

The switch/sensor has an o-ring around it, and it needs to be coaxed in. I pressed it in and tightened the bolt with my fingers, then gently pressed on it at 3 or 4 places around the perimeter, and tightened the bolt some more. I did this about 5 or 6 times until it was completely seated. If you don't do this, and just stick it in there and tighten down the bolt with a wrench, you will break it.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

That switch is convienent but IMHO, it's too fragile to be handling that often. My drain bolt is 10x easier to deal with.

haysdb

I think I would have to agree (that switch IS fragile), assuming you can get your drain plug out. It's just too bad the drain plug isn't accessible with a 6-point socket. It might be possible to reach it with a socket by removing the bolt/bracket that's in the way, but I didn't try. What's in the way is part of the shifter mechanism - the rod which runs to the ball joint of the shift lever.

I was going to replace the drain plug (assuming I could get the old one out), but the dealer did not have one in stock and I wasn't willing to leave the car sit for another day.

jeremysyty

DANGER DANGER....

Synchromesh is for manual transmission that use ATF fluid for lubrication. Maxima's use GEAR lube and the weight is a massive difference. DO NOT USE SYNCHROMESH in our transmissions.

Plus this is a write up on a comparison of GL-4 and GL-5:

GL-4: Specified for hypoid gear service without shock loading, but still moderate to severe service (high speed/low torque and low speed/high torque). These lubes may be used in manual transmissions and transaxles where EP additives are acceptable and typically contain a different zinc additive combination. This classification is still commonly used, but is also obsolete. It is also a commonly specified for marine outboard and stern drive lower unit gears and bearings where the manufacturer specifies GL-4 rated performance. GL-4 rates lubes are not recommended as a replacement for GL-5 rated lubes. “GL-5 rated lubes shows significantly better anti-wear (anti-score) properties than GL-4 rated oils under similar service conditions”

GL-5: Specified for hypoid gears under shock loading and severe service operating conditions used in cars and trucks. This is the most common and widely used specification today. These lubes have a high level of EP additives and, depending on the manufacturer and formulation, could be mildly corrosive to non-ferrous parts in certain applications.

This is quoted from another site:

http://www.oilanalysis.com/message_b...mit=Search#top

The major difference bettween GL-4 and GL-5 quality lubricants is in the amount of extreme pressure chemistry that is used in the formulation of a EP gear oil. Generally GL-4 gear oils contain 50% less extreme pressure chemistry than GL-5 type gear lubricants.

The API GL categories are meant to be progressive. In other word a GL-5 gear lube will cover all of the specifications below it such as GL-4, GL-3 etc.

Also one should note that not all EP gear lubricants use Sulfur-Phosphorous Chemistries. The other EP chemistries that can be used are Borate Chemistry and Sulfur-Phosphorous-Boron Chemistries. Regardless of the type of chemistry used you will find that all of these chemistries will not attack brass,bronze and other yellow metals unless something causes them to radically breakdown. Generally this is contaminants and is some cases extreme high temperature operation. In some cases if the ep chemistry is not thermally durable it can undergo radical changes in its chemical structure causing the formation of deposits and a loss in its extreme pressure protection.

GL-5 gear lubricants can not be used in all applications that call for GL-4. For example some transmission applications mainly found in pickup require the use of GL-4 quality gear lubricants because of the presence of syncronizers, syncromeshs and frictional clutch plates. If a GL-5 gear lubricant was used in these applications it would provide to high of a frictional modification characteristics to allow these mechanisms to properly engage and function.

Finally MoS2 (Molybdneum Disulfide)is used in some gear lubricant formulations as a friction reducer and additional antiwear additive. By itself Molybdenum disulfide will not allow a gear lubricant to meet GL-5 much less GL-4.

kingrukus

iTrader: (41)

So how often are you guys with Amsoil Series 2000 75w90 changing your oil? I am thinking 40k miles is a good interval? I noticed someone else on this thread said that they change their synthetic oil after 25k?

db99

I put in MT-90 recently, and live in NH. I can't compare it to other high performance synthetics, but wow it made a difference vs the regular gear oil that was in there from the previous owner.

Shifting first thing on a cold day used to be like stirring molasses; took a couple miles of driving to loosen up.

The MT-90 has been smooth and quick from the turn of the key on all the days so far, though we haven't had any below 0 days since I put it in.

abakalen

iTrader: (1)

About a few month ago i put in Amsoil 75w-90 series 2000 gear lube in my six speed, it was the one that had GL2 through GL5 specs. right away i noticed that it was a little harder to shift especially into first, but it wasn't too bad
so now that i'm reading through this, i am worried that i could have messed up my synchros.

I asked the Amsoil guy (talkinghorse) to see what he recommended.
Here's his response:

Anyway i ordered some Redline MT-90 it's 75W90 GL4 spec. will see how well that works, and if that improves the shifting...

Sin

I've been running AMSOIL 75w-90 series 2000 for 2-3 years now. I have had no problems whatsoever, and my shifting is significantly smoother than ANY 4th gen 5 spd without synthetic that I have ever driven (3-4). The main thing about GL-4 and GL-5 is the use of additives in the GL-5 that because they were not required to meet GL-4 standards, work just fine in GL-5 trannies, but will eat aluminum and other soft or "yellow" metals, such as bronze, which a lot of GL-4 trannies usually use for synchros. Now, you can get the same affects of the additives in GL-5 that can be compatible with GL-4 trannies, it's just that these additives are usually more expensive. That's why AMSOIL's GL-2 through GL-5 Severe Gear is SOO much more expensive than their GL-4 and GL-5 alone, stuff. Because the stuff that meets only GL-4 and 5 only meets those, and not 2 and 3 as well, it's cheaper, but works just as well. That's why you should run AMSOIL's 80w-90 GL-4 and GL-5 application stuff, or their Marine Application GL-4 and GL-5 80w-90 or 75w/80w-90 stuff. The biggest difference is the Marine stuff can run contaminated with up to 10% water, and still provide full protection from wear, from foaming, and from corrosion. Besides that, the marine application stuff is practically identical to the automotive application stuff. Because it is SOO cold here in Toronto in the winter, I prefer the slightly lower cold weight, so I went with the marine application stuff over the 80w-90 automotive stuff. It was about the same price anyways.

The Sever Gear stuff will work just fine, but I suggest going with the auto 80w-90 orthe marine 80w-90 and for those in colder climates the 75w/80w-90.

shortlid

I remember Tractor Supply in Southern Indiana USE to have stright dino juice GL-4 for tractors don't know weight or how good it is?

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

It makes a lot more sense to just go to Autozone and buy Mobil's 75W/90 synthetic gear oil for GL-4 applications if you are purchasing locally.

SkoorbMax

I've not seen that anyway. My autozone(s) have mobil 1 synthetic, but they're all GL5, or maybe they are GL4/5...but I'm still waiting to hear if a combo GL oil is fine for GL4, or if it's bad in the same way a GL5-only lubricant is. I suspect they're ok though.

Max_Gator

I've never really had a hard time loosening the correct drain plug.

However, ONCE, I decided to try the reverse position sensor removal and VOILA broken.

Now I use the drain plug - a lot less expensive.

kingrukus

iTrader: (41)

How did you break it and how hard was it to replace? When tightening mine back, I over tightened and I heard something crack. I left it as is though.

dizmax96

iTrader: (2)

i emailed Mobil about the gear oil. this was there response

"You should not use the Mobil1 gear lubricant 75W90 in your transmission."

well.. looks like amsoil is what im goin for..

seanagins

i work at O'reilly auto parts and we have 85-90 gl4. It calls for 80-90 gl4 but so far I'm good

seanagins

go to oreillyauto.com

DAREN

iTrader: (3)

so royal purple stuff is a no go then. when i had my clutch replaced in my VE 5SP they put royal purple in. however i didnt put much milage on i t cause the motor went soon after that. now i am aoubt to get the new motor installed, so i drained the old tranny fluid before i pulled the tranny. should i just toss the whole ~ 1 gallon of tranny fluid.

CyMax

iTrader: (5)

I'm currently on the amisol website and looked up the "lower unit gear oil" it says it's marine???? Is this the stuff to use??

CyMax

iTrader: (5)

Guess what I found out!?!?!? I was talking to a fella at synthetic warehouse.com on the whole GL-4 deal and he told me that in his last mailing fom Amisol they have realized the mistake of discontinuing the automotive use GL-4 and will be bringing it back!! Cool huh?? Also picked up a marine GL-4 for like 4$ a Qt. I can feel the tranny getting cleaner even now

CyMax

iTrader: (5)

Rumor verified!!!! June 1st Amisoil says " the best GL$ on the market bar none" will be released. So wat'cha think???

SilverMax_04

I just finished changing the fluid in my 6-Speed following the directions given on this site:

http://www.greghome.com/Greg's%20Gar...axSE/MT-90.htm

These directions are excellent, and I had no problems, because I followed them. The pictures are also helpful. I wanted synthetic fluid, and the only company that makes a synthetic to the exact specification for your 6-speed is Redline -- the MT-90 fluid meets spec, including GL-4 (with no GL-5).

Update: Amisol is again making a GL-4 synthetic fluid that will work in a Maxima manual trannie.

After driving with the new fluid, I have to agree that changing the old fluid at 30 K miles was a "performance upgrade." I also agree that all shifts are much smoother, with a crisper and more positive engagement. If I'd known what an improvement this would make, I'd have changed the fluid at 20K miles, or even sooner. Also, my wife was starting to have trouble shifting the Max into reverse, and that problem is also solved.

There were some things that happened during the fluid change that were not mentioned on this site. I'll list them below in the same order as they are listed on this site:

- The owners' manual says you will need 8 and 7/8 pints to replace the fluid. Well 8 pints = 2 quarts and the 7/8 of a pint is almost another half-quart. When you go to installing the new oil, you will loose some -- even with a clean pan to catch the overflow (more on this later). I ended up using 2.5 quarts including the losses.

- The 10 mm hex bit worked well. However, using my 3/8-inch drive breaker bar for the hex bit did not give me enough leverage to loosen the two plugs in the trannie. They were quite tight (much tighter than the 20 ft-lbs called for when you put them back). I didn't have a converter that would allow me to use my longer 1/2-inch breaker bar, so I put an extension on the end of the 3/8-inch breaker bar. (I also didn't want to use my longer 3/8 inch drive torque wrench, but probably could have.)

- The funnel I used was just over 3.5 feet long, and I found that this was about 1/2 foot too long. It worked OK, but 3 feet would have been better. The funnel I used also had the ability to turn the flow on or off, and that was very helpful. I also found that the hose that came with this funnel tended to kink just before going into the trannie. There was no help for this, but it slows down the flow -- which might have been good near the end of the fill. The site is also correct about having problems keeping the hose end in the fill hole in the trannie.

- I bought new "gaskets" for the two plugs. But, when I took out the two plugs I found that the existing "gaskets" looked like the new ones I'd just bought. I reused the old ones and will keep the new ones for when I do this the next time.

- The shop manual drawing and the photo are good, but the only way to actually find these plugs is by jacking up you Max, crawling under and looking with a bright light. Once you know where the plugs are located, they can be found by feel when the time comes to do the work. When the time comes for filling the trannie, you can lie under the front bumper and reach up to the fill hole. Thus, you don't need to jack the car up when refilling.

- I did jack up my Max to get the two plugs out. They were very tight and it took some torque to loosen them. Take the fill plug out first. Then the drain plug. You will find that the original Nissan fluid is very smelly. It was cold when I did the work and I kept the garage door closed. The old fluid stunk-up the place and the smell is still there. (The MT-90 has very little smell to it.)

- Once the fluid starts draining, you should lower the jack so that the Max sits level. This will allow for the maximum of the old fluid to drain out. I started draining my trannie about 15 minutes after getting home from driving about 25 miles. The fluid was hot, but did not burn my hands. Most of the fluid was drained after about 20 minutes. Because I wanted to get as much of the old fluid out as possible, I let the trannie drain over night. It was draining for almost 16 hours. This is not necessary, but a step I could take given the work was being done on the weekend.

- The picture of the funnel shows the right place to put the funnel and tubing -- behind the radiator and just to the left of the battery. Snake the tubing down and then bend it up to the fill hole.

- I found that at the end of pouring the second full quart of new fluid into the trannie, some started dripping out of the fill hole into my pan on the garage floor. At this point, I decided to temporarily stop the filling and drive about 20 miles before attempting to finish the filling. It seemed to do slightly better after the drive hopefully eliminated any air-pockets in the trannie fluid. However, I found that it was difficult to get all of the specified volume (just short of 2.5 quarts) into the trannie. After some effort, I ended up using about 2.5 quarts of fluid, but a small volume of this ended up in paper towels.

- When you put the plugs back in the trannie, they should be torqued to about 20 ft-lbs.

Now you can enjoy the better shifting of you 6-speed. Mine is as good, or even better than the first day I drove her home.

Nasdog

Amsoil has a GL-4 SAE 80W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube. The smallest size is 1 gallon, but is there any reason for not using it in my maxima?

CyMax

iTrader: (5)

See other posts in this thread or search on amsoil gear oil. As recently found out Amsoil will (re)release GL-4 for automotive use on June 1st. I'd hjold out till then, the people I spoke to through an online store at Amsoil claim this will be the shiznaz for any GL-4 tranny.

arlan

iTrader: (1)

https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/mtg.aspx

?

is this the new oil?

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

Yes it is, even though it's a 75W/90. I would recommend it and use it with confidence.


The first post in the thread has been updated to reflect this change and new product.

naps96

I recently changed my power steering fluid via turkey baster using Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF ('97 Max). It was making a high pitch sound when I pressed the clutch, so I checked the fluid level, and added some more. Now the clutch has no pressure. Did I forget some step?

SPiG

iTrader: (7)

The Clutch and PS have nothing to do with each other, nor does it have anything to do with this thread. Your clutch line is probably leaking. For the time being you can fill the clutch Master Cylinder up and use it after bleeding, but you should get a SS line from the GD section because it won't last long.

h2kfrosty and I tried to change the MT fluid in his 96 Max. The drain plug was way too tight and was stripping. We took out the sensor and I broke one. After using the one off my parts car, frosty managed to find a better way to install it without breaking that sensor.

You should just lubricate is with some of the fluid, press it in until the sensor in until the o-ring hits the surface of the tranny and then spin the sensor back and forth until you can press it all the way flush with the surface. Once you do that you should not break the sensor. Make sure it is completely flush and do NOT overtighten. I would still recommend using the drain plug if possible, but hopefully this will make this alternative method less risky.

potownrob

iTrader: (1)

I tried to change my MT oil today, but I couldn't get the filler plug out with my breaker bar. There was what looked like black grease all over the threads of the filler plug, inside the hole of the filler plug where the 1/2 inch breaker bar goes and all around the hole along the side of the transmission. Is this normal or at least a sign that the oil was changed at least once? Anyone have any tips for getting that filler bolt off? Thanks guys

00MaxSE

iTrader: (25)

Well, I did mine today, but I got home and read the rest of this thread to find out that the Mobil 1 GL5 I put in is a no no. So I just finished draining it out now. That was 5 quarts @ $8.29/qt, I just wasted. I'll have to go out and try to find somewhere that sells GL4 tomorrow morning. If all else fails, I'll just buy some from the dealer. I can't afford to order it online and have to let my car sit until it gets here.

If Mobil 1 doesn't make a GL4 gear oil for our cars, someone should edit the first post and take it off the recommended gear oil llist. That is the reason why I bought it in the first place. I didn't pay attention to the GL4-GL5 business. But again, it's my fault for not reading all the posts in this thread.

I hope my syncros aren't damaged. I only drove like 10-15 miles with the Mobil 1.

EDIT: I went to every auto store in town today and nobody sells GL4. And then I went to the dealer and the parts guy who knows me pretty well, says they even use GL5.
The following Saturday I found out that Summit Racing sells MT90, so I drove down there and bought some and put it in. It's all good now. Shifts are smooth.

Fork

iTrader: (2)

I've spoken with a few mechanics and they're curious how a GL-4 GL-5 combo oil could possibly damage the gearbox on my 99 Maxima. I'm not sure if we're dealing with a possible 'urban legand' issue here. Please someone, show the NISSAN bulletin that states use only GL-4 gear oil, [color]or else[/color].

At issue? I can't find ANY stores local that sell only GL-4 oil. All are asking if I've lost my marbles cause they can't find any proof that GL-5 will hurt my gearbox.

So please, point us to the proof! JOHNNY SAYS, or BILL POSTED, doesn't cut it. Facts please.

Site

I've just ordered a bucket of PENNZOIL GEARPLUS SAE 80W-90 GL-4 Gear Lubricant from here (oil-store.com). A quote from the description: The total was $58 shipped for a 35 lb bucket (about 21 quarts). That's like $2.80 per quart. I'll try to remember to post a follow up.

Site

After driving with it in for a week now, I can give a decent review of the Pennzoil Gearplus SAE 80W-90 GL-4 Gear Lubricant. Once it's warmed up, it shifts smoothly; until then, it's a bit "notchy." Considering the price, I consider it a good deal. If you purchase a 5 gallon bucket of the oil, like I did, be prepared for a little mess when measuring it out.

Dan_E_Hughes

Another Great Product:

BG Synchro Shift II, runs about $15 a quart.

the_3d_man

iTrader: (1)

I just got my friends dad (dealer) to order me some amsoil. I suspect the dude who changed my clutch might have replaced my fluid with GL-5 type cause it is kinda hard to get into gear now.... I am gonna have to have a word with him... I will post once I get it in if it helps or not.

the_3d_man

iTrader: (1)

Put the Amsoil 75W-90 API GL-4
Best $42 I have spent on the car. Shifts smoother than when I had redline in it.

ebaker

The Porsche guys sometimes mix 50/50 Redline MT90 and MTL (light) for smoother shifting when cold. I think the MTL is about as thick as 5w motor oil.

MaxSE-R_VA

Just drained my stock fluid with <60K miles on it and refilled with MT-90. I can feel an improvement over the old fluid, but I wouldn't say it's dramatic. Well worth the time, effort, and money though. My $.02...

TopSpeedNY

iTrader: (16)

Hello Maxima.org Fellow members i have some questions to ask you if you can help me out please i would like to change my tranny oil to synthetic blend but i would like to find out which one is better mt-90, amsoil 75w90 amsoil 2000 series, or mobil 1 75w90 and if i can flush my tranny as well or is it recommanded thank you very much.

Topspeed

00MaxSE

iTrader: (25)

Do not use the Mobil 1, it's GL-5. I made that mistake and had to drain it all out. Money wasted..

I'd say try the Amsoil.

SilverMax_04

You don't say if you have a manual trannie. Assuming you do, use either the MT-90 or any GL-4 Amsoil. You don't need to flush a manual trannie, but I recommend that you drive some before draining out the old fluid so that it flows better (due to the heat). When I changed mine, I let the old trannie fluid drip over night to get out as much of the old fluid as possible. Good luck.