I have a 1990 maxima gxe. The guy at the shop says to drain the fluid he has to take the entire pan off. Is there a valve? or was he right?

Umm....BS alert!! the pan is on the top of the trans on these cars. and there is a big drain plug on the front of the trannie. i wouldnt suggest going back to that mechanic...obviously dosnt know about maximas. GM cars and some Fords are mostly the cars that u have to pull the pan on.
To get all the fluid changed you'll have to hook it up to a machine to exchange the fluid(what i reccomend). The drain plug will only drain like 1/3 of the total fluid.

there's a 1/2 inch square drain plug at the bottom of the tranny. there's no pan at the bottom and no servicable filters.

just a FYI...the 4th gens have a tranny pan on the bottom. :D

Yah..but they also have a drain plug ;)
most GM cars dont have one..have to pull the pan..quite a mess :gapteeth:

true...who the hell design the trannies on GM cars anyway?!?! thank god ATF evaporates unlike motor oil. :)
oh and w/ the DextronIII i think GM took out the changing the ATF option...DextronIII is suppose to last as long as the car...(correct me if i'm wrong here) :D

Hehe..who designed them? retards :) All american autos suck. As far as trannie fluid going the life of the car..i think the later model GMs do. My family has 3 early 90s GM cars tho...all FWD..and those are supossed to be changed every 100k i think. I do it anyway, just for insurance(better safe than sorry) :)
They dont put a drain plug on the pan because they want you to change the filter too...so they make it so you better change the filter or else you're stoopid(cuz you're right there at it).

yeah well the tranny filter on out 87 buick is part plastic and part metal. of course it's fitted on the tranny and you'll need to pry it out or crack the filter and use a screwdriver and hammer and shatter the plastic bits to get the plastic part that's fitted on the tranny..HUGE PITA.