chris92

Hey all,
I've been thinking of changing the trans fluid in my '92 Maxima (170 km.) I have a bit of a lazy shift from first to second.
I've read two opinions:

1) If I drain the fluid, I can expect the transmission to fail sooner because all of the particles that are holding it togeher are gone,

2) The other opinion says to change it to extend the transmission life.

Any opinions or experience? If I do dump the fluid, should I spend the extra money on perfromance fluid? (are they worth it?)

Thanks for the help!

keener

I change mine every 30,000 and have yet to have a problem with failure. To put things in perspective my car just turned 223,000 miles. As far as gear lubes go, I have no experience with performance lubes. I have always used valvoline 80w-90. I hope this helps.

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

keener i'm going to say that he's referring to an auto tranny..not gear oil (5spd).

chris look at it this way..if you changed it and it fails..the tranny was on it's last leg anyway.

keener

Yeah.... you're right, I saw the lazy shift from first to second and made a bad assumption.

keener

I agree with DanNY, if it fails it was going to happen anyway. BTW, I havve a 95 GLE and replace the ATF with fluid from the Nissan dealer. the 95 has 128,000 and again no problems.

my2ndmax

iTrader: (3)

I think your mistaken.

You mean if you flush the trans you risk hurting the trans by getting rid of home helpful deposits. If you just do a simple drain and fill then it'll be cool because all you will be doing is basically letting it run out without any pressure.

chris92

I'm talking about draining it completely (removing the trans. cooler hose while the engine is running, as discussed in a previous post), then refillng it. If you only drain it, you only spill about 4 or 5 litres while there is probably twice that still in the system. But the "deposits" are the main reason for this post. Can anyone elaborate?

Thanks.

tucker

This is a very risky procedure. You run the chance of running the pump dry. Since it is so easy to drain the fluid (I don't even have to put the car on ramps) why not just change it 2 or 3 times. You'll be sure to get most the fluid out of the torque converter. Though a little costly in fluid, it's cheap insurance in light of potential problems. These trans seem to be the week link on the car. Max.org UK has some interesting write ups on the weeknesses of the trans. Might want to take a peek FYI

D-sta

iTrader: (6)

I say just drive it until it dies.

chris92

Nice preventive maintenance!

D-sta

iTrader: (6)

well there is a possibility that if he changes the fluid, that it would mess up quicker than if he would just to leave it alone. So like I said "drive it until it dies"

Menel

I read somewhere that the 3rdgen maxima tranny unlike others drains ALL of the tranny fluid..not just some

D-sta

iTrader: (6)

I don't think you can always get everything out when draining from the bolt.

ghostmax

iTrader: (4)

i don't know that there's a drain plug on the TC. just drain, fill and repeat to get everything out.