I have a question dealing with a possible leaking tranny. My 95 max has
180,000 miles on it. Its a manual 5-speed and i would like to flush the
tranny fluid but i was told by someone that since it has so many miles on
it, and i dont know if the fluid has been changed before that i shouldnt
due to the fact that i might develope leaks as, i no it sounds bad, the old fluid may be
blocking possible leaking points (changing the fluid will flush this out
and consequently open the leaks). I dont have a huge budget and depending on the size of the leaks that may be there, it may be difficult for me to fix them right now. There are no problems with the tranny now and no leaks to speak of. Changing the tranny fluid is something that i've always done to keep with the maintenance of my cars to keep them running well. Any thoughts? Has anyone
experienced anything like this before? thanks..

 

I asked my brother-in-law who sells used cars and he said that his mechanics don't recommend a full flush. They said the detergents in the new fluid could be too much on old gaskets and seals. He said that a half flush and fill is better than a full flush if the fluid isn't completely fried or have metal shavings in it. Then again, if your fluid is completely fried or there are shavings, gaskets/seals are probably the least of your worries...

 

There is no need to flush it. Why would you want to change the tranny fluid if you have no problems? There is no high temperature in there that will cause the oil to break down.

 

i want to flush it just to ensure that it stays running fine. there are alot of miles on it and i dont know when or if it has ever been changed before. just like any fluid its good to change it out. and plus, i've talked to people who have felt a significant difference after changin it even tho they had no problems b4 that. Thanks munch357 for the inside info

 

you did say it's 5-speed, right? then just drain the fluid & refill with the correct "gear oil", i believe that's GL-4. there is no "flushing" to speak of w/5spd trannys. if it leaks, the problem was there already. or you can just top it off if necessary.

 

o ok. i thought that there was a flush involved with the MT too. i knew that i need to find GL-4 oil but thought that there was also a flushing process with it too. is it more or less an "oil change" process? thanks nitromax

 

I recently purchase a 97 Maxima with a automatic tranny, Im also contaplating rather or not to do a transmission flush. She has 118k already but I'm planning on keeping her for a while and would like to get on a routine maintenance schedule. I'm still on the fences about this one.

 

what i did on my 97 max when i bough it with 129k mies was to replace the filter
put new fluid

for the manual owners read this
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=225766

 

what filter do you speak of? there is no auto transmission filter to change on 4th gen automatics.

 

yes there is usually people clean the one installed i didn't want to do that so i replace it also inisde the cover are some magnets please don't trow them away

http://www.napaonline.com/masterpage...sax+Filter+Kit

 

Trust me those with auto trannies, FLUSH AND FILL at the dealership for 90 dollars CAN, did that and she is smoother than when i bought her. Do this once a year and it will last.

 

not bad but once you remove the transmission crankcase or how ever is called that you will notice how much metal shaving its trapped specially attached to the magnets is there when you understand that flushing simply don't take that away

 

I know and you are right i still see a small amount of metal shavings when i check my tranny fluid level, the thing is that Nissan says (by their maintenance ways) that the pan doesnt need to be removed and cleaned, so they dont do that at the dealership, unfortunately i cant do that kinda work myself, so thats the best service i could give to my tranny!! ;-)

 

I highly doubt that. This is just poor misinformation. I see little point in changing the auto tranny fluid and especially at the intervals that you are recommending. Unless your always towing something heavy up a hill all the time the transmission fluid just won't get hot enough to the point where it will break down. Have you ever look at the color of the tranny fluid when it is drained? It is the same exact color as when you put it in. That means the lubricating properties and additives are still intact. If it is a different color then that probably means some of your clutch packs are worn. In that case changing the fluid won't solve the problem. I have run many cars (new cars that my family members bought) over 200k without ever changing the auto tranny fluid.

 

I never said that you cannot run the same fluid for the life of the car, I used to have a 91 buick regal that had just over 300KM on it, the tranny fluid in that was dark but you would not be able to feel it when driving, thats just the way the tranny was built, it was very well made. As far as i know tranny fluid does not contain any additives like an engine oil does. Tranny fluid breaks down most in during contact with the gears.

Towing is one thing, but driving like a maniac is another, for those who drive like crazy and have auto trannys i think it is a good idea to change the fluid once a year, its not a repair service, its damage prevention. they say tranny fluid should be changed every 48.000KM but thats under normal loads, not teenage maniacs.

 

"fluid" is usually used when referring to auto trannys. For a manual, you simply change the gear oil. This is a good idea, every 60-100k.

Not true.

Definitely drain and replace. I recommend Redline MT-90 oil. When you drain the old oil, use the correct drain plug - it's a 12mm headed bolt that is alongside the center black engine support, toward the rear of the tranny. The fill plug is the one in front under the battery tray, that fits a 1/2" drive socket wrench. Look closely at the oil. It will be very black. When you pour it from the pan to your recycling container look for fine metal flakes at the bottom of the dish. Flakes any larger than the glitter in chicks makeup is not good.

Dave

 

its much easier than you think only need to remove a few(like 10)10mm bolts remove the pan(please drain it first) with a scraper or a razor blade remove old gasket from tranny and from pan once you cleaned remove the 2 bolts holding the filter, replace it , once the pan is ready put back the gasket carefully put back pan tight the bolts back and refill

when i did this it felt much better even my wife back then that don't know **** about cars and didn't know what i was doing told me if a did something to the car because it felt stronger after that i put another 50k miles before somebody decided he likes the car more than my i stole it

 

thanks for the input dave