Hi guys,

So I have no idea as to when the last time the transmission fluid in my car was flushed, and went to Goodyear down the street to have it done.

When I got there, the guy asked me if it was slipping. I told him it might be slipping between 3rd and 4th (basically the car shifts slowly between those gears, but doesn't "spike" the rpms). He told me that I shouldn't even mess with it and to not get the flush done.

This is contrary to what I've read here on the org. Some people have had similar problems to me, got a flush and it helped.

What should I do?

 

depeneds on how many miles have gone by, under 75k youe should be fine, its the trannies with 100k+ with the origingal fluid that has now turned black that should not do this. they should get the pan dropped and about 4 quarts new fluid put in at least, as to not to shock the trany.

 

first of all, check the color of your fluid if it isnt cherry red, but instead a burnt color, discoloration or you notice a tint or contamination, shavings of metal ect. you defintely dont want to do it. the reasoning behind this is that if you flush the tranny or induce new fluiid into the case it can have some drastif effects includeing yes that of slipping, loss of gears, and eventually total failure. after a certain amount of time a tranny will have breakdown due to daily driving and abuse and it starts to use the grit inside the case as almost a sand paper which is all that the hard parts really hold onto anymore. i dont know if what FormerAccordMan stated is entirely true that you should add new fluid ive always been told to just leave it be unless you plan on completely swapping out all of the fluid ina power purge. so in other words its anyones guess but this is the typical senario that we have at my dads shop. most people dont bother thinking about any of this and when a 16 year old kid working at jiffy lube asks them if they want their tranny flushed say oh sure why not. then next thing ya know your on a flat bed on your way to my familys trans shop and pissed about the 2-4K bill that youve got to foot. and what typically makes it worse is when you go to the dealership and they send you out to a random shop and throw a used tranny in it only to find out that this ones worse than the original one! so basically unless you have 3 grand to foot the upcoming transmission rebuild. DONT DO IT!

 

I would drain and replace the fluid.

Flushes just aren't supposed to happen. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, sometimes things get worse.

I would drain and replace, and if things continue to be weird I'd actually try Lucas Slip-fix before anything else.

 

Wait, is a flush not the same as replacing the fluid? Then perhaps I misspoke.

I basically wanted them to change my fluid, as I think it has a slightly brown-ish tinit to the red. I will check again later on. If it is brownish, does that just mean I have to ride the sucker till it dies, then replace the tranny?

Ugh, I thought I left my transmission problems with my old Accord.

edit: I'm at almost exactly 75k miles

 

Flushes are done by a machine pumping fluid through the trans cooler feed/return lines, vs a regular drain/fill by dropping the pan (or just using the drain bolt).

 

doing a flush wont hurt it. it might not fix it either. best thing to do is a drain and fill because you wont spend as much money. dont use any additives, there useless.

 

This is just another reason why I love 5speeds... lol...

 

So would changing the fluid help at all? Since I have no idea when (if ever) the fluid was changed? Would just draining it and refilling damage the transmission and make it worse?

 

I initially did a drain and fill, but I wasn't satisfied because the fluid was still slightly brown-ish. I flushed it myself through the trans cooler line and i had no problems. I followed the procedure in this thread:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=110363

I was kind of wary of the power flush @ the lube place since I read a few horror stories about it. I didn't have any negative effects after I did the manual flush, in fact it made the shifts smoother! I used mobil 1 synthetic ATF. Fluid is still bright red to this day, and my trans occasionally takes some abuse . I did the flush at 130k. Still running great 9,000 miles later!

 

5-Speeds are great but Maxima owners have their share of problems with them as well.

To the OP, I would do a drain and refill via the drain bolt using Nissan D-Matic Auto Transmission fluid. I would than repeat the drain and fill again after a few hundred miles.

 

Thats the best piece of advice in this whole thread.

 

I did a T-Tech flush with Mobil @132K miles . Still good @ 136 (knock on wood).

 

smell the fluid, if it smells burnt or if you see metal dont change it, how many miles is on the initial vehicle? ive been thru 3 trannys in less than 1 year... be careful.... my 2 cent

 

Hmm, perhaps I'll do that then. I think that I'll install my tranny cooler at the same time. Am I in danger of messing up the tranny if I do this? (the manual drain/refill, not flush)

 

No, you will not mess up a thing. If you want an extra piece of mind, use a high quality synthetic fluid such as Amsoil ATF or Mobil1 ATF Mercon V.

 

i just made 135k on my 97 max and i am doing the flush next mth my color is still cherry on the oil but i got this car july 07 so iam doing it

 

I'm supprised some of you suggest not to flush at all, but then again, I don't have any real life experience that I've seen gone worst by flushing. IMHO, flushing a trans will not make things worst. It will either be the same or shift better. My dad's '94 accord slips and we did a drain and refill a couple times and it didn't improve, but certainly didn't get worst, but that's a accord so it doesn't count for us maxima people.

I dropped my trans fluid pan, cleaned the magnite and changed filter at around 40k (when I got car). I changed to amsoil by doing the pulling the cooler line and running the car method at around 75K. I'm over due right now (137K) but I'm going to try flushing by having 1 jug filled with fresh fluid, and another empty container for old, and have the car run untill all the new fluid is sucked up. The pan is a b!tch to do so I'll hold off till the next flush (~175K).

Just have to make sure you top off the fluid the right way...engine ideling.

 

I just flushed my transmission the other day at 162,000 miles. I got the car at 70K and had only replaced 3 quarts up to this point, so I was just as paranoid as you about slipping (fluid was brown). Put in my trans cooler at the same time and couldn't be happier: the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are seamless and the car seems like it has a lot less stress when put under heavy load. I think it really depends on how you treat the car-I've always babied it for the most part.

 

I have a 1996 with about 105K on mine. I was considering just draining the fluid through the drain plug and re-filling with Mobil synthetic. Would you guys advise doing this? I haven't noticed any slippage or shifting problems to date....of course, I've only had the car 6 months.

Additionally, how many quarts do you think I will need, and what Mobil fluid do you recommend.....? The Mobil Synthetic ATF?

Thanks!!
Derek

 

I don't understand people who don't change their ATF. Just use the correct fluid, Honda and Chrysler are unique, most others use Dexron III. I put Mobil 1 in my auto Frontier.

 

A cooler line exchange is always the best/safest way to change the ATF.
A T-tech flush machine does the same thing.
That's what i did. I'm now @ almost 138K miles

 

Flush via the return line is nice and easy. I would flush with any number of miles on the fluid or condition of the fluid. If you are paranoid (thx to non-engg stuff on the web about high mileage vehicle tranny flushes) then do a drain/fill exercise a few times.

There is no better protection to the tranny than regular fluid exchanges either drain/fill or flush the entire 10Q in the system.

BTW, all that no flushes on HM vehicles is all BS with no data to prove it will result in premature death of the tranny.

 

It's only to the ones that are already dieing. think about it this way. If you have a nail in the tire, taking the nail out will cause a more significant leak since the nail is no longer there to hold the air in. We're simply saying that transmissions that are having problems already need the dirt and grime in order to work and last a little bit longer. It will eventually die out over time because its still a bad tranny. We're not saying that changing fluid in a healthy tranny is going to be bad. Changing the fluids on a regular basis is a good idea. However, if you think that by putting new fluid into a dieing tranny is going to fix the problem, its not. We're simply saying that its going to be worse if anything.

 

From what I'm seeing here.....

Should I worry about even doing a flush? I doubt the fluid that's already in there is synthetic, but that's what I wanted to replace it with. Should I just drop the drain plug and refill? If so....how many quarts does a normal "drain and fill" require?

Also, is the Mobil synthetic ATF a good way to go....as Amzoil is not readily available around here.....

Thanks for all the input!!!

 

Here is the safest method how to replace 100% fluid without flush machines. It has been discussed awhile back here in forums- exchange via return line is safest method and it replaces 100% of ATF. You will need 10 quarts of Dexron/Mercon III ATF, 3/8 clear tubing and a milk jug. Pour 1 quart into clean jug, mark a line with a Sharpie- that is your 1 quart mark on the jug. Pour ATF back into an empty original quart container.
Now comes fun part- disconnect return line, slide clear tubing instead, the other end goes into empty jug. Have a helper here- you start a car and move the lever back and forth, make sure emergency brake is engaged. This procedure happens within a few seconds- CAREFUL HERE, your helper should tell you to kill the engine EXACTLY when old fluid reaches the Sharpie mark. AT THIS POINT ADD EXACTLY 1 QUART of new fluid into dipstick tube.
REPEAT this 10 TIMES- your fluid is 100% replaced.

Some suggest to drain the pan first, replace whatever is drained and then do return line, however since the fluid moves from the top to the bottom, you can skip draining the pan and do return line method, new fluid will be pushing the old one out naturally, replacing it.

 

Not trying to thread jack, but this is along the same topic so I posted here. I would've started a thread, but for some reason I still can not make posts??? Maybe it's b/c I'm hardly on here since my Max is a DD and I have a 240, Mr2 and Zx10 for play time

So here it goes. I got my Max 2 yrs ago with 130k. I now have 144k on it. Since I had it I replaced multiple parts and performed maintenance. This was more so for my own piece of mine. One thing I always been to lazy to do which was a issue when I got it was to replace the Hydrolic hose. I've always had a slow leak causing me to fill the MC up every 2 weeks or so.

Since I have plenty of down time right now due to my moto accident, I took the 95 Max into the trans shop (Arobogast) to get the hose replaced has well has to get the 5spd tranny flushed. They also are going to replace the Slave cylinder and MC since this is something you should do (when you replace on, replace the other).

The shop called me up this AM. They told me the car was done (after 4 days) and my bill is $449.84. I was like eh?? They originally told me it would cost between $2 and $300. See what happens when your lazy. I should've did it myself.

I think $449.84 is a high price. My question to all you Guys, Gals and kiddies is do you think this is high as well or an average price for this vehicle? I am going to pick it up soon and for the price (to me) I hope I can at least tell the difference in the Clutch pedal.

-1995 Maxima

 

That does sound awfully high. I've been lucky so far and haven't had any major problems out of mine.

Thanks acercomp!!!

Other than shelling out about 70 bucks for the Mobil1 Synthetic ATF, this doesn't sound too hard at all.

 

After picking up the Maxima I am disappointed. The Maxima must just have a weird clutch in general. It's like nothing I drove before. It still feels to soft to me.

Overall I am very upset that I got all the work done that I got done. I should've spent the money on the suspension since this car's rear shakes. The Clutch issue (due to the hose that leaked) and the rear suspension always frustrated me about this car.

It's only a DD so maybe I shouldn't expect to much out of it.

 

I would take it back and get them to re-do it or tighten the clutch up somehow. Something doesn't seem right IMO.